The Witch's Mistake Chapter 4

Prince Black*Star and Tsubaki reached the courtyard in front of the prince's palace. He lifted Tsubaki from the horse.

"I'm too madly in love to wait." He said "Let's announce our engagement first thing tomorrow morning, dear heart."

"All right." Tsubaki said.

Black*Star only got a measly seed pearl. "Princess speak in complete sentences, darling."

Tsubaki took a deep breath for courage. "I'm tired, Your High—I mean Black*Star. May I rest for a day first?"

But Black*Star didn't listen. He was too interested in the green diamond in his hand. "I've never seen one of these before, honey bun. We can have the betrothal ceremony at nine o' clock sharp. Your Royal Ladies-in-Waiting will find you something to wear."

Black*Star snapped his fingers, and a Royal Lady-in-Waiting led Tsubaki away. They were on the castle doorstep when Black*Star ran after them.

"Angel, I almost forgot. What would you like served at our betrothal feast?"

Nobody had ever asked Tsubaki this kind of question before. She'd always had to eat scraps from her mother's and sister's plates. Nobody had ever asked her what she liked to eat. Nobody had ever asked her opinion about anything.

She smiled happily. "Your—I mean Black*Star… uh… dear, I'd like poached quail eggs and roasted chestnuts for our betrothal feast." Six identical emeralds the color of maple leaves in May dropped from Maka's mouth.

The Royal Lady-in-Waiting, who was at Maka's elbow, gasped.

"Look at these!" Black*Star said. "They're gorgeous. So you want wild boar for dinner?" he didn't give Tsubaki time to say she hated wild boar. "What do you know? It's my favorite too. I'll go tell the cook." He rushed off.

Tsubaki sighed.

Blair, who was keeping an eye on things, sighed too.

V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V

Medusa returned to the well, determined to give a drink to anybody who was there. But nobody was. She lowered the bucket into the well anyway. Nobody showed. She had an idea. It was worth a try. She watered the plants that grew around the well. "Dear plants," she began "You look thirsty. Perhaps a little water would pleas you. It's no trouble. I don't mind, dear sweet plants."

Whatever was in her mouth was too big to be a jewel, unless it was the biggest one in the world. And a jewel wouldn't feel slimy on her tongue. She opened her mouth. A water bug crawled out. She closed her mouth, but there was more. More slime. She opened her mouth again. Two more water bugs padded out, followed by a black snake.

Giving the plants a drink hadn't done any good. Medusa dumped the rest of the water on a rose bush. "Drown you stupid plant." She muttered. A grasshopper landed on a rose.

Medusa filled her bucket one more time. Then –without saying a single word- she scoured the village again for the rotten witch who'd done this to her. She swore to herself that she'd pour water down the throat of any stranger she found.

But there weren't any strangers, so Medusa threw the bucket into the well and headed home.

The widow was in the garden she had dug up the peas and the radishes and the tomato plants. Now she was pawing through the roots, hoping to find more jewels that Prince Black*Star missed. When she heard the gate slam shut, she stood up. "Don't say a word if you didn't find the old lady."

Medusa closed her mouth with a snap. She picked up a stick and scratched in the dirt "where's Maka?"

"She rode off to marry the prince. Like a fool I let her go, because I thought I had you. You bungler, you baka, you…"

That made Medusa furious. How could she have known the witch turned herself into a knight in so much armor you couldn't see her –his—face? And hadn't she searched the village twice? And hadn't she water those useless plants? Medusa opened her mouth to give her mother a what-for.

But the widow held p her hands and jumped back three feet. "Hush! Shh! Hush, my love. Perhaps I was hasty. We've both had a bad…"

Her mother's pleas gave Medusa a new idea. She picked up the stick again and wrote, "Things are looking up, Mom. It will all be better tomorrow." She dropped the stick and started whistling- and wondering if whistling made snakes and insects too. It didn't. Too bad, she thought.