Princess Delilah Takes Over the Narration
Princess Delilah Woeful refused to embody her family name, even when her only companion was a nasty birdie she couldn’t bite. Angelica kept pecking and cawing at her at every opportunity as they walked through the uppermost floor of the Windermere Plaza.
“Can you please hide your ears and tail,” Angelica whined. She’d already tried to remove the collar herself and earned several bright red scratches along the back of her hand. They were fully on display as she hid her face from the crowd, refusing to be seen with her current company.
“No.”
“Princess to princess,” Angelica began, her tone wheedling. “Do you think this is appropriate behavior in public?”
Delilah stopped. Normally, a small person stopping in the middle of traffic risked getting trampled. The crowd avoided Delilah, parting around her like a river around a boulder.
Several people bumped into Angelica, almost shoving her to the ground.
“Do you think your attitude is acceptable behavior among peers?” Delilah asked.
Angelica scoffed and dusted off her skirts, glaring at the crowd. The other shoppers had finally noticed the roadblock and kept their distance, though a few shot Angelica equally nasty looks. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“None of us are going to coddle you. We won’t give you special treatment just because you’re royalty. We’re all royalty. You’re no longer special, you’re barely even average.”
“Average?!”
“What skills do you bring to the table? A pretty face? Frankly, I’ve seen better. Even your insults aren’t unique. Trey is more than capable of outmatching you. Do you have anything to offer us on this quest that makes you indispensable?”
Angelica said nothing.
Delilah gave her until the count of ten to respond, then turned around and continued her march through the crowd. The first thing on their list: potions.
Several people had gathered around a large sign on one wall that provided a store directory. Delilah scanned the list until she found two different apothecaries, noted their locations, and headed for the nearest one.
Angelica silently trailed behind her.
Delilah entered Bottle Me Up and bounded over to the front counter. “Hello, I’m looking for the things on this list,” she said, handing it over to the salesperson.
The salesperson took the list, their eyes sparkling. “Right away, miss.”
“Wait.” Angelica stepped up next to Delilah and looked down her nose at the salesperson. “We need prices for each item first, including any quantity discounts. I’ll also need samples of each potion before we confirm the purchase.”
The sparkle dimmed from the salesperson’s eyes. “I can certainly explain our pricing structure to you, however, I’m not able to provide samples—”
“A pity,” she said, cutting them off. “I suppose we’ll see if Findabhair’s Solution will accommodate us.” She turned on her heel and walked out the door without looking back.
When Delilah didn’t immediately follow, the salesperson laughed uneasily. “You seem more level-headed than your companion.” Their eyes flicked up to Delilah’s ears briefly and their smile widened. “The cost of these potions will be—”
“Written down,” Delilah said.
They blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“I need you to write down the price of each potion, with the discounts she mentioned.”
“Yes, of course.” They pulled out a piece of parchment and carefully wrote everything down.
Delilah took it from them and said, “I’ll return if you have the best prices.” Then she walked out the door.
Angelica waited outside, arms crossed and expression mulish. Spotting Delilah, she straightened and asked, “Well?”
“Here’s the price list,” she said, handing it over. “Let’s check the other apothecary.”
As she read it, Angelica’s lip curled. “Did you watch them write this for you?”
“Yes, why?”
“When a shop doesn’t have prices posted, it means they’re negotiable.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? Then we can argue the price down.”
“Where does the price begin?”
Delilah’s brow furrowed but she didn’t know how to answer.
“We are two well-dressed women shopping for premium items. You handed them a list with half-a-dozen potions on it that no average citizen would buy. The rest of the list includes weapons and expensive books. We’re not carrying any shopping bags, which means Bottle Me Up was the first shop we’d visited, and we have our full budget to spend for the day. ”
“So we don’t want to haggle with them?”
“Only once we have a baseline.” They arrived at Findabhair’s Solution and Angelica said, “I will speak to this one, you wait here.”
“Why do I have to wait here?” Delilah demanded. She refused to take orders from the prissy princess just because the other girl was a better shopper.
“Because you are wearing a magical collar.” Though Angelica didn’t outright insult Delilah this time, her tone remained judgmental. “Although the magical market has had a resurgence in the last decade, only someone wealthy would waste money on a purely aesthetic item.”
Delilah protectively covered her collar, her tail swishing in agitation behind her. “My uncle made this for me.”
“Do you plan to explain that to every shopkeeper? They want to sell you product, not hear your life’s story.”
She mulled over this explanation, then said, “Fine, you can handle this shop.” Then she found a bench to sit on and waited for Angelica to complete the task.
Several minutes later, she came out empty-handed.
Delilah arched an eyebrow and hopped to her feet. “Are we going back to Bottle Me Up? To see if we can haggle them down?”
Angelica scoffed. “Of course not. Here.” She plucked a small pink leather pouch off her belt and passed it to Delilah.
Delilah pulled the string apart to loosen the opening and peered inside. Teeny, tiny boxes piled on top of each other, somehow remaining stabilized even when she shifted the bag for a better look. “What is this?”
“I certainly did not want to be responsible for carrying a small fortune’s worth of potions through a busy shopping center.
The bag was a little expensive, but the total price for the potions was two-thirds what the other apothecary quoted you, and they provided me with samples to check the quality. ”
“They charged you less and gave you better service?” Delilah asked, her brow furrowed. “Why would they do that?”
“Shopkeepers use different tactics to make a profit. Sometimes, they have high prices to earn more money on a single sale. Other times, they charge fair prices, but provide good service, which earns them repeat customers. This apothecary”—Angelica nodded to the nearby shop—“saw my expensive clothes and guessed I was an important guest of the royal family. They gave me a business card, hoping that I will put in a good word for them at the palace. One moderate sale to me may not earn them a large profit margin, but a new contract with the Royal Family? They’ll be set for life. ”
Delilah begrudgingly admitted that Angelica may have some useful qualities after all.
But she didn’t say so out loud. If she kept quiet, maybe Angelica would strive to prove herself further and stop making so many nasty comments.
They’d get better deals, and Delilah wouldn’t have to put up with her attitude.
It was a win-win scenario. “What should we tackle next on the list?”
Glancing over it, a genuine smile spread over Angelica’s lips. “Weapons.”