And there was the King, not on a throne, but sitting in a rathersquare chair with only a little gold leaf on it, near the middle of alarge room, and dressed much more modestly than the persons whowaited on him. He was quite alone, like an ordinary person. True, hesat with one leg thrust out in a kingly sort of manner, and he washandsome in a plump, slightly vague way, but to Sophie he seemedquite youthful and just a touch too proud of being a king. She felthe ought, with that face, to have been more unsure of himself.

He said, “Well, what does Wizard Howl’s mother want tosee me about?”

And Sophie was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that she wasstanding talking to the King. It was, she thought dizzily, as if theman sitting there and the huge, important thing which was kingshipwere two separate things that just happened to occupy the same chair.And she found she had forgotten every word of the careful, delicatethings Howl had told her to say. But she had to say something.

“He sent me to tell you he’s not going to look foryour brother,” she said. “Your Majesty.”

She stared at the King. The King stared back. It was adisaster.

“Are you sure?” asked the King. “The Wizardseemed quite willing when I talked to him.”

The one thing Sophie had left in her head was that she was here toblacken Howl’s name, so she said, “He lied about that. Hedidn’t want to annoy you. He’s a slitherer-outer, if youknow what I mean, Your Majesty.”

“And he hopes to slither out of finding my brotherJustin,” said the King. “I see. Won’t you sit down,since I see you are not young, and tell me the Wizard’sreasons?”

There was another plain chair rather a long way from the King.Sophie creaked herself down into it and sat with her hands propped onher stick like Mrs. Pentstemmon, hoping that would make her feelbetter. But her mind was still simply a roaring white blank ofstagefright. All she could think of to say was, “Only a cowardwould send his old mother along to plead for him. You can see whathe’s like just from that, Your Majesty.”

“It is an unusual step,” the King said gravely.“But I told him that I’d make it worth his while if heagreed.”

“Oh, he doesn’t care about money,” Sophie said.“But he’s scared stiff of the Witch of the Waste, yousee. She put a curse on him and it’s just caught up withhim.”

“Then he has every reason to be scared,” the King saidwith a slight shiver. “But tell me more, please, about theWizard.”

More about Howl? Sophie thought desperately. I have to blacken hisname! Her mind was such a blank that for a second it actually seemedto her that Howl had no faults at all. How stupid! “Well,he’s fickle, careless, selfish, and hysterical,” shesaid. “Half the time I think he doesn’t care what happensto anyone as long as he’s all right—but then I find outhow awfully kind he’s been to someone. Then I think he’skind just when it suits him—only then I find out he undercharges poorpeople. I don’t know, Your Majesty. He’s amess.”

“My impression,” said the King, “was that Howlis an unprincipled, slippery rogue with a glib tongue and a clevermind. Would you agree?”

“How well you put it!” Sophie said heartily.“But you left out how vain he is and—” She lookedsuspiciously at the King across the yards of carpet. He seemed sosurprisingly ready to help her blacken Howl’s name.

The King was smiling. It was the slightly uncertain smile thatwent with the person he was, rather than the king he ought to be.“Thank you, Mrs. Pendragon,” he said. “Youroutspokenness has taken a great weight off my mind. The Wizard agreedto look for my brother so readily that I thought I had picked thewrong man after all. I feared he was someone who was either unable toresist showing off or would do anything for money. But you have shownme he is just the man I need.”

“Oh, confound it!” Sophie cried out. “He sent meto tell you he wasn’t!”

“And so you did.” The King hitched his chair an inchtoward Sophie’s. “Let me be equally outspoken now,”he said. “Mrs. Pendragon, I need my brother back badly. It isnot just that I am fond of him and regret the quarrel we had. It isnot even that certain people are whispering that I did away with himmyself—which anyone who knows us both knows to be perfect nonsense.No, Mrs. Pendragon. The fact is, my brother Justin is a brilliantgeneral and, with High Norland and Strangia about to declare war onus, I can’t do without him. The Witch has threatened me too,you know. Now that all reports agree that Justin did indeed go intothe Waste, I am certain that the Witch meant me to be without himwhen I needed him most. I think she took Wizard Suliman as bait tofetch Justin. And it follows that I need a fairly clever andunscrupulous wizard to get him back.”

“Howl will just run away,” Sophie warned the King.

“No,” said the King. “I don’t think hewill. The fact that he sent you tells me that. He did it to show mehe was too much of a coward to care what I thought of him,isn’t that right, Mrs. Pendragon?”

Sophie nodded. She wished she could have remembered allHowl’s delicate remarks. The King would have understood themeven if she did not.

“Not the act of a vain man,” the King said. “Butno one would do that except as a last resort, which shows me thatWizard Howl will do what I want if I make it clear to him that hislast resort has failed.”

“I think you may be—er—taking delicate hints thataren’t there, Your Majesty,” Sophie said.

“I think not.” The King smiled. His slightly vaguefeatures had all firmed up. He was sure he was right. “TellWizard Howl, Mrs. Pendragon, that I am appointing him Royal Wizard asfrom now, with our Royal Command to find Prince Justin, alive ordead, before the year is out. You have our leave to gonow.”

He held out his hand to Sophie, just like Mrs. Pentstemmon, but alittle less royally. Sophie levered herself up, wondering if she wasmeant to kiss this hand or not. But since she felt more like raisingher stick and beating the King over the head with it, she shook theKing’s hand and gave a creaking little curtsy. It seemed to bethe right thing to do. The King gave her a friendly smile as shehobbled away to the double doors.

“Oh, curses!” she muttered to herself. It was not onlyexactly what Howl did not want. Howl would now move the castle athousand miles away. Lettie, Martha, and Michael would all bemiserable, and no doubt there would be torrents of green slime intothe bargain as well. “It comes of being the eldest,” shemuttered while she was shoving the heavy doors open. “You justcan’t win!”

And here was another thing which had gone wrong. In her annoyanceand disappointment, Sophie had somehow come out through the wrong setof double doors. This anteroom had mirrors all round it. In them shecould see her own little bent, hobbling shape in its fine gray dress,a great many people in blue Court dress, others in suits as fine asHowl’s, but no Michael. Michael of course was hanging about inthe anteroom paneled in a hundred kinds of wood.

“Oh, drat!” said Sophie.

One of the courtiers hastened up to her and bowed. “MadamSorceress! Can I be of assistance?”

He was an undersized young man, rather red-eyes. Sophie stared athim. “Oh, good gracious!” she said. “So the spellworked!”

“It did indeed,” said the small courtier a littleruefully. “I disarmed him while he was sneezing and he is nowsuing me. But the important thing—” his face spread into ahappy smile—“is that my dear Jane has come back to me! Now,what can I do for you? I feel responsible for yourhappiness.”

“I’m not sure that it mightn’t be the other wayround,” Sophie said. “Are you by any chance the count ofCatterack?”

“At your service,” said the small courtier,bowing.

Jane Farrier must be a good foot taller than he is! Sophiethought. It is all definitely my fault. “Yes, you canhelp me,” she said, and explained about Michael.