Rescue Princesses #6: The Magic Rings Read Online Free PDF Page B

horses’ paddock just beyond the garden. There were lots of horses out in the field, including Twinkle, who was frolicking around and around in circles. Even from far away, Lottie could see how much the foal was enjoying the fresh air. Twinkle skipped around, only stopping to shake her mane and flick her tail.
    Lottie lifted her chin and marched over to the door. “I’m going to tell Queen Sofia about this right now!”
    “You can’t!” gasped Amina. “What if she thinks you made it all up?”
    “She has to know what Lady Slyden’s up to,” said Lottie. “The horses are in danger.”
    “Good! I’ll come, too!” said Rosalind.
    Lottie and Rosalind dashed down the hallway, with Isabella and Amina close behind them. They ran into the hall where the opening ceremony had taken place the day before. Queen Sofia was sitting on a large wooden throne, talking to a group of young princes.
    “No one expects you to do a dance that’s too difficult,” she was saying to them. “Try practicing the hornpipe! All you have to do is fold your arms and hop on one leg.”
    Lottie felt a little less sure of herself now that she was right in front of the queen. She took a deep breath. “Your Majesty!” she called out. “We’ve got something really important to tell you!”
    “It’s about your horses,” added Rosalind.
    “Horses?” Queen Sofia looked at the princesses and shook her head, making her lime-green hat wobble. One of the young princes giggled, but she took no notice. Instead, she rose from her throne and towered over the girls.
    “Princesses!” she said sternly. “Just look at yourselves! You should be walking and curtsying like proper young ladies. But instead you RAN in like PUPPIES. Your hair is a MESS and you have BARE FEET!”
    There was silence. The princesses stared at their bare feet.
    “But, Queen Sofia,” began Lottie. “Wewere just waiting for Ally to come back with our dance shoes and we heard —”

    “Enough!” cried the queen. “I will not listen to anyone who comes in with bare feet.”
    The princesses slunk back out, not daring to speak until they reached the hallway.
    “That was terrible!” cried Isabella. “What are we going to do?”
    “What’s the matter, princesses?” Ally hurried up to them, carrying lots of dance shoes and an armful of dresses.
    “We think that Lady Slyden is planning to steal some of Queen Sofia’s horses. We tried to tell the queen, but she wouldn’t listen to us,” said Lottie. She explained what they had overheard through the open window.
    Ally’s forehead creased with worry. “I don’t trust Lady Slyden,” she said at last.“And I know she doesn’t treat horses very well.”
    “Then we’ll have to go to the stable at midnight and stop her,” said Lottie.
    The princesses looked at one another.
    “But what if the kings and queens catch us sneaking out?” said Amina, her brown eyes wide. “Maybe we should try talking to Queen Sofia again.”
    “There’s no point,” said Rosalind. “She won’t listen.”
    “Leaving the palace at midnight will be scary.” Isabella looked solemn. “But we have to try for the sake of the horses.”
    “I can help you get away from here without anyone seeing you,” said Ally. “But for now you’d better go and get changed. It’s almost time for the banquet.”
    The princesses rushed back to their rooms to get changed. Lottie took a longred dress dotted with sequins out of her wardrobe. She put it on and added a golden crown decorated with rubies to match her ruby ring. Her green eyes sparkled back at her from the mirror.
    Just then, the cuckoo clock on the wall chirped six o’clock. Lottie hurried out of her room and caught up with the others at the top of the stairs. Isabella turned and smiled as she saw Lottie coming. Her yellow dress floated out at the hem and a swirly gold tiara gleamed on top of her dark curls.
    Rosalind and Amina had put on their best clothes, too. Rosalind wore a dark-blue