The Birthday Ball Read Online Free PDF Page A

outside."
    The cat had curled around her feet, under the desk. Now opening both amber eyes at the sound of the word "cat," Delicious yawned, stood, and followed the princess as she left the room.
    "You stay out here and lie in the sun," she told her pet as she dutifully cleaned her hands and face at the pump. "Wait for me. At the end of the school day, we'll go back to the castle and I'll summon your nice sardines for supper." She stroked the furry neck briefly.
    The banished cat yawned and looked around, then extended the claws of all four feet, trying them out, because they had never been used for anything beyond dismantling embroidery. Now, above, a nest of plump and tasty-looking baby wrens was clearly visible. Across the schoolyard the cat perceived an appetizing small rodent of some sort, nibbling on a fern. The tip of a rough, pink, glistening tongue emerged.
    The princess could almost read her cat's mind. "Don't be malicious, Delicious," she commanded, and shook her finger in warning. Then she left the cat there and returned, scrubbed clean, to the schoolroom.
    ***
    "Oh, it was lovely, Tess, just lovely," the princess said at the end of the day, back in her bedchamber. "We had poetry and penmanship, and in geography I learned the names of all the domains, in alphabetical order."
    "Domains, miss?" The chambermaid, reclothed, finished buttoning her dress and reached for the starched apron that had lain all day folded on the damask chair.
    "You know, other principalities and kingdoms. Fiefdoms, too. Places ruled by other royalty, not us."
    "Didn't even know there was other, miss."
    "Oh, of course, there are tons! There's Analgesia, Bulimia, Coagulatia..." She sat, then held out her left foot so that the chambermaid could lace and tie her shoe. "I'm reciting them alphabetically," she explained. "Dyspepsia," she said next.
    "I heard about that one," the chambermaid said. "There's a duke there."
    The princess made a face of disgust. "Duke Desmond. A face like a warthog. No other domain has a ruler so hideous."
    "Sorry to hear that, miss. There, this foot's done. Hold out the other."
    The princess did so. "Why are you sorry to hear about stupid old Duke Desmond? He never comes here."
    "Oh, but he will, ma'am. His name is on the list."
    "What list? Is there a list of repulsive rulers?" The princess laughed, then reached for her hairbrush.
    The chambermaid bit her lip uneasily. "Maybe I shouldn't have said, miss. But there's a list in the kitchen so's Cook can plan the food. A list of who's coming to your Birthday Ball."
    Angrily the princess flung the silver-backed brush to her bed. Her cat, lying there, looked up, startled.
    "Oh, don't be so suspicious, Delicious," the princess said in an irritated voice. "I wasn't aiming at you.
    "Why would that warthog be invited to my ball?"
    The chambermaid looked very nervous. She curtsied and began to edge herself toward the door.
    "You know something I don't know! Tell me at once! This is a command!"
    The chambermaid curtsied again and whispered it. "He's a suitor, miss. He's on the suitor list."
    "No!" The princess gasped in horror.
    "Yes, miss."
    "Are there others? Who else is on the list?"
    "I need a minute to think, miss." The chambermaid closed her eyes and tried to see the list in her mind. "Duke Desmond of Dyspepsia."
    "You said that already. The warthog. Who else?"
    "Ah, Prince Percival of—"
    "Oh, no!" the princess wailed. "Of Pustula! Not him! He has dandruff, and he oozes foul-smelling hair oil!" She flung herself onto her bed. The cat hopped down in dismay and moved to the window seat instead.
    "Anyone else?" the princess asked with a groan.
    "Just one, miss. It's an odd one, though. Because it says two names together. Let me think."
    "You don't need to. Two names together means only one thing." The princess was speaking now in a resigned voice, as if she had no more groans or wails left. "It's the Lords Colin and Cuthbert the Conjoint, isn't it?"
    "Yes, miss, that's