“Quite cheap. A seat on my couch here.”
“That’s a big price, much too big. I’m very comfy where I am.” She settled back cosily into her seat.
“All right, lady. No payment—no story. What shall we talk about now?”
Aryenis pondered awhile. Then she got up slowly, and still more slowly came over to sit disdainfully on the extreme corner of the couch, face well averted.
“The price is terribly high—but the story might be worth it. You may continue.”
“A lady who looked rather like the princess came to stay with the fairy godfather, some one whom the swineherd had met before—in fact, he’d once made a bet with her.”
“And lost.”
“Yes, and lost. But he was heaps cleverer now. He remembered that the real princess had a fairy mark on her right shoulder, that no one could see. What’s the matter, Shahzadi?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“I thought you were slipping off the couch.”