"But I thought you were my mother," wailed the little Prince, seizing her hand imploringly. At once the whole room was thrown into a state of utmost confusion, some saying this, some saying that, and all wondering aloud, so that it sounded like a session of congressmen.
"How can you be both a queen and a witch?" shouted the little Wizard, standing on a chair so that Orin could hear him.
"You'll have to admit she's a bewitching Queen," neighed High Boy, opening one eye and then the other and forgetting all about his hunger pangs. "Why not let the lady speak for herself?" he called shrilly.
"Sound horse sense," declared Toddledy, nodding approvingly at High Boy, and Ozma, who was even more astonished than Cheeriobed at Orin's announcement, raised her scepter for silence.
"Let Queen Orin tell her story," commanded Ozma in her gentle voice. There was an instant silence and almost as one, the whole company turned to the lovely figure in blue, and waited expectantly for her to speak.
CHAPTER 18
The Tale of Tattypoo
"Twenty-five years ago," began the Queen, tossing back her golden hair, "I was a Princess of the North. To the mountain castle of my father, King Gil of Gilkenny, came Cheeriobed, Prince of the Ozure Isles, to ask for my hand in marriage. His father was King of the Munchkins, a monarch of great wealth and power. As my father made no objection to the match and as I myself was quite willing—" Here Orin paused and smiled prettily at Cheeriobed—"preparations were made at once for the wedding.