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Authors: Kate McMullan

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Zelnoc shrugged. “I can do an Undo Switcheroo Spell, but you won’t like the results.”

“What do you mean?” asked Janice.

“If I do an Undo Switcheroo, you’ll be back where you started,” Zelnoc explained. “A king with the pox.”

“Oh, dear,” said the queen.

“And you, porker,” Zelnoc went on, “will be back to speaking Pig Latin.”

All eyes turned to Daisy now.

She closed her eyes. “I do so enjoy expressing myself in proper English,” she said with a great deal of feeling.

“Up-yay o-tay ou-yay, Aisy-day,”
said the king.

“Make it snappy, pig,” said Zelnoc. “You want the Undo Switcheroo or don’t you? Tell me quick! I can smell my shape-shifters starting to burn around the edges.”

Chapter 12

D
aisy heaved a great sigh and said, “If it weren’t for your first Speech Spell, Zelnoc, I’d never have spoken at all. And speaking Pig Latin is better than oinking.”

“Then you’ll let Zelnoc do the Undo Switcheroo, Daisy?” asked Erica.

“Yes.” Daisy nodded. “For the good of the kingdom. And don’t worry about King Ken’s pox. I can get rid of them.”

“Oh, thank you, Daisy!” cried the queen. “You are a fine swine indeed!”

“Ready-o?” said Zelnoc. He plucked his wand from where he’d parked it behind his left ear. “Pig, you stand by the window,” he said. “King? You by the chopping block.”

Daisy walked slowly toward her spot.

The king took his place as well.

“Everyone else, stand back,” said the wizard. “And don’t interrupt!”

Zelnoc waved his wand in a great circle and began to chant:

Hickety, pickety
The spell is undone
By counting backward
Three, two, one!

Zelnoc waved his wand over King Ken and shouted,
“Three!”

Then the wizard waved his wand over Daisy and shouted,
“Two!”

Next, he touched his wand to his own forehead and he kicked up his heels, dancing a silly little jig. As he swept his wand in a big circle, Pierre rushed into the kitchen.

“One!”
shouted the wizard.

“I say!” shouted the king.

“Ah! Zere is zee
cochon!”
cried the chef. He ran for Daisy, “Come, peeg! I weel roast you now!”

“Elp-hay !” cried Daisy.

“Keep away from her, Pierre!” cried King Ken. “This pig is about to save my royal hide.”

Chef Pierre skidded to a halt. “Zee peeg?”

The king nodded. “Say one more word about roasting Daisy, and you’re fired!”

“Oh, deed I say roast her?” cried Pierre. “No, no, no. I mean to say toast her!
Oui!
Tonight we weel dreenk a toast to this beautiful peenk peeg!”

“That’s more like it,” said King Ken.

“Anks-thay, Ing-kay En-kay,”
said Daisy.

“Mv Undo Switcheroo worked like a charm,” said Zelnoc. “Now, back to my baking.” With a flash of light, he vanished.

“I’d forgotten how much these pox itch!” wailed the king as he started scratching himself again.

“Iglaf-way? Elp-hay e-may,”
Daisy asked.

Wiglaf followed Daisy as she trotted over to the pot. She motioned for him to pick up the leaves scattered around it.

“Isterwort-blay eaves-lay,
she said.

She instructed Wiglaf to place the blisterwort leaves on the king’s skin. He did so. When he peeled them off, the pox had vanished.

“Oh!” cried the queen. “Daisy, you have saved the kingdom. We must give you a royal thank-you. Would you like a medal with King Ken’s picture on it, dear?”

“I-yay uess-gay,
” said Daisy.

“Or we could declare you Lady Daisy,” said the queen.

“Ine-fay,”
Daisy said quietly.

“Hmm,” said the queen. “How about coming back to the palace once a year for a day at the Royal Spa?”

Daisy smiled.
“Es-yay, Our-yay Ajesty-may!”
she said. Then she looked at Pierre and added,
“O-nay icks-tray!”

“No tricks,” Wiglaf translated.

“Nevair!” Chef Pierre bowed to the king and queen. “Instead of
cochon,
I weel make a vegetable stew fit for a king and queen.”

“Perfect, Pierre,” said the queen. She gasped. “Listen! Do you hear that?”

Outside the palace, Wiglaf heard people laughing and shouting, “Speech! Speech! Come on, King Ken! We’re waiting.”

“Our subjects are here!” cried the queen. “Oh, Kenny. I know you’re going to give the very best speech ever! Come. We must get you into your royal-blue velvet robe.”

For Wiglaf, the next few hours sped by in a happy whirl of excitement. He and his friends joined the subjects in the courtyard for King Ken’s speech. He forgot almost all of it except for the last line about ordering up a walloping big feast. Since this was all his subjects wanted to hear anyway, they cheered and shouted, “Long live King Ken!”

Now Wiglaf knew there would be no more talk of drafting Bob of Bobbinshire to be king.

After the speech, everyone sat down at long tables on the palace lawn. Servants brought in Chef Pierre’s feast. Wiglaf thought he had never tasted anything so fine as his vegetable stew.

Janice said, “It will be hard to go back to DSA tomorrow.”

“Back to Frypot’s cooking!” cried Angus. He swiped his bread around his bowl to get every last bit of stew.

Wiglaf did the same. “I wonder how the Alchemy Convention went,” he said. “Maybe Mordred finally has enough gold.”

“Nah,” said Angus. “Uncle Mordred’s moneymaking schemes always backfire. They’re as bad as Zelnoc’s spells.”

Wiglaf smiled. Angus was right. And that meant that Headmaster Mordred would be all the more amazed when Wiglaf showed him his Basilisk Gold. He reached into his pocket to touch his treasure. But...his pocket was empty.

“My Basilisk Gold!” he cried. “It is gone!”

“Do you have a hole in your pocket?” asked Janice.

Wiglaf shook his head.

“Did you put it away for safekeeping?” asked Erica.

“No,” Wiglaf said.

“Did you spend it?” asked Angus.

“No!” cried Wiglaf. “But I should have.” He hit himself on the forehead. “Now I remember what is so special about Basilisk Gold—you must spend it within twenty-four hours or it disappears.”

Wiglaf was sad to lose his golden treasure. But here he was, a lowly peasant from Pinwick, feasting at the Royal Palace. And here came a servant carrying a huge tray of pies and cakes and tarts. And who knew what wondrous surprises the journey back to DSA might bring?

How to Speak Pig Latin

King Ken

I say, speaking Pig Latin is jolly good fun. My jester and I speak it anytime we don’t want Queen Barb to know what we’re saying! And Pig Latin is so easy—if I can speak it, anyone can!
Ave-hay un-fay!

If a word begins with a consonant, move the first letter to the end of the word and add -ay.

Wiglaf = Iglaf-way

palace = alace-pay

gold = old-gay

If a word begins with two or more consonants, move them to the end of the word and add “-ay.”

dragon = agon-dray

slayer = ayer-slay

scram = am-scray

If a word begins with a vowel, add “-yay” to the end of the word.

Angus = Angus-yay

academy = academy-yay

eel = eel-yay