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lady’s oddly colorless eyes were looking straight through her and could see to the bottom of her very soul, could know everything about her, every sadness, every joy, every fear. The owl perching on Berwynna’s shoulder shifted its weight and then, as owls can do, spun its head nearly all the way around. Berwynna cocked her own head to look at the owl.
    “Uthmore here thinks I should give you a bit of a hint.”
    “Oh yes, please do!” Gundersnap pleaded. Berwynna raised up on her tiptoes, looked straight into Gundersnap’s eyes, and began to speak in a singsongy voice that was as creaky as a door on rusty hinges.
“She thought she saw a horse at first,
The stitches not quite there,
And then she looked again and thought,
A unicorn—beware!
Your mama said that none exist ,
These fancies of our dreams .
And yet the stitches left unsewn
Seem to almost gleam .
The heart insists, the mind rebels
And says it can’t be so.
But listen to your heart I say,
And sew and sew and sew.”
    The tiny woman took a step closer to Gundersnap and rose up on her tiptoes again. The colorless eyes seemed to spit the fire of the stars. Then Berwynna sank down from her tiptoes, rocked back a bit on her heels, and gave Princess Gundersnap a smug little grin.
    Gundersnap was frustrated.
    “But I don’t give a fig about unicorns.”
    “A fig! A fig!” exclaimed Berwynna, and pulled one from her ear. A wasp swooped out as well and began buzzing madly about. “They love figs, don’t you know. Lay their eggs in them,” Berwynna explained.
    “In your ear?” Gundersnap felt a churning in her stomach.
    “If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: I am a friend of all creatures. If they find my earwax comfy, why not? I’m a decent sort of a landlady. I evict no one.”
    “But I don’t understand what a unicorn has to do with Menschmik.”
    Berwynna merely shrugged. “How should I know?”
    She’s impossible! thought Gundersnap.
    “Of course I’m impossible,” Berwynna replied. “What fun is there in being possible?”
    “Were you speaking about my mudder in the poem?” Gundersnap asked. “Empress Maria Theresa?”
    “Every kid tries to blame her parents. How unoriginal! So don’t be getting a bee in your bonnet about mothers.” Just then a large bee flew out from a tangle of hair. Gundersnap blinked and suppressed her surprise. I should be used to this by now, she thought. Nevertheless, a bee flying out of someone’s hair and a wasp from her ear were still alarming.
    But the bee and the wasp vanished into the night, and suddenly the edges of Berwynna’s body began to grow blurry and smudged. Her face was fading.
    “She’s dissolving,” Gundersnap whispered to herself. How can she leave me like this?
    “I can, I can.” The words echoed somewhere in her head.
    “But what am I supposed to sew—a horse or a unicorn?!” Gundersnap moaned in despair. “Oh, come back. Please come back!” she wailed.
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Chapter 6
    A ROYAL MESS

    “Well?” Alicia asked when Gundersnap returned. In fact, less than an hour had passed since she had left, although it had seemed much longer. The princesses were readying themselves for luncheon.
    “Where’s Gortle?”
    “Don’t worry. He’s not entertaining anyone. He and Lady Merry went out for a sleigh ride. Although now that the snow is gone, they’re probably stuck in the mud someplace.”
    “Did you find her? Did you meet her?” Kristen asked impatiently.
    “Yes, I met with Berwynna.” Gundersnap sighed as she spoke.
    “Oh no!” Alicia exclaimed. “Up to her old tricks, was she?”
    “Rather,” Gundersnap replied.
    “What old tricks—magic?” Myrella asked.
    “Not really,” Alicia replied. “Berwynna has this annoying habit of speaking in riddles and never actually answering your question, at least not with whole answers.”
    “So what parts did she give you, Gundersnap?” Kristen persisted.
    On her way back from the Forest of