She turns to Janda and her eyes open wide.
She turns back to the king.
“I can barely remember anything except for my family, here with me today.”
“Come closer, child,” says the king. He is genuinely smitten by her demeanour, humility and beauty.
“I have a picture here of the woman they claim is your mother!”
He beckons to his assistant standing nearby. The assistant produces a framed picture to the king with his gloved hand. The king looks into the picture and then at the girl, several times. Everyone is breathless as this process continues for a few minutes that feels like an hour.
When the king spoke again there is a huge gasp in the auditorium.
“You do not look in the least like your mother. However, you are a sweet damsel and it would be wonderful to find my little girl.”
He thinks his daughter may be this girl!
“Wait,” says Garty. “Her mother is right here now!”
Everyone gasps. What is he saying, they wonder? Is there a ghost around here, some ask? A hubbub of voices fills the auditorium.
“Do not listen to him,” Gypsy Janda shouts. “This is your child who was stolen by none other than me!”
Another gasp emits from the crowd.
“She is a liar, her daughter says so,” says Garty in a clear, loud voice that rings over the hubbub.
Janda and Chrystalina argue like a pair of cats.
“Who do you think you are?” asks the king of Anna.
Anna begins to cry and cannot be consoled. Janda and Chrystalina try in vain to stop her by slapping her soundly.
“Stop that,” says the king.
“Arrest these women” he adds, flicking his hand towards the two brawling women and the crying girl.
“Please, King Justice Swanfeather, this is your daughter, Miron,” Garty rushes the words.
“Please untie my hands and I shall prove it to you.”
“Enough!” says the king.
“Please,” Garty yells.
“I have spent almost five years trying to find her and now she is right here! I promised I would!”
“Please listen to Knight Commander Musdo,” says Joanne, dropping to her knees.
“He is a good man and an excellent detective!”
“Oh, all right then! Come here, Miss,” King Swanfeather calls Bubba overt to him and Garty is released.
“Let me see. Her features are not like her mother the Queen at all!”
Everyone gasps again.
“No, Royal Highness,” explains Garty.
“She is not the image of her mother, but look here, she is your image,” he says.
“Can someone bring a mirror for the king?” Garty asks, looking around the venue.
A mirror with a bronze handle is brought to the platform where the king sits.
The king stares into the mirror and admires his features.
The king stops looking in the mirror and he stares intently at the girl. Everyone has bated breath.
He calls to his advisors nearby, asking their opinion of this woman. They flock to Bubba and begin to compared her features in every way, head, hair, skin, nose, mouth, even eyebrows. They confer together in a huddle before they walk towards the king with their verdict.
“She is certainly your image, we concur,” the spokesman says on behalf of the three men who judged the woman.
“What else is evident?”
The king asks Garty this question.
“There is more evidence. This woman has a crib,” he says, pointing to Janda, “the one in which the baby was sleeping when she was stolen by marauders. These gypsies stole all the crystals from the crib and left the child at an orphanage. I have details about the day she was abandoned. Later on, Miron was fostered by Mrs Bouchée, who has been as a mother to her for years now, until this day!”
Garty gushes out his information gleaned over the years of investigation.
“It was a lie,” Janda shouts.
Axemanix growls with fury and grabs Anna by her arm ferociously.
Anna screams.
“This is the princess, she is your own blood by your own adulterous wife, the queen,” Axemanix shouts vehemently.
“Take that man away,” says the king, tossing his head high and pointing to exit.
“Lock him up until he is sober,” he adds.
Axemanix growls again.
“I should be king, not this man. He is a fraud,” Axemanix yells until he is taken out of hearing range.
Garty is surrounded by women.
Janda argues with Christina and Joanne, insisting that this girl Anna is the princess. Joanne stands by Garty and Mrs Bouchée is hovering nearby, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Your Majesty, what about your daughter, Princess Miron?” Garty asks. “Do you believe she is the invisible princess?”
“I certainly do, young man. You have done well to find her for me. I shall give thee a generous reward,” King Swanfeather says happily.
He has no doubts. We are right. Bubba is his daughter.
Then he turns to Miron, his long lost daughter.
“My beloved daughter, you can ride in my carriage,” King Swanfeather says, holding out his hand in friendship to the young woman they called the Strapper.
The new Princess Miron looks shyly at her father, the King, smiles and makes a request.
“Majesty, if you will, I need to return to the animals to ensure their safety. May I stay for one more evening? Mrs Bouchée will not cope with all the chores alone.”
King Justice Swanfeather almost swoons from his chair at this request.
How can a slip of a girl speak to him like that? Then he remembers something from the past.
“You are just like your mother, Queen Bianco, who challenged me daily and I adored her!”
He is clearly now emotional as memories of his beloved wife return to mind.
He pulls Miron towards him and hugs her.
“Father, thank you,” she says at last, looking into her father’s face. They know at that moment everything Garty says is the truth. She is truly a princess. For almost twenty years she had been invisible but now she can be seen by all.
“I shall see you when you are able to come to the royal house of Justice Swanfeather!” He says this as a statement and not a command.
“I dearly look forward to your company.”
“I will be as quick as possible,” says Miron.
Tears well in her eyes and she knows that at long last she is someone, not just the orphan girl or the strapper who loves horses! She is a princess by birth and soon to be crowned Queen of Kallai.
The king and his entourage depart the marquee and the crowd disperses gradually.
“We will take this down on the morrow,” says Mrs Bouchée clapping her hands and sighing heavily. She has never been so close to royalty in her entire life and now to find that one of her foster children is a princess makes her weak at the knees.
“We must all enjoy a good rest tonight.”
She turns to Garty.
“Garty, you are welcome to stay at the inn, also Miss Weasley. I am sure we can find suitable accommodation for you in my establishment.”
“Thank you, Mrs Bouchée,” Garty and Joanne say simultaneously.
Joanne looks at Garty. She is truly smitten by his gallantry and genius in finding the princess. And to think she had the pleasure of robbing a shop to dress the princess tonight? It makes her smile softly. She is tempted to giggle.
Garty looks at this beautiful woman before him and his heart melts. He could not be happier.
“What about your brother?” he asks, looking around the hall! But, there was no sight or sign of him anywhere!
“He has gone with his friends. I am afraid he has been drinking a lot tonight and shall be in a foul mood!
I am quite tired and shall enjoy a restful night. However, I did not bring any nightwear with me, or change of clothes?”
“I am sure Mrs Bouchée will find something suitable for you to wear tonight and tomorrow, when I shall take thee home, if you will?”
“Thank you, Garty. That is something I shall enjoy. I accept with all my heart!”
Garty’s heart beat so fast that he needed to take a deep breath.
“Now, how are we traveling to the Maud?”
“The ladies may come in my carriage, which is right outside, and we shall see you back at the inn.”
Mrs Bouchée speaks gaily to Garty.
Garty is disappointed.
He longs to take Joanne in his arms on the horse and feel her warmth next to his manly body.
“That’s wonderful, Mrs Bouchée,” Joanne replies sweetly.
“It shall save my slippers and Bubba’s, I mean Princess Miron’s fine shoes,” she says, glancing at Miron’s satin shoes peeping from underneath her fine floral dress.
As the ladies settle into Mrs Bouchée’s fine coach, with its private driver, rarely used and sparkling with style, plump cushions and a tiny curtained window, Garty leaps on his steed and decides to head through the back lanes in order to reach the Maud before they arrive, so that he may greet them again and assist them if needed.
Everyone is too excited to sleep when they return to the Maud. Ellie is still roaming around clearing up dishes and singing as usual.
“I always knew she was a princess,” she tells Garty as she encourages him to take a seat in the dining room.
“I shall get you some warm soup and hot bread to enjoy after such an adventure. Imagine meeting the king, face to face! It is wonderful!” she says, floating through the tables and setting them for the company about to invade the establishment.
Joanne and Miron sit down and relax with Garty.
They are wondering what will happen when the seamstress finds her dress missing and the cobbler notices missing shoes?
“What shall we do about the stolen things?”
The young ladies ask Garty the question.
He is lost in his own thoughts, but knows exactly what to do.
“We shall enjoy our supper tonight. Early tomorrow we shall return the stolen goods to their owners,” Garty says as he sips a cup of hot chocolate with cream and chocolate swirls on top.
“I agree!” Joanne and Princess Miron answer. Their faces bloom red with embarrassment.
“Maybe we should take them back tonight?” Princess Miron suggests, staring at her muddy silk slippers. “Oh, dear, these are ruined!”
“You are Princess Miron now, so why not pay the cobbler for them?” Garty suggests.
“I shall lend you the money if you have none,” he adds, remembering that she was a poorly paid servant until tonight, and he is not sure if royals carry money around with them anyway?
“We will all be in trouble tomorrow,” Joanne says.