Free The Magykal Papers by Angie Sage Page B

Closing all the Taverns in the Castle.
    THE BAD

    Chapter Thirteen: E THELDREDDA THE A WFUL
Name: Queen Etheldredda
Age when succeeded to Throne: Forty.
Length of reign: Approx. fifteen years. Ended with a suspicious drowning, although there is a legend that she never actually died and is imprisoned in the attic.
Known for: Murdering her two baby daughters and trying to murder her oldest daughter, Esmeralda.
    THE CRAZY

    Chapter Fourteen: T HE N IGHTGOWN Q UEEN
Name: Queen Doreen
Age when succeeded to Throne: Sixteen.
Length of reign: Ten years.
Known for: Running along Wizard Way in her nightgown. Keeping ferrets in the Throne Room. Making her advisers pass a skipping test every week.

    Chapter Fifteen: W HICH W AY D ID S HE G O ?
Name: Queen Datchet III
Age when succeeded to Throne: Thirty-two.
Length of reign: Two years.
Known for: Moving the East Gate Lookout Tower to the western side of the Castle and Closing the Gate. It is thought she did this after being hit on the head by a rotten bedpost, which caused her to lose all sense of direction. One morning she took the dawn boat to the Port and was never seen again. Queen Datchet III had no daughter and was succeeded by her younger sister, Queen Daphne II (Daphne the Dull).
    THE SLIGHTLY NERVOUS

    Chapter Sixteen: T HE L ESS A WFUL D AUGHTER
Name: Queen Esmeralda
Age when succeeded to Throne: Eleven, but her brother was Regent until she was well enough to start ruling when she was twenty.
Length of reign: Thirteen years.
Known for: Having bad headaches and wearing a very large crown. N.B. Are these two facts related?

    SUNDAY

    Said good-bye to Milo—I mean my father. I still can’t get used to thinking of him as my father. Felt really annoyed with him. He just shows up with a lot of stuff for the Palace and then he goes straight off again on another trip. This time he brought a pair of gold dragons, which Dad says look cheap. He gave me a compass and said maybe one day I would go on one of his voyages with him and then it would be useful. But I am never going in one of his ships. Why should I? Felt really angry after he left and threw it across the room. Took Domino out, but it rained.

    MONDAY

    Mum is really worried about this Sickenesse that is sweeping through the Castle. No one—not even Marcia—can find a cure. Last week they opened up the Infirmary just outside the Castle in case the Sickenesse is contagious, and Mum is going over there a lot. Dad is thumping around in the attic.

    TUESDAY

    Mum spent the night at the Infirmary and did not come home until this morning. Mum is tired and grumpy. Even Sep is being a bit weird at the moment. He told me he’s been reading about some old Alchemist and he thinks he knew how to cure the Sickenesse. But what use is it anyway—the Alchemist was alive centuries ago.

    WEDNESDAY

    Had an argument with Mum at supper. Mum said she does not want me leaving the Palace in case I catch the Sickenesse. Said I have to visit the Dragon Boat every day. Mum said I didn’t. Am going to read for a bit.

    LATER

    I can’t sleep. It is one o’clock in the morning. It has been a foul evening. I was reading in my bedroom and I had a visit from a horrible ghost— Queen Etheldredda the Awful . I am not usually scared of ghosts, but I was scared of her.
    Decided to sleep in Mum's sitting room as the thought of that ghost coming back gave me the creeps. Fell asleep on the sofa (after taking off all the junk) and was woken up by Sep! Suddenly he was in the room, soaking wet, white and spluttering like he was half-drowned. And even worse, that Awful Etheldredda was there, saying that she had saved him—I don’t think so.
    And then, when I went to get Sep a dry tunic, Etheldredda ambushed me outside the door. It was horrible. She said that if I didn’t do what she asked she would “Reverse my ReClaime, Granddaughter, and your darling adoptive brother will drown at midnight tomorrow.”
    I don’t know what to do. I want to ask Mum, but