The Duchess Hoax (World of Jordinia)

Chapter 2: Hugo

HUGO VOGEL KNEW HE SHOULD'VE gone after the flower girl the minute she'd fled.

Alas, it'd taken him two seconds too long to make up his mind. By the time he decided to follow her, he'd already lost her in the throngs of folk walking home from work for the evening.

Mind racing, Hugo abandoned his post and headed for Town Square to look for her, without luck. He turned to an unmarked door and entered the tavern, his eyes adjusting to the candlelight.

There was already a hooting crowd, hovering around a pair of arm-wrestling men.

Sol's eyes were locked upon his opponent's. The other was an older man who was otherwise gangly but for a hardened look about him, which may have had to do with the markings up his arms suggesting he'd spent a reasonable portion of his past in prison.

Hugo slipped through the rowdy onlookers, dodging out of the way as someone spilled his ale, and laid a few coins onto the table.

Sol's mouth tightened into a line but his eyes shone with confidence. A vein in his opponent's forehead was bulging. His cheeks flexed, turning red. Their arms trembled, locked together.

With a final push, Sol brought the other man's arm down flat. A blend of cheers and moans filled the bar.

"Bloody hell." His opponent winced. "I fink you've broken me arm!"

Sol grinned. "Bring the lady some ice," he called to the barman. He slid his earnings off the table into his bag. With a loud scrape, he pushed back his chair and stood to his impressive height.

The crowd was dispersing now that the show was over. Hugo pocketed his own winnings from the pool, then followed his friend to the back of the tavern. The table was stocked with complimentary drinks when they took their places. Hugo helped himself to a glass.

Sol arched an eyebrow. "Going to pay me back for that?"

"As if you can drink all these yourself."

"Watch me."

"I'd rather not." Hugo took a sip and coughed. "Woof."

"Too strong for your delicate consistency, madame?"

"Shut up."

Sol downed a pint in one gulp.

Hugo was unable to quell his excitement any longer. "I think I found someone." At his friend's impassive face, he pressed, "Hello? For our plan? I may have just met the girl we can prime into the lost Duchess of—"

Sol's groan did little to impede upon Hugo's enthusiasm. "Listen. I've got a new idea."

Sol looked past him, feigning disinterest. But Hugo knew better. If Sol truly wasn't interested, he'd have gotten up and left by then.

"This girl I just met happens to be eighteen. And an orphan." Sensitive about it too, he thought. She put up a tough exterior, but her emotions betrayed just how vulnerable and malleable she really was.

"Your point?"

Hugo leaned forward, dropping his voice. "Think about it: In order to sell our story to the duchess's uncle, don't you think it'd be more convincing if she believed it, too?"

"You mean to say, you want to convince not only Hessian Gatspierre, but the girl herself that she is the lost duchess?"

Hugo nodded.

Sol leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. At last, he declared, "That is the worst idea I have ever heard."

Hugo was far from discouraged. In fact, he was only just getting started. "She was raised in an orphanage. She said as much. And what does an orphan want, in the depths of her heart, more than anything else in the world?"

His friend's face was like granite. "Not to be bamboozled by a merciless swindler?"

Hugo knocked the table with a fist. "To know where she comes from. To find her parents! Or at least, find out who they were."

"What if she already knows who her parents were? Don't orphanages keep records of that sort of thing?"

Hugo drew a sip of ale. "If she's seen any records, we'll tell her it was part of a coverup. That her real parents were the Jordinian Emperor and Empress, and they hid their identities in order to protect her. What orphaned girl wouldn't want to believe that she's secret royalty?" He cackled with glee. "Why, it's the stuff of the fairy tales they all dream about!"

"Precisely why it'll sound preposterous to someone with a half a brain." Sol's jaw visibly clenched.

"Will it, though?" Hugo challenged. "The duchess has got to be somewhere. Why not here? She has to be someone. Why not her?"

Sol squinted, seeming to weigh his words.

"If she truly believes it, then so will Gatspierre. All we've got to do is plant the idea in her head." He tapped his temple. "She'll persuade herself, and anyone else who needs to be persuaded. Mark me."

Sol drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "Who is this girl you found, anyway?"

"Dunno."

"Where does she live?"

"Beats me."

"Then how do you expect to find her?"

Hugo beamed, needing no further proof that his friend was, finally, on board. "Oh, I'm not too worried about that."