“What’s that awful noise?” asked King Rat.

“Just the princess coughing,” said Delphie hastily. “Coughing and saying how much she… um… she loves your curling whiskers.”

King Rat smirked. “Of course she does.”

There was another croak – even louder this time.

“And she really loves your shiny fur,” Delphie babbled, trying to drown the sound. “But she says she’ll only marry you if you’re wearing a crown with emeralds, not rubies.”

King Rat looked thoughtful. “I suppose emeralds would bring out the colour of my teeth. Very well, wait inside the hall while I get my spare crown.” And with that, he hurried back into the castle.

Griff drove the sleigh as close as he could to the castle door and then jumped down as he and Delphie helped Priscilla into the hall. She was getting shorter and squatter by the moment. In just a few minutes she would have turned completely into a toad!

“Oh no, what are we going to do?” Delphie gasped as soon as Griff had shut the door behind them. She looked anxiously at the staircase where King Rat had gone.

“If only Sugar were here,” said Skye. “She could do the dance again and turn Priscilla back.

Delphie looked thoughtfully at the bluebird. “Does it have to be Sugar who does the dance?”

The bluebird shook her head. “No, in Enchantia, magic comes from the dance itself.”

“Then maybe I could do the dance?” Delphie gasped.

Just then, King Rat’s voice called down the stairs. “I’ll be down in a minute, my love!”

“There isn’t a moment to lose!” said Griff. “Quick, Delphie! Please try!”

“I won’t be able to do it exactly,” Delphie said hurriedly. “Because I can’t dance on my pointes yet. But I can have a go!” She took a deep breath. Could she remember what Sugar had done? She thought she could. Her feet started to tingle in the red ballet shoes.

Sweeping her arms up, she rose on to her demi-pointes. She remembered what Sugar had done and danced forward, her arms stretched out, her head up, hearing the music in her head. She moved into a pirouette, danced forward again and then leapt into the air just as Sugar had done. She couldn’t quite manage it but she jumped as high and gracefully as she could before landing lightly. Bringing her right leg round, she stepped on to her right foot and lifted her left leg high behind her, pointing her hand at Priscilla just as Sugar had done. Delphie held her breath. Would her dancing have been good enough?

There was a flash of light and Priscilla changed back to a princess!

Skye gave a loud chirrup of excitement. The dance had worked!

“Well done, Delphie!” said Griff in delight.

Delphie ran forward and threw back Priscilla’s veil. The toad looked like a beautiful girl again – and just in time as King Rat came hurrying down the stairs.