Chapter 1

NANCY KRULIK

Chapter 1 "Princess Serena!" Lady Frump shouted angrily. "Come down from there right now! Princesses do not hang from the ceiling." But the Royal Princess of Empiria was not ready to come down. She didn't want to sit at

the table with her classmates, learning about the proper manners to use at a tea party. Who cared how you held your pinkie when you picked up your teacup? Tea parties were no fun at all. But swinging from the rafters—now, that was fun! The princess began swaying back and forth over the heads of the other girls in her class. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. She swung her legs higher and higher in the air. "Wheeee!" the princess shouted down to her classmates. "You guys should really try this. It's amazing. I feel like I'm flying." The girls stared up at her in surprise. No one disobeyed Lady Frump. Ever. She was the toughest, scariest teacher at the Royal School of Ladylike Manners.

But Lady Frump didn't frighten the princess at all. Nobody frightened her. She was the bravest girl in all of Empiria. Maybe even in the whole world. So she just kept swinging. Back and forth. Back and... "WHOA!" The princess let out a loud yelp as she lost her grip on the rafters. SPLASH! The princess's royal bottom landed right in a big bowl of ooey-gooey purplish pomegranate pudding. SMASH. Spoons, forks, knives, teacups, and saucers crashed to the floor. There was broken china everywhere. The princess looked up at Lady Frump. The teacher's face was beet red. Her eyes were tightened into tiny angry slits. And she was clutching her handkerchief in a sweaty fist.

"Oops," the princess said sheepishly. "Now look what you've done!" Lady Frump scolded. "Why didn't you come down carefully when I asked you to, Princess Serena?" "Well, for one thing, that's not my name," the princess replied. "I've told you that a million times." A few of the girls gasped. "Serena is the name your father, King Alexander, gave you," Lady Frump reminded her.

"But it's not the right name for me," the princess explained. "Serena comes from the word serene. And serene means calm and peaceful. I'm neither of those." Lady Frump couldn't argue with that. Nobody could argue with that. "That's why I gave myself a new name," the princess continued. "From now on, I want everyone to call me Princess Pulverizer." "Princess Pulverizer is not a proper name for a royal girl," Lady Frump told her. "Says who?" Princess Pulverizer argued. "I... I... well...," Lady Frump stammered. The girls all stared at Princess Pulverizer in awe. She'd stumped Lady Frump. Amazing. "Never mind," Lady Frump said, wiping her forehead with her handkerchief. "I will have two of the scullions from the kitchen come and clean up this mess later. And you, Princess Serena, will help them."