Tuesdays at the Castle

When Lilah and Celie tell Rolf the plan, he instructs Avery to assign bodyguards to all three of them. The siblings then go to inspect Prince Lulath’s chambers but are intercepted by the king’s councilors. Celie thinks, “They looked like a copse of trees on a moonlit night. Celie had to repress a little scream when the foremost of them moved forward suddenly and began to speak” (66). The Emissary to Foreign Lands forces all three children into the throne room for a private conversation.

He informs Rolf that the Council has voted unanimously to create a regency “As the crown prince, you are subject to the Council, which has decided that we shall guide your reign until you reach a more mature age” (70). Despite Rolf’s objections, the council will exert control over him until the prince is twenty-four years old.

The council declares the king and queen legally dead and calls off the search for their bodies. This development creates new difficulties for the siblings, but Lilah advises Rolf to appear cooperative to avoid friction.

Celie goes to the tower to ask the castle to provide more space for the guests arriving for Rolf’s coronation. She presses her hands against the stone wall and whispers, “Why don’t you get rid of Khelsh? Do you like him? And do you still want Rolf to be king? Right now? Even with the Council telling him what to do” (77).

When Celie turns around, she sees a cloak on the table and an opening in one of the walls that wasn’t there before. She dons the cape, which seems to muffle her footsteps, and walks through the opening. A tunnel leads to a position behind a tapestry in the council chamber. The council is discussing the regency and has voted to make Prince Khelsh a regent too. They also intend to force Rolf to name Khelsh as his heir. The emissary says, “And by the end of the month, my dear Prince Khelsh, you will be the crown prince of Sleyne” (81).

Celie rushes to gather her siblings in the room that they now call the Spyglass Tower. They agree that they can only speak confidentially here. Lilah suggests that they need a signal whenever they need to meet. They should tuck a handkerchief up their sleeves and allow it to stick out a little. A handkerchief up the right sleeve means they should meet at midnight. If worn in the left sleeve, the handkerchief means they should meet as soon as possible.

Lilah advises her brother not to act surprised when he learns that Khelsh has been named as a regent. She says, “They’re waiting for you to pout and act childish, Rolf. They want you to prove that you can’t rule alone. But if you show everyone how gracious and … kingly you can be, people will question why you need regents” (85). She also says he should name a cousin as his successor instead of Khelsh. The siblings hope to raise support for Rolf from among the common folk before Khelsh kills him and crowns himself king.

The coronation ceremony naming Rolf as King Glower the Eightieth proceeds smoothly. When the new king makes a speech to the common folk, the castle allows his voice to carry throughout the crowd. All the people rejoice because Rolf has their support. When the emissary announces the regency, the castle keeps his voice from echoing so that the message passes slowly by word of mouth. No one seems pleased by this news.

Later, the emissary informs Rolf of Khelsh’s appointment as regent. Rolf takes the news in stride, which upsets the emissary, who was hoping to see a temper tantrum. Celie notices his reaction: “The Emissary, Celie realized with a bubble of laughter that she managed to bite back, was startled and perhaps even offended that Rolf wasn’t angry” (93). Instead, the royals proceed calmly to the coronation feast.

After a night of revelry, the three children retreat to the Spyglass Tower. It’s now almost dawn. Lilah looks through one of the spyglasses to see Pogue riding furiously toward the castle. He’s still miles off, so the siblings hurry down to the courtyard to intercept him before the emissary has a chance to interfere.

Back upstairs, Pogue tells the children the good news that their parents and brother are still alive. The wizards he consulted have a theory that Bran used magic to cloak his parents and himself, but no one can tell where the three are hiding. The siblings tell Pogue everything that has taken place at the castle while he was gone. All four grimly contemplate their bleak prospects if Khelsh and the council get their way.