'That's about right. She wraps 'em all up and puts 'em somewhere safe.'
'You know how she can even be silent in her own special way.'
'Oh, yes. No one can be quiet like Esme. You can hardly hear yourself think for the silence.'
They bounced in their seats as the coach sprang in and out of a pothole.
'Nanny?'
'Yes, love?'
'Verence will be all right, won't he?'
'Yep. I'd trust them little devils with anything except a barrel of stingo or a cow. Even Granny says the Kelda's damn good-'
'The Kelda?'
'Sort of a wise lady. I think the current one's called Big Aggie. You don't see much of their women. Some say there's only ever one at a time, and she's the Kelda an' has a hundred kids at a go.'
'That sounds... very...' Magrat began.
'Nah, I reckons they're a bit like the dwarfs and there's hardly any difference except under the loincloth,' said Nanny.
'I expect Granny knows,' said Magrat.
'And she ain't sayin',' said Nanny. 'She says it's their business.'
'And... he'll be all right with them?'
'Oh, yes.'
'He's very... kind, you know.' Magrat 's sentence hung in the air.
'That's nice.'
'And a good king, as well.'
Nanny nodded.
'It's just that I wish people took him... more seriously,' Magrat went on.
'It's a shame,' said Nanny.
'He does work very hard. And he worries about
everything. But people just seem to ignore him.'
Nanny wondered how to approach it.
'He could try having the crown taken in a bit,' she ventured, as the coach bounced over another rut. 'There's plenty of dwarfs up at Copperhead'd be glad to make it smaller for him.'
'It is the traditional crown, Nanny.'
'Yes, but if it wasn't for his ears it'd be a collar on the poor man,' said Nanny. 'He could try bellowing a bit more, too.'
'Oh, he couldn't do that, he hates shouting!'
'That's a shame. People like to see a bit of bellowing in a king. The odd belch is always popular, too. Even a bit of carousing'd help, if he could manage it. You know, quaffing and such.'