Princess and the Pea Chapter 18

Eighteen is out!

Chapter 18:
“But that’s impossible!” Fiona exclaimed. “You…You had locked them in that one room house! You…”
“Don’t ‘you’ me!” Linda shouted. “I did my job perfectly well. How about you? You foolishly let two so-called ‘ordinary’ peasants inside my castle!”
“I’m sorry, Linda, but I didn’t know…!” Fiona’s head was turning. She always felt nauseous when Linda got mad.
“My mother is going to be so angry. And you know perfectly well what she does to people like you.” Linda raised an eyebrow.
Fiona gulped. She did know. Everyone knew Helen’s cruelty. She would throw any suspicious person into the dungeon without a second glance.
“I might be able to forgive you, Fiona, but I do not know about my mother. Just be thankful that you are my favourite cousin.”
“I feel grateful, Linda.” Fiona whimpered.
“So go off, now. Shoo. You don’t need to show me your report. Just go and fix the problem you started. Throw Marilynn and Samson into the dungeon before my mother comes back.”
“Yes, Linda.” And off she went.
…
“Aha!” Marilynn exclaimed triumphantly. “I found something!”
“What do you mean?” Samson hushed. “You mean, about the pea? Well, I don’t see anything unusual about it.”
“Silence, Prince Samson. Look at this,” Princess Marilynn drew her finger over the creases on the pea. “That’s one crease, skip two millimetres, two creases, skip two millimetres…All the way to six creases, and skip two millimetres.”
“So? It’s probably just a coincidental pattern. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Oh? What have your parents taught you as a child? This is a witch code.” Marilynn began to recite: “The witch code was passed down generation to generation in witch clans. They follow certain patterns to mean different things. The most common witch code is shown on everyday items. They use creases and skips to show their message.”
“Wow.” Samson was impressed.
“My parents taught me how to decode them, too. You know, just in case. So let me see…This one means…” Marilynn paused. “Touch…The…Second…Crease…Three…Times…To…Let…The…Prison-
ers…Out.”
“The second crease, it says?” Samson frowned.
“Here, let me do it.” Marilynn tapped the second crease in the pea once, twice, then three times.
The two of them waited for it to happen.

-Vociferously yours, Vicky.