Never Tell a Soul, Damon Priest

13. the princess and the prince

Damon was desperate to be free of the play. And even more so from the burden of playing the prince. Freda and Roxie had used all their power and charm to coax him into the role, but now it turned out that there was to be a princess. And that he would have to act with her.

The moment everyone learned that the role was open, the women flocked to audition, half of them eager to just be a part of it, the other half only had eyes on him.

Daniel Cavendish very rarely showed his emotions, but when he saw Geneva walk in, his brows arched in surprise and his eyes jumped to Damon. Even Freda and Roxie, who sat on either side of the duke as if they owned the entire place, snapped their heads and frowned at the woman.

"Miss Withers," said Freda with awe as Geneva curtsied to Daniel. "I never thought you can act."

"Not after our little adventure on the side of the road," Roxie added.

Damon watched as Geneva's face tightened and her face formed a little scowl. "Well, I'm here to try."

The girls leaned over to share a look across Daniel.

"You know that you will be speaking, yes?" Freda asked. "You barely spoke when we played an act around Mr. Vernon that day."

"Yes, I'm aware I'll have lines to say," Geneva gritted out.

"Hm," Roxie muttered. "Interesting."

"Very well," said Freda, looking up at Daniel Cavendish. "Your Grace?"

The man was smiling with amusement as he motioned for Geneva to walk closer. Damon walked over to hand her a piece of paper. She looked down at it and frowned. "I can barely read this."

"That's Freda's handwriting," he murmured, clearing his throat to block her view from the devils. "It's quite legible if you start reading."

"No, it isn't—"

"Is there a problem?" Freda asked from her chair.

"One moment, Freda," Damon said over his shoulder. "This is a 't' and this is an 'a'," he pointed out. "Once you know what they are, you'll be able to read them."

"And this?" she asked.

"That's an 'o'."

"But this looks exactly the same as the 'a'."

"It has a little slant to it, see?"

She glared up at him. "No!"

He silently chuckled. "Do you need me to read it for you?"

"Is there a problem?" Freda repeated.

"It's your handwriting, Freda," Roxie wryly said. "We shall wait, Miss Withers. You can take your time."

Geneva shook her head in disbelief while Damon pulled her to the side to read the entire two-page script. And as he did, her eyes started to go wide at how the story ends. "The witch gets to live?" she asked in disbelief, looking at Freda and Roxie. "But why?"

"We hate killing our characters," said Roxie. "We don't have the heart for it."

"But she made the princess suffer."

"Thus she gets to live the rest of her life alone. That's punishment enough," said Freda. "Are you quite ready now?"

Geneva looked at Damon and he smiled at her. "Are you ready?"

"No."

"Very well," he said, blocking Freda and Roxie from her view again. "But you shall try, yes? Do your best. Know that Freda and Roxie are waiting for you to fail."