snapped.
âAh,â said Nanny Ogg, carefully repositioning the baby. âI expect Iâll just go and see if Magrat has any clean rags, shall I?â
And now Granny was left alone. She felt embarrassed, as one always does when left alone in someone elseâs room, and fought the urge to get up and inspect the books on the shelf over the sideboard or examine the mantelpiece for dust. She turned the crown round and round in her hands. Again, it gave the impression of being bigger and heavier than it actually was.
She caught sight of the mirror over the mantelpiece and looked down at the crown. It was tempting. It was practically begging her to try it for size. Well, and why not? She made sure that the others werenât around and then, in one movement, whipped off her hat and placed the crown on her head.
It seemed to fit. Granny drew herself up proudly, and waved a hand imperiously in the general direction of the hearth.
âJolly well do this,â she said. She beckoned arrogantly at the grandfather clock. âChop his head off, what ho,â she commanded. She smiled grimly.
And froze as she heard the screams, and the thunder of horses, and the deadly whisper of arrows and the damp, solid sound of spears in flesh. Charge after charge echoed across her skull. Sword met shield, or sword, or bone â relentlessly. Years streamed across her mind in the space of a second. There were times when she lay among the dead, or hanging from the branch of a tree; but always there were hands thatwould pick her up again, and place her on a velvet cushion . . .
Granny very carefully lifted the crown off her head â it was an effort, it didnât like it much â and laid it on the table.
âSo thatâs being a king for you, is it?â she said softly. âI wonder why they all want the job?â
âDo you take sugar?â said Magrat, behind her.
âYouâd have to be a born fool to be a king,â said Granny.
âSorry?â
Granny turned. âDidnât see you come in,â she said. âWhat was it you said?â
âSugar in your tea?â
âThree spoons,â said Granny promptly. It was one of the few sorrows of Granny Weatherwaxâs life that, despite all her efforts, sheâd arrived at the peak of her career with a complexion like a rosy apple and all her teeth. No amount of charms could persuade a wart to take root on her handsome if slightly equine features, and vast intakes of sugar only served to give her boundless energy. A wizard sheâd consulted had explained it was on account of her having a metabolism, which at least allowed her to feel vaguely superior to Nanny Ogg, who she suspected had never even seen one.
Magrat dutifully dug out three heaped ones. It would be nice, she thought wistfully, if someone could say âthank youâ occasionally.
She became aware that the crown was staring at her.
âYou can feel it, can you?â said Granny. âI said, didnât I? Crowns call out!â
âItâs horrible.â
âNo, no. Itâs just being what it is. It canât help it.â
âBut itâs magic!â
âItâs just being what it is,â Granny repeated.
âItâs trying to get me to try it on,â said Magrat, her hand hovering.
âIt does that, yes.â
âBut I shall be strong,â said Magrat.
âSo I should think,â said Granny, her expression suddenly curiously wooden. âWhatâs Gytha doing?â
âSheâs giving the baby a wash in the sink,â said Magrat vaguely. âHow can we hide something like this? Whatâd happen if we buried it really deeply somewhere?â
âA badgerâd dig it up,â said Granny wearily. âOr someoneâd go prospecting for gold or something. Or a treeâd tangle its roots around it and then be blown over in a storm, and then someoneâd pick it up and put it