“Rise and shine! It’s a new day! Put your best princess foot forward, and choose stylish but sensible flats as you’ll be doing a lot of walking.”
I jump up from a sound sleep to Milo’s voice. Pop! Pop! Pop! Suddenly confetti rains down on the room, fluttering around and getting stuck in my surprised, open mouth.
“What is happening?” sputters Raina. Her hair is in curlers, and her sleep mask is still covering her eyes. “Why is it raining indoors? Who cast a spell in here?”
“We’re up! We’re up!” Sasha sputters as two pixies hang a FIRST DAY OF CLASS banner across our bay window. “Are we going to be woken up this way every morning?”
“Yes!” the pixies shout happily, still throwing confetti in my direction.
A loud gong drowns out our talking. Milo’s mirror light dims, and a new voice sounds from the magical loudspeaker system.
“Happy first day of class, students!” Hazel says. “You’ll find your class schedules with your ladies-in-waiting or stewards, along with plenty of time scheduled in between classes for primping or training.” Sasha raises her eye mask and looks at me.
A pixie drops a pink envelope onto Sasha and Raina’s beds at the same time Ava chucks mine at me. Grouch!
Raina squeals. “Look! It’s another ball invitation!”
“Already?” I peel my envelope open. “We just had one last night.”
“They’re weekly or biweekly here,” Sasha tells me, reading her own invite. “But this isn’t a ball. It’s a save-the-date for the Fifteenth Anniversary Spectacular of Royal Academy.” She grabs a quill and starts taking notes. “Wow! It’s just a few weeks away. We really need to order gowns.”
“Don’t forget to get those wardrobes finished!” Hazel says as if she can hear Sasha. “Wardrobe inspections will occur by the end of the week. A fine wardrobe could land you in the superlatives. Speaking of which, your first edition of the Roster was delivered overnight. One change to note: write-in superlatives by students are no longer allowed. See you around the castle!”
I can hear the screams throughout the floor. Raina springs toward our dorm room door and snatches the glittering scroll. Her eyes flash back and forth as she skims its contents, and I watch her face drain of color.
“But”—she flips the scroll over to see the back—“I’m not on here!” She looks at Sasha and me accusingly. “Only you two are!”
“Me?” I question. “That’s impossible. I…” Got in trouble. Even got a strike one. Do my roommates know? “What did I get?”
“‘Most likely to rescue a princess from an unexpected attack,’ which was definitely a write-in superlative,” Raina says accusingly. “And Sasha got best updo.”
“Well, that’s no surprise.” Sasha touches her curlers. “My hair didn’t move at all last night. It’s this new hair-shellac potion I concocted, and it—”
“Clarissa won best dressed and best roommates!” Raina interrupts. “How can that be? My gown was imported and took six months to hand bead! And a boy won cutest shoes. What is happening here?” Raina lets the scroll of superlatives float to the floor and stumbles back to bed. “I don’t understand. I looked picture-perfect. I reacted the way a princess should when under attack—accepted it with grace and waited for my prince to come. And yet, I didn’t get a single mention! Snow got in the Roster every week she was here. Heath is in this week’s too, and I’m not. This is dreadful. I’ve failed my family.” She pulls her blanket over her head.
I look at Sasha for help, but she’s already at her vanity taking out her curlers. I pick up the list of superlatives and read them again. The students picked me? But what I did goes against everything Olivina says we should do during an attack. No wonder she’s getting rid of write-in votes! No matter. I’ll just have to really wow her this week with my princess knowledge and aptitude. Just as soon as I find my manual.
“It’s only the first scroll,” I say soothingly as Lily pops out of my nightshirt pocket and nabs a passing fly. “I’m sure you’ll do something really impressive and get on there this week.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” the blanket tells me. “You already had a private meeting with Olivina. I bet it was glorious.”
I hesitate. Part of me wants to talk to someone about how strange last night was, but Sasha and Raina’s families are super close with the fairy godmother. I bet they’d think I was just overreacting about her comments. “It was good, and I’ll tell you all about it sometime, but right now I need your help, so get dressed.”
“You need my help?” The blanket shifts slightly.
“Yes. Didn’t you say I needed to go to the Royal Underground and have dresses made?”
My roommates scream so loudly that Brynn comes running into our room.
“Devin finally realizes she needs new clothes!” Raina tells Brynn. The two jump up and down excitedly.
“But wait,” Brynn says, fixing the cap on her head. “Devin doesn’t have an appointment yet. I’ve tried calling the Underground six times since we opened Devin’s trunk, and I can’t get her in till November.”
“November?” I cry.
“Well, the anniversary invite just came out, and all the ladies-in-waiting rushed to make appointments.” Brynn looks at Sasha and Raina. “You both have yours next week.”
“Thank God.” Raina clutches her chest. “We have to get Devin something sooner.” She goes to our magic mirror and taps it lightly with her training wand. “Milo, darling, could you be a dear and get me Marta, please? I’m sure she’s already up working.”
“Raina, darling,” Milo says. “Students can’t use their mirrors to summon others. Only Olivina can do that.”
“Well, Olivina would want my roommate to look her best for classes, and I know my sister, Snow, would be upset to hear you couldn’t make a simple connection for me when asked,” Raina says, and I watch her in wonder. “Especially when you’ve been looking for a way to get a mirror in Snow’s private chambers for months. I could put in a good word.”
Milo’s mirror begins to swirl red. “Patching you through. You owe me.” Raina smiles triumphantly.
Suddenly, I see a room filled with gowns and multicolored fabrics. A short, broad woman wearing a sash of pins pokes her head into the frame.
“Raina! How lovely to see you, sweet pea!” Marta says. “I thought your appointment was next Monday. I just confirmed.” She puts her hands on her hips and purses bright-orange lips. “You’re not canceling, are you?”
“Of course not, Marta, sweetums, but I need a huge favor! I know Snow and I would be ever so grateful—and would consider having you do all the gowns for our family’s upcoming reunion ball—if you could squeeze in a teensy, tiny appointment this a.m. for me.”
“For you, dear?”
“No, actually, it’s for my roommate, Devin Nile. She can’t get an appointment till November.”
Marta’s smile fades. “That’s what happens when you don’t reach out to your seamstress first thing when you arrive! I assumed she would call me the moment she got her invitation to school, but she didn’t. Then I presumed her lady-in-waiting would reach out, but she didn’t either. A princess who arrives in a pumpkin coach should be begging to work with me.”
Raina pinches me, and I jump in the frame. “Hi, Marta, I’m so sorry about that! Obviously…um…I was a clueless princess who didn’t read the manual and realize…um…how utterly valuable your time is and…uh…how desperately I…needed”—I look at Raina in a panic—“help.”
“Devin’s already had a private meeting with the headmistress,” Raina says quickly. “I’m sure she will be very disappointed if she learns you couldn’t give Devin an appointment until November.”
At the mention of Olivina, Marta looks thoughtful. “Be down here in ten minutes.” The mirror fades to black.
Raina claps excitedly and hugs me. “Move, move, move! Let’s get down there!”
Brynn throws a dress over my head and drapes a sash across my torso. She points out a small pin. “Your first superlative pin is already on here. I’m so proud, miss! I’m sure you’re going to add more each week.”
“Sure,” I say with a half-hearted smile. I’m still feeling strange about last night, but if I need to walk and talk like a princess to appease Olivina so she allows me to continue creature care, so be it. Who knows? Maybe someday I can open a fairy-tale zoo where children can see all kinds of creatures up close. Not just deer and raccoons, but unicorns and dragons! I could have a learning center and a healing center and a…
“Devin!” Sasha yells. “Let’s go!”
But first I need a suitable dress.
• • •
We’ve been rushing through the castle so quickly that I’ve lost any sense of where we are. Sasha, Brynn, and Raina seem to know exactly where they’re going, however, and we eventually arrive at a circular atrium. Sunlight from the glass ceiling shines down on a golden statue of Princesses Ella, Snow, Rapunzel, and Rose, but we appear to have hit a dead end. There are no windows or doors in the room.
“Is the coast clear?” Sasha asks, her eyes sharp.
“Checking.” Brynn walks around the statue looking, up, down, and all around. “Clear.”
Raina waves her training wand at the statue, and Sasha presses a button on Princess Ella’s statue shoe. “To be ready for a ball, a princess must go to the mall.”
There is a flash of light and a gust of wind, and seconds later I find myself standing in the center of a very upscale indoor market. A gold sign hanging above our heads says THE ROYAL UNDERGROUND. I recognize some of our RA classmates rushing by with bags that say SCENT-SATIONAL! and RAPUNZEL’S HAIR CARE—THE ORIGINAL SHOPPE! There’s so much to see, but I’m here on a mission. I scan the shop signs around us, seeing ARABIAN NIGHTS JEWELERS (FOR ALL YOUR CROWNING NEEDS!), THE SWORD AND THE STONE, SUITS FIT FOR A PRINCE, and PINOCCHIO’S PUPPETS before spotting the sign we’re looking for:
Marta Marigold
Official Dressmaker for Royal Academy
Dressing Enchantasia's Royals for Fifteen Years!
A clock strikes nine, and Raina grabs my hand. “Don’t want to be late. Come on!”
The four of us rush into the shop and find it already packed. Girls are holding up cotton-candy-colored creations and twirling on rotating pedestals. Others are looking at fabric on floating racks. There is even a mock pumpkin coach with a fake castle backdrop that princesses are using to practice entering and exiting a coach in massive skirts.
In the center of it all is Marta. Wearing a bright-green apron dotted with pins and small swatches of fabric, she is talking to one princess, pinning another, and using her wand to sew fabric to a third. A mirror above our heads flashes wait times and rules for the shop.
No questioning the tailor’s judgment!
All sales are final!
If you want something different, then find a fairy godmother!
“Raina, darling, how are you?” Marta steps away from her clients. She snaps her fingers, and magic wands shoot off tables to finish the tasks she was doing for each girl. Marta air-kisses Sasha and hugs Raina. “Lovely gown you’re wearing, darling. Who made that beautiful confection?”
Sasha and Raina curtsy. “You, of course!” They all laugh.
Marta turns to me, clasps my hands, and looks me straight in the eye. Her pale-blue eyes and snow-white hair remind me of my grandmother Evelyn. “This must be Princess Devin.” I take Marta’s hand, and she pulls me into a spin. “Let’s see what I have to work with. Hmm…you’ve got good shoulders that can hold up a spaghetti-strap gown, that’s for sure. Not too tall, not too short, with lovely arms. I’m thinking sleeveless for you. Or perhaps cap sleeves! Yes!”
“I find cap sleeves kind of binding…” I start to say, but Raina, Brynn, and Sasha shush me.
“No need to shush her,” Marta tells them. “Every princess should have a unique style that suits her needs. Why, who do you think helped Rapunzel come up with those short dress hems to offset her long hair? Or gave Snow a hidden pocket that could hold a sword? Me! I’ve always felt a princess sparkles brightest when she is wearing something she feels fabulous in. Step onto a pedestal, dear, and let’s talk colors.” She circles me as I stand on display.
“I’m thinking green would be lovely. Maybe some dresses in blue, perhaps. The color always worked well for Princess Peony, one of my recent brides.” She points to the wall, and I see a wedding portrait painted with the princess, the prince, and Marta. “For you, I’m thinking simple, understated. You don’t look like the kind of princess who enjoys too much fuss.”
“I don’t,” I say in amazement. Wow, she really gets people. Maybe I’ll actually like these gowns.
“Let me gather some things, and I’ll be right back to get you started.” She turns to the back wall. “Taryn!”
A pixie flies out of a small window in the wall with a tiny pad.
“Clear my next two appointments. I’m going to need time with this one.”
“Yes, Marta!” the pixie says.
Raina claps. “We’re definitely going to win ‘best dressed roommates’ next week.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
I turn around. Three girls have entered behind us. Several customers see them and scatter, and I quickly realize why. The girl in the center looks like she wants to spit fire at me.
“Hello, Clarissa,” Sasha says coolly.
Clarissa continues to stare us down. “We missed you both at the Fairy Garden Summer Solstice party.”
Sasha says, “Busy,” at the same time Raina says, “I was out of town.”
“Olivina came,” Clarissa adds. “Maybe if you had joined us, you wouldn’t have been stuck with a misfit for a roommate.”
“Misfit?” Sasha gets outraged before I can even think of a response. “Unorthodox, yes. Lacking in fashion sense? Possibly. But that will change with a little help from Marta and myself. More importantly, Devin is an excellent roommate…friendly, kind, and the sort of princess who wouldn’t stab you in the back the first chance she gets. She’s a way better choice than you.”
Whoa. Sasha is a force to be reckoned with.
Clarissa’s cheeks turn crimson. “Who cares what you think? My room is the one in the Roster, and I’ll make sure it stays that way. Have fun at your fitting, misfit.” She turns and leaves the shop as dramatically as she came.
“Wow!” Raina says, giggling nervously. “I’ve never seen anyone go back at Clarissa before. Her family is fourth in line to the royal court, so we always tread lightly when she’s around. Never know when one of them might marry someone who could challenge our rule. But you have no fear, Sasha!”
“I’m not scared of her,” Sasha says, watching the girls leave.
“Thanks for sticking up for me,” I say shyly. “Not that I care what that girl thinks.”
“You shouldn’t,” Sasha replies. “She’s not worth it.”
My stomach growls in agreement. “How long do you think this fitting might take? We didn’t stop to get breakfast first.”
Sasha and Raina look at each other. “You could be here a while,” Raina says.
“You need a whole wardrobe overhaul,” Sasha reminds me. “These things take time. We’ll get you something from Little Miss Muffin’s. I could use a pumpkin muffin myself.”
“Me too!” Brynn agrees, and the three of them leave, chatting.
Thump! Marta appears with a large stack of dresses and fabric swatches in shades of blues and greens. “These colors will bring out your eyes, and the fabrics are breathable and lightweight. You seem like a girl who likes to move freely. Am I right?”
“You are,” I agree.
“I also think we should add some deep pockets so your little friend can be comfortable. I’ll even line them with velvet so she’s cozy on cold days.” She waves to Lily, who just climbed onto my shoulder.
“Wow, Marta, you’d do that?” I ask. Raina was right about her being the best.
“Darling, I may be tough to get an appointment with, but stick with me, and you’ll be just fine! I decide on the colors and fabrics, and you look gorgeous and represent moi. It’s a win-win.”
She begins to hum to herself as she holds up swatches. A thought comes to me, but I hesitate to bring it up. I’m not sure if Marta will go for it. She does seem like a trailblazer though. “Marta? I have an idea. It’s a little different, but something I always thought would be amazing in case of emergencies.” I clear my throat. “I think it will look really, um, fashion-forward too.”
Marta looks up. “Yes, darling? What is it.”
I look around, then bend down so that I’m sure only she can hear. “Have you ever stitched pants under dress skirts? So that they’re hidden?”
“Pants?” she repeats, mulling it over.
“They’re so comfortable, and you never know when a princess might have to break into a run to avoid danger. You would be helping a new generation of princesses escape evil! We could even give the pants a name, like ‘the Marta.’”
“The Marta,” she repeats, transfixed. “Darling! It’s brilliant! Why have I never thought of it before now?” She talks fast. “I’m thinking light cotton so you’re not too hot, with a breakaway skirt so that you can rip it off if it gets in the way, in a stand-out pattern to give the look punch, should you ever lose your skirt.” She closes her eyes and thinks. “I see the pants in purple! Yes! With white polka dots.”
“I like it!” I nod.
“This will be exciting. Pants! The Marta. And it will be our secret for now.”
I reach out and hug her. “Marta, I feel like you get me.”
“I do! Let me go get more material!” she says excitedly. “Stay right there!”
For the first time in my life, I’m excited about a dress.
“Looking for an outfit that will wow me?”
I turn to see Heath leaning against the doorway, giving me a smile so bright that two of the pixies working in the shop see him and faint. He’s wearing his RA sash over a gray double-breasted coat and black pants, and his high black boots shine like they’ve just been polished. I can’t help thinking that Marta would approve. A group of girls hovers in the doorway, watching him.
“Nope. I’m getting dresses that will wow me,” I say pointedly.
“Good for you. I was just getting a haircut.” He touches his short locks, and I hear a girl sigh. His hair looks the same as it did yesterday. “Then I stopped at Little Miss Muffin to order some bagels and Goldie Lox and heard you were with Marta, so I thought I’d stop by and make your morning.”
I roll my eyes. “Is this what you do all day? Just go around stroking your ego and annoying unsuspecting students?”
He holds his heart. “That hurts. I do other stuff too!”
“Oh yeah.” I snort. “Like ditching class to go climbing with knights-in-training at Mount Hibesko.” Raina told me all about it.
“Okay, yeah, I did that, but only because I’d never been and I like to explore,” he says, and I’m surprised to hear defensiveness in his voice. “My plan is to see all the kingdoms in the realm before I’m twenty. Then…I don’t know.” His cheeks brighten. “I thought maybe I could write a series of scrolls about the people and places I’ve seen. A lot of people don’t get to travel, so I thought I could be their eyes.”
I’m dumbfounded. That actually sounds cool. “I think people would love that.”
He leans against the carriage and looks off in the direction of Goose Girl Gowns. “But who am I kidding? My parents will have me married off before I get to do any of that.”
“Then don’t let them!” I say passionately. “I think letting the people read about places they’ll never get to see is an amazing idea.”
“You think so?” Heath says softly, moving closer to my pedestal.
“I do.” The two of us look at each other.
“Oh, look at that!” Marta coos, startling us. “I’ve made a prince and princess match already and haven’t even finished her dress yet!”
“Oh we’re not… He’s not… I mean, we’re not…” I stutter.
Heath regains his swagger as he walks out of the shop. “Tell yourself what you want, blondie.” And with a wink, he’s gone.