Royal Replicas

by Michael Pierce

  “She was electrocuted in her bathtub last night,” Piper said. “She’s not dead, or so I was told. Her hairdryer was in the tub, connected by an extension cord. I guess it blew a fuse before she was pumped with too much juice. She’s with Dr. Sosin now.”

  “Oh, wow—that’s awful!” Bethany cried. “Was it a suicide attempt?”

  “Or attempted murder?” I asked.

  Piper shrugged. “I was hoping one of you knew something. I just heard it had happened and she was no longer in her room.”

  “I can’t believe she’d do it to herself,” I said.

  “We’re all under an impossible amount of pressure,” Piper said. “It’s one way to control your own destiny.”

  “That’s so sad,” Bethany said. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

  “Maybe we should all start sharing a room,” I said. “Watch out for each other—just in case. I don’t trust those other girls.”

  “Do you really think they’re capable of something like that—trying to kill one of us?” Bethany asked.

  “What if it was the Queen?” Bethany asked. “Maybe she’s trying to turn us against each other and make us all paranoid.”

  “One more reason why we should start bunking up,” I said. “We don’t have much time left.”

  “What do you think is going to happen in the end?” Piper asked, directed at both of us.

  “I don’t know if Prince Byron’s said anything to either of you, but he’s told me he’s developing a plan to save the girls he doesn’t pick. He won’t leave us to the Queen to dispose of.”

  “He mentioned that to me last night,” Bethany said.

  “I hope that’s true,” Piper said. She stood up and dropped her towel. “I need to do some laps and clear my head. I don’t want to end up like Eleanor.”

  “You both good with moving into my room today?” I asked.

  Bethany and Piper agreed. They each moved a suitcase of personal items into my room before dinner. I had more than enough clothes in the closet for all three of us and it wasn’t like my clothes wouldn’t fit the other two girls.

  Piper set up sheets and a pillow on the couch. The bed was so large, I said there was ample space for all three of us, but she insisted on the couch and I wasn’t going to argue with her.

  We all went to dinner together and had almost finished eating when the Queen joined us. I lost what appetite I had left by just being in her presence after our conversation from the morning.

  “Don’t you want dessert?” the Queen asked as I rose from the table.

  “I ate too much already,” I said. “I couldn’t possibly eat more.” I looked to Bethany and Piper to see if either of them would leave with me, but both remained seated, waiting for dessert to be served. So I left alone.

  The girls returned to the room about a half hour later. I was looking forward to having some company for the night—for the remainder of my nights here.

  Piper arrived carrying what looked like a dress box, topped with a ribbon. “This came for you,” she said.

  “Oh?” I took the box, untied the bow, and removed the lid.

  “He said it was important we give it to you.”

  Inside were green tissue paper and a note. The girls were gathered around me so I picked up the note and read it aloud.

  “You deserve this. Put on the dress and meet me outside. Always yours,” I read.

  “Let’s see it,” Piper said.

  I parted the tissue paper to reveal an emerald dress inside.

  “It can’t be,” I said, staring at the dress.

  “It can’t be what?” Bethany asked.

  I removed the emerald ballgown from its box; it had beautifully beaded lace appliqués and a plunging V-back; it looked just like the one I’d received from the tailor before coming to the palace—the dress fabricated for Princess Amelia, that was given to me and destroyed by him.

  I didn’t even want to think of his name but seeing the dress, I knew I’d have to. This was a bold move, even for him.

  “Who gave this to you?” I asked Piper.

  “A staff member in the foyer. Why?”

  “Did you recognize him?”

  “No, but there are so many.”

  “I can’t believe you’re getting another date so soon,” Bethany said.

  “It’s a gorgeous dress,” Piper said.

  “It was originally made for Princess Amelia,” I said, thinking of trying on the original at Lady Adriana’s boutique.

  “That’s fitting,” Bethany said.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” Piper asked. “Go get dressed.”

  “I can’t deny it’s a beautiful dress, but I’m not up for wearing it tonight. I’d like to keep it casual, which I’m sure the Prince will understand.” I walked over to the phone on the nightstand and picked up the receiver.

  “Hi, Kimera,” I said, picturing the man who awaited me outside—probably in the back of an idling limo. “Please come to my room as soon as you can. I need your help.”

  CHAPTER 49

  I told the girls I’d see them soon.

  “Hopefully not too soon,” Bethany said. From what I could tell, Bethany was genuinely wishing me well on my date, making me feel even more guilty of my jealousy the night before. I couldn’t really compete with her.

  Kimera looked nervous due to the help I’d privately asked her for, but in the company of my sisters, she remained quiet.

  I made my way to the foyer. It was empty except for the staff member stationed at the front door. He opened it as I approached and wished me a pleasant evening.

  In the circular drive, a black limousine idled just as I’d pictured, with the driver holding the back door open. I stared him straight in the eyes to see if he’d let slip that something was amiss—to provide a non-verbal warning of some kind. But he didn’t.

  “Good evening, Miss Victoria,” the driver said.

  I shook my head in disgust, not masking my expression whatsoever as I climbed into the back of the limousine.

  The driver slammed the door shut and I gazed upon him—and my throat went bone dry at the realization he wasn’t alone.

  Maybe this was too risky after all. It took me a moment to take in a breath, which was labored from the stench of whiskey and cigar smoke hanging in the air.

  “It’s so good to see you again, Victoria,” Master Ramsey said, sitting between three other strange and burly men.

  I went for the handle; I could pull it, but it wouldn’t open the door. I was committed to this now.

  “She’s a cutie,” the man to Master Ramsey’s right said.

  “I told you she would not disappoint,” Master Ramsey said.

  The back of the car was dimly lit. Flashbacks of my last encounter with him flooded back to me. Last time there’d been one observer. This time he was intending three—if they were actually meant to be merely voyeurs.

  Then I felt the car start to move.

  The rising fear was immediate, but I couldn’t let it cripple me. “I suggest you stop the car,” I said in an almost confident voice.

  “Didn’t I tell you you’d never be beyond my reach?” Master Ramsey said. “You are mine. You will always be mine. And I will do with you as I please. Tonight, I’ve invited some friends—”

  I dug into the folds of my skirt and held up a small electronic device. “Maybe you didn’t hear me,” I said louder, cutting through the chuckles and chatter. “I suggest you stop the car right now because you won’t be getting past the gate anyway. Do you know what this is?”

  “Nothing of consequence,” one of the guys said, scooting closer to me.

  “Wrong,” I snapped. “And back the hell off!”

  When he listened to me, it momentarily caused me to lose my train of thought.

  “This is a panic device. All the staff in the palace carry one. If I press it, there will be guards from all over the palace descending on this car.”

  That got their attention.

  “
And I’ve been assured this car isn’t getting past the gate without my consent,” I continued. “So I suggest you have the driver stop so we can have a little chat.”

  Master Ramsey’s eyes gleamed with murder. He rapped on the partition and the limo slowly came to a stop. “Okay, Princess. Let’s play your little game.”

  “I am not yours to do with as you please. I needed to tell you in person and make it so you understood, rather than sending Prince Byron or the Queen after you. But as for me; all ties between us are cut.”

  “Is this a joke?” one of the other guys asked, the sentence sounding like one elongated word.

  “No,” Master Ramsey said. “I obviously haven’t done a good job of teaching you your place in life.”

  “Oh, you have. But I don’t accept it. You do not get to touch me ever again.”

  “Is that a challenge, Princess?” Master Ramsey growled. “Because I always accept a challenge.”

  I held the panic device high like a bomb—a reminder of what was about to blow up in their faces. “If any of you advances toward me, you’re all as good as dead. I assure you.”

  Master Ramsey made a move to lunge at me, but just before I pressed the button, one of his men pulled him back.

  “Get your hands off me, Mackenzie!”

  “Don’t be stupid, Ramsey,” he said. “You know what will come through the door if she presses that button. And if she’s beaten and bloody… well, it will be all our heads, not just yours. And I’m not losing my head tonight.”

  Master Ramsey settled down, shrugging off Mackenzie’s hands.

  “As you can see, I have the means to get in the gates whenever I please,” Master Ramsey said. “I will not—”

  “If only you had the means to leave at such will,” I said, a smugness growing in my voice and probably spreading across my face.

  My plan might not have worked if it had only been Master Ramsey, but his friends were forcing him to acknowledge the consequences of his actions and keep his eager hands off me.

  “Where is my daughter?” Master Ramsey growled.

  “She’s safe,” I admitted. “You won’t be touching her again either.”

  Master Ramsey screamed in frustration. “I knew it! I knew it! You lying little bitch!”

  Mackenzie’s hands—and those of the other man seated adjacent—were on him again, keeping the unraveling master from diving for me.

  “Let go of me! She needs to learn! She needs to be punished!” Master Ramsey strained against the grips of those he’d invited but was unable to break free.

  “I think it’s time you left,” Mackenzie said to me.

  “Good,” I said. “Because I’ve said everything I’ve come here to say. We are done.”

  “We are so far from done!” Master Ramsey screamed. I’d never heard his voice reach such an octave.

  Mackenzie rapped on the partition and it slowly descended. “Open the back door.” Then he turned his attention back to me. “Will you let us through the gate?”

  “I guess you’ll have to drive up to it and find out,” I said just as the door beside me opened. “I hope this has been as fun for you as it has for me.” I stared Master Ramsey straight into his murderous eyes and climbed out of the back of the limo.

  “This is your lucky day,” I told the driver and walked toward the palace’s main entrance.

  Once I reached the front landing, I turned back and watched the limousine as it approached the gate, stopped before the stationed guards, and was waved through to disappear into the night.

  CHAPTER 50

  K imera was still in the room when I returned. She’d expected me back shortly, but the others hadn’t even though I’d told them before leaving that I wouldn’t be long.

  “What kind of a date was that?” Bethany asked.

  “It wasn’t,” I said and dropped down on the bed with a sigh. I was exhausted. Every part of me felt entirely drained, even though I’d escaped the limo—and Master Ramsey’s clutches—unscathed.

  “What happened?”

  I retrieved Kimera’s panic device and tossed it to her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I’ve never been better,” I said, stretching out across the bed.

  “I don’t understand,” Piper said. “What’s going on?”

  “It wasn’t Prince Byron who called on me for a date, but my sadistic stepfather.” I hadn’t told them what I’d endured back home, but I could tell tonight’s story without mentioning it. And we’d come so far in such a short period of time that they had truly become sisters to me. “I was punished a lot growing up in the 24th Ward—in the Ramsey household. When I was younger, I was made to believe it was justified and noble, but I’ve come to realize it was for sport and pleasure. Duke Ramsey didn’t want to let me go and he’s gone to great lengths to demonstrate that.”

  “I know you said you didn’t have a happy childhood, but I didn’t realize it was so bad,” Piper said.

  Bethany came over to the bed and gave me a hug.

  “Yeah, well, I guess it’s made me into who I am today, which I don’t want to complain about. I feel I’m stronger because of it. And tonight, I proved that to myself.”

  “I wish you’d said something before you left,” Bethany said.

  “Then I wouldn’t have been able to face him on my own. Someone else would have gotten involved,” I said. “I needed to do this. And look at the bright side—I prevailed.”

  “I’m relieved you’re all right, Miss Victoria,” Kimera said. “Is there anything else you require from me?”

  “You don’t have to go,” I said. “You can stay with us a while if you like.”

  “Yes; stay,” the other two girls repeated.

  Kimera started to flush. “Thank you for the offer, but I should go unless there’s something specific any of you need.”

  I shook my head. “We’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  “Good night,” Kimera said as she made her way for the door.

  “What if you hadn’t known right away?” Piper asked, kneeling to face backward over the couch. “What if you’d walked right into the trap?”

  I shrugged. “I’d rather not think of that.”

  “I’d feel so guilty,” she said. “I gave you the box. I didn’t know. We didn’t actually see the Prince; I was given the box by a staff member who instructed me to give it to you. I didn’t ask any questions.”

  “Someone would have had to let him in the gate,” Bethany said.

  “And staff members saw you get into the car,” Piper added. “He got help from someone within the palace.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Do you really think someone was trying to sabotage me—that this reached beyond his own motives?”

  “First, Eleanor,” Piper said.

  “Eleanor wasn’t even a threat.”

  “But she was an easy target.”

  “I thought I had the upper hand. Now you’re both making me paranoid.”

  I rolled on my side to face Bethany. “Where’s the dress I was given?” I asked.

  “Kimera hung it up in the closet,” she said. “It really is beautiful and so exciting it was made specifically for Princess Amelia. Piper tried it on.”

  “Bethany!” Piper cried. “You said you wouldn’t tell.”

  I laughed. “It’s cool. I just don’t want to lose it again.”

  “What do you mean?” Bethany asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said with a sigh and closed my eyes. “I’m so tired.”

  “It’s hard work being the hero.”

  I’d hoped for a peaceful night’s sleep, but all the ways the evening could have gone wrong ravaged my dreams.

  I awoke sweaty and shaking. Bethany was no longer beside me and the yellow curtains were glowing from the sunlight behind them.

  My breathing had just about returned to normal when I heard a voice from across the room.

  “Good. You’re up.”

  I pushed up on an elbow and
found Constance sitting at the desk.

  “I heard about what happened to you last night,” she said and approached the bed. She had something in her hand—something small and shiny.

  “Is that so? What did you hear?” I asked.

  “I can’t imagine what that would have been like. Oh wait, I can.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She tossed the object onto the bed. It was a broken-off blade of a razor.

  “If it had been me who’d gone through those violations last night, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. It’d be too much to bear; I’d need to find an escape.” She gestured to the razor next to me on the comforter.

  “You go first,” I snapped.

  Constance didn’t bat an eye. “I did,” she said and extended both forearms to me.

  When I looked closely, I could see the hint of a silver vertical line on each arm, stretching from inner elbows to wrists.

  “They brought me back,” she said bitterly. “He brought me back. I wasn’t allowed to leave.”

  I couldn’t look away from her scars. She seemed to become self-conscious and crossed her arms so I could no longer see them. I gazed up at her face. The cuts from the broken glass were still healing, but they too would scar.

  “I’m sorry about all that’s happened to you,” I said. “I know how hard it is.”

  “Even when the wounds heal, the pain never goes away,” she said.

  “That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

  Constance didn’t look the same as she had a few minutes ago; something within her had changed. Her anger seemed replaced by a profound sadness and I waited for the next snide comment, but she remained quiet.

  When I stood, she still didn’t seem to notice I wasn’t hurt; she’d sunk too far into her own horrific memories.

  “I know what you’re going through—” I started to say, but the door suddenly opened and broke my train of thought.

  Bethany and Piper entered the room. Bethany was carrying a breakfast tray.

  “What’s going on here?” Piper asked, glaring at Constance.

  “I was just leaving,” Constance said. She discreetly snatched the razor from the bed and concealed it within a loose fist.