Read Online The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine - Free Book Online Page A

don’t mean to criticize—but it’s lighter than the bodice.”
    So Lorelei passed the first test.
    Three princesses hadn’t noticed. Seventy-seven maidens sat down to breakfast, which was a simple meal. Poached eggs, dry toast, and half a grapefruit—Lorelei’s favorite food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
    While they ate, King Humphrey welcomed them to the kingdom or monarchy of Biddle. Then he explained about the tests, but he didn’t say what any of them were. “In closing,” he concluded, “let the truest princess conquer or win.”
    After breakfast, the king and queen and Nicholas gave the princesses and Lorelei a tour of the castle. King Humphrey lectured about Biddle as they went. Nicholas stayed near Lorelei, wishing he could warn her about each test, but the princesses might hear.
    When the tour was over, everyone returned to the royal banquet hall for lunch—the next round in the true-princess test (although the contestants didn’t know it).
    The queen rang her bell, and Royal Serving Maids entered the royal banquet hall.
    A salad was placed in front of Lorelei. She picked up her fork.
    Now why was a bit of uncooked noodle mixed in with the lettuce? Quietly, she pointed it out to a Royal Serving Maid. And passed the salad test. So that was it, Lorelei thought. You had to guess what was wrong with the food. Funny test.
    Five maidens didn’t find the noodle. They were escorted out immediately.
    Seventy-one to go, Nicholas thought. He noticed that the crocodile princess was still in the running.
    Lorelei found the toothpick under the flounder. It wasn’t hard, now that she knew what to look for. Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief.
    Only one princess didn’t find the toothpick.
    Lorelei fished the tiny marshmallow out of her ragout. Eight princesses didn’t. One of them was dragged away, yelling, “It isn’t fair! Mine melted!”
    Nicholas thought he was going to die of worry before the meal ended.
    Lorelei found the flake of tuna on the chocolate cake icing. Four princesses didn’t. The meal was over. Lorelei and the crocodile princess and fifty-seven other princesses remained in the game.

Eleven
    A fter lunch the measuring began in the queen’s bedchamber.
    Nicholas and the king weren’t allowed to view this part of the test. They waited in the throne room. King Humphrey listened to petitions from his subjects while Nicholas paced up and down, chewing his nails.
    In the bedchamber Royal Chambermaids with tape measures checked every inch of every princess. If a princess was too tall, she was out. If she was too short, she was out. If her ears were too big, they were out and she was out.
    The measuring took the rest of the day. Lorelei worried about the size of her nose. It was her worst feature. She pulled in her nostrils. When she looked in the mirror, she always thought that made her nose seem a little smaller.
    Her nose squeaked by. A hair bigger and she would have had it.
    The measuring went on.
    The waist of one of the princesses was too big by a sixty-fourth of an inch. Queen Hermione said she was sorry, but if she let this maiden slip by, she wouldn’t know where to draw the line.
    When the measuring was over, only ten princesses and Lorelei were left. The queen led them to the throne room.
    The crocodile princess entered first. Nicholas bit his finger so hard it bled. She smiled at him. Her teeth looked pointy. Where was Lorelei? He held his breath.
    Lorelei was the ninth to enter the room. Nicholas started breathing again. They looked at each other. This was scary.
    The king gave bouquets to the princesses and congratulated or applauded them on getting so far.
    Nicholas wanted to yell, It’s another trick! It’s a test!
    Lorelei held her bouquet away from her to examine it. Some flowers made her sneeze and some made her eyes water. Roses were okay. Daffodils were okay too. Lilies made her sneeze. So did