The Ambassador's Daughter

Chapter 13

Louise sat on her bed holding a small hand mirror. She studied her reflection. Her cheek was no longer red from where her father had slapped her. Now it was deeply bruised just under her eye and very tender. She'd tried to cover it with make-up, but the result had only made her feel like a two-bit hooker. So, she'd elected to stay in her room until the bruising faded. She had no phone and no way to contact the palace because of it. But she didn't want to go to the palace with a bruise on her face. Anyway, by the looks of the bruise, by the time it healed enough for her to return to the palace her father might think that she was obeying him and she would be able to stop skirting around him.

She hated this! Ambassador Brandt didn't hit her a lot, but when he did, it was always very hard and she always had a few days of worrying that he was going to lash out at her again. She knew her mother never got hit. Elouise had learned to walk the fine line of the ambassador's good will and still keep her daughter relatively safe. Louise sometimes wished she could learn to be that skilled, but then she remembered why her mother had to be that skilled and changed her mind.

Louise sighed and laid the mirror on the nightstand. She laid back on her bed and stared at her ceiling. Without her phone she couldn't even call her cousin. Laura would be a huge help right now. Louise rolled over on her stomach and shoved her arms under her pillow. She frowned and sat up, pulling her pillow into her lap. There on her bed, inexplicably, lay her phone. She reached out slowly, as if afraid it would burn her. She picked it up and flipped it over. She checked the inside and it seemed normal. Tentatively, she turned it on. It worked. She had three texts and five missed calls from Steve and two from Laura Barton.

She quickly sent a vague text to Steve apologizing for not having her phone. She didn't promise to return soon, but she promised she would try to visit. Then she turned the phone off. The less time it was on was less time for her father to trace her phone use. But then she remembered she needed to talk to her cousin. She sighed and turned the phone on again. She dialed Laura's number and waited for the call to go through.

"Laura?" She asked when a woman answered the phone.

"Louise is that you?" Laura asked, "Oh, we've been so worried. Steve called and said you weren't answering your phone and that you hadn't been to the palace recently. Clint was about ready to go over there and check on you in person!"

"I'm fine, I guess."

"What's wrong?" Louise unburdened herself to her cousin. It felt so good to have someone she could actually talk to. Someone who would forgive a little whining. And more importantly, someone who would listen to her without jumping in to save her. "Oh, Honey, I'm so sorry. How's your face?"

"It hurts," She admitted. "I don't even know how I got my phone back. Was he in a good mood? Did my mother take it from him? I don't know. And that makes me nervous." Louise closed her eyes and ran her free hand through her hair. "I just don't know." She repeated. She heard Laura sigh.

"I don't know what to tell you, Honey."

"I don't know what I want to hear, Laura. So, tell me, what's new with you?" Laura reluctantly allowed her younger cousin to redirect the conversation and began talking about the farm and her kids. Louise settled back, listening to real everyday events and problems made her feel better and she soon found herself laughing at the antics of Laura's children.