Had Ben helped Timothy and the others to arrive at this strange, decrepit palace? Was he in trouble for having done so? Were there laws about not doing so, other than for directly disobeying a queen? Surely if Queen Moragana had forgiven Timothy, she’d forgive Ben, wouldn’t she?
And was Queen Beatrice, the Kidnapper, really suffering from Alzheimer or some other kind of senior dementia? My irritation (anger) with her dimmed somewhat with that idea, but her guards had followed through on her orders. I wouldn’t forgive them. Shouldn’t they have resisted? Shouldn’t they have said, “No, we can’t do that, our queen.”
And while, I was thinking about that, I was also wondering about Queen Beatrice’s people. Had the caretakers, nobles, servants, and staff of this palace all fled when the queen’s sickness came into being? Had they realized how batty she’d become?
Timothy was kissing my neck, making it harder to concentrate on such thoughts, but I couldn’t object to it. I needed the confirmation that we were still in love, still in lust. I turned my neck to catch his lips, then a few moments later whispered, “Can we go back to our honeymoon now?”
Suddenly, Queen Moragana’s head reared up, and her eyes centered on me once more. “Did you eat anything, my dear?” the queen asked.
I think I’d already made that clear, especially because my stomach kept growling loudly enough for those around me to think I was part Werewolf. But it was Be Nice to Queens Week, so I meekly replied, “No, not a bite.”
“Did you drink anything, child?” she continued probing.
Oh, no. Queen Beatrice of Kidnapping/Alzheimer fame had forced me to take a drink from the heavy goblet she’d handed me. Would having done so count against me in some way? For a moment, I thought about lying, but among the Fae that never worked. Timothy had told me that the Fae could always sense a lie with absolutely no effort or magic. It was like all Fae were lie detectors.
Anyway, lying wasn’t in my nature, even if it was to hurry our shipbound reunion, so I told Queen Moragana the truth.
“I took two sips of some kind of fruit juice, which I very much didn’t like, but it was because Queen Beatrice was so insistent that I do so. Truthfully, with all the threats of throwing me into the dungeon, I was afraid not to.”
“Of course. That was to be expected. Dungeon?” she added, giving the other queen a look that was strong enough to have bleached a carrot white.
Queen Moragana added. “It is obvious that she demanded that because she wanted you to be forced to stay with her. Taking food or drink while in Faery can leave a human grounded here permanently. I gather that Prince Cadarone never told you that?”