III
The Queen paused in her forward progress as I approached, striding down the palace hall with as much dignity as I could muster. I would have preened at having stopped a woman of that caliber dead in her tracks, but I knew why her mouth had dropped open, forming a little round 'o' that reminded me for all the world of Rapunzel, and it had nothing to do with my natural good looks.
"Crèvecœurs," I said before she could ask.
"Pardon?"
"French hens," I clarified, struggling to keep the birds tucked under my arms from flapping free. "I should warn you that there's a third one of these black beauties wandering somewhere around the corner. And it doesn't have the best attitude."
I'd tried to carry all three of them at once, but had given up after the rogue one had threatened to peck my face. Imagine it—my stupendously handsome face threatened by a chicken. There was a reason I never stayed until morning on a farm. Farm girls were fun. Farm animals, on the other hand, were a total pain in the...
"Are these…?" the Queen asked, nodding towards the ridiculously plumed birds in my grip.
"Presents."
Her fingers floated up to her mouth, hovering there in thought for a moment. "Are you supposed to eat these presents, do you think?"
"I'm pretty sure if the chef ends up getting his hands on these, I'll never hear the end of it."
But, that still didn't mean I knew what I was supposed to do with an ever increasing menagerie of birds. The encyclopedia hadn't been all that informative, even after I'd had another P entry to work with and checked up on the entry for turtledoves for good measure.
"These can't even fit in the tree," she added with a frown.
At least I wasn't the only one who thought Blondie possibly the oddest gift giver in Corona. Except, I was certain there was something other than oddity behind this poultry plot. Rapunzel seemed so pleased with the gifts, so perky with each new reveal. This morning's presentation had literally been made with a boisterous ta-dah!
The Queen reached out to pat my cheek, tilting her head sympathetically. "I'll call for Heinrich. You're going to need a coup."
.