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Lady Tremaine grabbed their hands and kissed them. “Well, of course you will, darlings. I’m just teasing. We will arrange for you to visit Shrimpy and Dicky as soon as we are settled in our new home. You were very missed at the house party, and I bet the boys are eager to see you,” she said. But she wondered how she felt about her girls being so very far away from her, all the way back in London, once they were married.
She and Lady Hackle had had it all worked out, their future set. Their children would marry and they would be grandmothers together. Perhaps they would still have their dream, though she could no longer see it as clearly as before.
“Maybe we can talk Lady Prudence into spending the season in the Many Kingdoms with the boys. I’m sure they have coming-out balls there just as they do in England,” said Lady Tremaine.
Drizella’s eyes grew wide. “Oh! Imagine! There must be so many more courts in which to be presented. Oh, yes, Mama, I think this is an excellent plan!” she said.
“Now,” said Lady Tremaine, “what did Nanny Pinch tell you about our marvelous adventure? Did she tell you that I am to be married to a lovely man named Sir Richard and that he has a daughter around your age, with whom I am sure you will become great friends? Did she tell you we are to live with them in their beautiful château?” Lady Tremaine held her breath, wondering how her girls would react to the news.
“Yes, Mama,” said Anastasia. “Which part of the Many Kingdoms is this? If it is to be our new home, shouldn’t we know what to call it?”
Lady Tremaine r
ealized with a start that she didn’t know.
Just then Rebecca and Nanny Pinch came into the room.
“Hello, dears. Anastasia has made me realize that, in all this rush, I have no idea in what realm in the Many Kingdoms we will be living. Isn’t that ridiculous?” she said, slightly embarrassed.
Rebecca and Nanny Pinch sat down across from the trio.
“You will be living in King Hubert’s lands, not far from where the Beast King and Queen Belle reside,” Rebecca said.
Lady Tremaine raised her eyebrow. “You seem to know a lot about the Many Kingdoms, Rebecca,” she said.
“Yes, my lady. I assumed Lady Prudence told you that is where I am from.”
Lady Tremaine started. She couldn’t help flashing back to her last conversation with Mrs. Bramble and the old woman’s warning. But before she could ask anything further, she realized Anastasia and Drizella looked frightened.
“What’s the matter, girls? Why are you upset?” asked Lady Tremaine.
“Beast King?” asked Drizella. “What is a Beast King? I don’t want to live in a kingdom ruled by an ugly old beast!”
Nanny Pinch raised her hand for silence. “Now, Drizella. Remember what we talked about. Think about how you’d like to rephrase that.”
Rebecca laughed. “Oh, that’s not necessary. He was an ugly old beast, or at least some thought so, but now he’s a beautiful king living his happily ever after with his true love, Queen Belle. And you won’t be living in their kingdom anyway. Theirs is the next kingdom over from ours. Kingdoms don’t usually intermingle so your paths will never cross. Don’t worry.”
Anastasia was confused. “What do you mean the king was living his happily ever after? Isn’t that what fairy tale authors usually say about the princess once she is saved by her prince?”
Rebecca laughed again. “Well, in this story it was the princess who saved the prince. Belle is the hero of that story.” Drizella and Anastasia clapped their hands.
“Oh, I like that! I would like to meet Queen Belle!” said Drizella. “Oh, Mama, you’re taking us to the most magnificent place. Thank you.” She kissed her mother on the cheek.
Lady Tremaine smiled and yawned.
“Come now, girls,” Nanny Pinch said, standing up. “Your mama is tired, and I think it’s time to let her rest.” She took each girl by the hand and led them into the adjoining room.
“I love you, my darlings,” said Lady Tremaine, blowing them a kiss. “I will see you later at dinner.” She was so happy her daughters were excited about this journey. “Rebecca, you stay with me for a while,” she said when they were alone. “What did you do with that book of fairy tales? I would like to read it on our journey to the Many Kingdoms.”
Rebecca cast her eyes downward. “I’m sorry, my lady. It’s in the crates down in cargo. I can find it for you the moment we get to the Many Kingdoms, as soon as I am able to unpack.”
Lady Tremaine signed. “Very well, then I am afraid you will have to answer all of my daughters’ and my questions about the Many Kingdoms for as long as this voyage takes.”
Rebecca laughed. “It would be my pleasure, my lady.”
When the ladies disembarked from their ship after their unbearably long journey, it felt to Lady Tremaine as if they had indeed stepped into another world. She was so relieved to be on land again and hoped her life in the Many Kingdoms was worth the voyage. She decided almost at once it might be. She marveled at her surroundings, dazzled by the magnificent lighthouse, its Fresnel lens glistening in the sunlight.
“What kingdom is this, Rebecca?” she asked, looking up at the grandest lighthouse she had ever seen. “This place is remarkable.” She took her girls by the hands, leaving Nanny Pinch to find a porter to take their luggage to the carriage Sir Richard had arranged to be waiting for them.
