“Well, the young king took the Golden Horse from the Leopard Prince, probably without even a ‘thank you very much,’ and carted it off to the princess”—she waved a hand—“or rather to her father, the other king. Because the princess doesn’t have any say-so, does she?”

He shrugged. It was her fairy tale; he’d no idea.

“They very rarely do. Princesses, I mean. They get sold off to old dragons and giants and such all the time.” Lady Georgina was frowning at a badger. “Where’s the stag?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“The stag.” She pointed at the mantel. “It’s not here. You didn’t knock it into the fire, did you?”

“I don’t think so, but I might’ve.”

“You’ll have to find another place for them. It’s too dangerous here.” She began lining the carved animals at the back of the mantel.

“As you wish, my lady.”

“Anyway,” Lady Georgina continued, “the young king brought the Golden Horse to the father king and said, ‘Here you are, and how about your beautiful daughter, then?’ But what the young king didn’t know was that the Golden Horse could speak.”

“It’s a talking metal horse?”

She appeared not to hear him. “The minute the young king left the room, the Golden Horse turned to the other king, the father king—are you following me?”

“Mmm.” His mouth was full.

“Good. All these kings are very confusing.” She heaved a sigh. “And the Golden Horse said, ‘That’s not the man who freed me. You’ve been tricked, Your Majesty.’ And didn’t that make the father king mad.”

“Why?” Harry drank some ale. “The father king had possession of the Golden Horse. Why would he care one way or the other who actually stole it?”

She set her hands on her hips. “Because stealing the Golden Horse is a test. He wants only the man who can do that to marry his daughter.”

“I see.” The whole thing sounded silly. Wouldn’t a noble father be more interested in the richer man rather than the stronger? “So, then, he didn’t really want the Golden Horse.”

“He probably wanted the Golden Horse as well, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“But—”

“What is important”—Lady Georgina glared at him— “is that the father king marched straight back to the young king and said, ‘See here, the Golden Horse is all very well, but what I really want is the Golden Swan that belongs to a very nasty witch. So if you want the princess, off you go to get it.’ What do you think of that?”

It took a moment for Harry to realize that the last was said to him. He swallowed. “There seem to be a lot of golden animals in this fairy tale, my lady.”