Fool (english)

then.)
    “I know, but this is my first, and yours will be small and not so frightening. It’s like when I was learning to ride, and first father gave me a pony, but then, as I got older…”

    “All right, then, shut up. Here.”
    “Oh, would you look at that.”
    “What?”
    “That’s it, then?”
    “Yes. What?”
    “Nothing really to be afraid of then, was there? I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It’s rather pitiful if you ask me.”
    “It is not.”
    “Are they all this small?”
    “Most are smaller, in fact.”
    “May I touch it?”
    “If you feel you must.”
    “Well, would you look at that.”
    “See, now you’ve angered it.”
    “Where in God’s name have you been?” she said. “Father’s been a madman looking for you. He and his captain have gone out on patrol every day and well into the evening, leaving the rest of his knights to wreak havoc on the castle. My lord has sent soldiers as far as Edinburgh asking after you. I should have you drowned for all the worry you’ve caused.”
    “You did miss me, didn’t you?” I cradled the silk purse at my belt, wondering when best to spring the spell. And once she was bewitched, how exactly would I use the power?
    “He was supposed to be in Regan’s care, but by the time he moves his bloody hundred knights all the way to Cornwall it will be my turn again. I can’t abide the rabble in my palace.”
    “What does Lord Albany say?”
    “He says what I tell him to say. It’s all intolerable.”
    “Gloucester,” said I, offering the very model of a non sequitur wrapped in an enigma.

    “Gloucester?” asked the duchess.
    “The king’s good friend is there. It’s mid-way between here and Cornwall, and the Earl of Gloucester daren’t deny the request of the dukes of both Albany and Cornwall. You wouldn’t be leaving the king without care, yet you wouldn’t have him underfoot, either.” With the witches’ warning about Drool in danger there, I was determined for all the drama to descend on Gloucester. I sat down on the floor near her feet, held Jones across my knees, and waited, both I and the puppet wearing jolly grins.
    “Gloucester…” said Goneril, letting a bit of a smile seep out. She really could be lovely when she forgot she was cruel.
    “Gloucester,” said Jones, “the dog’s bollocks of western bloody Blighty.”
    “Do you think he’ll agree to it? It’s not how he laid out his legacy.”
    “He won’t agree to Gloucester, but he’ll agree to go to Regan’s by way of Gloucester. The rest will be up to your sister.” Should I have felt myself a traitor? No, the old man brought this on himself.
    “But if he doesn’t agree, and he has all these men?” She looked me in the eye now. “It’s too much power in the hands of the feeble.”
    “And yet, he had all the power of the kingdom not two months ago.”
    “You’ve not seen him, Pocket. The legacy and banishment of Cordelia and Kent was just the beginning. Since you went away he’s gotten worse. He searches for you, he hunts, he rails about his days as a soldier of Christ one minute, then calls to the gods of Nature the next. With a fighting force of that size-if he should feel that we’ve betrayed him-”
    “Take them,” said I.
    “What? I couldn’t.”
    “You have seen my apprentice, Drool? He eats with his hands or with a spoon, we dare not let him have a knife or fork, lest the points imperil all.”

    “Don’t be obtuse, Pocket. What of Father’s knights?”
    “You pay them? Take them. For his own good. Lear with his train of knights is like a child running with a sword. Are you cruel to relieve him of deadly force, when he is neither strong enough, nor wise enough to wield it? Tell Lear he must dismiss fifty of his knights and their attendants and keep them here. Tell him they will be at his beck and call when he is in residence.”
    “Fifty? Just fifty?”
    “You must leave some for your sister. Send Oswald to Cornwall with your plan. Have Regan and Cornwall make haste to Gloucester so they are there upon Lear’s arrival. Perhaps they can bring Gloucester into the fold. With Lear’s knights dismissed, the two whitebeards can reminisce about their glory days and crawl together to the grave in peaceful nostalgia.”
    “Yes!” Goneril was becoming breathless now, excited. I’d seen it before. It wasn’t always a good sign.
    “Quickly,” said I, “send Oswald to Regan while the sun is high.”
    “No!” Goneril sat