It raised yellow eyes towards the Queen's lawyers. 'I further move that the case is adjourned
The lawyers had pulled large books out of nowhere and were thumbing through them hastily. 'We're not familiar with counsel's terminology,' said one of them.
'Hey, they're sweatin',' said Rob Anybody. 'You mean we can have lawyers on
'Yes, of course,' said the toad. 'You can have defence lawyers.'
'Defence?' said Rob Anybody. 'Are you tellin' me we could get awa' wi' it 'cos of a tishoo o' lies?'
'Certainly,' said the toad. 'And with all the treasure you've stolen you can pay enough to be very innocent indeed. My fee will be—'
It gulped as a dozen glowing swords were swung towards him.
'I've just remembered
The swords didn't move.
'That means for free,' it added.
'Oh, right, we like the sound o' that,' said Rob Anybody, to the sound of swords being sheathed. 'How come ye're a lawyer
'Oh, well, it was just bit of an argument,' said the toad. 'A fairy godmother gave my client three wishes—the usual health, wealth and happiness package—and when my client woke up one wet morning and didn't feel
'But ye can still remember all that legal stuff?
The other lawyers were pulling more and more paperwork out of the air now. They looked worried, and a little frightened. Rob Anybody's eyes gleamed as he watched them.
'What does all that Viznee-facey-em stuff mean, my learned friend?' he said.
'And tae think we didnae know legal talkin' was that simple,' said Rob Anybody. 'We could all be lawyers, lads, if we knew the fancy words! Let's
The Nac Mac Feegle could change mood in a moment, especially at the sound of a battle cry. They raised their swords in the air.
'No,' said the Queen, and waved her hand.
Lawyers and pictsies faded away. There was just her and Tiffany, facing one another on the turf at dawn, the wind hissing around the stones.
'What have you done with them?' Tiffany shouted.
'Oh, they're around... somewhere,' said the Queen airily. 'It's all dreams, anyway. And dreams within dreams. You can't rely on anything, little girl. Nothing is real. Nothing lasts. Everything goes. All you can do is learn to dream. And it's too late for that. And I... I have had longer to learn.'
Tiffany wasn't sure which of her thoughts was operating now. She was tired. She felt as though she was watching herself from above and a little behind. She saw herself set her boots firmly on the turf, and then...
... and then...
... and then, like someone rising from the clouds of a sleep, she felt the deep, deep Time below her. She sensed the breath of the downs and the distant roar of ancient, ancient seas trapped in millions of tiny shells. She thought of Granny Aching, under the turf, becoming part of the chalk again, part of the land under wave. She felt as if huge wheels, of time and stars, were turning slowly around her.
She opened her eyes and then, somewhere inside, opened her eyes again.
She heard the grass growing, and the sound of worms below the turf. She could feel the thousands of little lives around her, smell all the scents on the breeze, and see all the shades of the night...
The wheels of stars and years, of space and time, locked into place. She knew exactly where she was, and who she was, and what she was.
She swung a hand. The Queen tried to stop her, but she might as well have tried to stop a wheel of years. Tiffany's hand caught her face and knocked her off her feet.
'I never cried for Granny because there was no need to,' she said. 'She has never left me!'
She leaned down, and centuries bent with her.