‘Well done, girls,’ Madame Letsworth said. ‘You all skated extremely well.’ The audience applauded in agreement. ‘We have now reached our decision about the three girls who are on the shortlist,’ she continued. ‘We have been watching you all carefully over the last six weeks and we have drawn the shortlist up not just on today’s performance, but taking into account what we have learnt about you in your time here. As I have told you before, it is vitally important that the person who is chosen to be the Ice Princess has certain qualities. She must be brave, for it will take courage to face the dragon; she must care deeply about the land; and, most importantly, if she is to make the dance work, she must have a kind, true heart. The chosen girls are…’
The whole world seemed to hold its breath. Emily’s heart thudded. After everything Madame Letsworth had just said, did she still have a chance?
Oh, please, please, please, she prayed.
The silence seemed to go on forever and then Madame Letsworth spoke: ‘Hannah Peters, Zoe Hunter and Emily Walker!’
Emily blinked, unable to take it in. Around her she heard a mixture of excited gasps and disappointed sighs.
‘Oh, wow!’ Molly whispered. ‘That’s brilliant! Both of you!’
Emily was lost for words. ‘I can’t believe it! After the competition, I never imagined… I thought there was no way…’ She broke off as it began to sink in.
‘I wish you were on the shortlist too, Molly!’ Hannah said.
‘So do I,’ sighed Molly. ‘But I’m really glad you two are,’ she added generously and hugged them both. ‘Really, really glad.’
‘Thanks,’ said Emily. She knew she’d have found it really hard if Molly and Hannah had been chosen and not her. She gave Molly a tight hug back. ‘You’re brilliant.’
Madame Letsworth called for quiet and announced that there would be lunch in the hall for the girls. ‘The other teachers and I are now going away to decide who the Ice Princess will be and we will tell you in an hour’s time,’ she said. ‘Until then, try and relax.’
There was a delicious lunch of salads, fresh bread, cheese and cold meats laid out in the hall, but Emily couldn’t eat a thing. Everyone, even Camilla, had congratulated her and she walked up and down the room unable to think about anything but being the Ice Princess.
Hannah and Zoe joined her. ‘This waiting is awful,’ said Zoe.
‘Just think, this afternoon, one of us will be dancing in front of a dragon!’ Hannah breathed.
‘And if we don’t get it right, he won’t move,’ said Emily.
‘If we do get it right, we can make a wish,’ Zoe reminded her.
But Emily couldn’t think about wishes yet. She was torn between hoping desperately to be chosen as the Ice Princess and yet not wanting Hannah or Zoe to be disappointed. Oh, goodness, she thought. Which of us is it going to be?
An hour later, Madame Letsworth came in with the other teachers. She clapped her hands. ‘Hannah, Zoe and Emily, would you come here, please?’ The three girls walked over anxiously.
‘Before we go to the rink and make the official announcement, we wanted to come and talk to you first. We have a problem.’ Madame Letsworth looked serious.
‘We have been discussing which of you should be the Ice Princess, but we simply cannot decide – the votes are evenly divided. All of you skated very well today. Yes, Emily had a fall, but Monsieur Carvallio and I have full confidence that she can perform the routine. Madame Longley says that you are all capable of speaking the dragon language needed, and over the last few weeks all three of you have shown that you are kind, helpful and brave.
‘It seems impossible to choose between you. We have decided we will talk about it a little more, but I wanted to let you know that, at the moment, we are considering having all three of you as Ice Princesses.’
All three of us! Emily’s heart leapt. She saw Hannah and Zoe grin. Behind them there was a buzz of excited chatter from the others.
Oh, wow! We’ll all be the Ice Princess, Emily thought in delight. We’ll all get to do the dance and talk to the dragon…
And then she remembered something Madame Letsworth had said earlier in the week: ‘The magic is very powerful and the more people who dance it, the stronger it will be… if all of you were to dance the Lulling Dance then the dragon would fall asleep completely.’
Emily put up her hand. ‘But you told us that the dragon might go to sleep for a hundred years if lots of people skated the dance.’
Madame Letsworth looked grave. ‘There is that danger. The other teachers and I hope that it will not happen if there are just three of you. But if the dance did send the dragon to sleep then it would be a disaster for the land – for all of us.’
Emily stared at her.
‘Now, you have five minutes, girls,’ Madame Letsworth said. ‘The teachers and I are going to discuss it one last time.’
Emily took a step back. She couldn’t stop thinking over the headteacher’s words. Madame Letsworth had said she hoped the dragon wouldn’t fall asleep if three of them danced. But what if he does? worried Emily.
She wanted to be on her own to think. Hurrying out of the room, she went to the back door. Slipping through it, she took a deep breath of the cold air. The snowy gardens stretched out, leading to the glittering frozen lake. Behind the lake were the woods and the High Mountains. It was all so beautiful. If the dragon continued to sleep, this would all be destroyed.
I can’t let that happen, thought Emily unhappily. We mustn’t risk it.
A wave of sadness welled up inside her. She wanted to be the Ice Princess so much, but the land mattered more. Suddenly she knew what she had to do and, taking another deep breath, she went back inside.