KIM BUSSING’s The Princess Swap 1 is a new tween series, where there’s a magical mix-up for every princess! Read on for an extract.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Twelve-year-old Ella dreams of adventure, but she’s stuck with a stepfamily who treat her like a maid. So when she unexpectedly – magically – wakes up in a land far, far away, she’s thrilled! That is, until she stumbles into the castle of a mysterious beast . . .
Belle needs to save her family from ruin, so she’s going to enter a royal competition to win a favour from the prince. But when she unexpectedly – magically – wakes up in a land far, far away, she’s stuck with a mysterious pair of glass slippers, and a demanding stepfamily . . .
Once upon a time, in a land called Reverie, where magic flowed in the water and the wind, where enchantments were as common as loose coins and curses were, too, where all the stories that you’ve ever heard were true, there was a very, very bad princess.
EXTRACT
Once upon a time, in a land called Reverie, where magic flowed in the water and the wind, where enchantments were as common as loose coins and curses were, too, where all the stories that you’ve ever heard were true, there was a very, very bad princess.
She lived in a tall castle the colour of the rising sun, in a city on the cliffs above the sea. And if you didn’t know any better – and most people didn’t – she might look like the good kind of princess. She had beautiful dark hair and beautiful green eyes, but her heart was off-centre and warped at the edges.
To be honest, it wasn’t really her fault.
Many people from all over Reverie passed through the castle’s doors: wicked ex-stepmothers and good witches and mermaids with temporary legs; dwarfs that dwelled in the deep and swans that became girls only in the moonlight. They came to speak to the queen, to negotiate and barter and plead, and the princess watched them from afar, before being dragged off by a nursemaid, or a dancing tutor, or the cook.
She was just as good at fencing and archery as her twin brother, just as quick with numbers and figures as the king’s treasurer, and perhaps better than the king at unpuzzling complex negotiations.
But a princess wasn’t meant to do anything like that. A princess was meant to sit and be told she was pretty and receive gifts, silver-backed mirrors and jewelled birds and tin forests with tiny tin squirrels that would throw tiny tin acorns at you if you got too close. She wasn’t allowed to leave the castle – for her own good, they said. They didn’t even call her by name – just the princess, like she was a piece of furniture they needed, instead of a girl.
From her bedroom window the princess would see the birds swarm in the sky, the horned and hoofed beasts leap through the briars, the mousing cats curl in patches of sunlight, and would wish and wish and wish to be among them.
But since her wishes weren’t being answered, the princess did the next best thing, which was try not to be bored.
She put tar on the palace steps when the ex- stepmothers left so they’d get stuck. She stuffed the good witches into the larder and put frogs in the royal librarian’s tea. She pinched and teased and stole, because at least she was doing something.
It was dangerous, living in Reverie, because it meant that a fairy might visit. And fairies were known for their whims and for sometimes being a little too quick to grant wishes.
And when one did visit, when a fairy heard about all the princess’s nastiness, that fairy enacted his favourite kind of punishment on the bad princess. He gave her what wishes usually give – exactly what she thought she wanted.
—
Don’t tell anyone you’re reading this.
In fact, maybe it’s best you don’t read this at all. Because these pages are full of curses and contests, fairies and goblin attacks, betrayal and magical clocks. And in a story filled with so much magic, it’s too easy for some of the magic to spill out. To latch on to your wishes and make them come true, too.
Be careful. Or you might find yourself in the wrong story.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kim Bussing writes fairytales for children and adults and is a frequent speaker on the power of storytelling. She’s from Seattle, is an avid fan of Broadway, and is an amateur macaron baker. If you’re looking for her, she’s probably wandering somewhere around the world in search of a bookstore and a big cup of coffee.
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