"You could've meant that you think it makes sense for Charlie to act like there'll be a huge disaster if you're home alone because he really doesn't want your house to burn down. Or you could've meant that you really don't want your house to burn down, so you're okay with extra rules to make sure it doesn't happen, if he thinks you need them. Do you see the difference?"

"I don't think I exactly meant either of those things. Something in between. It makes sense for Charlie to act like that, and it doesn't much bother me that he does, because I agree that it'd be bad if the house burned down. If I didn't agree that it would be really bad - worse than it being inconvenient in the way it is - then I would resent it, but I do agree. If it was more inconvenient or less bad then I wouldn't."

"See," says Elizabeth, "to me, it makes a lot more sense to just not burn down the house."

"And," says Bella, "I didn't burn down the house. I just didn't mind making Charlie extra sure about it before he'd let me not-burn-down-the-house without being watched."

She shrugs. "Okay."

"I mean, I do use the stove and stuff. I made the cupcakes myself. Charlie can't cook very well."

"You make good cupcakes," says Elizabeth. "That's going in your file."

Bella giggles. "In case you ever have to tap your network for a good cupcake."

"I have a network now?"

"Well, a sort of -" Bella gestures. "Starfish. I don't know how many of the people you know know how many other people you know. In case you ever have to tap your starfish for cupcakes."

Elizabeth giggles. "Now there's a mental image for you."

"You sitting in the middle of a starfish? Yeah," giggles Bella.

"Or poking one and having it burp cupcakes at me."

"Ew! I don't think the decorative frosting would be intact," snorts Bella. "I was thinking the correct arm of the starfish would just, you know, hand you one."

Elizabeth giggles.

"That's most of the point of starfish is to have arms. They could hand you stuff. None of this burping nonsense."

"Even though it's hilarious."

"Yes," says Bella firmly.

"If you say so."

"I do say so." Bella flops onto a couch. "I thought about it and I think I agree with you I'd be bad at politics, but only if I had to get elected, I think I would be a good queen."

"Really," says Elizabeth. "Go on."

"Well, monarchs are mostly good as long as they don't start doing actually evil things, as near as I can tell. That's what the problem always seems to be with kings and queens in history, is that they started being terrible to people of different religions or going on badly informed witch hunts or taking money they didn't really need or something. I wouldn't do that, I would want a nice happy well-managed country that I could be proud of."

"The problem with monarchies is that kings and queens die and then their kids take over and at some point there's just not going to be a kid who'll be any good at it," says Elizabeth. "The best thing a queen can do for the long term is write a good constitution."

"Oh, yes. I forgot the part where I was imagining I'd be immortal," says Bella apologetically. "I was imagining that. I could probably also write a good constitution, though."

"What would you put in it?"