The biggest tiger turned around and gave a short growl. Instantly, the little cubs jumped up to follow their mother. Amina watched them for several minutes, loving the way the cubs skipped through the grass. She hoped she could show them to her friends, Princesses Lottie, Isabella, and Rosalind. They loved animals just as much as she did, and soon they would be arriving with their families for the wedding!

“What are you doing?” asked a voice from below.

Amina spun around to see who it was.

A boy stood by the steps to the wall, looking up at her. He must be one of the first wedding guests, Amina thought.

Remembering her manners, she climbed down the steps and curtsied to him. “Hello, I’m Princess Amina! I’m Princess Rani’s cousin and I live here,” she told him. “Did you just arrive?”

“Yes, I’m Prince Henry from the kingdom of Guldania,” he said. “I thought your palace would be a lot bigger. Ours is about ten times the size of yours!”

Amina thought this was a little rude, but maybe he didn’t mean it to be. “I’ve just seen something amazing with my binoculars. There’s a tigress and two cubs playing near the river. I can show you if you want.”

“Fine, I’ll look!” said Henry, snatching the binoculars from her hand.

Amina let Prince Henry climb up the wall in front of her. Even without the binoculars she could still see the tiger walking next to the river with two small fuzzy shapes bouncing along behind.

“One side of the binoculars is broken, so just look through the other side,” she told him. “There they are! They’re just like big stripy cats!” She pointed at the cubs.

Henry frowned darkly. “There’s nothing out there that looks like a cat! I think you’re making it up.”

“Look!” said Amina. “They’re just next to that bush by the river.”

Henry thrust the binoculars back at her. “Well, I can’t see them and I don’t think you know anything about tigers. I don’t want to use your silly binoculars anymore!” He marched down the steps.

Amina watched him go, wondering why he’d gotten so mad. She thought everyone liked watching animals. She hoped the other wedding guests would be friendlier than he was. Then she remembered that her aunt needed flowers to decorate the tables, so she hurried to pick some.

She arranged the flowers neatly and filled the vases with water before hurrying back to the wall again. Maybe her friends would arrive soon. She was sure Lottie, Isabella, and Rosalind would love seeing the tiger cubs and would agree that they were the cutest baby animals they’d ever seen!

But as the morning went on and guests from north, south, east, and west arrived, her friends still hadn’t come. As she waited at the front window, Amina remembered how she’d met them a few months ago at a Royal Dance Festival. Lottie had told them all about her older sister, Princess Emily, who had rescued animals in danger with the help of her friends.

The girls had been so excited by this idea that they promised to do the same. Then they had used their new skills to rescue a little foal. They were called the Rescue Princesses.

Amina grinned. Being a Rescue Princess was so much fun! Together they practiced running and climbing and balancing. Sometimes they used ninja moves to move around without anyone seeing them. They even had rings with magic jewels that let them call one another whenever they needed help.

She touched her sparkling emerald ring. A few weeks ago, they had rescued a baby monkey from serious danger in the depths of the tropical rain forest. It had been an adventure. It was a shame that they would be so busy with the wedding this weekend that there wouldn’t be time for animal rescues.

“Come on, Amina! There’s still a lot to do!” said Queen Keshi, noticing her staring out the window.

“Yes, Aunt!” said Amina.

Just then, a car pulled up outside and a princess with tight red curls climbed out.

“Lottie!” cried Amina, running outside and giving her friend a hug.

“Hello, Amina!” Lottie gave her usual grin and her green eyes sparkled. “Are the others here yet?”

“Not yet,” said Amina. “But when they get here, I have something awesome to show you!”

Queen Keshi came gracefully down the steps to greet the king and queen of Middingland, Lottie’s mom and dad. Just as they were all bowing and shaking hands, two more cars pulled up with princesses inside. One princess had long, curly brown hair and wore a yellow dress. She climbed out of her car and waved at Amina and Lottie.

“Isabella! You’re here at last!” cried Amina, waving back.

A girl with short blond hair climbed out of the other car with a frown on her face. “I don’t see why I had to wear this long dress today,” she said, twitching her blue velvet skirt. “It’s too hot. It would have been better to wear shorts!”

“But, Rosalind!” said her mom weakly. “We had to arrive looking nice. This is a very important occasion!”

Amina hurried over to the blond-haired princess. “Hello, Rosalind! Would you like to come inside for a cold drink?”

Rosalind’s frown lifted a little. “Yes please! I’m really thirsty. Do you have any ice cubes? I love drinks with ice cubes.”

“I think so. Follow me!” Leaving the grown-ups to finish their royal greetings, Amina led her friends inside. Then she got glasses of lemonade for them with ice cubes and straws.

“So is it your sister who’s getting married tomorrow?” Lottie asked Amina.

“No, Rani’s my cousin,” explained Amina. “My parents died of a fever when I was little, and my aunt and uncle have taken care of me ever since. Rani’s much older than us, she’s twenty.”

“You’re so lucky to be a bridesmaid,” said Isabella. “Do you have a special dress?”

Amina nodded. “It’s a turquoise sari, decorated with gold thread. I can’t wait to show it to you!” She pushed back her long hair and the golden-brown stone on her bracelet shimmered. “I have something else to show you, too! This morning, I saw a tigress with two cubs near the riverbank. It was so exciting! I’ve never seen tiger cubs before.”

“Let’s go and look at them right now!” Lottie leapt up, her red curls bouncing.

“Yes, let’s!” said Isabella. “Come on, Rosalind.”

“But first we have to look for the lost Book of Ninja,” said Rosalind.

“The lost what?” asked Isabella.

Rosalind rolled her eyes. “Don’t you remember? It’s the book that shows you every single ninja move that’s ever been invented. No one’s seen it for years. We talked about it last time we met up and you said that your palace had a huge library, Amina. Then you promised that you’d look for it in there.”

“Oh! I do remember now!” cried Amina. “Everything’s been so busy with the wedding that I completely forgot to look for it. Sorry, Rosalind!”

“Now that we’re here we can all look together,” said Lottie. “But let’s see the tiger cubs first. I bet they’re so cute!”

They all looked at Rosalind, who noisily sucked up the last drops of lemonade through her straw. “I guess it would be cool to see the tiger cubs,” she said at last.

Amina beamed. “Great! I know you’re going to love them!”