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palace gardens, Akiko?”
    “No,” I answered. “I never got the chance.”
    “That’s a shame,” said the Prince. “They’re really lovely. There are flowers there from nearly every planet in the galaxy—”
    “So, um,” I interrupted, “Alia Rellapor just sort of swooped down into the gardens and kidnapped you? Is that how it happened?”
    “Uh . . . ,” said the Prince, looking extremely uncomfortable, “. . . yeah. More or less.”
    There was a long pause. I glanced at Spuckler and Mr. Beeba. Each of them shifted his gaze elsewhere. I had a very strange feeling that I’d just started a conversation no one particularly wanted to have. Which for some reason just made me all the more anxious to have it.
    “So why does Alia Rellapor hate your father so much, Prince Froptoppit?” I asked. “What did he ever do to her?”

    The Prince stared at me with an expression of extreme agitation. He glanced pointedly at Mr. Beeba and Spuckler, as if my questions were signs that they had failed to explain something to me—something very, very important. Mr. Beeba and Spuckler looked taken aback.
    “Come on,” I said, now feeling extremely anxious to get some decent answers. “It’s a simple enough question. What is Alia Rellapor’s problem with King
    Froptoppit?”
    “Well . . . ,” the Prince began, now looking directly at Mr. Beeba, as if waiting for permission.
    “This red-tinted torchlight is
really
unpleasant, don’t you think?” Mr. Beeba asked, trying to sound casual and failing miserably at it. “I should think a nice warm shade of yellow would have shown this room off to
much
better effect. . . .”
    “Yeah, Beebs,” Spuckler added loudly, sounding even more unnatural than Mr. Beeba had. “Warm yellow. You’re, uh, right on the money there—”
    “What’s going on here?” I interrupted. “Why are you two trying to change the subject?”
    “Wh-who’s trying to ch-change the subject?” Mr. Beeba stammered.
    “
You’re
trying to change the subject,” I said. “And you’re doing a pretty lousy job of it too.”
    “I . . . ,” Mr. Beeba gasped, his eyes darting around and doing everything but meeting my gaze, “I’m sure I don’t know
what
you’re talking about, Akiko.”
    “You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?” I asked.
    “Hiding something?” Spuckler and Mr. Beeba said in unison. They looked so uptight I could have popped them both like balloons.
    “There’s something you’re trying to keep me from finding out,” I said angrily. “Something about Alia Rellapor.”
    “No, no,
no,
Akiko,” Mr. Beeba protested, his eyes finally looking directly into mine. “I mean . . . ,” he continued, swallowing hard and seeming almost to shrink a little right there in front of me, “. . . yes.”

 Chapter 12 

    “I knew it!” I cried, jumping to my feet, my voice sounding much louder than I intended. “You’ve been
lying
to me! I can’t believe this!”
    I was shivering like crazy. I felt hot and cold at the same time. It seemed as if everything I’d been depending on for the past five days was suddenly collapsing and falling apart.
    “’Kiko, ’Kiko!” Spuckler said, rising to grab me by the shoulders. “Calm down, now, it ain’t like that. We would never lie to you jus’ to be mean,” he added, a sad and apologetic look in his eyes. “We were under
orders.
”
    “Orders?” I asked, tears welling up in my eyes. “Whose orders?”
    “My father’s,” answered a quiet voice. It was Prince Froptoppit. He was staring gravely at Spuckler and Mr. Beeba, suddenly looking much older than his years. “He ordered you not to tell her, didn’t he?”
    They both nodded solemnly. My heart sank and my stomach felt very tight and slightly queasy. I turned to look at Poog. He had a calm, resigned look in his eyes, as if something he’d known was unavoidable was finally coming to pass.
    “He ordered you not to tell me
what
?” I