The spotlights on the Rainbow Council went out, and one appeared on another woman entering through the double doors. Lilith, curves fully on display in a lavender business suit, covered the expanse of the room in ten calculated steps.
Cool. If Meredith wasn’t going to stick around, at least I had Lilith reviewing the case. Actually, she was probably better than Meredith. Lilith was all roses and sunshine. She knew I could do this. She’d trained me. Salvation!
I grinned at her.
She returned my smile with a cold, blank stare. Pulled out a stopwatch, clicked the buttons twice, then leaned in and whispered in my ear. “I like to guess how long it takes the surrogate rejects to crack. You should have followed my teaching better. I gave you three minutes, Desi dear. I was being kind.”
My smile evaporated. WHAT? She was not a warm, caring, dream agent. She was Façade’s version of Anne Baxter in the fifties movie All About Eve—a double-crosser! And my professional future rested in her hands.
Ta-ta, dream job.
“Your Honors,” she said, her elitist accent caressing the words. “I’ve reviewed this case and, frankly, I’m surprised we even need to meet. There is no doubt Desi has left a wake of destruction in her short time with the agency, despite the excellent training she received. Now, the footage was extensive, so I edited it to display the major blunders. I’ll warn you—it’s graphic.”
A massive movie screen lowered from the ceiling. Lilith yanked her purple controller from her clutch and pointed. An image of Simmy’s palace filled the screen.
“Here we have Desi’s first assignment, Princess Simmy, an…amply built, quiet princess with an odd duck fetish. Desi was instructed to drift through this like Simmy drifts through her life. Instead, this happened.”
She clicked a button on the remote, and the scene where I demanded food played out.
“Clearly, not in character. Here she is at her next assignment, an Amazon tribal dance. I believe the footage will speak for itself.”
My image came on the screen again, this time in eagle feathers and black paint, a look that did nothing for Ama’s waist. They’d at least had the decency to cover up my/her chest with one of those black bars. The footage started after the fire dancing part. (Of course they skipped that. I nailed the fire dancing.) The eagle guys did their thing, and then I began to dance. And I still think I rocked it, but it did-n’t matter so much what I thought as what the villagers thought, and the confused expressions on their faces proved they were not quite ready for the funk.
Lilith shuddered when I broke out the Cabbage Patch, and stopped the tape. “Sorry I can’t give you back the last thirty seconds of your life, Your Honors.”
If I hadn’t been rooted to my seat by some invisible force, I would have challenged Lilith to a dance-off right there. I’d like to see her perform the Cabbage Patch and Lawn Mower in precise syncopation with the drummers.
“An emergency bubble was sent for this job. Meredith claims the accident resulted from a malfunction, but that does not explain Desi’s absence afterward. To be honest, this whole situation doesn’t seem right to me—”
“Lilith. Meredith has already turned in the required paperwork, and it’s been cleared.” Blue-haired judge’s voice was firm. “Let’s move on.”
“Yes.” Lilith smiled sweetly. “Let’s.”
So the bubble crash didn’t show up on my file? Whoa, I did not understand that lady. She covered for me with the bubble thing, didn’t mention my leave time, but then left me to fry?
“Finally, her last job, which clearly displays her blatant disregard for the agency’s policy of not influencing the princesses’ lives. Although initially the gravity of this offense may not be apparent, I believe the agency’s oversight that resulted in Prince Karl’s…status is not relevant here. Of course, that unique situation will be analyzed separately.”
Unique situation? Status? I get it. He’s a prince. I’m not. I mean, Elsa isn’t. I mean, a princess. Technically.
The mention of Karl stung. Thanks to the unfolding court drama, I’d temporarily forgotten how we’d said good-bye.
“Who is to say Desi will not repeat her mistake shown here?”
Lilith played the footage in all its humiliating glory. I closed my eyes when I knew it was coming, but when I snuck a peek, the picture was still there, frozen on the moment before Karl pulled back. And I know it was supposed to be incriminating evidence and all, but the image actually proved what I’d previously not dared to believe.
Because at that precise immortalized moment, Karl’s eyes were closed too.
Yes! I knew it. I knew I’d done the right thing. So what if I’d done it without Elsa’s permission? It was her secret desire. They were right for each other. They could work it out. Adios, Olivia! Princess Impact had left her mark. Job or not, I’d still done something right.
I closed my eyes and remembered the kiss. I could feel it now, feel him kissing me back.
Well, kissing Elsa back.
Lilith’s stopwatch went off. “I’m not going to waste the court’s time with a lengthy discourse. The evidence is as clear as the crown jewels at afternoon tea. Desi is not Level Two material. I recommend a proper sub sanitation.”
“Sub sanitation? I…I kissed a boy! For my client!”
“Your recommendation will be noted, Lilith, although ultimately it’s the council’s decision. Thank you.” The orange-haired judge looked at me and, I think, smiled. “The time is now yours to plead your case, Desi. We’d like to hear in your words what happened, particularly with Prince Karl.”
“I don’t know what to say. I mean, I kissed him, yeah. And this might not matter, but”—I pointed to the screen—“he kissed me too. His eyes were closed. I haven’t kissed many boys, well ANY other boys, but if he closed his eyes, I think it means he didn’t hate it, right? So maybe he actually felt something for me…for Elsa. Anyway. Maybe I did something that would’ve happened on its own.”
“Is that your only defense?” Blue Hair asked.
My defense. I took a deep breath. “I did my research on this—I read Elsa’s diary, really got to know who she is and what she wants. And she wanted Karl. That’s why she even got a sub, because that wanting was too much for her to handle. The thing is, I took this job because I wanted to make an impact. At first it was more about me, like being glamorous and confident and like Grace Kelly. But somewhere along the way, I decided I needed to figure out how to take a stand for people who might want to do it themselves, but never had the nerve. If I had someone subbing for me at home, I’d love it if they told off my enemy and kissed my crush. Stepping in and giving a princess a vacation is one thing, but stepping in and giving her the courage to improve her life, isn’t that better?
“I’m not saying I didn’t make mistakes. I’m still learning, and I really hope I can learn more in Level Two. I probably wasn’t Method enough, and I probably got too involved in these girls’ lives sometimes, and maybe my whole time as a sub was just one big mistake, and none of the princesses liked me. But I honestly believe that if you consider my performance overall, you’d see that I was trying to do what these girls really needed. Change is, um…good.”
“I should have let her plead her case first.” Lilith snorted. “What a bunch of idealistic drivel.”
“It’s called using your mind, Lilith. You should try it.”
Out of nowhere, Meredith, in black leather pants with a green flouncy blouse, was standing right next to me. Meredith, who had said she had other work to do, who was always too busy for me, had come to save the day. Unless she had come to watch me destroy myself. I could imagine her enjoying that.
“Meredith.” Lilith clapped her hands. “So glad you could overcome your little phobia to join us.”
“Well, thank you, Lilith. I’m actually late because Hank came up with a solution for the interface problem. He really needed a hand. You all know how technology can react with magic. Anyway, the new PPR system is finally working, so we
can include the princesses’ take on the matter too.”
“Of course.” Lilith eyed Meredith with a mix of respect and disgust. “The more evidence, the merrier.”
Meredith disappeared from the spotlight for a moment and whispered to someone or something in the darkness. Lilith tapped her foot, and I stared in the direction of the judges, doing my best to read their minds. Or perform telepathic voodoo. Just close the case.
Close. The. Case.
“All right.” Meredith’s voice was all sugar, like she was on the phone with a client. She even slid her arm protectively over my shoulder. “Let’s watch Desi’s Progress Report from Princess Simmy, the princess Lilith claims Desi incorrectly impersonated.”
The Webcam video rolled, and there was Princess Simmy seated at her desk, her duck mobile dangling over her head.
“How would you rate your sub’s performance and why?” asked a computerized male voice behind the camera.
Simmy beamed. “I’d give her a five.”
“A five out of ten?” the man asked.
Thanks, Meredith, and this footage was supposed to help me how?
Simmy laughed. “Oh, sorry. I got mixed up. I meant a five out of five. Or a ten out of ten. I would give her a perfect!”
“Why’s that?”
“Because she gave Nabila a piece of her, uh, my mind. I’ve always wanted to do that, and now because Desi started it, I’m standing up to her too. And I’m feeling better about myself and taking care of my body. Plus, I love Queen Raelena and I’m scheduled for all kinds of performances on my French horn. Can I can send my sub something as a thank-you—maybe a box of dates?”
My stomach twisted. Dates. Some subs get tiaras. I get dates. But wow. That was pretty excellent hearing feedback like that. And Simmy looked so happy!
“Oh, come on,” Lilith said. “So she made a lucky mistake. Still doesn’t change the fact that she was going against our age-old rules of impersonation. The rules I dutifully taught her, by the way. When you take into account the hard evidence—”
“Good idea, Lilith. Roll the next tape, please.”
The next video came on, featuring Princess Ama, still wearing her ceremonial attire, surrounded by rain forest. Holy blow darts. I was about to get it.
The interview was in Ama’s language, with subtitles in English. “I love sub girl much! It was an affectionately personal touch she did go out of her road and meet me and somehow smooth this worry over with my dad. And Tereis love the dance! He said it had otherworldly and spirit essence toward it. Oh, and my whole village was so excite about the visit tree spirit. So winning for everyone!”
See? Awesome dancing. And note to self: the little things count. Who would have thought smiling to her dad could impact so much? I guess impacting doesn’t always have to be something major.
“Okay, we get it.” Lilith yawned. “So she has good progress reports from two nobody Level One princesses. We still don’t have her PPR for Elsa, and you can’t explain away Desi’s romantic rendezvous. But you know how that goes, don’t you, Meredith?”
Meredith shrunk into herself for a moment, then shook her head. “Now, Lilith. You don’t see me bringing up your past mistakes, like those awful feathered bangs, or when you drove the Duke of York’s car into a lake—”
“On topic, Meredith,” Orange Hair scolded, although she sounded like she was smiling when she said it.
“Of course. Let’s examine Desi’s final position, shall we? While I don’t have the PPR yet, there is this footage from the night Desi left.”
The room filled with the audio before the picture came on. The howling and wailing of the storm vibrated on the stone walls. Seconds later, a graying image appeared on the screen. Through the mist and darkness, you could see me running in the rain, looking quite crazy, actually. Then it cut right to me sitting next to Nana Helga’s bed, rubbing her feet.
“Desi helped save Nana Helga’s life,” Meredith said softly. “No one trained her for something like that. Desi truly performed as a princess should.”
“And how do you account for her snog-fest after that?” Lilith sneered. “She was obviously seeking out her own wish fulfillment, and I’m not going to stand here and—”
“Careful, Lilith,” boomed the richest, most regal-sounding voice I’d ever heard.
“Genevieve, I was trying to—”
A spotlight shone on the rainbow-haired woman standing in the middle of the court. Genevieve, with her long neck, even gaze, and commanding stance, looked very much like a queen ruling her kingdom. Except for, you know, the Bozo the Clown hairdo. “I know exactly what you were trying to do. Now, I think we have sufficient evidence from both sides of the case. The court will deliberate. Lilith, Meredith, and Desi, you may wait in the hall until we have reached our verdict.”
Meredith kept her arm around my shoulder as we left the courtroom.
“That was a weak effort,” Lilith said, once we were alone in the hallway.
“It was, Lilith.” Meredith flashed her most dazzling of smiles. “I thought you’d have given a better case for the prosecution.”
“Oh, Meredith. You look so radiant when you’re wrong.”
Meredith squeezed my shoulder. “This girl’s a survivor. You’re just jealous you’re not representing her.”
She pulled me far away from Lilith and gave me hug. “That was a struggle. I haven’t been back to the court since I had my own appeal after that…thing with my prince. Since then, I’ve always had someone serve as my counsel for my subs. But I knew you needed me. I just had to get your PPRs first.”
“You were amazing.”
Meredith stood up a little taller. “I was, wasn’t I? Wow, I can’t tell you how good it felt to talk to Lilith like that.”
I thought of Celeste and her little heart-shaped face. “I’ll bet.”
The doors opened. “We’ve reached our verdict.” Genevieve’s voice echoed. “You may enter.”
Chapter
24
I swallowed. They couldn’t have deliberated more than five minutes. Dad always said that when your case is weak, you want the jury out as long as possible. It means they’re weighing out both sides. Even Celeste Juniper’s dad got two hours before they sent him to jail.
I cast a sideways glance at Meredith, her chin up and eyes defiant. At least she came through for me in the end. I’d have to make sure and thank her before they wiped my memory of her. And Karl.
“We have reached a verdict. Desi Bascomb, approach the council.”
Oh boy. I shuffled across the room, scared they might zap my brain right then and there.
Genevieve was frailer than she seemed from a distance. Still distinguished, but there was a kindness in her eyes. “You’ve had a very long day, haven’t you, Desi?”
I nodded.
“I knew a Desi once. Of course, he was a Spanish prince, and the Desi was short for Desiderio. Latin for ‘desire.’ And did he ever live up to his name.”
The red-haired man next to Genevieve coughed.
“My point is, I see desire in you too.” Genevieve tilted her head. “You’re obviously rough around the edges, but I don’t think one mistake has to define us. You remind me of Meredith, actually, and she has grown to be a fine agent, one who perhaps I have overlooked in her talents. She sees promise in you, and based upon the evidence she presented, the court does as well. Your change theory certainly goes against our traditions, but it obviously didn’t go against the princesses’ wishes. And perhaps we give too much power to the royals and not enough to the surrogates. MP is a dying commodity, after all. That’s all something for us to consider in the future.
“With that said, we have decided to allow you to continue with the agency with your memory intact, and progress to Level Two.”
“Genevieve, let’s reconsider this.” Lilith cleared her throat. “She’s a sweet girl, truly, but a bad apple can spoil the entire framework of this agency.”
“No one is perfect, Lilith. Not y
ou, nor I, nor even the royalty we represent. What we considered was her heart and drive. And I see great things in her future.”
“Well, I can’t argue her excellent training.” Lilith narrowed her eyes at Meredith and me. “Ladies, best of luck in Level Two. I’m sure I’ll see you again, Desi dear.”
“Ta-ta, darling.” Meredith wiggled her fingers at Lilith’s back. The door slammed behind her.
“If there’s nothing else”—Genevieve gave a slight nod—“then you two are dismissed as well.”
“Actually.” My voice cracked. “If it’s okay, I wanted to know, um…So when does the Elsa PPR come in? I want to make sure everything worked out.”
“We don’t have Elsa’s Princess Progress Report in yet, but the royal gossip chains indicate there’s no lasting damage done. Prince Karl left Metzahg to join his girlfriend. I’m sure all will go back to how it was. Don’t worry about that.”
Back to how it was? Like I hadn’t even been there, hadn’t even mattered? Suddenly I didn’t care about the trial. I may have made it through the court, kept my job and memory, but I’d failed Elsa. I’d taken a chance for nothing. What was the point of doing the right thing when the end result was so wrong?
“There is one thing you might want to know,” Genevieve added. “Elsa was spotted in the village dress shop with her Nana Helga, buying something for an upcoming polo match. Just a little tidbit—thought you’d want to hear.”
I smiled weakly. So she didn’t have Karl, but she might get her debut. And maybe that debut could help her get Karl down the line. It was a seed—one that I’d planted. “Oh. Good. Thanks.”
“Thank you for your kindness and understanding, Your Honors.” Meredith curtsied. “I will guide my client out.”
Meredith glided from the room with me slumping behind her. Her calm demeanor evaporated the moment the doors closed behind us.
“Desi! Oh, did you see the look on Lilith’s face? Did you? And in front of Genevieve!” Meredith tapped her feet together. I think it was a happy dance. “And these tapes, the footage! I’m almost glad this happened, because I finally got to see—everyone did!—how fantastic you are. A royal role model!”
Princess for Hire Page 16
