Chapter 7

Chapter 7 "Turning princes into toads is easy. Turning them into frogs is not." It was early the next afternoon, and the wizard was teaching Princess Pulverizer about spells that transformed one thing into another. "The problem is, you have to get the prince near water to turn him into a frog," the Wizard of Wurst continued. "These days, princes don't like to go near water. They're all too afraid of messing up their hair." That made Princess Pulverizer smile. She knew how vain princes could be. She'd caught more than a few fixing their hair in her father's mirrored ballroom.

"Did I tell you about the footman I hired to clean my silver and dust my furniture?" the wizard continued. That surprised Princess Pulverizer. She hadn't seen any servants in the tower. As far as she knew, it was just the wizard and her— and Lester the Jester. "Do you still have a footman?" she asked the wizard curiously. "No," the Wizard of Wurst replied. "Now I have a footstool. That's what I turned the footman into when I caught him stealing my silverware."

A footstool? Quickly, Princess Pulverizer took her feet off the stool in front of her. As she put her feet on the ground, she swore she heard a tiny voice say, "Thanks." The wizard walked across the room and suddenly flung open the doors that led to the balcony. Princess Pulverizer took a deep breath. It was the first fresh air she'd felt on her face since she'd entered the wizard's tower. She wished she were out there in the woods with

Dribble and Lucas, enjoying the great outdoors, instead of being stuck here with the wizard. "Come here," the Wizard of Wurst commanded. "I want you to meet the latest victim of my magic." The princess walked out onto the balcony and looked around. Coo. Coo. Suddenly, she heard a pigeon. Sure enough, in the corner of the balcony there was a small pigeon coop. Inside the coop was one lonely white pigeon with just a splash of gray on his wing feathers. "Meet Jacob," the wizard introduced him. "He said he wanted to be my apprentice and learn magic—just like you. But I soon learned that wasn't why he was here at all." Now the wizard had Princess Pulverizer's attention.

"Jacob was a spy for the Wild Witch of Sandwich," the Wizard of Wurst continued. "She sent him here to learn my magic tricks so she could use them against me. I don't take kindly to apprentices helping my enemies." Gulp. Princess Pulverizer wasn't sure if that was a warning—or if the wizard was actually on to her. Either way, it was making her very nervous. Maybe it was best if she left without trying to rescue Lester the Jester. Why should she risk spending her life covered in feathers for a guy who didn't like

her anyway? Lester was mean. And nasty. And not particularly funny. Was he really worth rescuing? Unfortunately, the answer was yes. It was a knight's job to save people who were in trouble—whether she liked them or not. Princess Pulverizer was going to have to find someone who was pure of heart and have him—or her—open Lester's cell. Because she wasn't going to be able to do it. If the princess was being honest, she was only interested in saving Lester so she could get closer to her goal of getting into Knight School. Which was not exactly the way somebody selfless and pure of heart would act. Grrr. This was so frustrating. The princess had been in the tower two days already and she was no closer to freeing Lester.