A Tale of Two Castles(70)

My masteress told me ITs opinion over a mutton stew I had cooked. “When Thiel is king, he will not send Lepai to war. Until then, if King Grenville expects his son-in-law to lead anyone to battle, he will be disappointed. Thiel loves himself too much to risk even an eyebrow hair.”

I thought Princess Renn wouldn’t poison anyone again for a while at least. I believed she truly loved Thiel—tall, handsome, and now rich Prince Thiel, whose table manners were excellent. But if he angered her, he had better not eat his meals at home.

A monkey and a dog appeared in our entrance. Nesspa, trailing his chain, trotted to the fireplace where the stew pot hung.

The monkey loped in, chittered, stroked my hair, and smiled his toothy smile at me. I jumped off my high stool and curtsied. The monkey took my masteress’s front claw and stroked it.

“Welcome, Your Lordship.” From ITs pink smoke I knew IT was enduring the petting.

The monkey ran to the middle of the room and began to vibrate.

When the shift was complete, I asked, “May I give you stew, Your Lordship?” I hoped we had enough.

“Thank you.” He piled pillows on the floor and sat on them with his legs under our table. I ladled stew into ITs largest bowl and held a morsel of cheese out to Nesspa. Then I poured tumblers of apple cider for us all.

While we ate and drank, my masteress spoke at length about the making of books.

Finally His Lordship put down his spoon. “I have something to say.” His chest rose in a huge breath. “The townspeople have forgiven me for being an ogre. Seven smiled at me today.”

“That’s wonderful, Your Lordship,” I said.

“Yes.” He smiled, not the huge, sweet smile that transformed his face but a small smile that mixed pleasure and sadness.

We waited.

“Now I would like to travel.”

“Where will you go?” I asked, feeling a lump form in my throat. I was losing Goodwife Celeste, and now I would lose His Lordship.

“To Tair. Several of us live there. Humans are not so clannish in Tair.”

Nesspa curled up against the wall next to the cupboard.

“When do you depart?” IT asked.

“Soon. I want you both to come.” He blushed. “If you will. An ogre can use someone to induce and deduce and someone to mansion.”

I had no fondness for Two Castles, and one way to reach Tair involved crossing Lahnt. I might see my parents and Albin. How heavenly that would be.

Father and Mother would overcome their fear of a dragon and an ogre. They wouldn’t be like the people here.

My masteress said nothing.

His Lordship’s blush deepened. “I will pay you to come.”

IT tilted ITs head. “We will consider your proposition. You will pay handsomely?”

“Yes.”

“Lodie?” IT asked.

I nodded.

The next day, while I proclaimed, my masteress and His Lordship conferred in the lair about the coming journey. Two weeks later I had been ITs assistant for a month, and IT paid me my first wages, slowly and solemnly counting the twenty tins into my hand. I slid them into my purse, which jingled delightfully. How astonished Mother and Father would be at this wealth.

But I owed three tins to Master Dess, and I had been tardy in repaying him. I found him in the stables of the Two Castles Inn, tending a lame horse.

“I forgot, honey!” he said when I produced the coins—

carefully, although Two Castles was a more honest place now that Master Thiel was with the princess.

“Master Dess, I’m going to Tair.”

“Ah.” He patted the horse’s flank. “The cows in Tair are striped, honey, small for cows, but their milk is sweet as honey. I wish you a safe journey.”


The following day His Lordship left his castle in Sir Misyur’s trustworthy hands and took with him on the cog only enough valuables to half fill the hold. Much of the rest of the hold was stuffed with ITs hoard.

His Lordship, my masteress, and I stood on the deck along with Goodwife Celeste and Goodman Twah, who had delayed their departure to cross with us. I was glad to know the goodwife had peppermint leaves in her purse.

IT said, with satisfaction in ITs voice, “There are those who keep to their lairs and those who travel. We travel.”

The cog master raised the gangplank.

I closed my eyes and imagined the mountains of Lahnt and our valley hidden among them. Home and then away again with my two friends—deducing, inducing, using my common sense, and mansioning.





About the Author

GAIL CARSON LEVINE’S ELLA ENCHANTED won a Newbery Honor. Levine’s other books include EVER and FAIREST, both New York Times bestsellers; DAVE AT NIGHT, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; THE WISH; THE TWO PRINCESSES OF BAMARRE; and the six Princess Tales books. She is also the author of the nonfiction WRITING MAGIC: Creating Stories That Fly and the picture books BETSY WHO CRIED WOLF and BETSY RED HOODIE. Gail and her husband, David, live in a two-centuries-old farmhouse in New York’s Hudson Valley. You can visit her online at www.gailcarsonlevinebooks.com and at www.gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com.

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