Chapter 4

Chapter 4 "Okay, you two stay here and hide in the forest," Princess Pulverizer told Dribble and Lucas a while later, as they stopped near the Wizard of Wurst's tower. "Are you sure you want to go in there alone?" Lucas asked her. "Of course," Princess Pulverizer replied. "Besides, she's not completely alone," Dribble told Lucas. "You and I are going to be in spitting distance of that tower." Princess Pulverizer wiggled a rye seed loose from between her teeth and spit it into the air. The seed whirled. It twirled. It did a loop-the-loop. And landed right at the tower's front door.

"Yup," she agreed. "Spitting distance."

Princess Pulverizer reached into her sack and pulled out a shimmering ruby ring. "You hold on to this for me," she told Lucas. "It's the ring the Queen of Shmergermeister gave me as a reward for returning her jewels. It's got magic powers." "I remember," Lucas said. "Whoever wears it will walk with complete silence. No one will hear him coming." "Exactly," Princess Pulverizer agreed. "That will give you the element of surprise in an emergency." "E-e-emergency?" Lucas stammered nervously. "I'll try not to give you any reason to use the ring," Princess Pulverizer assured him. Lucas didn't look very comforted. "I better get going," Princess Pulverizer said. "The sooner I get in there, the sooner I can rescue Lester the Jester."

Knock. Knock. Knock. Princess Pulverizer bit her lip nervously as she knocked on the wizard's front door. She wondered if grown-up knights ever got scared. They didn't seem to. But who knew? Maybe they just pretended to not be scared. Knock. Knock. Knock. Princess Pulverizer knocked even harder this time. She wanted to sound brave. Finally, she heard footsteps coming from inside. The door opened. And there he was: the Wizard of Wurst. Wow. The wizard didn't seem scary at all. He was short and round, and his nose was squishy. He looked a little like a pig. Princess Pulverizer breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing to be afraid of with this guy. He... "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Gulp. Uh-oh. The wizard might not have looked scary, but he sure sounded scary.

"I... um... I want to be a wizard," Princess Pulverizer stammered nervously. "And I need you to teach me." The wizard gave her an odd look. "You want to be a wizard?" he bellowed. "Y-yes," Princess Pulverizer replied. "But you're just a kid," the Wizard of Wurst said. "I don't want to be a babysitter." That made the princess angry. She was no baby. And she didn't need to be sat. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, thank you very much.

But Princess Pulverizer didn't say that. She didn't want to make the Wizard of Wurst angry. "I was told you are the wisest wizard in the world," she said instead. "That's true," the Wizard of Wurst boasted. "I want to learn from the best," Princess Pulverizer continued. The wizard gave her a look. "I can't help feeling you're full of baloney," he said.