Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen Escape and Discovery

"This," said Princess Hilda, "is a violent—" Before she could finish speaking, Winky ran away.He broke free from under Lubbock's purple arms and ran quickly up the stairs, screaming, "Help! Help! Don't let them touch me!" Two lubkins pushed Princess Hilda aside and chased Winky up the stairs.Princess Hilda fell by the railing, her face flushed, and she lost her sense of nobility in an instant.Charmain also ran up the stairs after Luborgin, yelling, "Don't touch him! How dare you touch him!" Then, she thought, perhaps it was seeing Princess Hilda in her ordinary form that made her think. will chase out.

At the bottom of the stairs, Sophie paused for a moment, then handed Morgan into the king's arms. "Keep him safe!" she shouted to the king.Then she pulled up her skirt and followed Charmain up the stairs, yelling, "Stop! Do you hear me!" Jamal followed them faithfully, yelling, "Thief! Catch!" while panting loudly.His dog climbed up from behind, as loyal as his master, and roared harshly, while Waif ran up and down the steps below, barking like thunder. Prince Ludvik leaned against the railing opposite Princess Hilda, laughing at them all. Two Lubbockins caught Winky at the top of the stone steps, their flightless wings fluttering and their purple muscles gleaming.Shiny's feet kicked violently.For a moment, his blue velvet-covered feet seemed to have grown enormous, like those of a strong, grown man.A big foot kicked hard in the stomach of the nanny-turned-Lubbockin.The other lubkin ran up the stairs and hugged him, and Shiny's right fist, as thick as a grown man's fist, slammed the second lubkin on the nose.The two Lubbockins stacked on the landing, and Winky continued to run rapidly up.Charmain saw that he kept looking back worriedly, and while turning up and down a stone step, he confirmed that Charmain, Sophie and Jamal had been following behind.

They followed, as the two Lubkins got up with astonishing speed and charged upwards in pursuit of Winky.Charmain and Sophie also chased up the stairs, while Jamal and his dog struggled behind. Halfway up the next flight of stone steps, Luborgin grabbed Winky again.Then there was another heavy crash from above, and Winky broke free again, and ran up quickly to the third flight of stairs.As he was about to reach the top, Luborg caught up to him again and threw himself on top of him.The three of them wrestled together, and all they could see was a bunch of hands and feet, and the flickering purple wings flickering.

By this time Charmain and Sophie were exhausted and out of breath.Charmain clearly saw Winky's angelic face protruding from the entangled body, looking at them seriously.As Charmain struggled to reach the platform and began to climb the steps below, Sophie followed, holding up her dress.At this moment, the pair of bodies suddenly moved away.The purple body rolled to the side, and Winky broke free again, speeding up the last flight of wooden stairs.When Lubbockin got up to catch up again, Charmain and Sophie were not too far away from them.Jamal and his dog were a long way below them. The five people running ahead made the wooden stairs clatter.Winky crawled slowly.Charmain thought it must be an attempt to be graceful.But Luborgin uttered a triumphant cry and accelerated his climb.

"Oh no! Don't do it again!" Sophie groaned as Winky pushed open the top door and jumped out onto the roof.Lubkin rushed out after him.Charmain and Sophie struggled to the top, breathing hard as they looked through the door.They saw the two Lubbockins straddling the golden domes.They were halfway up and looked as if they regretted jumping on the roof.No trace of Glitter was seen. "Where did he go?" Sophie asked. As soon as she finished speaking, Winky appeared at the door, flushed and laughing like an angel, her golden curls seemed to be blown out of a halo by the wind. "Come and see what I've found!" he said happily. "follow me."

Sophie grabbed her skirt with one hand and pointed to the roof with the other. "What about those two?" She asked out of breath. "Should we want them to fall?" Shining showed her teeth and smiled cutely. "Just wait and see!" He lifted his blond head and listened.Below the stairs, the cook's dog growled louder and louder.He had overtaken his master, and was running up the wooden stairs, barking and panting terribly.Winky nodded and turned to the roof.He made a small gesture and read a sentence.The two lubokins crawling outside suddenly shrunk, making an unpleasant crushing sound, and turned into two little purple things flopping about, dangling on the beams of the golden roof.

"What—?" said Charmain. Winky's smile became more angelic. "Squid," he said cheerfully. "The chef's dog must love squid." Sophie said, "Huh? Oh, squid. I understand you." While she was speaking, the chef's dog ran up, baring its teeth and waving its claws, with saliva still dripping from the corner of its mouth.It shot out of the door and onto the roof like a brown bolt of lightning.Halfway through the run, its mouth started to make a crunching sound, and then another crunching sound, and the squid disappeared.Only then did the dog seem to notice where he was.He stayed where he was, with two feet on one side of the roof and the other two standing stiffly on the other, whining piteously.

"Oh, poor fellow!" said Charmain. "The cook will save him," Winky said. "Follow me, you two. Go through this door and turn left before your foot hits the ground." He went left through the door and disappeared. Oh, I think I get it!Charmain thought.It was like the door in Uncle William's house, only this one was dauntingly high.She let Sophie go first so that she could grab Sophie's skirt if Sophie made a mistake.But Sophie was better at magic than Charmain.She walked to the left and disappeared effortlessly.Charmain hesitated for a moment before daring to follow.She closed her eyes and took a step to the left.But as soon as she stepped out, her eyes opened at the same time, and from the corner of her eyes, she saw the golden roof flashing past her.Before she could startle "Ilf" and call out the flying spell, she was in another place, a warm triangular space with wooden rafters in the roof visible.

Sophie cursed.In the dim light, she bumped her toes against the dusty bricks piled here and there. "It's bad, it's bad," said Winky. "Oh, shut up!" said Sophie, standing on one foot and holding the toes of the other. "Why are you still growing up?" "Not yet. Reminder," Winky said. "We still have Prince Ludvik to hide. Ah, look! I saw it when I came here just now." A golden light shone from the largest pile of bricks.The bricks, too, shone with the same blinding golden light beneath the dust.Charmain realized that these were not bricks at all, but real gold bars.The more conclusive evidence is that a golden banner appeared before the eyes, floating in front of the gold bar.It reads in ancient script:

"Yawn!" Sophie sneezed, letting go of her toes. "Merico must be as lisp as you are. How well you and he know each other! Even to the same degree of arrogance. He must want to see his name in gold?" "I don't need my name Sparkle," Winky said solemnly. "Hmph!" said Sophie. "Where are we?" asked Charmain.Sophie seemed about to pick up a gold bar and throw it at Shiny's head. "Is this the royal treasure house?" "No, it's under the golden dome," Winky told her. "It's cunning, isn't it? Everyone thinks the roof is not real gold, so no one thinks to come here to find real gold." He picked up a gold brick, tapped it on the floor, shook off the dust, and placed it on Charmain hand.The gold brick was so heavy that she almost dropped it on the ground. "You have the evidence," he said. "I think the king will be delighted to see this."

Sophie, who seemed to have lost her temper, said, "Stop lisp! I'm going mad! I hate your lisp more than I hate your blond curls!" "But think about how useful it is," replied Winky. "Disgusting Ludvik is trying to kidnap me, completely forgetting about Morgan." He rolled his big blue eyes and looked at Charmain meaningfully. "My childhood was miserable. Nobody liked me. I guess I have the right to do it again and look prettier, right?" "Don't listen to him," said Sophie. "It's all excuses. Hal, how do we get out of here? I handed Morgan over to the king, and Ludvik is down there with them. If we don't go downstairs quickly, Ludvik will think of taking him away at any moment." Morgan's." "Also, Calcifer told me to tell you to hurry up," Charmain broke in suddenly. "The castle is waiting in the royal square. I'm actually here to tell you—" Before she could finish her sentence, Winky made the dusty attic spin around them.Then they were back on the roof with the door open.Outside the door, Jamal lay face down on the roof beams, trembling, with one hand outstretched, clutching the dog's left hind leg.The dog was howling in fear.It hates being caught by its legs, and it hates the roof, but it dares not move at all for fear of falling. Sophie said, "Hal, he only has one eye and he can't balance at all." "I know," Winky said. "I know I know!" He waved his hand, and Jamal began to slide back toward the door, still pulling the barking dog. "I'm going to die!" Jamal was panting, and he and the dog fell to Shining's feet. "Why aren't we dead?" "God knows," said Winky. "Sorry. We're going to the king about the gold." He clattered down the stairs.Sophie ran after him, and Charmain followed, going down the stairs very clumsily due to the weight of the bricks.They rushed down, and down, and down, rounding the corner at the top of the last flight of steps.They were just in time to see Prince Ludvik push Princess Hilda aside, go around Sim, and snatch Morgan from the king's arms. "Bad guy!" Morgan yelled.He grabbed Prince Ludvik's beautiful curly hair and pulled it down fiercely.The hair fell down, revealing the Prince's smooth, bald head, which was purple. "I told you all!" Sophie screamed, as if with wings.She and Winky rushed down the steps shoulder to shoulder. The Prince looked up at them and down at Waif, who was biting his ankle, trying to bite the wig out of Morgan's grasp.Morgan was banging Ludwick's face with his wig, yelling "Bad man!" The inconspicuous gentleman yelled, "Here, Your Highness!" and the two Lubkins rushed to the nearest the door. "Don't go to the library!" shouted the king and princess in unison. They shouted so earnestly and so dignifiedly that the inconspicuous gentleman actually stopped, turned around, and led the prince to another direction.This gave Winky time to catch up to Prince Ludvik and hug his trailing silk sleeve.Morgan yelled happily and threw the wig over Winky's face, blinding him.Winky was dragged helplessly all the way to the nearest door, with the inconspicuous Mr. running ahead, followed by Waif, barking sharply, and Sophie behind Waif was also yelling, "Put him down!" , or I will kill you!" Behind her, the king and princess were also chasing after her. "I say, this is too much!" cried the king.The princess just ordered them, "Stop!" The prince and Mr. Inconspicuous wanted to hide in the door with the child, keeping Sophie and the king out.But the moment they closed the door, Waif somehow opened it again, and the rest of the group chased inside. Charmain and Sim ran last.By this time, her arm had started to ache. "Can you hold this?" she said to Sim. "It's proof." She gives the gold nugget to Sim.He replied, "Of course, miss." The weight caused his arms to drop immediately.Charmain left him holding the gold brick, and ran into the large room lined with rocking horses by the wall.Prince Ludvik stood in the middle of the room, his purple bald head looked very strange.He had one arm around Morgan's neck now, and Waif was bouncing around his feet, trying to reach Morgan.His wig lay like a dead animal on the carpet. "Do as I say," said the Prince, "or the child will be in danger." Charmain suddenly saw a blue light flash into the fireplace.She looked carefully and saw that it was Calcifer, who must have come down the chimney looking for wood.He lay down among the unlit logs and breathed a sigh of relief.He saw Charmain looking at him and blinked orange eyes at her. "This child is in danger, I say!" Prince Ludvik shouted excitedly. Sophie watched Morgan twist in the Prince's arms, and looked down at Winky, who was standing there looking at his fingers as if he had never seen them before.She saw Calcifer behind him again, who seemed to be trying not to laugh.Her voice trembled a little, "Your Highness, let me remind you that you are making a big mistake." "Indeed," answered the king, still panting and flushed with the pursuit. "We go to Nolan's usual trial for treason, but we'd be happy to experiment with you." "Only you?" said the prince. "I'm not one of your people. I'm Lubbkin." "Then by law you cannot inherit the throne from my father," said Princess Hilda.Unlike the king, she acts very calm and has a royal demeanor. "Oh, can't you?" said the Prince. "My father, Lubbock, said I would be king, and I would rule the country. It got rid of the wizard, so nothing can stand in our way. You must crown me king at once, or the boy will be in danger. He's my hostage. Is there anything else I've done wrong?" "You took all his money!" cried Charmain. "I see you—you two Lubkins—have the goblins move all the tax money here to Merry Castle! Let go of that little boy now, before he chokes!" Morgan's face was still glowing. He was struggling desperately under the red light.I don't think Lubbockin has real emotion, she thought.I don't know why Sophie thinks this is so much fun! "My God!" said the king. "Where did the money go, Hilda! The mystery is finally solved. Thank you, dear." Prince Ludvik said with disgust: "Why are you so happy? Didn't you hear me?" He turned to the inconspicuous gentleman again and said, "He's going to serve us pancakes next! Cast a spell. Get me out of here." The inconspicuous gentleman nodded and held out his lavender hands.But at this moment, Sim staggered in with the gold brick in his hand.He rushed straight to the inconspicuous gentleman, and the gold nugget just hit the gentleman's toe. A series of things happened immediately. The gentleman was purple with pain, screaming and jumping around.Morgan also seemed out of breath.His arms waved strangely, as if in convulsions.Prince Ludvik felt like he was holding a tall adult, wearing an elegant blue satin coat.He put the man down, and the man immediately turned and punched him in the face. "How dare you do it!" screamed the prince. "I can't believe it!" "Bad luck!" said Wizard Howl, and hit him again.This time, Prince Ludvik stepped on his wig and slipped to the ground with a thud. "That's all Lubkin understands," said the wizard to the king behind him. "Have you had enough, Xiaolulu?" Morgan, meanwhile, appeared to be wearing a shimmering blue velvet coat, which was a little wrinkled because it was too big for him.He rushed at the wizard, yelling, "Papa-papa-papa!" Oh, I see!Charmain thought.They managed to switch places.That's really good magic.I wonder how this is done.She wondered as she watched the wizard carefully keep the prince away from Morgan.She didn't understand why Howl wanted to be prettier than he was.He is already a handsome man in most people's hearts.Although, she thought, maybe his hair was a little unreal.His flaxen curly hair fell on his shoulders of blue silk satin, which was too beautiful to be real. Simultaneously, Sim was stepping back - Mr. Inconspicuous had been jumping towards him - as if there was something official to announce.But because Morgan was yelling and Waif was barking too hard, so they just heard him say "Your Majesty" and "Your Majesty" or something. While Sim was talking, Wizard Howl looked at the fireplace and nodded.So, something seems to have happened between the wizard and Calcifer.It's not like a light, it's not like an invisible light.Charmain was still thinking about how to describe this scene, when Prince Ludvik suddenly curled up and disappeared.Mr. Inconspicuous is also gone.There were only two rabbits in their original place. Wizard Howl looked at them, then at Calcifer. "Why a rabbit?" he asked, picking up Morgan.Morgan immediately stopped crying, and the room fell silent. "Those people jump around," Calcifer replied. "It reminds me of rabbits." Mr. Inconspicuous is now a big white rabbit with bulging purple eyes that hops around.Prince Ludvik turned into a tawny rabbit with larger purple eyes that seemed too surprised to move, twitching its ears, wrinkling its nose— Waif rushed forward. At the same time, the guests Sim was going to introduce had already walked in.Waif caught the tawny rabbit right at the foot of the sleigh chair—drawn by the goblins—pushed by the witch of Montabino.Uncle William's face was a little pale. Although he was still very thin, he was obviously much better.He was reclining on the blue cushions in the sleigh chair.He, the witch, and Timminz, who was standing by the cushion, poked their heads out from the side of the chair carved with blue patterns, watching Waif let out a soft cry, throwing the tawny rabbit up, He bit it by the neck again, let out a soft cry, and threw it from his back. The rabbit landed on the carpet with a thud, dead. "Beautiful!" Wizard Nolan, the king, Sophie and Charmain cheered at the same time. "I thought Waif couldn't do it at such a young age!" Princess Hilda waited until the rabbit fell to the ground, and then went to the sleigh chair.She didn't mind that Waif started chasing the white rabbit frantically around the house. "Dear Princess Matilda," said the princess, taking Peter's mother's hands. "It's been a long time since I last saw you here. I wish you had stayed longer." "It depends," said the witch indifferently. "She is my daughter's cousin," the King explained to Charmain and Sophie. "She prefers to be called the Witch of Somewhere. If someone calls her Princess Matilda, she will be angry. Of course, my daughter still insists on calling her that. Hilda will not tolerate things that do not follow the etiquette." At this point, Wizard Howl picked Morgan up and sat him on his shoulders so they could watch Waif drive the white rabbit behind the fifth rocking horse.There came some more shouts.Soon, the body of the white rabbit flew out from behind the wooden horse, collapsed on the ground, and died. "Yeah!" Morgan yelled, pounding his fist on his father's head. Howl quickly put him down and handed him to Sophie. "Did you tell them about the gold?" he asked her. "Not yet. That evidence fell into someone's feet," said Sophie, hugging Morgan tightly. "Tell them now," Hal said. "Something else feels weird here." He bent down and grabbed Waif, who was about to run back to Charmain.Waif writhes, whines, and cranes her neck, trying to convey that she wants to go to Charmain. "Wait, wait," Hal said, turning Waif around to study.Finally, he carried her towards the sleigh chairs, where the King was happily shaking Wizard Nolan's hand, and Sophie was showing them the nugget.The Witch and Timmintz and Princess Hilda all huddled around Sophie, looking and asking, wondering where Sophie had found the gold. Charmain stood in the middle of the room feeling abandoned.I know I'm being unreasonable, she thought.In fact, I am the same as before.I just want to go back to Waif.I think when they sent me back to my mother they would let me take her with them.It was obvious that Peter's mother would look after Uncle William, so where was Charmain going? A violent collision sounded. The walls trembled, and Calcifer flew out of the fireplace, hovering over Charmain's head.Then, a huge hole slowly opened in the wall next to the fireplace.The wallpaper started to peel first, followed by the stucco underneath.Then, the black stones behind the plaster gradually crumbled and disappeared, and gradually, only a black space remained on the wall.Finally, Peter was pushed out of the hole on his back, and landed in front of Charmain. "Black hole!" Morgan shouted, pointing there. "I think you're right," Calcifer said. Peter seemed to be fine.He looked up at Calcifer and said, "So you're not dead. I knew she was making a fuss. She was never wise enough." "Oh, thank you so much, Peter!" said Charmain. "Then when have you ever been wise? Where have you been?" "Indeed," said the witch of Montalbino. "I'm curious too." She pushed the sleigh chair towards Peter, and Uncle William, Timminz and everyone looked at Peter, except Princess Hilda.Princess Hilda was looking sadly at the hole in the wall. Peter didn't seem worried at all.He stood up. "Hello, Mom," she said cheerfully. "Why are you not in England?" "Because Wizard Howl is here," said the mother. "And you?" "I went to Wizard Nolan's workshop," Peter said. "I left a note for Charmain, and I'm going." He waved his hands full of colorful ribbons, and told everyone how he got there.Then, he looked at Wizard Nolan uneasily. "I was careful there, sir. Really." "Really?" asked Uncle William, looking at the hole in the wall.The hole seems to be slowly healing.Slowly the black stone closed and the stucco followed. "Then what did you do there all day and night, can I ask?" "Study divination spells," Peter explained. "It took too long. It's a good thing you have so many food spells, sir, or I must be really hungry by now. Besides, I used your camp bed. I hope you don't mind." From the expression on Uncle William's face From the look on his face, it was obvious that he cared.Peter said anxiously, "But the spell worked, sir. The royal treasury must be here, where we are, because I let the spell take me there." "Indeed," his mother said. "Wizard Howl has been found." "Oh," said Peter.He looked very disappointed, but suddenly cheered up. "Then I finally managed to cast a spell!" Everyone watched as the hole gradually closed.The wallpaper is slowly coming back to the stucco, but apparently, that wall will never be the same again.It looks bumpy and wrinkled. "I think that will be a great comfort to you, young man," said Princess Hilda bitterly.Peter stared at her blankly, obviously wondering who she was. His mother sighed. "Peter, this is Her Royal Highness Princess Hilda of Upper Norland. You should still stand up and bow to her and her king father. After all, they are also our relatives." "How is that possible?" Peter asked.But he still got up from the ground and saluted politely. "My son, Peter," said the Witch, "may now be heir to your throne, Your Majesty." "Nice to meet you, lad," said the King. "This is getting a little confusing. Can someone explain it to me?" "Let me explain it to you, Your Majesty," said the Witch. "Let's sit down first," suggested the princess. "Sim, please pick up these two—er—dead rabbits." "Yes, ma'am," said Sim.He went into the room and picked up the two bodies.He obviously didn't want to miss any of the Witch's words, and Charmain was sure he must have just left the rabbit out the door.When he hurried back to the house, everyone had already sat on the big faded sofa, except Uncle William, who was still lying on his cushion, looking very thin and tired, and Timminz was sitting on the pillow next to Uncle William's ear.Calcifer returned to the mantel.Sophie held Morgan in her lap and Morgan fell asleep with his thumb in his mouth.Wizard Howl finally returns Waif to Charmain.He handed her over to Charmain with an apologetically charming smile that made Charmain flustered. I like him better as a man, she thought.No wonder Sophie was so angry with Winky.Meanwhile, Waif yelled, jumped, and put his paw on Charmain's spectacles dangling from her chest, trying to lick her chin.Charmain touched Waif's ear, then patted the frayed hair on Waif's head, and listened to what Peter's mother had to say. "You should know," said the witch, "that I was married to my cousin Hans Nicholas, who was then third in line to the throne of Upper Norland. I was fifth, but because I am a woman, I am not Not counting, besides, the only thing in the world I want to do is to be a professional witch. Hans also has no interest in being a king. He likes to climb mountains and explore caves, and find new paths in icebergs. We are very happy to let us His older brother Ludvik succeeded the throne. We all didn't like him, Hans always said that Ludwig was the most selfish and indifferent person he had ever known, but we all thought that if we left here, we would show that we Not interested in the throne, then he won't bother us. "So we moved to Montalbino, and I became a witch, and Hans a guide in the mountains; and we were happy until Peter was born, when our brothers and sisters died horribly one after the other. And some They were rumored to be evil, and died because of their evil. Hans was not sure until Isola Matilda, the kindest and gentlest of our sisters, was rumored to have died murdering others. Ludvik did it all. 'That was the premeditated murder of all the other heirs to the throne,' he said. 'And put a bad name on us all.' "I was just worried about Hans and Peter. At that time, Hans was already the heir to the throne after Ludwig, followed by Peter. So I took out my broomstick, put Peter on my back, and flew all the way to the Ingrid sought the help of Mrs. Pentstemton, who taught me to be a witch. I think," said the witch, turning to Hal, "that she was your teacher too, Wizard Hal." Hal smiled charmingly at her. "That was later. I was her last student." "Then you know she is the best," said the witch of Montalbino. "You agree?" Hal nodded. "You may believe anything she tells you," the witch continued. "She's always right." Sophie also nodded, a little sad. "But when I went to her for help," said the witch, "she couldn't think of any better way than to run as far as possible with Peter. Like to Inshiko. I said, 'What about Hans? ?' And she also felt that I had reason to be worried. 'Give me half a day,' she said, 'let me figure it out,' so she ran inside and shut herself in the studio. Less than half a day passed , she came out terrified. I had never seen her so nervous before. 'Honey,' she said, 'your brother Ludvik is an evil creature called Lubkin, and he is The descendant of the Lubbock on the hill between Lan and Montalbino, he did exactly what Hans expected, no doubt with the help of that Lubbock. You must go back to Montalbino at once! Expect you Get there in time. Anyway, tell no one who the villain is—not him, nor anyone else, or Lubbock will kill that man too!'" "Oh, that's why you never mentioned it to me?" Peter said. "You should have told me earlier. I can take care of myself." "That," said his mother, "is exactly what poor Hans thinks. I should let him go to Ingle with us. Don't interrupt, Peter. You almost made me forget that Mrs. Pentstemton told To me, she said, 'there is one thing that will answer your question, my dear. In your native land, there is, or rather, there was a thing called half-elves, which belonged to the royal family and had the power to protect the king and the whole world. The strength of the country. Go to the king of Nolan and ask him to lend Peter the half-elf. This will keep him safe.' So I thanked her, picked up Peter on my back, and flew back to Montalbino as quickly as possible I wanted Hans to go with me to Upper Norland to find the half-elves, but when I got home, I was told that Hans had gone with the rescue party to the Great Horns. So I had a bad feeling. I flew straight up the hill, still with Peter on my back. He was crying with hunger, but I dared not stop. I was just in time to see Lubbock start an avalanche and kill Hans." At this point the witch stopped, as if she could say no more.Everyone waited respectfully for her to swallow her tears, and dabbed her eyes with a colored handkerchief.Then, she shook her shoulders neatly, "Of course I immediately cast protective magic around Peter, the strongest kind. The magic never left him for a moment. I let him grow up as secretly as possible, and I didn't mind at all." Ludvik began to tell people that I was the madman locked up in the Happy Castle. That is to say, no one knew about Peter's existence. The day after the avalanche, I entrusted Peter to a neighbor and came to the Go to Norland. Do you remember when I came, perhaps?" she asked the king. "Yes, I remember," said the king. "But you didn't mention Peter and Hans at all, so I didn't know it was so sad, so urgent. Of course I don't have a half-elf. I don't even know what it looks like. So you're just with me and my good friend Together with Wizard Nolan, we set out to find the half-elves. We've been looking for thirteen years, and we're not getting anywhere, are we, William?" "We're getting nowhere," echoed Uncle William from the sleigh chair. "People thought I was an expert on half-elves. Some even said that I was half-elves, that I was guarding the king. I was guarding him, but not like half-elves." "That's one of the reasons why I sent Peter to you," said the Witch. "The rumors might be true, too. And I know you've got a way to keep Peter safe. I've been looking for that half-elf myself for years, because I thought it would keep Ludvik off. Stranchia's Beatrice told me that Wizard Howl of Ingrid is better at divination than any wizard in the world, so I went to Ingrid to ask him to help me find it." Wizard Howl turned his head and laughed. "You have to admit, I did find it!" he said. "Very unexpected. It just sat there, on Miss Charmin's lap." "What - Waif?" said Charmain.Waif wagged her tail, looking shy. Hal nodded. "Yes. Your little magic dog." He turned to the king. "Doesn't any of your records mention dogs?" "It's everywhere," said the king. "But I don't know - my great-grandfather gave his dog a state funeral when he died and I'm just very confused what all the fuss is about!" Princess Hilda coughed lightly. "Of course, most of our paintings are sold," she said, "but I do remember a lot of the portraits of kings that do have a dog next to them. It's usually a little... er... Biwa Yves looks more dignified." "I think they come in all sizes and shapes," interrupted Uncle William. "Half-elf, it seems to me, is something some dogs can inherit, and the descendant kings have forgotten how to cultivate. Like, now that Waif has her puppies—" "What?" said Charmain. "Puppy!" Waif wagged her tail again, looking even more shy.Charmain lifted Waif's chin and looked reproachfully into her eyes. "Is it the dog with the chef?" she asked.Waif blinked shyly. "Oh Waif!" cried Charmain. "God knows what they'll look like!" "We'll see," said Uncle William. "One of the puppies will inherit the half-elf traits. One more important thing, dear. Waif recognized you, so you became the half-elven guardian of Upper Norland. Furthermore, the Montalbino witch told I, the Book of Parchment, also recognized you—didn't I?" "I...uh...well. It does allow me to use spells," Charmain admitted. "That's right," said Uncle William, leaning back comfortably on the cushion. "You will live with me from now on and be my apprentice. You will learn how to assist Waif in protecting this country." “是……噢……但……，”查曼支支吾吾地说，“母亲不会允许我……她说魔法是不得体的。我父亲不会介意，或许吧，”她继续说。“但我母亲——” “我来劝她，”威廉叔公说。“如果有必要，我会让你的森布罗尼婶婶去说服她。” “除此之外，”国王说，“我还会颁布皇室法令。你母亲会为此感动的。你明白吗，我们需要你，亲爱的。” “是的，但我想帮你整理书！”查曼大叫。 希尔达公主又轻轻咳嗽了一声。“我会很忙，”她说，“要重新装饰、翻新这座宅邸。”金块就在她脚边的地毯上。她用一只脚轻轻地敲了一下。“现在我们又有了钱，”她高兴地说。“我建议你每周两次代替我来图书馆和父亲一起工作，如果诺兰巫师不介意的话。” “哦，谢谢！”查曼说。 “另外，”公主继续说，“至于彼得——” “不需要为彼得操心，”女巫打断了她的话。“我会留下来照看彼得、查曼还有房子，至少等到诺兰巫师能站起来了。或许我可以永远住下来。” 查曼、彼得和威廉叔公都担心地互相看了看。我明白她为什么那么利落了，她要独自一个人保护彼得，查曼心想。但如果她留下来，我宁愿回去和我母亲住！ “一派胡言，玛蒂尔达，”希尔达公主说。“我们非常在意彼得，现在他就是我们的王储。彼得要住在这里，向诺兰巫师学习魔法。你要回蒙塔比诺，玛蒂尔达。他们需要你。” “我们地精灵会照看房子，就像往常一样，”缇明兹说。 Oh, well, Charmain thought.我想我还没有学会照看房子——彼得当然更不会！ “谢谢你，缇明兹。谢谢你，希尔达，”威廉叔公轻声说。 “一想到我的房子会井井有条——” “我会很好的，妈妈，”彼得说。“你不需要再保护我了。” “如果你这么肯定的话，”女巫说。“似乎我——” “现在，”希尔达公主和女巫一样利落地说，“我们要对我们最好的朋友说再见了，虽然他们有些古怪。我们要送他们回城堡了。大家一起来吧。” “哇！”卡西弗说着从烟囱里窜了出去。 索菲站起身，把摩根的拇指从他嘴里拿出来。摩根醒了，看看周围，发现父亲在那里，然后又看看四周。他的脸沉了下来。“闪闪，”他说。“闪闪在哪儿？”他开始大哭。 “快瞧瞧你干的好事！”索菲对哈尔说。 “我随时都可以再变成闪闪，”哈尔说。 “你敢！”索菲说着，跟在西姆身后走进了潮湿的走廊。 五分钟后，他们来到了宅邸的门前，看着索菲和哈尔拖着大哭大闹的摩根走进城堡的门里。门关上时，摩根还在喊着“闪闪，闪闪，闪闪！”查曼弯下腰，对怀里的瓦伊夫悄悄说，“你确实保护了这个国家吗？我甚至一点也没有注意到！” 此时，上诺兰半数的人民都聚集在皇室广场，看着城堡。他们难以置信地看着城堡慢慢站了起来，往通向南边的路走去。那只是一条小巷。“它过不去！”人们说着。但城堡还是把自己挤得扁扁的，挤进了巷子中，慢慢走出了人们的视野。 上诺兰的居民们看着远去的城堡，爆发出欢呼声。