"Highness, King Auberg has made it abundantly clear to us that even with no throne to call your own, you are royal and your wish is our command." Captain Watkins bowed low, and his expression grew stern as he straightened up, so when he turned it on the princes, they blanched to a man. All he had to do was point, and they scurried out of the kitchen.
"Captain? A small favor?"
"Anything, Highness." He swept her another, smaller bow. The captain really did have a wonderful future as a courtier. He had the manners down perfectly.
"Those ... ruffians are obviously being guided by magic. If you could find the source of that magic and remove it, they wouldn't be able to harass and frighten any more innocent women." She crumpled her cap in her hands. The tallest prince looked back at her, and the glint in his eyes made her think he wasn't nearly as repentant as he appeared or should be. "It's hard enough being deprived of my ancestral kingdom, but for those bullies to intrude in here and frighten the children and remind me of all I have lost ... I couldn't bear it if another displaced princess were to suffer the same humiliation and pain."
"Anything for you, Highness." He bowed again and grabbed hold of the shoulder of the prince closest to him, to guide him out of the kitchen. The foster parents guided the children away moments later.
Merrigan sat down on the nearest stool at the long preparation table. Her legs felt rather weak. Echoes of her icy words hummed in her head and her chest. She didn't like the sound of her voice, and liked even less the feeling of familiarity the whole situation gave her.
"Mara?" Nasius paused in the doorway of the kitchen. Merrigan wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, holding her hands clasped tightly together so she wouldn't feel them tremble. The sounds of the orphanage on a rainy day had returned to normal, if a little softer than usual. "Are you all right?"
"Are they gone?"
"Gone, and if we're lucky, on their way out through the gates as fast as the good captain can move them."
"Good. I think it went rather well, don't you?"
"Well?" Nasius tipped his head back and let out one of his rare, bull-bellow laughs. "Mara, you were brilliant! If I weren't still heartbroken over my Felicia—if I were ten years younger—I'd ask you to marry me right this moment."
"Don't be ridiculous." She surprised herself with a chuckle. The sound broke a logjam inside her. Warmth spread to her extremities and calmed the impending shudders. "If I were twenty years younger, you mean."
"Well, maybe it's the magic of that crown, the colors ..." He crossed the kitchen to her and held out his hand. "There are many kinds of beauty, and youth is the least of them."
"Oh, my." Merrigan accepted his help sliding off the stool, and gladly leaned into his arm to walk back to the sewing area. "Nasius, where were you when I was ... well, when my prospects were much kinder?"
Just to be safe, Merrigan and Bib agreed to leave the magic sleeping cap on Belinda for the rest of the day. Nasius kept watch on the cauldron of pea soup, monitoring the nearness of the intruding princes and their tracking spell by the speed of the sparkles in the air. The old philosopher let out another bellow of triumph two hours later, and came running to report that the sparkles of magic had vanished with an audible snapping sound. Later, Captain Watkins confirmed their theory—King Auberg had had the princes searched and every bit of magic removed from their belongings.
"Female magic," a thin, dusty-voiced man announced when Merrigan, Belinda, Bib and Nasius came to the palace two days later to discuss the resolution of the problem with King Auberg.
The king introduced the man as Bergomass, the seer and enchanter. He had assigned himself to the kingdom of Williburton, mostly because he didn't like to move and he had a comfortable, roomy suite in the north tower of the palace. He also happened to be King Auberg's great-great-great-uncle. He preferred most people not even know he existed, and had a clever spell in force that didn't take much maintaining, so people looked at the north tower and never wondered about it. Some didn't even realize it was there. He liked a good game of chess, appreciated magic puzzles, and got on very well with King Auberg. He had been incredibly busy for years, focused solely on unraveling the curse that tried to erase even the memory of Prince Aubrey. Now that the prince had been found and restored, he had far less work to do and was in a good mood. The task and challenge of deciphering the spell used on Belinda was just what he was looking for.
"I agree that the enchantress who wove the spells has a grudge against you, Princess. Most likely she is someone who knows you very well. See here." Bergomass gestured at a long table with numerous items scattered across a surface made of intersecting strips of iron and silver. Iron to counteract inimical magic and silver to reinforce the restraint spells, to keep any active residue of magic from affecting anyone in the room.
He explained that each prince in the party had carried a little leather bag, sewn with silver thread, carrying locks of red hair and dried peas, arrowheads and several pages torn from a book. Closer inspection showed the leather bags had bits of embroidery on them. Bergomass decided the leather had come from one larger leather item, perhaps a lady's hunting outfit. The passages on the pages were familiar, and likely all came from the same book.
"Mine," Belinda said, her voice thick, after she examined the items. She wrapped her arms tight around herself. "My hunting outfit—my arrows—my hair—my favorite book!"
"Who would be able to
