Then he reached behind a crystal boulder and pulled out a big red collar. It was studded with sparkling diamonds.
“Help me put this on, will you?” he asked, dropping it in front of Demetra. “I want to look my best when I greet Charger.”
Demetra read the name on the collar. “Bernard. Is that your name?”
“Why, yes, it is,” the big bear replied, with a bow of his head. “Bernard Bear. And I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Princess Demetra. And yours, too, Mr. Finley.”
While Bernard Bear told his tale of being imprisoned in the crystal cave and sleeping for years, Finley and Demetra worked to make him look presentable.
They buckled the collar around his neck. Then Demetra untangled the knots in his fur, and Finley smoothed the hair around his face.
When they’d finished, Demetra clapped her hands together. “Oh, Bernard, you look magnificent!”
“Why, thank you,” Bernard replied. “Now if you two will climb onto my back, we’ll join the parade.”
“Will we have to go back through that dark tunnel?” Demetra asked, glancing skyward.
Bernard nodded his huge head. “It’s the only way out.”
Demetra gulped.
“Don’t worry, Princess,” Finley whispered in her ear, “I’ll hold your hand.”
Demetra smiled at the fox and murmured, “Thanks, friend.”
Minutes later, Bernard Bear appeared at the mine entrance. Princess Demetra and Finley were waving merrily from his back.
The cheer that rose up from the waiting crowd was deafening.
A shrill whinny split the air as Charger recognized his old friend and flew to meet Bernard.
Once Demetra and Finley were safely on the ground, Princess Sabrina rushed forward. She was followed by Emily and Roxanne.
“Are you all right?” Sabrina cried breathlessly.
“We were so worried,” Emily said, hugging Demetra.
“When Elsinor told us that a giant bear was holding you prisoner,” Roxanne cut in, “we came as fast as we could.”
“We were afraid the bear might have eaten you,” Sabrina said with a frown.
“Oh no.” Demetra chuckled. “He would never do that. He doesn’t like meat.”
“Bernard told us he only eats fruits and nuts,” Finley added. “And I must say I was very glad to hear that.”
Sabrina looked from Demetra to Finley. And back again. Finally, she asked, “You and Finley? Are you … ?”
“Are we what, Sabrina?” Demetra asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“Are you still … you know.” Sabrina shrugged with frustration. “Fighting?”
Demetra and Finley looked at each other and started giggling.
“I believe I can answer your question,” Finley said, taking Demetra by the hand. “Though the Diamond Princess can sometimes be a little pigheaded—”
“And though Finley has occasionally behaved like a snotty little furball,” Demetra added. “We are now—”
“And will always be,” Finley cut in.
They smiled at each other and declared, “Best friends forever!”
Read the first sparkling adventure in the Jewel Kingdom series!
The Ruby Princess Runs Away
Turn the page for a special sneak peek!
“I can’t do it,” Roxanne whispered from her hiding place in the royalberry tree. “I can’t be a Jewel Princess. I’m not ready.”
Today was the day she and her cousins would be crowned in a coronation ceremony.
It was also the day they would leave the Jewel Palace, where they had grown up.
As the Ruby Princess, Roxanne would have to move to her new castle in the Red Mountains. The mountains lay in the far corner of the Jewel Kingdom.
“I always knew this day would come,” she murmured. “I just didn’t think it would come so soon.”
Roxanne stared glumly down at the palace courtyard. Creatures from every land were gathering there.
Nymphs with blue skin and green hair chatted with goat-footed fauns. Richly dressed lords and ladies bowed to pointy-eared elves who rode on the shoulders of smiling giants.
“There you are!” A little red bird with a rainbow plume on his head fluttered onto the limb next to Roxanne. It was Pip, the royal secretary.
“The king and queen have been looking for you everywhere!” Pip squawked.
Queen Gemma and King Regal ruled the Jewel Kingdom. Today they were giving four of the kingdom’s lands to the princesses.
“Don’t tell the king and queen where I am, Pip,” Roxanne pleaded. “I can’t face them. Not yet.”
“The ceremony is about to begin.” Pip tapped Roxanne’s hand with his long yellow beak. “Everybody from the Jewel Kingdom is here.”
Roxanne’s big brown eyes widened. “Everybody?”
“Everybody who’s anybody.” Pip ticked off the names of the guests on one wing. “There are the gnomes, the craghoppers, and the pixies from the Red Mountains.”
Roxanne gulped.
“Then there are all those creatures from the Greenwood, Blue Lake, and the White Winterland.”
Those were her cousins’ lands.
“Then there are the young knights of Bronze, Silver, Iron, and—”
“Stop!” Roxanne pinched Pip’s beak closed. “If you’re trying to make me nervous,” she whispered, “you are doing a very good job.”
Pip shook his beak free from her grasp. He hopped to the limb above Roxanne’s head.
“You shouldn’t be nervous,” Pip said. “You should be excited, like your cousins.”
Roxanne’s cousin Emily had been up since dawn, chattering about being crowned the Emerald Princess.
Demetra, the Diamond Princess, had spent the entire week in front of her mirror nervously brushing and brushing her shiny black hair.
Sabrina, the Sapphire Princess, was usually the quietest of the four. But even she had rattled on about sprites and striders and all the new friends she would make at Blue Lake.
Every princess but Roxanne was happy.
“I just don’t feel like a princess,” she said with a huge sigh. “In fact, I feel very ordinary.”
“Careful!” Pip glanced nervously at the palace windows. “Someone might hear you.”
“But, Pip, look at me.” Roxanne stood up in the crook of the tree. “I’m just a regular girl. I like to climb trees, ride horses, and go swimming.”
“That will change,” Pip murmured.
“I don’t like dresses.” Roxanne gestured to her beautiful red-velvet gown. “I’d rather wear pants.”
Pip winced. “Heaven forbid.”
“And how can I rule and protect the people of the Red Mountains when I can’t protect myself?”
Roxanne showed Pip her leg. Her stockings were torn. And a very large lump had formed on her shin. “I banged my knee on the palace wall when I climbed up here.”
Pip fluttered in circles around the tree. “Oh dear, oh dear!”
Roxanne tilted her head. “How does a person rule, anyway?”
“How should I know?” Pip ruffled his feathers. “You just order people around.”
“Order people around.” Roxanne wrinkled her nose. “That doesn’t sound like fun.”
“Who said being a princess was fun?” Pip squawked.
Ta-ra ta-ra ta-ra!
The trumpets sounded at the front gate. The palace guard announced, “Presenting the great wizard Gallivant!”
“Gallivant!” Roxanne gasped, nearly falling out of the tree.
The wizard was very old and very powerful. Just hearing his name made Roxanne weak in the knees.
“There he is.” Below her, Roxanne could see the big white plumes of the horses that pulled the wizard’s gleaming glass coach.
Pip flew to a ledge in the courtyard to get a closer look. He called to the princess, “Gallivant is carrying the Great Jeweled Crown!”
The crown held the royal jewels of the kingdom. Four jewels from
this crown would be given to the princesses today.
Roxanne watched everyone in the courtyard bow low as the wizard passed.
“Soon they’ll be bowing to me,” Roxanne murmured. “I’ll be in a coach with the Ruby Crown on my head. The coach will take me far away from my family and friends. And there I’ll sit all by myself in some lonely old castle …”
Roxanne’s voice trailed off. The palace gates were standing wide open.
Her eyes widened. I don’t have to be crowned today, she thought. I could just leap out of this tree and run away.
Pip flew back to her. “Hurry, my lady. You must join the king and queen and your cousins. They’re about to greet the wizard.”
Ta-ra ta-ra ta-ra!
The trumpets sounded again.
“It’s now or never,” Roxanne said, keeping her eyes fixed on the open gate.
Queen Gemma and King Regal stepped onto the marble steps of the palace. A cheer rang from every creature in the courtyard.
Roxanne gathered her skirts around her, took a deep breath, and leaped. “Now!”
JAHNNA N. MALCOLM stands for Jahnna “and” Malcolm. Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner are married and write together. They have written over a hundred books for kids. Jahnna and Malcolm have written books and musicals about ballerinas, horses, ghosts, singing cowgirls, and magic.
Before Jahnna and Malcolm wrote books, they were actors. They met on the stage where Malcolm was playing a prince. And they were married on the stage where Jahnna was playing a princess.
Now they have their own prince and princess: Dash and Skye, who are almost grown up. They live in Oregon with their golden retriever, Archie.
If you want to learn more about them and hear songs from their musicals, including “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical,” visit jahnnanmalcolm.com.
Copyright © 2020 by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner
Illustrations by Sumiti Collina copyright © 2020 by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing 2020
Cover art © 2020 by Sarah Gianassi
Interior art © 2020 by Sumiti Collina
Cover design by Maeve Norton
e-ISBN 978-1-338-56575-1
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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