Free Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris Page A

floor. "All I did was make tea. And more raisin scones than I thought anybody could eat. But he did." And he pointed a finger at Ed.
    "Not you." Rollo removed the saber. "Him, and him, and him," he said, waving the blade at Ed, Swithbert, and Magnus. "And I can promise you, there won't be any raisin scones where they're going."
    "I need to get dressed," Magnus said, looking down at his bare legs, slippers, and dressing gown. "I can't go anywhere like this."
    "You think I'm simple enough to let you go where you could escape or fetch a weapon?" Rollo scoffed. "You're coming just as you are."

16
    It was a pitiful little procession that Rollo and his archers escorted back to the castle in the twilight. A storm was brewing off to the west, and the rumble of thunder and flash of lightning accompanied Ed (his stomach aching from all the scones), Magnus (struggling to keep his dressing gown closed while on horseback), and Swithbert (fighting back tears at his own failures).
    The downpour started just before the entourage reached the castle, and by the time Ed, Magnus, and Swithbert were locked into separate cells in the dungeon, they were dripping wet and shivering.
    "When will we get our trial?" Swithbert asked. "It's

in the Beaurivage constitution that everybody accused of something gets a trial."
    Beaurivage was unusual because it was a constitutional monarchy. Most monarchies operated at the whim of the monarch; Beaurivage had rules. But Swithbert had a sinking feeling about Beaurivage's famous rules just then. Olympia had never been fond of rules—unless they were her own. And if she were sole monarch, there would be plenty of whims.
    "I guess you haven't heard," Rollo said. "The queen is rewriting the constitution."
    "But it says in the constitution that no single person can do that," Swithbert protested. "There's a process that has to be followed."
    "That was the first thing she changed," Rollo told them, and left them in the dankness of the dungeon.
    The king slumped down against the damp cell wall. "Can you ever forgive me for getting you all into this?" he called to Ed and Magnus. "It's completely my fault. I should have been able to manage Olympia on my own."
    "Nobody can manage her on their own," Magnus called back, and sneezed.
    "At least it's clean in here," Ed said rather dolefully, since the cleanliness reminded him that all his precious possessions were gone. He paced around his cell
in the guttering light from the torch stuck in a bracket on the corridor wall. He found, overlooked by the cell shoveler-outers, a bent fork and a gold button. Not much help there.
    They were silent, each trapped in his own gloomy thoughts, until a commotion on the stone stairs leading down to the dungeon roused them from their funks. They were all standing at their barred cell doors when Olympia came sweeping along the corridor with all the trappings of royalty and then some—crown, ermine cape, scepter, orb, ropes and ropes of pearls, diamond-studded badges, emblems, and brooches pinned to her dress, feathers and ribbons attached here and there, and an escort of four soldiers carrying standards with her coat of arms on them.
    She stopped in front of his cell. "Hello, dear," she said coldly.
    "Hello, Olympia." Swithbert, with effort, kept his voice level.
    "Got yourself into a spot of trouble, I see."
    He was silent.
    "And your friends, too," she went on. "A shame to have brought them into this. Now you'll all be guilty of treason."
    "Guilty?" Swithbert said. "We haven't been tried yet."
    "Oh, what's the point of a trial?" she asked airily. "Why waste everybody's time? I have a lot to do to get this kingdom on its feet again. No time for such nonsense."
    "Fairness is hardly nonsense," Swithbert said. When she only glared at him, he swallowed hard and said, "Is there—is there a sentence?"
    "I'm still thinking about that," Olympia said, tapping her chin with an index finger almost covered by a huge ruby ring. "I can't