Princess Tansy knows that whenever something terrible occurs in her kingdom, the ogre gets the blame. Yet anyone who challenges him is turned to stone! Tansy's two oldest brothers have been forbidden to fight the ogre, but they're determined to try. Can Tansy and her friends save the boys from a horrible fate?

Readers will be dazzled by this third book in the Princess Power series, starring four caring, daring girls who are talented in just about every way—except at being ordinary princesses.

Princess Power #3: The Awfully Angry Ogre

By Suzanne Williams

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2007 Suzanne Williams
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780060783037

Chapter One

Princess Tansy

Princess Tansy woke with a start. Someone was knocking on her door. "Just a minute!" she called out, pushing back the bedcovers. Tansy shivered in the chilly morning air that seeped through the cracks in her family's castle. Grabbing her faded robe, she wrapped it around herself tightly, then hopped across the cold stone floor to open the door.

Tansy's room was at the top of a tower. She'd recently chosen the room to get away from her six brothers. Before she moved, they'd made her life miserable, teasing her and playing practical jokes, such as putting frogs and snakes in her bed. Fortunately, none of them liked climbing the narrow, winding staircase to her room and only came up to fetch her for a meal or to deliver a message. Edward, her oldest brother and worst tormentor, refused to come up for any reason. That suited Tansy just fine.

Tansy scraped her door open. "Good morning, lazybones," said her brother Jonah. At fourteen, Jonah was five years older than Tansy. Even though he could be just as mischievous as the others, he was Tansy's favorite. Jonah painted the most beautiful pictures—especially of Mount Majesta, which towered over the family castle. A dozen of Jonah's paintings hung in Tansy's room.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Tansy said, "What are you talking about? It's early!"

Jonah grinned. Like Tansy, he was slim and freckled, with ginger-colored hair. Only he was about ten inches taller than Tansy, who hadn't yet reached five feet. "Early for you, maybe," said Jonah. "I've been up since dawn." Jonah often rose early. Sunrise was his favorite time to paint Mount Majesta.

"So, what's up?" Tansy stifled a yawn.

"Besides you and me?" asked Jonah. "No one else in this family, that's for sure. They're all still snoring away."

Tansy frowned. "Then why did you get me up?"

"Maybe I just wanted some company," Jonah said with a smile. He paused as if remembering something. "Oh yeah. And someone's trying to reach you through the crystal ball."

"Why didn't you say so right away?" Tansy pushed past him and started down the steps to the Crystal Ball Room. "Did you see who it was?" she called back over her shoulder.

"Some girl with wavy blond hair."

Princess Lysandra! Tansy hadn't seen her friend in a couple of months, though they'd chatted a few times. The last time they'd been together—along with the princesses Fatima and Elena—they'd stayed with Fatima's sister and brother-in-law in their fabulous marble palace. She could still picture the rich silk tapestries lining every wall, and the gorgeous lake and gardens. The visit had turned out to be quite an adventure.

Tansy wound down the steps to the ground floor, then raced to the Crystal Ball Room and squeezed inside. No bigger than a wardrobe, the room was mirrored on three sides to make it seem larger, and a fake fireplace had been painted on the fourth wall. Tissue flowers, vaguely resembling roses, sat in a vase on top of a fake marble-topped table. Anyone looking in on her family through the crystal ball would see this room, so her family tried to make it look nice. Still, Tansy doubted their efforts hid how poor they really were.

Lysandra's image floated in the ball. She was bent over a piece of paper, writing. Tansy had visited Lysandra's palace, so she knew nothing was fake about her family's grand Crystal Ball Room.

Lysandra glanced up. "Oh, hi," she said. "I didn't think you were in, so I was going to leave you a note."

"My brother Jonah saw you. He came and told me."

Lysandra's face moved closer to the ball. She squinted at Tansy. "You're in your robe, aren't you? Did I get you out of bed? I forgot about the time difference. It's two hours earlier where you live, isn't it?"

"That's okay," said Tansy. She hoped Lysandra couldn't tell how faded her robe was. She didn't like to ask her parents for a new one with the royal treasury at an all-time low. "What's up?"

"I'm bored out of my skull," Lysandra said with a sigh. "Things are so dull around here that I almost wish Gabriella hadn't gotten married and moved away. Even listening to her nag was something to do."

Tansy laughed. Gabriella was Lysandra's older sister. If given the choice, Tansy would take one nagging sister over six annoying brothers any day, but she didn't say so. Instead, she said, "We need to get together again soon."

Lysandra's face brightened. "Exactly what I was thinking. In fact, I already talked to Elena and Fatima, and we'd like to come visit you, if that's all right. We could even be there in a few days. Fatima's offered to fly all three of us on her carpet."

"Fantastic!" Tansy exclaimed, panicking at the same time. Her family's small castle was an embarrassment compared with the grand castles and palaces of the other princesses. What would the girls think of the way Tansy lived? Still, she couldn't very well tell them not to come. That would be rude! Besides, she really wanted to see her friends. Tansy bit her lip. "I'd love for you to visit."

"Great," said Lysandra. "I'll contact the others. See you soon!"

As she sat in the Crystal Ball Room, Tansy hoped having everyone come wouldn't turn out to be a mistake.

Continues...

Excerpted from Princess Power #3: The Awfully Angry Ogreby Suzanne Williams Copyright © 2007 by Suzanne Williams. Excerpted by permission.
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