Princess and the Pea Chapter 17

A bit late.  Oh well.

Chapter 17:
Marilynn and Samson were silent for a moment. They could not believe their eyes. Marilynn was the first to speak. “The pea…The pea is the key?”
Samson stared at the tiny little pea. He frowned at it, thinking about how the heck a pea would be the key. “It might not be my mother’s pea,” he said. “It might be…”
“Whether it is or is not your mother’s pea, it’s the key, so we must analyze it.” Marilynn was very serious.
“Well, just stupidly looking at it won’t help.”
“Fine, then.” Marilynn took the pea out from the box and held it up to her face. It was just an ordinary pea. She sniffed it. “Eww,” she said. “It’s gone bad.”
“The witches like rotten things. It’s not so surprising.” Samson rolled his eyes.
The two continued to examine it.
…
The witch Fiona quickly made it down the halls, knowing that Linda would explode if she was late for reporting. She grimaced. She hated Linda, for she was the most horrible witch she knew. Rumours were that Linda’s mother, the head witch Helen Crosby, had killed her mother. But those were rumours, right? Fiona shook her head. She needed to focus.
Fiona made it into the reporting room. Linda was there, waiting for her. Fiona was shocked. Linda looked so frightening. Her figure was enveloped with dark energy.
“Fiona, you’re exactly thirty milliseconds late. What do you have to say for yourself?” Linda growled at her cousin.
“I am sorry, Linda. My watch doesn’t seem to be exact.”
“Then throw it out and get a new one. The next time you’re late; it’s off to the dungeon for you.”
“Yes, Linda.” Fiona kept her head down.
Linda growled again. “And is it true that you were stupid enough to let peasants into the castle?”
Fiona whimpered. “Um, yes, but…”
“But…? There is no but!”
Fiona made her voice more assertive. “Those peasants were devoted patrons to our ways, Linda. We must let the humans respect us. Or else our empire will not last long.”
Linda snorted. “Do not question our ways, cousin. But is it true that you let Princess Marilynn and Prince Samson in?”
Fiona’s eyes opened wide. “What?”

-Vociferously yours, Vicky.