Read Twice Upon a Marigold for Free Online

is your queen, returned at last."
    "It can't be!" she heard. And "I don't believe it." And "What is that she's wearing?" And "I thought she was gone for good." All of which Olympia interpreted in the most complimentary way.

7
    "What about us?" Lazy Susan called after her as Olympia headed for the postern that led directly to Swithbert's quarters.
    "Oh, yes. You two take the beasts to the stables." Olympia pointed. "Tell somebody there to return them to Granolah. And make sure they take that horrible wheelbarrow, too. Whoever delivers them can go back to Lucasa's home and tend it until he gets back there. Oh—and tell them to send along a bag of gold pieces. I said I'd compensate the owners of the stuff, and a queen keeps her word. pathetic as those animals and that conveyance are, they got me home."
    (It would turn out that Mr. Appenzeller ignored his wife's advice for the choice of a campaign slogan and instead used Olympia's generous compensation as the inspiration for the slogan in his next mayoral campaign: elect appenzeller. he can turn your asses into gold. He lost the election.)
    "Then," Olympia went on, "go see Mrs. Clover, the head housekeeper. Tell her I sent you, and why." She turned her back on them and vanished.
    Lazy Susan heard a peasant say, "I'm glad I'm not in King Swithbert's shoes right now. If
we
were glad she's been gone, think how happy he must have been without her."
    "Come on, Mr. Lucasa," Lazy Susan said, grabbing a mule by the bridle. "Let's get out of this mob." She pulled the flowers from her hair so as not to be conspicuous. She didn't think the crowd sounded as welcoming as Olympia apparently did.
    Together they located the stables and deposited the mules and the wheelbarrow with a bewildered stable boy, then followed his directions to the kitchens, where Mrs. Clover could be found.
    Explaining what they were doing there took quite some time, as Mrs. Clover kept interrupting to say things like "Queen Olympia is really back? Oh, dear,"
and "Are you sure it's her? Couldn't there be some mistake?" and "Everything has been so lovely and calm here for the last year. Oh, dear."
    Finally Lazy Susan was able to make her understand the situation—that she was meant to be Olympia's handmaiden, and that Mr. Lucasa was to work in the kitchen and with the chief seamstress.
    So Mrs. Clover sent both of them off to see Sedgewick, the head butler, about getting the proper uniforms, and spent the rest of the day wringing her hands and fretting.

    A S O LYMPIA MOUNTED the staircase to the breakfast room, she felt quite pleased with the sensation she had caused in the bailey. How smart of her to arrive on Market Day. Making a dramatic entrance was important to maintaining one's image, and she thought she had done very well. The flowers and the mule had turned out to be brilliant elements—a touch of the commoner, but with a regal presence. Really, that entrance had had everything: surprise, drama, whimsy, pathos.
    Swithbert waited at the top of the stairs.
Oh!
she thought,
he has that dreadful troll with him, the one who had been part of that melee at Marigold's wedding.
    What was he doing here? Why wasn't he in the
dungeon where he belonged? She could see that things had gotten out of hand in a big way since she'd been gone. But that was Swithbert for you. Too softhearted, and way too incompetent to be a decent ruler.
    She held both her hands out to the king, ignoring Ed.
    Swithbert had no choice but to take them. While he was normally gentle and good-hearted, at that moment he thought that a lot of trouble could probably be avoided if he just gave her a little shove down the stairs. He was immediately ashamed of himself.
    "It really is you, isn't it?" Swithbert said. He'd been hoping she was an impostor, or a joke, or a nightmare. But face to face, he could see that it really was Olympia. A little worse for wear, to be sure, but there was no mistaking that cocksure gleam in her eyes. Or that ferret