e must be a Princess at
the bottom of this.'

'There are two!' answered King Charming, with a wry smile.

And then he told the whole story, accusing Fiordelisa of having betrayed
the secret of his visits to make her peace with the Queen, and indeed
saying a great many hard things about her fickleness and her deceitful
beauty, and so on. The Enchanter quite agreed with him, and even went
further, declaring that all Princesses were alike, except perhaps in the
matter of beauty, and advised him to have done with Fiordelisa, and
forget all about her. But, somehow or other, this advice did not quite
please the King.

'What is to be done next?' said the Enchanter, 'since you still have
five years to remain a Blue Bird.'

'Take me to your palace,' answered the King; 'there you can at least
keep me in a cage safe from cats and swords.'

'Well, that will be the best thing to do for the present,' said his
friend. 'But I am not an Enchanter for nothing. I'm sure to have a
brilliant idea for you before long.'

[Illustration]

In the meantime Fiordelisa, quite in despair, sat at her window day and
night calling her dear Blue Bird in vain, and imagining over and over
again all the terrible things that could have happened to him, until she
grew quite pale and thin. As for the Queen and Turritella, they were
triumphant; but their triumph was short, for the King, Fiordelisa's
father, fell ill and died, and all the people rebelled against the Queen
and Turritella, and came in a body to the palace demanding Fiordelisa.

The Queen came out upon the balcony with threats and haughty
words, so that at last they lost their patience, and broke open the
doors of the palace, one of which fell back upon the Queen and
killed her. Turritella fled to the Fairy Mazilla, and all the nobles
of the kingdom fetched the Princess Fiordelisa from her prison in
the tower, and made her Queen. Very soon, with all the care and
attention they bestowed upon her, she recovered from the effects of
her long captivity and looked more beautiful than ever, and was able
to take counsel with her courtiers, and arrange for the governing of
her kingdom during her absence. And then, taking a bagful of
jewels, she set out all alone to look for the Blue Bird, without
telling anyone where she was going.

Meanwhile, the Enchanter was taking care of King Charming, but as his
power was not great enough to counteract the Fairy Mazilla's, he at last
resolved to go and se