Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris Read Free Book Online

plain.
    "
Didn't
you?" she insisted.
    Marigold had to wonder why people sometimes did this—forced an answer out of somebody when it was clearly going to be something they didn't want to hear.
    "I believe I missed what we might have been," Swithbert finally said. "But I missed that when you were here, too."
    "Never mind," she said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "The important thing is I'm back. I get to be a queen again, and I'm starting right now. Get that troll out of here. He doesn't belong in Beaurivage. And Marigold, if you're a queen the way you say you are, shouldn't you be in your own kingdom, taking care of your business, and not in mine, getting in the way? And you," she said, pointing at Christian. "I'm sure you should be somewhere else, too." She grabbed Swithbert by the upper arm. "You and I need to have a talk about whatever it is you've done to the north turret. It seems to be paved all over with tiny white bricks. Whatever possessed you to do such a thing?"
    Swithbert yanked his arm out of Olympia's clutches. "Those are baby teeth, and I think they look quite beautiful. Like little pearls. Ed's business, Tooth Troll Limited, operates out of Beaurivage Castle now. It's been a source of revenue for us, with visitors paying to take tours of the tower."
    "Revenue, you say?" Olympia looked thoughtful. "We could get more out of these visitors, I'm sure. Sell them honey tarts and marzipan and pheasant kidneys on a stick. Charge them to let their children wield one of our battle-axes or pet the unicorns. Sell them little replicas of the turret, or shirts embroidered with i saw the beaurivage turret of teeth."
    "Oh, for goodness' sake!" Marigold said. "Come on, Chris. Let's go home."
    "With pleasure," he said, taking her hand. They

departed together, leaving the dogs under the breakfast table quarreling over the blue squeaky toy.
    "No, Olympia," Swithbert said. "We're not doing that. We're not turning this castle into some sort of—of Beaurivage World. We will continue to have a simple turret tour, for a small, reasonable fee."
    The two monarchs faced off, and it seemed that a charge crackled in the air between them. Swithbert had rarely said no to Olympia before. And never before had she considered him any obstacle to doing exactly what she wanted. It was clear that something about Swithbert had changed. Something important. Olympia would bet anything that troll was behind this somehow. Which meant the troll had to go. And not just as far as the other side of the bridge, either.
    And Marigold! Marigold, who had been nothing but trouble her entire life. In her youth, her troublesomeness had been manageable by punishments, threats, isolation, and swill (or nothing at all) for dinner. Now she was a queen in her own right, which would make managing her a bit more difficult. But definitely not impossible.
    Olympia could see that a year's absence had caused them to forget just how commanding, how masterful, she could be.
    "I need a bath," she said. "And some decent clothes, and a hairdresser, and a feast of my favorite things. Then I'll be ready to sit down with Rollo—he's still captain of the guards, I assume—and Sedgewick and Mrs. Clover and get this place straightened out."
    "I'll call a maid for you," Swithbert said. "As for straightening this place out, I've been ruling alone for a year and I'm quite satisfied with the direction the kingdom is going. Rollo and Mrs. Clover and Sedgewick are not the ones you need to be talking to."
    "We'll see about that," Olympia said, sweeping out the door and slamming it behind her.
    "Uh-oh," Ed and Swithbert said at the same time.
    As the queen headed down the corridor to her suite, she said to Fenleigh, "We have a lot of work to do, don't we? Won't it be fun? It'll be even more fun once I've eliminated Swithbert—and that troll, while I'm at it—and I'm sole monarch."

9
    Olympia had her bath. Then she had her feast while wrapped in a dressing