I Had 99 Babies at Once, and the Prince Was Stunned

The two heavy, copper-studded gates of the prince's manor creaked open behind me, the sound grating on my nerves. Like a bag of spoiled garbage being thrown out, I was shoved into the street without a trace of courtesy by two matrons. I stumbled, nearly landing face-first on the freezing flagstones by the gate. The early-autumn wind had a cruel chill to it. It rushed straight into my thin, frayed old jacket, making me hunch my shoulders and sneeze loudly. A piece of paper floated down, slow and light, landing right on target,