Free The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye Page B

long, and he carried a tall golden stick.
    “Now we shall catch it!” thought the Ordinary Princess, for she was quite sure that tearful kitchen maids and sympathetic men-of-all-work were not supposed to sit about on staircases and gossip—even on back staircases.
    The very gorgeous person stood quite still and stared at them. His face got redder and redder until it was almost purple, and his eyes seemed as though they would pop out of his head in horror and amazement.
    “Oh my goodness,” thought the Ordinary Princess frantically, “now Perry will get into hot water too, and I shall be fired all over again.”
    But it seemed that the very gorgeous person was not going to fire anyone, for quite suddenly he stopped staring and getting purple, and bowed very low instead.

    “Your Majesty must excuse me,” said the very gorgeous person, bowing again, this time even lower than before, “but I was to request Your Majesty’s presence in the Council chamber. One of Your Majesty’s guards informed me that you had been seen coming this way, and though I could not believe ...”
    Here the very gorgeous person broke off and gave an apologetic sort of cough, bowed again, and said humbly, “I trust I do not intrude, but the Prime Minister begs to remind you that the matter is urgent.”
    And with a shocked look at the Ordinary Princess (who really was looking very like an ordinary kitchen maid!) he bowed himself backward through the door.
    “Well!!!” said the Ordinary Princess.
    “Of course this would happen!” said Peregrine.
    “Well I must say!” said the Ordinary Princess, and without saying it, she rose and started up the stairs in a very stately manner.
    Peregrine put out a hand and caught the hem of her skirt.
    Since it is almost impossible to continue walking up a staircase in a stately manner while someone is holding onto your dress, the Ordinary Princess stopped and said very haughtily indeed, “Will Your Majesty be so good as to release me.”
    “Don’t show off!” said Peregrine. “I can talk just like that too, if I want to. And I was going to tell you. I really was. That’s what I waited for. Only of course that flatfooted fathead of a Court Chamberlain had to go and spoil it all.”
    “So you were a real prince—I mean king—all the time,” said the Ordinary Princess.
    “Yes,” said the King. “I’m afraid I was.”
    “For two pins,” said the Ordinary Princess severely, “I’d give you a good hard slap!”
    The King grinned at her cheerfully.
    “You can’t slap a king,” he said.
    “Oh can’t I!” said the Ordinary Princess, quite as if she could.
    Then they both laughed so much that they had to sit down on the stairs again.
    “Why did you tell me that your name was Peregrine?” asked the Ordinary Princess.
    “Well, you must admit that ‘Algernon’ is pretty awful,” said the King. “Besides, my name is Peregrine. At least, it’s one of them. I’ve got eight altogether. And between you and me,” said the King, “the other six are pretty awful, too!”
    “I’ve got seven,” said the Ordinary Princess, “and some of them are simply terrible.”
    And at that they laughed so much that they had to hold onto each other to keep from slipping off their step.
    “This is dreadful of us,” said the Ordinary Princess, drying her smudged face with the edge of her shabby skirt. “We can’t go on just sitting here and laughing. Someone will catch us. And besides, prime ministers and councils don’t like being kept waiting.”
    “Let ‘em wait,” said the King cheerfully.
    But the Ordinary Princess got up from her step and dusted her frock.
    “You may be a king,” she said, “but kings are men-of-all-work too!”
    “I was trying to forget it,” said the King.
    “Good night, man-of-all-work,” said the Ordinary Princess.
    “Good night, kitchen maid,” said the King.
    So the Ordinary Princess ran up to her bed in the attic, and the King went off to the royal Council