To Bart’s horror, he went sailing back through the wall—and it broke. The mantel of the fake fireplace bent around him like it was trying to hug him. There was a moment when he was in the air, wrapped in the fireplace, then bam! He sailed all the way through to hit the floor of Stage Two. He managed to keep his head up so it didn’t hit the floor, but still, he was dazed. He looked up to see the rest of the wall, now with a giant hole in it, teeter then fall around him. The noise made him wince; the dust made him cough. Next, the curtain that had been drawn across the stage came down. When it fell, he knew the audience could see him sitting there surrounded by the layers of fallen wall and thick curtain.
Dazed as he was, Bart didn’t dare look at the audience. It was no telling how they were taking this. Would they defend him or be glad of his humiliation?
Bart saw the two women stamp across the rubble of the wall toward him. He was pinned down under the debris and his instinct was to throw his arms over his face and beg them not to further hurt him. But he was too aware of his reputation for being the manliest of men. Bracing himself, he stared up at the women, one on each side of him.
The maid held out her hand.
Bart gave a weak smile. Good! She was sorry for what she’d done—accidently, of course—and was offering help. But when he lifted his hand, she snatched hers back.
On the other side, the princess held out her hand. “Give it to me!”
It took a moment to know what she meant. It was then that Bart realized he was still holding the little piece of carved wood that had been on that puppet. The “puppet” that flew across the room.
He held it up and she rudely grabbed it out of his hand.
“You bastard!” the princess said to him.
The maid said, “Pick on someone your own size, you bully!”
The women stamped back to Stage One.
Bart could only stare at them. He had no idea what was goingon. He watched as the princess held up the wooden piece, then the “puppet” flew to her shoulder, and she handed the stick to him. Bart heard a male voice say, “Thank you,” then the two—or was it three?—people left the stage. The back curtain closed.
When Aradella and Bree were on the other side of the curtain, they looked at each other in shock, then turned away. They had just seen different viewpoints of their entire lives.
Aradella spoke first. “I think we lost out on being given anything. No rose for us.” When Bree didn’t reply, Aradella said, “Your push.” She was asking a question.
Bree hesitated. “I inherited some of my father’s strength.”
“And you kept it secret from everyone? Even your sister?”
Bree nodded. “Just Papá knows. We used to sneak out at night to train.”
“That’s when you saw me with Hale,” Aradella said.
Bree nodded. “Yes. We—”
“Starken-el, you two!” the man they’d seen earlier shouted. From his attitude, he was the owner. “Get out there and take your bows. That audience is cheering and screaming. I’ve never heard anything like it!” He threw back the curtain and they could see through to the stone seats. Everyone, male, female, children, even some weird-looking animals, were shouting and clapping.
“For us?” Aradella asked.
The man rolled his eyes. “Brainless but talented!” He put his hand on Aradella’s back to push her forward, started to touch Bree, but then drew back. “I’ll give you half of everything I own if you two will do that every week.”
“Thanks,” Aradella said, “but this was a one-time performance.”
The man looked at Bree. “As for you, power baby, anytime you wanta spend the night with me, I’m yours.” He stepped away from them. “Go!”
When Aradella and Bree got to the front of the stage, the audience went wild with cheering. The women looked at theflattened wall. Bart was no longer there but the evidence of what they’d done was.
Aradella grabbed Bree’s hand and raised her arm like the winner of a contest. Bree looked reluctant, but Aradella nodded to the other arm. Bree raised both arms and the crowd yelled even louder.
What they didn’t see in the shadows was Tam, Mekos, and Qip. They’d seen the entire play.
Mekos looked at Tam. “Did you know?”
It was easy to figure out that he meant Bree’s strength. “Yes,” Tam said rather smugly.
They looked back to see the stage manager making his way through the rubble on the nearly demolished Stage Two. He moved debris until he found the purple rose in the vase. He picked it up, walked across the fallen wall, then made a flamboyant gesture of presenting it to Aradella and Bree like it was a trophy.
