Curdie's idea was that they intended to kill the king,
marry the princess to one of themselves, and found a new dynasty;
but whatever their purpose, there was treason in the palace of the
worst sort: they were making and keeping the king incapable, in
order to effect that purpose- The first thing to be seen to,
therefore, was that His Majesty should neither eat morsel nor drink
drop of anything prepared for him in the palace. Could this have
been managed without the princess, Curdie would have preferred
leaving her in ignorance of the horrors from which he sought to
deliver her. He feared also the danger of her knowledge betraying
itself to the evil eyes about her; but it must be risked and she
had always been a wise child.
Another thing was clear to him - that with such traitors no terms
of honour were either binding or possible, and that, short of
lying, he might use any means to foil them. And he could not doubt
that the old princess had sent him expressly to frustrate their
plans.
While he stood thinking thus with himself, the princess was
earnestly watching the king, with looks of childish love and
womanly tenderness that went to Curdie's heart. Now and then with
a great fan of peacock feathers she would fan him very softly; now
and then, seeing a cloud begin to gather upon the sky of his
sleeping face, she would climb upon the bed, and bending to his ear
whisper into it, then draw back and watch again - generally to see
the cloud disperse.
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