They had landed in the middle of the Green Gallery. Marigold was relieved to see that at least this part of the palace hadn’t vanished yet: there were the usual fern-colored walls, the gleaming wooden panels (including the loose one), and the long meeting table, where a dozen frantic-looking people had leaped to their feet. Some had swords pointed at Marigold and Collin; others were running to hide behind the green brocade drapes. None seemed happy to be interrupted.
“You look like wizards,” said a woman in a golden gown, “and you travel like wizards.” She advanced on them, waving a heavy-looking jeweled scepter. “Go back to your own lands! You’re not wanted here.”
Marigold had never seen this woman before in her life, but she was obviously royalty. The other frantic people were dressed just as grandly and covered in just as many jewels. Marigold spotted Queen Hetty of Blumontaine toward the back of the room, accompanied by Victoria the iguana in a powder-blue traveling suit and pillbox hat. And there, next to Queen Hetty, craning to see over the heads of the others, was Marigold’s mother.
“Marigold!” Queen Amelia rushed through the crowd, practically knocking over the woman in gold, with King Godfrey at her heels. Marigold wondered if they would shout at her or turn her out of Imbervale on the spot, but to her amazement, they wrapped their arms around her. Her father was in tears; her mother peppered her with questions. “Are you well? Have you eaten? How could you have run off like that — and to Wizard Torville, of all people! What were you thinking? We’ve been desperately worried!”
They were warm and they were furious, and Marigold hated to pull away, but there wasn’t any time to waste. “We came to warn you,” she said. “Imbervale is in danger. Collin, will you go and tell the palace staff? And the guests, if you can find them?”
Collin nodded and ran out of the room. Some of the rulers had lowered their weapons, and more were coming out from behind the drapes. “Danger?” said a king in scarlet silk. “The heads of all ten kingdoms are here in this room to negotiate peace. Do you mean to say that one of us is plotting against the others?”
“It’s the wizards who are plotting.” Marigold looked around the room at the rulers’ baffled faces. “They don’t want peace. They’re going to vanish Imbervale Palace any minute now, and you all need to leave before they do.”
King Godfrey put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “No wizard can vanish our palace,” he said. “The royal magician has put up defenses —”
“But the defenses are gone!” Marigold cried. “And it’s not just one wizard, Papa; it’s a whole group of them. I’ll explain later, but right now we have to go.” Marigold took a step toward the doors, but no one else followed. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” grumbled a king with bushy white hair. “I was about to give a speech!”
“It’s my turn to speak next, Obin,” snapped the queen in the golden gown. “You’ve given three speeches already, and I’ve only had one!”
“Maybe I should go and speak to the royal magician,” Queen Amelia said, frowning. “She’ll be able to mend our defenses.”
“That would take days, Mama! We need to leave now.” Marigold looked desperately toward the doors. She wondered if Collin was having more luck, or if servants were as stubborn as royalty when it came to being rescued. “You’ve got to trust me.”
“I don’t see why we should,” said Queen Hetty sharply. “Your Majesties, this child is wicked. She came to see me with Wizard Torville on Saturday and made some serious accusations against Foggy Gorge that I later learned were nothing but lies. Isn’t that right, Victoria?”
The iguana hissed.
“I believe,” said Queen Hetty, “that the child wants to upend our peace plan by spinning wild stories. She tried in Blumontaine. She’s trying again now. And I, for one, have had enough of her fabrications. I won’t be leaving this room.” She looked at Marigold over the rim of her glasses. “Perhaps things are different in Imbervale, but in Blumontaine, we don’t tolerate wickedness.”
Marigold felt stung. “That’s not true!” she said. “You wanted to curse Foggy Gorge with quicksand! You’ve been Torville’s client for years. And the rest of you order spells from evil wizards all the time; don’t pretend that you don’t. Doesn’t that make you a little bit wicked yourselves?”
King Godfrey scratched his beard. “It’s more complicated than that, my love . . .”
“Quicksand, Hetty?” asked the queen in gold. “What a disgraceful idea.”
“No more disgraceful than the mushroom-growing curse you sent to Stickelridge,” muttered the king in scarlet silk.
The queen in gold rolled her eyes. “Stickelridge deserved it.”
Then all the rulers were squabbling at once, complaining about the curses they’d received and defending the ones they’d ordered. If Gentleman Northwinds had been in the room, he would have clapped his hands in delight. Marigold tried to tell them again to leave the palace, but she couldn’t even hear her own voice above the clamor.
At the end of the long table, Rosalind pushed her chair back. Marigold hadn’t noticed her there, hidden behind the others’ skirts and swords, but as she got to her feet, the sun shone more brightly through the windows and the scent of rose blossoms filled the room. “Please!” she said. “May I speak?”
Grudgingly, the rulers returned to their seats.
“I’m grateful for all you’ve done to bring peace to our kingdoms,” Rosalind told them, “and I don’t want our meeting to be disturbed. But I won’t ignore my sister, either.” She turned toward Marigold. “I might be able to help you stop the wizards,” she said. “I mean — if you’ll let me.”
Marigold took a long breath. She didn’t quite meet Rosalind’s eyes. “I wouldn’t mind the help,” she said at last.
“And the wizards are nearby?”
Marigold nodded. “I think so.”
“Then we’ll find them.” Rosalind looked back at the rulers around the table. “Please continue the peace negotiations while I’m gone. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
As they made their way through the palace, Marigold told Rosalind as much as she knew about what the Miseries were planning. “They’ve got lots of different potions,” she said. “I think they have to mix them all together to finish the enchantment — and perform the incantation, of course, without losing their intention. Do you know much about big magic?”
Rosalind shook her head. “I heard Torville mention it once or twice, but I never asked him what he meant.” They hurried past the treasury and the steward’s offices. “Is Torville one of the wizards casting the vanishing spell?”
“No.” Marigold tried not to think about the blob of glop trapped in the pocket of Elgin’s robes. “But they’ve taken Pettifog.”
“Oh, dear.” Rosalind ran faster.
Outside the throne room, they bumped into Collin. To Marigold’s dismay, he was all alone. “No one would come with me!” he said. “I tried to tell them what the wizards were planning, but they all thought I was making up a story. I suppose it does sound a little unbelievable. Then Cook started shouting about how I hadn’t shown up for work in a week, and I had to make a run for it.” He shoved his dandelion hair out of his eyes. “I’m sorry, Marigold.”
“The kings and queens wouldn’t come, either,” Marigold told him. “Not even Mama and Papa.”
“But you got Rosalind!” said Collin. “I mean, um, excuse me, Your Highness. Or is it Your Majesty?”
“Please don’t worry about that,” Rosalind said so kindly that Collin turned pink. “We’ve got to find the Miseries, and we certainly don’t have time for titles. Where do you think they’re hiding?”
Marigold wished she knew. “They must be close to the palace,” she said, “or their spell won’t work. It’s not one you can do at a distance.”
“This morning,” Collin volunteered, “before the Miseries put me in the dungeon, that wizard Horace said he wished they didn’t have to stand around in a muddy hollow all day. Isn’t there a hollow behind the back meadow?”
Marigold had seen it from her perch on the rooftop a hundred times. It was gloomy and damp and surrounded by trees — a perfect spot for the Miseries. “I know how to get there,” she said. “Follow me.”
