“How is it possible for a Princess to go missing and no one notice? Especially… ESPECIALLY on her birthday!!!” the King bellowed from the main hall, making the chandelier shake and the wall paintings jiggle from side to side until they were completely crooked.
Telly wasn’t in the main hall, but she still heard the King loud and clear. She was a PA (Princess’s Attendant), Meg’s PA to be precise, and now she was wondering if she had the right to call herself that anymore. More like a Princessless Attendant, or even Best-Friendless Attendant. Either way, it was a no-win situation.
There was a pinch in her heart as she took a deep breath. She didn’t want to lose her job, but if she had to chose either dreaded unemployment and possible homelessness or the knowledge of Meg’s safety and whereabouts, she’d readily pick Meg every time.
So it was with high hopes that Telly joined the Princess hunt and now found herself in the Princess’s bedroom, where she was assisting several servants, two guards, and Queen Rosemary search for evidence. ….Well, maybe not the Queen.
Devoid of any reasonable reaction expected from a mother who lost a child, her Royal Highness was sitting in a chair with eyes so wide it was almost unreal.
“It’s the tiny folk again,” whispered Queen Rosemary to Meg’s favorite childhood doll. “What’s that you say? You saw the tiny man too? Perhaps they’re attacking the castle! Run off now, my lady, and tell the King!” The Queen let go of the doll and it dropped to the floor. Dazed, she stared into space and she began a little song,
“Little men, little men, green and curly-toed
Little men, little men, running down the road
Where’s he go?
How far’s he been?
His greenlady won’t know
‘Til he brings the mail home again”
Telly quickly lowered her gaze. There was something shameful about watching a woman she used to admire now act like a total and utter loon. Telly envisioned the Queen as she once was… stately, graceful, eloquent, and with a sincerity to her eyes that made everyone feel like they held a certain spot in the woman’s heart.
But that woman was gone now; replaced by a frazzled-looking Queen with dulled eyes.
Telly glanced around the room. Servants ran to and fro, searching everything for some sign of Meg’s departure, not giving a moments heed to the Queen.
Not even the King seemed to care that his royal wife wasn’t her typical self any longer. But then, he wasn’t acting himself either. Once he had been a well-respected, extremely fair man, who did his best to see that every voice was heard in his land. In the last few months he changed like day to night. Prince Thyme complained to Telly and Meg that he thought his father had some sort of mood-flu.
One minute the King would be completely indifferent and the next he would be ranting and raving like a madman, making up strange rules that barely benefited anyone. Telly and Princess Meg had a different opinion. They’d watched the King closely as of late and they had come to the conclusion that something had invaded his brain.
Telly knelt down and glanced under the bed. A napping ball of brown feathers had made a nest out of an abandoned dress.
“Stupid chickens,” she muttered as she pulled it free. It took several tugs before she could yank it out. Telly handed the overweight chicken to a butler, who shook his head in disapproval before carrying it away.
“Why, sweet Sir, is that dinner you have? I hope you basted it in cherry pudding and twigs. You know how I like that,” sang the Queen.
A thought struck Telly as mad Queen Rosemary hurried after the butler. Perhaps, she wondered, the Queen’s brain had been invaded too, or maybe just taken all together. Maybe that’s why Meg’s gone. Maybe she went to go find the Queen’s brain.
