Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

As the story opens, Princess Benevolence or "Ben" to her family and friends, is stuck at home in bed while her parents and uncle make their annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Ben's grandfather who had died protecting the kingdom. Ben's fifteenth birthday party was held only a short time earlier and she'd eaten far too many sweet and had played in the twilight with her guests to that she'd made herself sick. She is petulant about being left at home but mother, Princess Prudence who is called Pence by her friends, insists. Ben's father, Prince Walter, promises to take her on a picnic as soon as she's well. She watches them leave and faces an afternoon of boredom. She naps and dreams of hedgehogs - the country's mascot that is engraved in many "obscure corners" of the castle and embroidered...