balloon," Jenny giggled. "Jake, please wait while I switch on my mobile, I have to get a picture of this."
"Ladies," Grimaldi said loudly in a voice that brooked no argument. "You have asked me to do a job that’s impossible and now you are delaying me. Shoo, go, before I give up and go home."
"Thank you," I said fervently to Grimaldi as Jenny and Esmeralda headed out of the door trying to suppress their laughter and failing rather badly.
"Helda, find Wizard Morrissey an appropriately sized pair of underpants at once," Grimaldi said grimly. "And then you will report to my office with the large hairbrush tonight when we finish here. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
Helda, who it turned out was the blonde assistant, curtseyed deeply to Grimaldi with a look of horror on her face and then rushed off to the large bags of clothes they had brought with them. Her face was looking every bit as red as mine was earlier.
The new pair of underpants she brought me fitted perfectly and actually felt quite good, even though they certainly weren't my style.
Grimaldi and his girls finally finished with me and I stood before them in razor sharp creased black shiny trousers with a similarly colored jacket, pink frilly shirt and a bright red silk scarf thing round my neck. The royal cobbler delivered a pair of black shoes so shiny I was scared to go out in the sun with them for fear of blinding someone. I felt like a complete clown as I looked at myself in the full length mirror, though I must admit that I did look like an immaculately-clad clown.
Grimaldi's pretty assistants packed up their work bags and were in the process of dragging them through the door. I gestured to Grimaldi to come over.
"I'm not upset about Helda's trick with the underwear. Please don't punish her."
Grimaldi gave me a long appraising look before he answered.
"Perhaps I will only use the small hairbrush." He turned to leave, but then stopped as he reached the door. "You are a most unusual wizard. I should not say this to you, but I would advise you to be a little less trusting."
With that enigmatic comment, he took his leave. It was getting close to sunset and Fluffy was no longer in the courtyard. I leaned out of the window to see if I could spot him anywhere but he appeared to have vanished. It was true that he could still be in the courtyard in a state of glim, but it seemed unlikely. Nor had I seen Jenny or Esmeralda since the episode with the underwear. I'd been left completely on my own.
The Spring Ball was due to start at sunset, though I gathered it would be late in the evening before it truly got going. I wondered if I should stay in my room and wait for someone to come looking for me or to make my way into the palace.
One thing was for certain. My damned clothes were stuck to me like a second skin and I wasn't going to try to change out of them. I seriously doubted I could get out of the trousers without ripping a seam.
After a few minutes of pacing my room and cursing the whole female species for the trouble they bring onto boys, I got fed up and decided to go and see what entertainment I could find.
When I stayed in the room last time, Esmeralda took me around the palace using back stairs and narrow passageways. I suppose if you are brought up in a palace such routes become normal, although I did suspect once or twice that her main reason for taking me down those routes was to prevent me meeting anybody. This all comes down to the fact that I only know the smaller and stranger routes in the palace.
I was making my way down a narrow stone staircase when I heard two men talking. When they mentioned me, I stopped and began to listen.
"It's an outrage, having a wizard and his pet dragon as guests." The man speaking had a very cultured voice, but his accent wasn't the same as the people of Salice. He must be from one of the other kingdoms. We Welsh wizard's aren't completely stupid, even when we're walking around dressed up as a fancy
"Ladies," Grimaldi said loudly in a voice that brooked no argument. "You have asked me to do a job that’s impossible and now you are delaying me. Shoo, go, before I give up and go home."
"Thank you," I said fervently to Grimaldi as Jenny and Esmeralda headed out of the door trying to suppress their laughter and failing rather badly.
"Helda, find Wizard Morrissey an appropriately sized pair of underpants at once," Grimaldi said grimly. "And then you will report to my office with the large hairbrush tonight when we finish here. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
Helda, who it turned out was the blonde assistant, curtseyed deeply to Grimaldi with a look of horror on her face and then rushed off to the large bags of clothes they had brought with them. Her face was looking every bit as red as mine was earlier.
The new pair of underpants she brought me fitted perfectly and actually felt quite good, even though they certainly weren't my style.
Grimaldi and his girls finally finished with me and I stood before them in razor sharp creased black shiny trousers with a similarly colored jacket, pink frilly shirt and a bright red silk scarf thing round my neck. The royal cobbler delivered a pair of black shoes so shiny I was scared to go out in the sun with them for fear of blinding someone. I felt like a complete clown as I looked at myself in the full length mirror, though I must admit that I did look like an immaculately-clad clown.
Grimaldi's pretty assistants packed up their work bags and were in the process of dragging them through the door. I gestured to Grimaldi to come over.
"I'm not upset about Helda's trick with the underwear. Please don't punish her."
Grimaldi gave me a long appraising look before he answered.
"Perhaps I will only use the small hairbrush." He turned to leave, but then stopped as he reached the door. "You are a most unusual wizard. I should not say this to you, but I would advise you to be a little less trusting."
With that enigmatic comment, he took his leave. It was getting close to sunset and Fluffy was no longer in the courtyard. I leaned out of the window to see if I could spot him anywhere but he appeared to have vanished. It was true that he could still be in the courtyard in a state of glim, but it seemed unlikely. Nor had I seen Jenny or Esmeralda since the episode with the underwear. I'd been left completely on my own.
The Spring Ball was due to start at sunset, though I gathered it would be late in the evening before it truly got going. I wondered if I should stay in my room and wait for someone to come looking for me or to make my way into the palace.
One thing was for certain. My damned clothes were stuck to me like a second skin and I wasn't going to try to change out of them. I seriously doubted I could get out of the trousers without ripping a seam.
After a few minutes of pacing my room and cursing the whole female species for the trouble they bring onto boys, I got fed up and decided to go and see what entertainment I could find.
When I stayed in the room last time, Esmeralda took me around the palace using back stairs and narrow passageways. I suppose if you are brought up in a palace such routes become normal, although I did suspect once or twice that her main reason for taking me down those routes was to prevent me meeting anybody. This all comes down to the fact that I only know the smaller and stranger routes in the palace.
I was making my way down a narrow stone staircase when I heard two men talking. When they mentioned me, I stopped and began to listen.
"It's an outrage, having a wizard and his pet dragon as guests." The man speaking had a very cultured voice, but his accent wasn't the same as the people of Salice. He must be from one of the other kingdoms. We Welsh wizard's aren't completely stupid, even when we're walking around dressed up as a fancy
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