“I’d much rather have good teeth than have diamonds and roses drop out of my mouth whenever I said something,” Cimorene said. “Think how uncomfortable it would be if you accidentally talked in your sleep! You’d wake up rolling around on thorns and rocks.”

“That never occurred to me,” Alianora said, much struck.

“Was that everything?” Cimorene asked.

“No,” Alianora said. “Aunt Ermintrude persuaded one of her fairy friends to give me a gown and a pair of glass slippers to go to a ball in the next kingdom over. And I broke one before I even got out of the castle!”

“That’s not so surprising,” Cimorene said. “Glass slippers are for deserving merchants’ daughters, not for princesses.”

“Try telling Aunt Ermintrude that,” Alianora said. “I think she was the one who found out that Woraug was going to ravage a village just over the border and arranged for me to go and visit on the right day so I could be carried off. She didn’t even warn me. I suppose she thought that if I knew, I’d mess it up somehow.”

“I don’t think I would get along very well with your Aunt Ermintrude,” Cimorene commented thoughtfully.

“Oh, it wasn’t so bad, at least at first,” Alianora said. “Woraug ignored me most of the time, especially after he found out I can’t cook, and it was a real relief not to have Aunt Ermintrude around any more. Only then Gornul brought Keredwel and Zareth brought Hallanna, and . . .”

“And they’ve been making life miserable for you ever since,” Cimorene finished. “Why don’t you stand up to them?”

“I tried, but you don’t know what they’re like,” Alianora said, sighing. “Keredwel goes on and on about correct behavior, and Hallanna dissolves in tears as soon as it looks like she’s losing an argument. And they’ve both had dozens of knights and princes try to rescue them. I’ve only had two.”

“How do you do it?” Cimorene asked. “I’ve had nine already, and they’re a dreadful nuisance.” Alianora stared at Cimorene, then began to giggle. “What’s so funny?” Cimorene demanded.

“Keredwel bragged for a week because two knights and a prince tried to rescue her the first month she was here,” Alianora explained between giggles. “She said it was some kind of record. You’ve barely been with Kazul for four weeks, and you’ve had nine, and you didn’t even mention it when Keredwel was here. She’s going to be furious when she finds out.”

“If she wants them, she can have them,” Cimorene said. Her expression grew thoughtful. “Maybe they’d be easier to get rid of if I sent them along to another princess, instead of just trying to get them to go home.”