You are even harder to reach than the royals! This is the fourth post I’ve sent this month. Every one gets returned to sender. Did you move to a new boot and not tell me?
If you haven’t moved, and you really are my sister, Anna Cobbler of 2 Boot Way, then hear me out. I’m sorry, okay? I stayed here to protect you. I want you, Felix, Trixie, Han, and Hamish to be safe. I want Father’s boot business to continue to do well. I want Mother to have time off to read a book or put her feet up on the sofa. (Not that she ever will. She hates shoes on furniture!)
Felix wrote and said getting Father’s glass-slipper gig back has helped a ton with money and meals. I’m glad! If me being a hero helps our family, then I’m happy I’m stuck at FTRS. I’d do anything for you. I hope you know that.
My roommate says visitation day is going to get moved up. I really hope you’ll consider coming with Father and Mother to see me. I miss you more than you know.
Love, Gilly Bean
Happily Ever After Scrolls
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Meet the Teacher: Our Very Own Princess Rose Is Working at FTRS!
by Coco Collette
Name: Princess Rose, a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty, who escaped Alva’s slumbering curse
Dual Occupations!
The Princess: “I love my kingdom and having the chance to mingle with my people, but one wishes to be seen as more than just a crown.”
The Club Advisor: Running the distinguished Royal Ladies-in-Waiting. The RLWs have served at kingdom dinners, decorated carriages for public rides, and have been known to go glass-slipper shopping for their princesses. “With proper training, every girl can be charming enough to find the princess within.”
Hobbies: Dancing (she won the royal dance-off five years in a row), singing (she leads the royal a cappella group), and…hunting? “I find it keeps me focused.”
Strengths: While the other princesses handle politics, crime, and public policy, Rose is a princess of the public. “I know what my kingdom needs because I spend so much time among the people. That’s why I am so impressed with Gillian Cobbler. This hero rose from humble beginnings. She is more of a lady than most women I know.”
Weaknesses: Spinning wheels, of course, and all flowers, except roses, naturally. (As villagers will recall, the thorny gingerroot was found surrounding the room where the princess took her hundred-year slumber. That’s enough to turn anyone off flowers!)
Check back for more coverage on FTRS’s newest teacher, Princess Rose!
CHAPTER 5
The Conquering Hero
“Gilly! Gilly! Gilly!”
My classmates carry me out of Blackbeard’s room on their shoulders. People are chanting my name and applauding at such an ear-deafening decibel that it feels like I’ve defeated Alva herself. So this is what it’s like to be a hero! I see why the princesses like it—not that I like the princesses now or anything. I just don’t get why villains like being evil so much. Being popular is so much better!
“Thanks, everyone,” I say as the trolls put me down. They’re still cheering. Are Maxine and Ollie seeing this? Where’d they go? “I have to get to my next class.” Groan. “But I’ll see you all at lunch.” They cheer some more, and I smile. This is great! A hallway shifts in front of me, and I dash toward it. I land with a thud in a new hall where Jax, Kayla, Ollie, and Maxine have congregated. I roll to a stop on Maxine’s big toe.
“Ouch!” She hops up and down, making the lanterns above us sway.
“Sorry!” I stand up and brush myself off. They’re all looking at me like I’m a stranger. “Where’d you guys go? Did you see me beat Jocelyn? It was amazing! She totally crumbled.” Their faces are blank. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s been an attack on Royal Manor,” Kayla explains. “Alva sent her gargoyles to tear things up.”
“I tried to tell you in class, but you were being carried off on someone’s shoulders,” Maxine says.
“Is everyone okay?” I brush off my stockings, which now have a hole in them. That’s the third pair I’ve ruined this month.
“The royal court is fine,” Jax says. “Alva somehow knew the guards were away on a training mission while Rapunzel was hosting a tea with the ogre tribes to broker peace. The gargoyles swooped in and scared the ogres off before any progress was made. You know how much they fear beasties.”
“Oh, I know,” says Maxine, who shudders. “I still have nightmares about the gargoyles’ breath.”
“How’d you find out so fast?” I ask.