The Queen and the Nobody Boy (24 page)

“Sausages,” said Murgott. “Pancakes definitely, and bacon, in the
Royal Traveller
. It has the most comfortable kitchen I've ever known.”

“Hodie, will you join me there, with your mother?” Sibilla asked.

For a moment he didn't know what he wanted. “I was going south,” he heard himself say. “To become somebody.” He bowed and tried to step away.

Sibilla took hold of his hands and shook her head. “You're somebody already. The dragon-eagle said. You guarded The Ties. You're the Companion. Anyway â” her eyes looked mischievous â “the
Royal Traveller
is moored on Um'Binnia's south side.”

Hodie felt like someone suddenly realising he was home, at the end of a difficult journey. He blinked, and felt a smile grow from deep inside. Home, where he belonged. Because, after all, the Grand Palace in the City of Spires was south from here too.

“Your Majesty,” Hodie said. “I will be honoured.”

the end

Postscript 1

The Royal Swear Word:
Brisket
. (It sounds very effective indeed if you clench your teeth as hard as you can before you say it.)

Postscript 2

Emperor Prowdd'on's Moustache Wardrobe

The double spear The circle with circles The six circles The rising sunburst (or embarrassed sea anemone) The double pistol

Postscript 3

Um'Binnian Cabbage Cream

This is not the dessert served at the banquet in Fontania. It is the one Lu'nedda serves in her apartment. (If your grandmother made it for you, you'd have to say you liked it. But it would be best not to be too effusive or she might make it every time you visit.)

Find a cabbage as big as your head.

Cut it in half (yes, dear, I mean the cabbage) and put both halves in a pot of cold water.

Put the pot on the stove and let the cabbage cook for 15 minutes. (Watch that it doesn't boil over. If it does, you're the one who has to clean up the mess.)

Pour off the water. (Don't let any cabbage slither into the sink.)

Fill the pot again with boiling water from your kettle.

Boil it for 20 more minutes.

Drain the cabbage dry, then chop it into very little bits.

Put the bits into a bowl, add three big knobs of butter and sprinkle in 12 dessertspoonfuls of brown sugar.

Add a heaped teaspoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of nutmeg.

Stir it all up.

In another bowl beat three fresh eggs and half a cup of cream.

Stir the eggs and cream into the cabbage.

Put it all into a baking dish.

Bake the dish in a medium oven until the cabbage is brown on top. (No, no, you can do it in a small oven or a very big one. I actually mean a medium temperature, which is about 180ÂºC.) It should take about 20 minutes.

I don't think it is actually very nice. But try it with ice cream if you like. Your choice.

MAPS of UM'BINNIA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Barbara Else is the author of the award-winning children's novel, The Travelling Restaurant. She is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature, and has worked as a university tutor, editor, and freelance writer. Barbara lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Books in the Tales of Fontania series

The Travelling Restaurant

The Queen and the Nobody Boy

~
www.TalesOfFontania.com

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