Was it her secret self-exploration exposing itself? Would everyone know just from the sight of her? Fear rose up into her throat, and nearly choked her.
Noreen took her by the hand, led her out of her cell, and to the kitchen.
Unlike the morning, the kitchen was now bustling with women of all ages going in and out. It was only girls of Princess’s age dressed in the tight frocks. The older women wore grey shapeless dresses that fell to their ankles.
Smells of cooking filled the air, and beautifully prepared plates lay on trays carried by lovely looking girls.
A finger roughly poked her ribs. A woman with a face that resembled stone jerked a thumb towards a sink full of used plates and glassware.
“Get to it, girly,” she instructed in a course tone.
Immediately, Princess obliged. She tied on an apron, stepped to the sink, and began to wash dish after dish, glass after glass, stopping afterward to examine each item for spots or streaks. She was determined to do an excellent job. Maybe if she performed well enough, Valentina would move her from the kitchen to where she could locate her brothers.
Hour after hour, she continued the same cleaning ritual until the woman poked her once again, and told her to find something to eat from the leftovers, and she was excused for the night.
Princess had a plan in mind. If she could just tip-toe through the hall, perhaps she could sneak a quick look into the club. Maybe her brothers were put to work there. Just a glimpse and she would then scavenge some leftover food, and return to her room.
Stealthily, she left the kitchen, and crept down the hallway. Other girls dressed identically to her, passed without question. Maybe they thought she belonged there. If that were true, it would make her plan much easier.
Two large doors opened, and music filled the air. A girl carrying a tray of empty glasses passed by, and Princess entered the main room of the club.
For several minutes, she stared in awe. To her right, dozens of platter-sized tables dotted the floor. At each table, exquisitely dressed men and women talked, laughed, and drank. Above them crystal chandeliers sparked in the lights like the stars on a clear black sky at night. A warm smell of spice filled the air.
To the left was a grand stage.
On stage was where the real action was. Several men dressed in white coats played a number of string instruments. Suspended from the ceiling were pastel swings, each adorned with vines of flowers wrapped around the ropes. Beautiful girls dressed in swan feathers, bedazzling jewels, and not much else, swung gracefully in the air.
Below, similarly adorned girls danced on the stage to the strains of the music. Their breasts and bottoms barely covered, and toned stomachs and legs totally bare and on display.
Never before had Princess witnessed such splendor and decadence. She wanted to be those girls. She wanted to dance on that stage, with the admiring eyes of the audience drinking in her every movement.
A hand seized her wrist, and the sensation of being spun violently broke up her trance-like focus. She found herself face to face with the evil Valentina.
She cowered beneath the taller woman’s glare, but Valentina’s eyes softened. “It’s my mute little kitchen girl,” she laughed.
Princess remained frozen to the spot, and hoped beyond hope Valentina wouldn’t cast her from the club. If she did, she would have no place to return to, and likely would never see her brothers again. Valentina would control their fate.
Valentina’s hand slipped down, and covered Princess’s tiny, delicate one.
“Don’t you clean up nicely? From a scruffy little house mouse to something quite pleasing. And look at your eyes! Is that wonderment of all that surrounds you, or have you been dipping into belladonna powder?”
Her eyes, they were so big and black now. It wasn’t a badge of shame she possessed. It was Erich! When he breathed his deadly nightshade essence into her, the etheric cord between them formed.
Was she toxic now as he was?
Well, Valentina hadn’t drop dead, so probably not.
Valentina could never know she had been in contact with Erich. It would be the end of her for sure. She pointed to the stage.
Valentina lifted a dark brow. “You want to dance?”
She nodded emphatically. If she could dance, it might make the time here tolerable.
Valentina smiled, and stroked Princess’s shoulder. It took everything she possessed within her not to cringe.
“In time, girl, perhaps.” She then stopped and pursed her blood red lips. “We have to call you something. Those big black eyes…I think I’ll call you Bella. After all, you are quite a pretty little thing. Very pretty.”
She was repulsed by Valentina’s compliment, but as long as she was here, she could call her any name she wished.
“All right, Bella, you can go now.”
Princess bowed in courtesy to her, turned and fled the club. After her encounter with Valentina, she no longer felt hungry. Instead, she retreated back to her little cell, and let her hair loose from the tight knot which held it, and stripped off her clothes before climbing into her shapeless white nightgown.
She wished to explore the secret little book a bit more, but wearily, she climbed into bed, and barely closed her eyes when she fell into sleep.
“Princess.”
She smiled when she heard her name, but not enough to rouse her. Perhaps all was well once again, and she was home, safe in her own bed. Her father and brothers close by.
“Princess, it’s time.”
The voice, it was so familiar. When she opened her eyes, it was the oddest thing she ever experienced. She was standing at the foot of the bed, clearly still in her little cell, but her feet were hovering above the wood floor. She was so fascinated that she couldn’t stop staring at her feet.
It was magic, for sure.
“Princess!”
This time, the voice snapped her back to reality. When she raised her head, she saw Erich. Only, it wasn’t really
