Wyrd Sisters Part 42

"He made friends easily," said Granny.

"Among the ladies," agreed Nanny. "Very athletic, wasn't he? Could climb walls like n.o.body's business, I remember hearing."

"He was very popular at court," said Granny. "I know that much."

"Oh, yes. With the queen, at any rate."

"The king used to go out hunting such a lot," said Granny.

"It was that droit of his," said Nanny. "Always out and about with it, he was. Hardly ever home o'nights."

"Just a minute," Magrat repeated.

They looked at her.

"Yes?" said Granny.

"You told everyone they were brothers and that Verence was the older!" told everyone they were brothers and that Verence was the older!"

"That's right."

"And you let everyone believe that-"

Granny Weatherwax pulled her shawl around her.

"We're bound to be truthful," she said. "But there's no call to be honest."

"No, no, what you're saying is that the King of Lancre isn't really-"

"What I'm saying is is," said Granny firmly, "that we've got a king who is no worse than most and better than many and who's got his head screwed on right-"

"Even if it is against the thread," said Nanny.

"-and the old king's ghost has been laid to rest happy, there's been an enjoyable coronation and some some of us got mugs we weren't ent.i.tled to, them being only for the kiddies and, all in all, things are a lot more satisfactory than they might be. That's what I'm saying. Never mind what should be or what might be or what ought to be. It's what things are that's important." of us got mugs we weren't ent.i.tled to, them being only for the kiddies and, all in all, things are a lot more satisfactory than they might be. That's what I'm saying. Never mind what should be or what might be or what ought to be. It's what things are that's important."

"But he's not really a king!"

"He might be," said Nanny.

"But you just said-"

"Who knows? The late queen wasn't very good at counting. Anyway, he doesn't know he isn't royalty."

"And you're not going to tell him, are you?" said Granny Weatherwax.

Magrat stared at the moon, which had a few clouds across it.

"No," she said.

"Right, then," said Granny. "Anyway, look at it like this. Royalty has to start somewhere. It might as well start with him. It looks as though he means to take it seriously, which is a lot further than most of them take it. He'll do."

Magrat knew she had lost. You always lost against Granny Weatherwax, the only interest was in seeing exactly how. "But I'm surprised at the two of you, I really am," she said. "You're witches. That means you have to care about things like truth and tradition and destiny, don't you?"

"That's where you've been getting it all wrong," said Granny. "Destiny is is important, see, but people go wrong when they think it controls them. It's the other way around." important, see, but people go wrong when they think it controls them. It's the other way around."

"b.u.g.g.e.r destiny," agreed Nanny.

Granny glared at her.

"After all, you never thought being a witch was going to be easy, did you?"

"I'm learning," said Magrat. She looked across the moor, where a thin rind of dawn glowed on the horizon.

"I think I'd better be off," she said. "It's getting early."

"Me too," said Nanny Ogg. "Our Shirl frets if I'm not home when she comes to get my breakfast."

Granny carefully scuffed over the remains of the fire.

"When shall we three meet again?" she said. "Hmm?"

The witches looked at one another sheepishly.

"I'm a bit busy next month," said Nanny. "Birthdays and such. Er. And the work has really been piling up with all this hurly-burly. You know. And there's all the ghosts to think about."

"I thought you sent them back to the castle," said Granny.

"Well, they didn't want to go," said Nanny vaguely. "To be honest, I've got used to them around the place. They're company of an evening. They hardly scream at all, now."

"That's nice," said Granny. "What about you, Magrat?"

"There always seems to be such a lot to do at this time of year, don't you find?" said Magrat.

"Quite," said Granny Weatherwax, pleasantly. "It's no good getting yourself tied down to appointments all the time, is it? Let's just leave the whole question open, shall we?"

They nodded. And, as the new day wound across the landscape, each one busy with her own thoughts, each one a witch alone, they went home.*

THE END.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Terry Pratchett lives in England, an island off the coast of France, where he spends his time writing Discworld novels in accordance with the Very Strong Anthropic Principle, which holds that the entire purpose of the Universe is to make possible a being that will live in England, an island off the coast of France, and spend his time writing Discworld novels. Which is exactly what he does. Which proves the whole business true. Any questions? lives in England, an island off the coast of France, where he spends his time writing Discworld novels in accordance with the Very Strong Anthropic Principle, which holds that the entire purpose of the Universe is to make possible a being that will live in England, an island off the coast of France, and spend his time writing Discworld novels. Which is exactly what he does. Which proves the whole business true. Any questions?

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BOOKS BY T TERRY P PRATCHETT.

The Carpet People The Dark Side of the Sun Strata * Truckers Diggers * Wings Only You Can Save Mankind Johnny and the Dead * Johnny and the Bomb The Unadulterated Cat (with Gray Jollife) (with Gray Jollife) Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman) (with Neil Gaiman) THE D DISCWORLD S SERIES:.

Going Postal * Monstrous Regiment * Night Watch The Last Hero * The Truth * Thief of Time The Fifth Elephant * Carpe Jugulum The Last Continent * Jingo Hogfather * Feet of Clay * Maskerade Interesting Times * Soul Music * Men at Arms Lords and Ladies * Small G.o.ds Witches Abroad * Reaper Man Moving Pictures * Eric (with Josh Kirby) (with Josh Kirby) Guards! Guards! * Pyramids Wyrd Sisters * Sourcery * Mort * Equal Rites The Light Fantastic * The Color of Magic

Mort: A Discworld Big Comic (with Graham Higgins) (with Graham Higgins) The Streets of Ankh-Morpork (with Stephen Briggs) (with Stephen Briggs) The Discworld Companion (with Stephen Briggs) (with Stephen Briggs) The Discworld Mapp (with Stephen Briggs) (with Stephen Briggs) The Pratchett Portfolio (with Paul Kidby) (with Paul Kidby)

Copyright This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

WYRD SISTERS. Copyright 1988 by Terry and Lyn Pratchett. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition FEBRUARY 2007 ISBN: 9780061807152 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.

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