4
I didn’t, though Jay tried his level best to do so. We went in together, about two and a half minutes after the king and queen had joined their adoring subjects. Apparently Jay wasn’t used to my being four feet wide at the ankles, either, for his foot became tangled in reams of silk and we almost toppled over together.
‘Oops,’ he said, which about covered it.
I waited while he disentangled himself from my dress. ‘I’m a public hazard in this thing.’
‘I can’t think how there weren’t more fatal accidents at the Old Court.’
Let me back up a moment. Their Majesties’ private mansion, however fine, had nothing on the real heart of Mandridore: the royal palace. A mere seven or eight minutes in the coach was sufficient to convey us to this spectacular building, and as we waited behind the ki
