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“Whoa!” Staghorn fell forward.

  Emily couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing.

  “Hey!” Staghorn shouted, rubbing his nose. “What’s so funny?”

  Emily danced out from behind the tree.

  Staghorn’s face turned a bright red. “Princess Emily!” he cried. “I didn’t see you.”

  “Of course not, Staghorn,” Emily said with a giggle. She gave him a big hug. “I was hiding.”

  His furry eyebrows met in a frown. “Then it was you who made the bush hop away from me?”

  “Yes!” Emily showed him the string she’d attached to the bush. “Wasn’t that funny?”

  Staghorn stared up at the Emerald Princess for a long time. “Yes, Princess,” he said finally. “It was very funny.”

  Emily pointed at him. “You should have seen the look on your face when the bush leaped in the air.”

  “I’m sure I looked very surprised,” Staghorn said, brushing off the knees of his brown trousers.

  “You looked positively silly!” Emily declared.

  “I’m glad I made you laugh.” Staghorn gestured down the path. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I had better get on with my work. I have to do some pruning in the Twisted Vines.”

  Emily hugged the little man once more. “Thank you, my dear Staghorn. You are a very good sport!”

  She watched the dwarf hurry off into the trees. The she turned to Arden. “Wasn’t that fun?”

  The beautiful white unicorn blinked her brown eyes. “I think it may have been fun for you. But I’m not so sure about Mr. Staghorn.”

  “Oh, he loves tricks,” Emily said, picking a tiny bluebell and braiding it into Arden’s mane. “Staghorn is like a grandfather to me. I’ve been teasing him since I was a little girl at the Jewel Palace.”

  Emily and her three cousins grew up in the Jewel Palace. It sat at the heart of the Jewel Kingdom.

  “Did you see his face?” Arden asked.

  Emily shrugged. “Staghorn always looks a little grumpy. That’s why he’s so much fun to play tricks on.”

  A bell chimed high above them. It came from the Emerald Palace, a magnificent tree house held up by six huge cedar trees.

  On the tip of one of the pinecone-covered turrets was a carved wooden clock. Emily had been given the clock by the people of the Greenwood when she was crowned the Emerald Princess.

  Ding-ding-ding!

  The clock chimed again.

  “Did you hear that, Arden?” Emily asked. “It must be noon.”

  Arden turned her head. “Weren’t you supposed to meet Princess Roxanne now?”

  Emily’s big green eyes widened. She covered her mouth with her hand. “I almost forgot! We’re supposed to meet at the edge of the Greenwood.”

  Princess Roxanne was the Ruby Princess, and she lived high in the Red Mountains. Roxanne had been visiting Demetra, the Diamond Princess. Demetra was the oldest cousin. She ruled the White Winterland.

  “Arden, would you mind giving me a ride?” Emily asked. “We’ll reach the border much quicker that way.”

  “Hop on, Princess.” Arden ducked her head and bent one knee.

  Emily hiked up her green velvet skirt and climbed onto the unicorn’s back.

  “I have a special surprise for my cousin.” Princess Emily patted the small package she held in her lap. “But I need to be at the border before Princess Roxanne.”

  “Surprise?” Arden asked as she cantered beneath the rustling leaves of the Greenwood. “What is it?”

  Emily bent close to the unicorn’s ear and whispered, “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” She patted her friend’s neck. “Now, let’s hurry, please!”

  Arden broke into a gallop. She leaped lightly over a fallen log, then ducked under a low-hanging branch.

  Emily threw her head back and flung her arms out to the sides. “What a wonderful day!”

  Ahead, they could see bright light where the Greenwood ended and the Rushing River began.

  “Head for that big gray rock by the river,” Emily cried as they burst out of the woods.

  “What are we going to do there?” Arden asked.

  “Not we,” Emily said, jumping off Arden’s back. “Me.”

  The princess unwrapped the bundle she’d been carrying and pulled out a black hooded cape. “Keep a lookout for Princess Roxanne, will you?”

  The unicorn looked toward a dark line of trees cutting across the meadow. “I think I see her,” Arden announced. “Coming out of the Mysterious Forest.”

  “Perfect.” Emily slipped the hooded cape over her head. She darted behind the big rock. “Now hide yourself, Arden. I’m going to give my cousin the surprise of her life.”

  “But Princess …,” Arden started to say.

  Emily put one finger to her lips and pointed toward another rock across the clearing. Arden obediently trotted out of sight.

  The Ruby Princess was hard to miss. Roxanne wore a red satin dress that flashed in the afternoon sun. A tiara with one gleaming ruby rested on top of her long dark hair. And on her arm she wore a bright red–and–silver shield.

  Roxanne paused on the bank of the Rushing River and squinted toward the Greenwood.

  “Not yet,” Emily whispered to herself. “Wait. Wait …”

  Roxanne hopped across the Rushing River, following a path of smooth gray stones.

  “Here she comes!” Emily giggled.

  Roxanne stopped to squeeze the water out of the hem of her dress.

  “Almost.” Emily bent her knees.

  Roxanne took two steps forward.

  Emily raised her hands above her head.

  Roxanne turned.

  “Boo!” Emily shouted.

  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 © 2019 by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner

  Illustrations by Sumiti Collina copyright © 2019 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.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  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 © 2019 by Sarah Gianassi • Interior art © 2019 by Sumiti Collina

  Cover design by Maeve Norton

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-56570-6

  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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