'The welcome I'm interested in is dinner,' Kazul said with a smile that showed all her teeth.
Willin backed away hastily. 'Of course, of course. I'll see about it immediately.'
'I'd better come with you,' said Cimorene. 'I've been Kazul's Chief Cook for over a year, and I know what she likes.'
The two of them left, heading for the other side of the castle, with Kazul trailing hopefully behind them.
Mendanbar wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. He wanted very much to talk to Cimorene, but he wasn't sure how to tell her what he wanted to say, and anyway they certainly couldn't discuss the things he wanted to talk about with all these other people around.
'Mendanbar, have you got somewhere I could work on these without being disturbed?' Telemain asked, nodding at the load of wizards' staffs he was carrying.
'I wouldn't mind examining them myself,' Morwen said.
'The blue room would be best, I think,' Mendanbar said. 'The light is better in my study, but there's a gargoyle in the corner who can be, um, difficult.'
'We'll take the study,' Morwen said decisively. 'Light is important, and once Telemain gets involved, he won't notice any distractions.'
'What about you?' Telemain asked, nettled.
Morwen sniffed. 'I can handle considerably more than a mere gargoyle.'
'All right,' Mendanbar said. 'As long as you're sure.'
He showed them to the study and helped them get settled, then went down to the kitchen to see how Cimorene and Kazul were doing. He found Kazul in the rear courtyard, eating an enormous kettle of stew that had been intended to be supper for the entire castle. Cimorene was in the kitchen, her arms covered in flour to the elbows, rolling out pie crust and giving orders to the cook. Mendanbar stayed long enough to make sure the cook would do whatever Cimorene told him to, and then Cimorene chased him away, saying that it was difficult enough to cook in a strange kitchen without people hovering over her.
'You don't have to cook anything,' Mendanbar told her.
'I do if we want any dinner,' Cimorene retorted. 'Kazul is already eating everything that was ready for tonight, and she's going to want more as soon as she's finished. Your people aren't really prepared to cope with a visiting dragon.'
'We've never had one before.'
'Well, you have one now.' Cimorene glanced toward the courtyard and lowered her voice. 'I think We'll be staying for a few days at least, if that won't cause too many problems. Kazul needs to get her strength back before she tries to fly back to the Mountain of Morning.'
'You can stay as long as you like,' Mendanbar assured her. 'Is there anything I can do to help?'
'You can let me get back to making dinner!' Cimorene said. She was smiling, but she obviously meant what she had said.
'All right. Call me if you need anything.' Mendanbar bowed and left, feeling a little put out.
He went to the castle library, since his study was occupied, and poked about in the scrolls for a few minutes. Then he decided to check on Prince Rupert and his nephew. He found the middle-aged prince quickly enough, but he had to send someone to retrieve the young Crown Prince from the dungeon.
'Did you enjoy your stay?' Mendanbar asked when Crown Prince Jorillam arrived at last.
'It was all right,' Jorillam said. He looked rumpled and vaguely dissatisfied.
'But there weren't any rats. I thought there'd be rats. There wasn't a rack, either.'
'Jorillam!' Prince Rupert said sharply. 'It's not polite to complain about things like that. Where are your manners?'
'I don't understand,'Jorillam said, frowning. 'If there were rats and a rack, I'd be expected to object, wouldn't I? So why can't I complain when they aren't there?'
'It's not the same thing,' Rupert told him. 'I'm sorry, Your Majesty,' he went on, turning to Mendanbar. 'He's used to getting his own way.
I'm afraid I haven't done a very good job of teaching him how to behave.'
'I behave just fine,' Jorillam said.
'I am beginning to understand why you wanted to abandon him in the Enchanted Forest,' Mendanbar said to Prince Rupert.
Rupert flushed. 'No, no, it's not that. I'm really very fond of the boy.
But I have an obligation, you know, and there's no getting out of it.'
'You can leave me here, Uncle,' Jorillam said persuasively. 'That's abandoning me in the Enchanted Forest, isn't it?'
'I don't think so,' Mendanbar put in quickly. He didn't want to think about the problems the young Crown Prince could cause if he stayed at the castle. 'There are too many people here for it to count as abandonment.'
Prince Rupert nodded gloomily. 'I'm afraid you're right. And frankly, I'm not at all sure that abandoning him is the right notion. I just can't think of anything else wicked to do on short notice.'
'But you promised you'd abandon me in the Enchanted Forest,'Jorillam protested. 'And I want to be abandoned and have all sorts of adventures and come home covered in glory.'
'You're a little young for that,' Mendanbar commented, studying the Crown Prince. He smiled suddenly as an idea came to him. 'What you need is some proper training.'
'There isn't time,' Jorillam said smugly. 'Uncle has to do something wicked to me right away.'
'Ah, but that's just the point,' Mendanbar said. He turned to Prince Rupert, ignoring Jorillam's suddenly wary expression. 'Abandoning Crown Prince Jorillam won't do you any good, because he wants to be abandoned.
Letting him have his own way isn't terribly wicked, even if it isn't good for him.'
'I'm afraid you're right,' Rupert said sadly.
'But Uncle-' 'On the other hand,' Mendanbar went on, disregarding Jorillam's interjection 'if you promised you'd abandon him, breaking that promise would certainly be wicked. And if you sent him off to a private school for princes-' 'I don't want to go to school!'
'Oh, my.' Prince Rupert looked from Mendanbar to Jorillam-who now looked thoroughly alarmed-and back. 'I think I see what you're getting at. If he hates the idea, then it probably is wicked, even if it's good for him. And there's breaking the promise, too.'
'And you wouldn't have to tell anyone at home what you'd done with him,' Mendanbar said. 'You could rule the country just as if you really had abandoned him in the forest, and no one would know. Surely misleading all those people would be wicked enough for your society.'
'I think you're right,' Prince Rupert said, smiling for the first time since Mendanbar had met him. 'I really think you're right.' His face fell suddenly. 'But how am I going to find a good school before sunset tomorrow?'
'Don't worry about that,' Mendanbar said reassuringly. 'I know just the place. It's up in the Mountains of Morning, where no one is likely to run across it, and it's run by a dwarf named Herman. If you like, I'll send a messenger off right away to arrange things.'
'No!' said Jorillam.
That would be wonderful,' said Prince Rupert with relief. 'Ah, I don't suppose this Herman person would be willing to write a letter to the Society explaining matters?'
'I don't see why not,' Mendanbar said. 'But what do you want it for?'
'Just to confirm that I'm fulfilling the requirements,' Prince Rupert explained. 'It's a rather unusual arrangement, you see, and I want to be sure the Society will think I've been wicked enough.'
'I understand,' Mendanbar told him. 'Don't worry about it. If Herman won't write you a negative enough letter, I'll send one myself. I'll bet even the Right Honorable Wicked Stepmothers' Traveling, Drinking, and Debating Society will believe the King of the Enchanted Forest.'
18
