The Princess Trap (33 page)

“What?” asked von Thunberg, and Jenna saw the astonishment in his eyes. It was real. “What are you talking about, Ylva?”

“You mean you haven’t heard?” cried Ylva. Her face grew brighter. “Am I supposed to believe that? Your soldiers haven’t heard, either? No one has told you, and you’re left to storm into Holmburg with your tanks and your guns? Dad! If they’ve kept secret from you what the whole world has known for hours, isn’t that proof enough in itself …?”

Jenna saw one of the soldiers in von Thunberg’s car hurriedly talking into the microphone that was fixed to his helmet. He started gesticulating with his arms, and von Thunberg went to him and leaned over the dashboard. Time stood still.

Then the general turned, almost in slow motion. His arms sank to his side. He said something to the soldier, who nodded and spoke again into his microphone. Later, Jenna could not remember exactly what happened during the next few minutes. The enormity of her fear beforehand was now matched by the greatness of her hope. Suddenly, everything had changed. The tanks lowered their guns, and the hatches of the turrets all opened at the same time, like some strange sort of ballet. The faces that now began slowly to appear were young, South Scandian, confused, but most of all — as Jenna saw with mounting joy — they were infinitely relieved.

Jenna was trembling, and sank down to the ground where others were already sitting, as exhausted and relieved as she was. Rebel men and women, old and young, some of them weeping, some laughing, arms hugging knees, back-to-back, united in the feeling that the danger was past, but also that there was something else to come. She could see von Thunberg talking to Nahira. He took Ylva in his arms. The guns were still lowered.

So Ylva’s father is not one of them
, thought Jenna.
Perry’s father is, though, and mine. But it would have been a miracle if something as terrible as that had happened to Ylva von Thunberg, too.
And yet Jenna realized that they would all be forever in her debt for stopping this invasion, and maybe even for saving their lives.

The first soldiers began to climb out of the tanks. They stood, embarrassed, by the side of the road, just a few feet away from those at whom they had just been aiming their guns — Scandians just like themselves. When eyes met, the soldiers were the ones who lowered their gaze. Suddenly one of them let out a cry.

“Gustafson!” he shouted, and leaped toward an old man in the crowd, which parted to let him pass. “Gustafson, it’s me! Aarvid! Little Aarvid, from the farm next to yours!”

Then he threw his arms around the old man’s shoulders, and they slapped each other’s backs, laughing and sobbing at the same time, like two old friends bumping into each other after a long separation, and not as if one of them had just been on the verge of killing the other.

“My neighbor! My neighbor!” cried “Little Aarvid,” who was at least six feet tall. Suddenly other soldiers began to smile, too. Tentatively at first, but then with increasing affection, they went over to the people in the human chain and shook their hands. If someone had had a bottle of champagne to pop, the whole scene would have appeared to be one big party.

Another officer now took charge and began to issue orders. The soldiers climbed back into their tanks, but the hatches remained open, and the young men looked across the water to the dark streets of the city they no longer had to attack. Without even asking permission, the rebels climbed up and joined them. They made themselves comfortable, holding on to the gun barrels and laughing.

In this way they all rode together into Holmburg — not to conquer it, but to put an end to all the lies at last.

W
hen they crossed the dam,
the suburbs on the other side lay in silence, but behind the walls of the houses, Jenna could sense the fear. As people heard the tanks roaring through the streets, their shocked faces peered out from behind curtains. But then through the cracks they saw the rebels waving and the soldiers laughing, and with joyful relief they opened their windows and waved back.

“White flags!” one of the rebels shouted. “Give us white flags!” And down they fluttered from windows and balconies — a shower of bedsheets, crumpled or ironed, old and worn thin or brand-new, enough for every tank. Knotted around the gun barrels, they flapped peacefully, if a bit sloppily, to show everyone in the city even from a distance that the dangers of the night had passed.

Jenna sat in the back of the pickup truck between Jonas and Perry — perhaps a little closer to Perry. Ylva had also insisted on traveling with them. But why wasn’t she sitting next to Jonas? Why the distance between them in this, her hour of triumph, when she had proved to Jonas she was on his side? And why was Jonas looking away from her?

They’re embarrassed
, thought Jenna.
You can’t kiss a boy when the whole world is watching. They’re just embarrassed.

The closer they came to the palace, the denser the crowds grew. When they reached the main boulevard, the sky was already turning pink in the first light of the new day. Jenna was astonished to hear the sound of singing.

The people lining the boulevard were singing the old Scandian folk songs that she had struggled so hard to learn during the last year — songs from the north and songs from the south. Not everyone was singing in the same key, and not everyone was singing in tune. But they sang with all their hearts, with defiance, and with the certainty that right was on their side. There were out-of-tune guitars and flutes; Jenna could see a banjo and hear a clarinet, then a saxophone, and a little boy perched on his father’s shoulders was banging two saucepan lids together.

“Perry!” she whispered, light-headed with exhaustion and relief. “We did it!”

Then she saw that he’d fallen asleep, and that Jonas was laughing. She gathered up all her courage, and laughed back.

When the tanks with their white flags reached the circular flower bed in front of the palace, they stopped at the sides of the square as if to form an honor guard. Then, through the avenue of fluttering bedsheets, came the pickup truck, with Nahira, Lorok, and Meonok in the driver’s cab, and Jenna, Jonas, Perry, and Yvla in the back. The wrought iron gates opened wide.

Someone lowered the flap at the back of the truck; someone helped Jenna climb down; someone escorted her up onto the balcony, where her mother burst into tears as she took her in her arms. There was thunderous applause. “Jenna!” whispered her mother. “Thank God!”

Jenna could see a blurred ocean of faces down below in the square. “Perry’s father!” she said. “Mom, Perry’s father is …”

She had never longed so much to go to sleep. In a real bed in a real house, and without fear. But she was a princess. She took a deep breath, turned, and waved to the people, who were still singing and cheering and throwing hats and flowers up in the air. Many of them had pulled up pictures of lighters on their cell phones and MP3 players, and were waving the electronic flames.

“Perry’s father …”

“I know, Jenna, I know,” said her mother, stroking her hair.
She’s even more tired than I am
, thought Jenna.

“Only now,” shouted her uncle the king, “only now is Scandia truly free and united! Because you yourselves, the citizens of our country, have chosen freedom and unity!”

As Jenna listened to the applause, and hoped that the people in the square would hurry up and go to bed so that she could get some sleep at last, she saw Perry embracing Malena as if he never wanted to let her go.
At least they don’t mind if the whole world sees them
, she thought, and looked for Jonas and Ylva. This, surely, would be the time for them to do the same.

But Ylva was standing quietly and proudly next to Nahira, and when Jenna eventually spotted Jonas, he was staring incredulously at his best friend, Perry, with a broad smile lighting up his face. Then suddenly he was beside her.

“Hello, Jenna,” he said. As if he’d only just seen her, as if they hadn’t spent the whole day traveling together on the pickup truck, as if they hadn’t stood just a few steps away from each other facing the tanks.

“Hi,” said Jenna without turning. She went on waving to the singing, cheering crowds and didn’t look at him. But she could feel the blush creeping up her neck and into her cheeks, and she hoped that at least the people down below wouldn’t notice, even if Jonas next to her could hardly miss it.

“Let’s not be stupid, Jenna!” whispered Jonas. He waved to the people, too. Was he really turning red? Red like her? “Jenna, I thought … We could have been killed just before. Let’s not waste any more time being stupid!”

Her eyes wandered across to Ylva, and to her surprise she saw her laughingly stretch out her arm toward Jonas and, as if to encourage him, give him the thumbs-up.

“Jenna!” whispered Jonas.

Who would have thought they could kiss when the whole world was watching?

“Look!” cried Bea. “Look! It’s him!”

All night long they had sat together watching the television reports from Scandia. The coffee had been drained, and in the early morning twilight her father had finally fallen asleep in the armchair, to be followed soon after by her mother. Had Bea slept, too? Maybe just a wink, but definitely no more than that. The news channel was still transmitting events from Scandia, but outside it was already getting light, and she knew there was no way she could possibly go to school after such a night.

“It’s him, Mom! Dad! The spaghetti-and-meatballs boy! I
knew
it!”

She could see Jenna in his arms — the little player! The Player Princess! She might have let on when she was visiting them! Hadn’t Bea actually asked her? And the sly girl hadn’t breathed a word!

Bea’s cell phone played an old Beatles tune.

Txs 100x!!!
Jenna had written.
W/out u …
But that was the end of the text.

Bea yawned. “I’m going to bed,” she said. “Don’t even
think
about telling me to go to school!”

Her mother sighed. “Today’s an exception,” she said. “And what was that?” She pointed to the cell phone.

Bea laughed. “Jenna tried to send me another text,” she said. “But somehow that girl never gets it right!”

“She’s probably very tired,” said Bea’s mother. “But it was a real stroke of luck, wasn’t it, that she sent you the wrong pictures to begin with. Who knows if anyone would have believed you without that video? Yes, she’s probably just tired.”

“Who isn’t?” said Bea. “But when I’m awake again,
she’s
got to tell
me
all about
him
!”

“A
t least let Jonas in!”
said Jenna sulkily, and sneezed loudly into a fresh tissue. “You can’t leave me lying here all alone in my room while the rest of you are out there celebrating our triumph!”

Her mother was standing at the foot of the bed with a thermometer in her hand. “Still 100.4,” she said severely. “It’s just the flu. But you have a fever, so you should stay in bed, and that’s final. What you need is plenty of sleep. Then maybe by tomorrow you’ll be all right again.”

Jenna coughed. Mom always talked to her like this when she was ill. But back before she became a princess, the worst that could happen was that she’d miss a day of school — not a nationwide victory celebration! Mom was being totally unfair. Jenna had obediently stayed in bed all day just so she could enjoy the fun that night.

“Then at least let Jonas come in and see me!” she pleaded. Though she wasn’t a hundred percent sure she wanted him to see her — not like this, in her pajamas, red-nosed, puffy-eyed, bed-headed. “Please, Mom, please!”

“Absolutely not!” she said emphatically, and handed over a mug of hot lemon tea. “You want to infect him, too?”

“Well, I already kissed him,” said Jenna defiantly. “On the balcony. So he’s already caught all my viruses!”

When you’ve got a fever, maybe you lose a few inhibitions.

Mom laughed. “Then you can dream about him,” she said. “That’ll do you more good than any medicine.”

Jenna sipped at the steaming mug of tea. It was much too hot. Mom had never understood that honey lost all its vitamins if it was dissolved in such hot water. But at least Mom could tell her what had happened today. Jenna slid back under the covers, putting the mug on the bedside table. “So, what’s the latest?”

Mom understood. “They went and arrested him,” she said softly. “At the mill. Now he’s in prison. Don’t be sad, Jenna. I wish I could have given you a better father. But in those days I was young and stupid.”

Jenna nodded. Mom shouldn’t be apologizing. It had all been way worse for her. First Norlin, then Petterson.
Poor Mom
, she thought.
Who knows if she’ll ever trust a man again?
Jenna decided not to ask what had happened to Petterson.

Then she thought again of Jonas. Fortunately, she had not inherited Mom’s bad luck!

“And eventually they’ll find Bolström,” said Margareta. “I’m sure they will, and the two of them will be put on trial, along with Petterson and von Thunberg and all their accomplices.”

“What about Liron?” asked Jenna with a big sniff.

“He’s here with Jonas,” said her mother. “Now blow your nose! Is that how you were brought up? Otherwise you’ll get blocked sinuses on top of your fever, and we don’t want that!” She sighed, and pushed another tissue into Jenna’s hand. Then she watched Jenna give a mighty blow, after which she threw the tissue with unerring aim into the wastebasket. “Finding the accomplices won’t be so easy, though. What’s the evidence? Who’s going to confess to being part of it, now that the plan has failed? But the real heroes are you children. Magnus and I are so proud of you.”

Jenna sneezed. “I don’t feel like a hero,” she said grumpily, and rolled her eyes.

Mom laughed. “Sleep well, my little snuffler. Tomorrow everything will look different.”

She turned off the light and pulled the door shut behind her.

Jenna rolled over on one side. How could life be so unfair? She’d helped to protect the country against the conspirators, and now she had to lie in this dark room all alone while everyone else was out partying. Was that gratitude? Was that any way to treat a princess who was also a hero?

“What a bummer!” she murmured, and had a good cough.

At that moment, the door opened very quietly. Jenna only noticed it because for a second a thin shaft of light fell on the carpet. Then the room was dark again.

“Jenna?” whispered a voice that she would have recognized anywhere. “Jenna, are you awake?”

“Bea?” said Jenna in amazement, and bolted up in bed as the light went on. “What are you doing here?”

“I so knew you wouldn’t be asleep,” said Bea, and stopped three paces away from the bed to give a little bow. “I’d have been surprised if you were. Just please don’t give me your virus, Your Highness. I want to live it up while I’m here. How often do I get the chance to hang out in a palace?”

“But how did you …?” Jenna started to ask, before being rattled by another bout of coughing. “What are you doing here?”

“Your moms invited me,” said Bea, pulling up a chair so that she could sit close to the bed. “To join in the celebration! Because I helped you with the TV people, et cetera. But then she told me you were ill, so I said, in that case, I’d come and see you …”

“… but then, let me guess, she said I needed to sleep,” said Jenna. “Classic! Pass me a tissue, please?”

Bea looked for the box. “So I just sneaked away,” said Bea. “Since that time we climbed out the window, I’ve really felt like doing it again. You know, a crazy adventure! Seriously, Jenna, it’s so just like in a movie!”

Jenna giggled. “Oh, totally. Especially the part at the end when I catch a cold,” she said. “How anticlimactic!”

Bea shrugged. “Even royalty can catch cold,” she said. “Moving on. The boy. Details, now. Why wouldn’t you admit it last time?”

“Oh!” said Jenna. Should she tell Bea the whole story? After all, she was and would always be her BFF …

“One day there shall be a double wedding!” Bea pronounced dramatically, draping a clean tissue over her head like a bridal veil, then passing Jenna the mug of lemon tea. “Now drink up, my child. Yes, you and Sir Spaghetti-and-Meatballs, and Malena and that Mr. Brainiac she’s besotted with. I shall be your bridesmaid, and wear a fetching designer frock the color of which is yet to be determined. How completely and utterly romantic!”

Jenna couldn’t help but smile. “Mom’s forbidden Jonas to come and see me,” she said, taking a gulp. The lemon and honey drink had cooled down a bit by now.

Bea nodded thoughtfully. “When that woman’s right, she’s very, very right,” she said, giving Jenna a searching look. “Frankly, my dear, you look dreadful. Although with true love, that’s not supposed to matter. Personally, I wouldn’t want to take the chance!”

Right then there was a cautious knock at the door. “Jenna?” whispered the voice that would have made her immediately turn red if the fever hadn’t already done the job.

“Ooh, busted!” Bea whispered. “Now we’ll find out whether he really loves you.”

In the doorway stood Jonas, Malena, and Perry, all three with trays in their hands. “I see you’ve already got a party going on in here!” said Malena. “Can we join you?”

“We figured that if you weren’t coming to the party, then the party should come to you,” said Perry, and put his tray down on the desk. “We only brought the best. Who’d like some
crudités
?” he said in a pompous voice. “Buffalo wings? Waffle fries?”

Jenna wasn’t even listening to him. She wished she could disappear under the covers.

“Well, Jenna,” said Jonas, sitting down at the end of the bed. “I have to say your hair looks as stunning as a toilet brush.” The expression in his eyes was everything she could have wanted it to be. Then he gave her foot a quick squeeze through the blankets.

“I look awful,” she mumbled.

Jonas nodded. “That you do,” he said.

“Jonas!” cried Malena. “You mustn’t say such things!”

“Why not?” said Jonas, grinning at Jenna. “She knows I really think she’s beautiful!”

Perry made a gagging noise. “Stop!” he said. “Or I’ll puke. You’ve been watching too many bad movies.”

“I think so, too,” said a voice from the doorway.

Jenna looked over. No doubt her fever had crept up a few more degrees in all this excitement, but she didn’t care. “Ylva?” she said.

“I’ve brought the drinks,” said Ylva, carefully depositing a tray on the floor. “If you don’t mind? Since all the interesting people at this party seem to be hanging out in here … Anyway, I just wanted to tell you …”

“It’s OK,” said Jenna, looking toward the end of the bed, where Jonas had now settled in comfortably. Life was perfect. “You don’t have to —”

“But I want to,” Ylva persisted. “Jenna, I’m sorry. I behaved very, very badly.”

“If it’s going to get this serious, I’m out of here!” said Perry. “Is it? ’Cause I’ll go join the conga line with the old folks, I swear.”

“Oh no!” said Malena.

“Oh no!” said Jonas.

“No, definitely no!” said Jenna.

“Who’d like a soda?” asked Ylva.

Jenna sighed. What a good thing it was that Mom had told her to stay in bed!