A Pearl Among Princes Read Online Free Page A

shape, but none has ever experienced Cook’s masterful work, the deliciously inventive pairings and artfully presented plates that he will create tonight.
    My mouth waters in anticipation. For on each banquet night, once the princes have retired to the den for cribbage or chess, Father serves a second, I think even finer, meal for all the attending servants.
    I lift a tomato from its fuzzy green stem, brush the smooth warm skin against my face, breathing in deeply of its earthy scent. Ahhh .
    Counting out thirty, exactly thirty, no need to be wasteful, as Father says, I set the basket of tomatoes in the shade and wipe the sweat from my forehead. Taking the spade from its casing tied to a loop on the belt of my skirt, I swing the other basket and move to another section of the hill, where I kneel to dig potatoes.
    Potatoes are harder work. I double the lower folds of my skirt to make a padding for my knees. The sun beats without a break on my back. I stop and shed my outer sweater, tying it about my waist. I turn my face toward the sea, welcoming a bit of breeze, then dig my spade back in the dirt to unearth another thick brown tuber.
    â€œWell, what have we here?” A boy’s voice breaks the silence.
    Humpty Dumpty. He is wearing a wide-brimmed hat, no doubt to protect his thin shell from the sun. He holds a book and a butterfly net. Raising the binoculars that dangle from his neck, he stares at me as if I’m some strange bird he hopes to identify. He stares and stares and stares.
    â€œSir, how dare you study me so!” I stand up, spade in hand, tossing a potato into the basket.
    Sir Humpty cackles like a barnyard hen. “My apologies, fair maiden.” He fingers a yellow curl and sniffs the air. “I’m simply getting the lay of the land, examining the flora and fauna of the isle. I find the present sight most . . . appealing indeed.” His thin lips rise on one side into a most unattractive smirk.
    â€œWell I’m no flower or fawn, sir. You would do well to cast your gaze elsewhere.” I’m reminded of that rank Sir Ivan last year, how he felt he could take advantage of Lu because she was a servant.
    The royal boy’s smirk ceases and his nose stiffens. “I will gaze at whatever I desire,” he says in the same rapid cold cadence he used with poor Leem at the docks yesterday morning. His eyes move down and up again, taking in the full view of me.
    I move fast toward him until the tip of my dirt-covered spade nearly grazes his fat dimpled chin. “Then I suggest you never desire me, sir.”
    â€œGracepearl!” The sound of Nuff’s call pierces the air. “Gracepearl! Where are you?” Nuff’s voice grows closer, rising up from the berry patches. “Come! Quickly!”
    I run toward Nuff, thinking briefly that I should take the baskets along, Father will be needing them, but they are heavy and would weigh me down. I’ll return for them in a moment when hopefully the egg boy will be gone.
    There are streams of tears running down Nuff’s cheeks, her brown eyes brimming with some sad story like cups of tea waiting to be poured.
    â€œOh, Gracepearl, I’m sorry,” Nuff sobs, clutching me tightly to her chest.
    I pull away so I can see her face. “What, Nuff, what ?”
    Nuff’s mouth contorts. She sobs and gulps and sobs again. “It’s your father. Good Cook. It’s his heart.”

CHAPTER 5
    The Hospital
    It’s raining, it’s pouring.
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed
Where he bumped his head,
And he didn’t get up till morning.
    Thorns scratch and sting my legs as I race through the raspberry bushes. Later I’ll tend to the cuts, this moment all that matters is Father. My heart throbbing, mind screaming, I run. Hold on, Father, I’m coming.
    Reaching the dining hall, I storm into the kitchen. Father’s workers look toward me with mournful glances.
    â€œThey’ve