Free Harrowing Hats by Joyce and Jim Lavene Page B

the other end. It was just more subtle, and you had to know the players.
    There were fake weapons and coats of arms decorating the stone walls. Imitation wall hangings were bright and colorful for the thousands of visitors who walked through here each day.
    But the residential side of the castle was filled with the good stuff. Livy and Harry had brought in hundreds of antiques and other treasures to make their castle fit for the royalty they were. Visitors never entered this part of the castle, unless they were special guests. If they were such nobility, they stayed in luxurious suites with Renaissance flair—and indoor plumbing.
    From the moment we passed into the residential quarters, Bart and I could hear the weeping and moaning of Queen Olivia in her royal chambers.
    “I don’t think we should go in there,” he said as we stood outside the closed door to her personal suite. “I think an animal must have got loose in there. Or a ghost. Either way, not good news for mortals like us.”
    “I don’t have much choice. I have to give her this hat and make sure it fits okay.” I smiled and patted his shoulder. “Lucky you, all you have to do is find the king.”
    “What makes you think he isn’t in there with her?”
    I laughed. “I worked here one summer. The king disappears when the queen goes into her fits.”
    “But what about her being pregnant? She shouldn’t be alone at a time like this.”
    One bad thing about sneaking around with Bart—he didn’t sneak. And he had a loud, booming voice that could be heard across a jousting field when he whispered. The next thing we knew, Queen Olivia had jerked open the door to her chambers and was ready to confront us.
    Her eyes were red and puffy. Redheads (even those who used to be redheads and had to frequently visit the royal hairdresser to maintain those titian-esque locks) should never cry. They look even worse than blonds.
    “What are you doing sneaking around out here? Are you gossiping about me being pregnant? It’s a lie! If I were a real queen, I’d have that evil nurse’s head on a pike outside the castle for telling such a falsehood.”
    I glanced at Bart. He made a hasty retreat down the long, stone hall, muttering about finding the king as he went. I dropped the queen a low, formal curtsy. “I am so sorry to bother you, Your Majesty. But Andre needs to make sure this hat will fit you.”
    She waved me into her chamber, blowing her nose loudly in a handkerchief. “What does it matter? None of my clothes will fit soon. I’ll be a large whale of a queen who no one will want to see. Maybe Andre can make a hat big enough to fit over my whole body.”
    Olivia isn’t exactly a tiny figure of a woman anyway. I didn’t say it, but it was possible no one would even notice she was pregnant, especially in the right Renaissance clothes. “Perhaps the evil nurse”—I was certainly willing to agree with her on that point—“has made a mistake.”
    The queen flounced down on her red velvet sofa. It was then that I noticed all the modern-day pregnancy tests that surrounded her. I wasn’t sure what they used in the Renaissance for this purpose, but in this case, all the tests seemed to be positive.
    “Whatever will I do, Lady Jessie? The king will no longer love me or want to be with me when he learns I am with child.”
    I longed, nay, yearned to ask the question, Is the baby Harry’s? But I didn’t let the words come out of my mouth. “I’m sure Your Majesty will find the king pleased that he will be a father.”
    She batted her long eyelashes at me, black smears of mascara running down her pink face. “Do you really think so? We are both a little old to have children. I never even thought about it.”
    I guessed she was in her forties, probably. Harry, a few years older. It wasn’t insane to think they could have a child. But I approached the idea from a different angle. “It would be wonderful for the Village. Imagine the birth of a new prince or