the twins could be a bit of a handful, but miss carson was still glad she had obtained the job as their governess, as she had been somewhat starving before she did.
the twins, mindy and logan, were the heirs to the imperial throne. that is, they were both regarded as “heirs” and treated as such, although, when the time came, only one would ascend the throne.
at the time miss carson began her employment, the empire was under the regency of the twins’ uncle, prince e——————. prince e—————— was not a favorite of the people, a fact which did not seem to concern him unduly.
when the twins reached their twelfth birthday, the regency would be over, a coin would be flipped by the imperial chamberlain, lord y————, and one of the twins would be crowned and would ascend the throne, with the other would be exiled to a distant planet, or returned to the general populace.
in the meantime they were under the care and supervision of miss carson.
really, miss carson mused, they were not so much of a handful as that, and got along well enough with each other, and with her, most of the time.
the most serious source of conflict involved the stories they liked to be told by miss carson.
mindy liked stories with lots of surprises, especially at the end.
logan liked to hear the same stories over and over, with happy endings.
or maybe it was the other way around.
both twins made it clear to miss carson that her own treatment, if and when they ascended the throne, would be largely determined by how well she pleased them in the meantime.
miss carson, on the few occasions she encountered the regent or the lord chamberlain, had sought, with such subtlety as she was capable of, some reassurance as to her future situation, but neither of those experienced diplomatic individuals gave her any satisfaction.
meanwhile miss carson was left with the twins.
*
if you were miss carson, which of these stories seems most likely to please, at least to some degree, both children:
a) little red riding hood and the big bad wolf are driving down a country road at midnight when a violent storm overtakes them and they find shelter in an abandoned barn. in the barn they find a handsome prince, bound and gagged…
b) cinderella is invited to balls by the king of a……….. , the king of b——————, and the king of c————, all on the same night. she can only attend one! she asks her two stepsisters for advice…
c) robin hood and friar tuck and maid marian have successfully held up the casino at monte carlo and are escaping in a motorboat with the swag, with robin hood at the wheel. the gendarmes are right behind him in a high powered motorboat of their own. suddenly maid marian falls overheard…
d) snow white wakes up in what looks like a motel room, but does not know how she got there. she hears a voice though the thin walls. it sounds like king arthur, whom she had been rather rude to at the lord lieutenant’s ball the year before…
e) old mother hubbard carefully tends a flower in her back yard. she has been assured by a fairy that if she keeps the flower alive for seven years, she, mother hubbard, will be restored to eternal youth…
f) other (specify)
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