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followed – one of those pauses in which everyone feels the need to insert something profound, but no one can think of anything more profound than “So, yes. Anyway.” Una used the pause as an opportunity to sidle closer to her father, though this necessitated turning and facing the Prince of Farthestshore, which was no more comfortable, she found, than standing with him just behind her. She studied the toes of her shoes to avoid looking at him.
    “So, yes. Anyway,” Felix said, stepping forward and extending a hand to the other prince, who shook it warmly. “I’m Felix, crown prince and all that, heir to the throne, though Una’s older. Don’t let her fool you. She’ll pretend she’s all right with the royal succession being what it is, but you get her in the right mood and – ”
    “Felix!” Fidel and Una said, though in rather different tones. Felix let go of the other prince’s hand and backed away, still grinning.
    King Fidel stepped forward, determined to once more take charge of the situation. “I bid you welcome to Parumvir, Prince A . . . Apple – ”
    “Aethelbald.”
    “Prince Aethelbald. Should you wish to dine at my table this evening, your presence would be well received.”
    “Indeed,” said Prince Aethelbald, “such was my hope. Though I traveled with the market, my first desire was to pay my respects to you, Your Majesty, and most particularly to your daughter.”
    Una blinked.
    Her father said, “Pay your respects?”
    “Indeed, Your Majesty.”
    Fidel cleared his throat. There are many expressive ways a king may clear his throat; this one expressed keen interest. “Just how great would you say your kingdom is?”
    “How great can you imagine, King Fidel?”
    “Rather great.”
    “Mine is greater.”
    “Ah.”
    Another pause. Una’s mind had reached a mental wall several sentences back, and was only just now getting up the speed to vault it. But instead of making a graceful leap, her mind crashed headfirst into the wall, scattering bricks and uttering one long, silent Nooooooo!
    Because she was a princess, however, her face remained serene.
    “Do, please, come to supper this evening, then, Prince Aethelbald,”
    King Fidel said. With these and a few more polite words, king and Prince made what arrangements were necessary. Then Fidel signaled his guard, bade his children mount their horses, and Una found herself riding back up the King’s Way in a numb daze.
    Felix urged his horse up beside hers. “Applebald!” he whispered.
    She took a swipe at him with her riding crop, not caring if the guardsmen thought her common.
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    “I so dislike the name Aethelbald!”
    Nurse, busily tying Una’s hair into an awesome if precarious tower on top of her head, clucked without sympathy.
    A buzz of activity percolated through Oriana Palace as hasty preparations were made to feast the Prince of Farthestshore and his entourage, due to arrive at sundown. The best silver was polished, the chandelier was refitted with new candles, and even the great tapestry in the King’s Hall was taken out into the courtyard and beaten until the guardsmen standing at their posts were coughing and filmed over with dust. To crown it all, Princess Una had been stuffed into her best dress, a much-hated creation consisting of three layers of silk, two layers of chiffon, and wire structures beneath that made things stick out in odd but highly fashionable places. Then Nurse had sat Una down before her vanity, and the real work, the task of taming the princess’s flyaway hair, had begun.
    “I mean it!” Una said, shaking her head so that her hairstyle fell in a long flop down one side of her face. Nurse growled, cracked her knuckles, and firmly twisted her princess’s chin straight again. She set to with her brush more vigorously than ever.
    “It sounds stodgy,” Una said.
    “Stodgy, Miss Princess?” Nurse took a pin from between her teeth and rammed it into place with more force than