Note: I think I may have an overarching plot for both these stories.
Note 2: And the Princess finally has a name.
* * *
“Wait, so Miriam is the True Heir?” Princess Neffry said.
“So it would seem,” the dragon agreed. “Stolen from the previous queen’s beside after the birth of your father-in-law, kept Underhill where time passes more slowly, and released into the care of some not so loving foster parents.”
Neffry rubbed her nose, trying to think. “All right. So she’s the Queen, and the Sorceress. That’s never a good combination.”
“Can’t I be the Hero again, or maybe the Good Witch?” Miriam said, looking miserable.
“It’s all right dear,” the dragon said comfortingly. “No one thinks you’re evil.”
“Not yet.”
“Okay, so who stole Baby Miriam?” Neffry demanded. “It can’t be the King, he’d have to have been one Machiavellian infant.”
The dragon’s son raised a claw cautiously. “Mom?”
“What, dearheart?”
“When the Fairy of the Old Tree had me, she said that some bits of Underhill work, uh, differently.”
“’Working differently’ is what Underhill is all about,” Neffry said.
“I know, but I mean… ugh!” the little dragon turned around, chasing own tail briefly. “I mean, sometimes it doesn’t just go slowly. Some places in it, it goes all the way backwards.”
“Sooo….” The dragon mother looked thoughtful. “Fellow grows up the Spare instead of the Heir, goes to Underhill to move back in time, steals his big sister before she grows up, then moves to a different part of Underhill to wait until he’s the Heir.”
“Wait, wait, that doesn’t work!” Neffry said. “Wouldn’t you end up with two men, one the King and one still a prince?”
“It’s magic, dear. Trying to figure out causality is just going to give you a headache.”
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