been looking at. âEspecially now that the dangerous parts are over.â
âI like your family,â said Elena. âAnd King Murad is nice, too.â
Fatima raised an eyebrow. âAnd Yusuf?â
Lysandra shrugged. âEvery family has at least one bad apple. At least Yusuf could tell good stories and perform great tricks.â
Fatima nodded. She supposed everyone had good and bad in them, only sometimes the balance tipped more in one direction than the other. âWant to go to the bazaar before it closes?â she asked the others.
âYes!â they all shouted together.
While her friends got ready to leave, Fatima went to tell Ahmed and Selime wherethey were going. As she approached their room, she could hear Ahmed speaking. âI was wrong about Fatima,â she heard him say.
âWhat do you mean?â Selime asked. Fatima held her breath and hid behind the door, wondering if Ahmed was going to say something awful about her.
âRemember how I told you I thought shewas too young and irresponsible to care for Hassim?â
Fatimaâs cheeks warmed. It was something sheâd never forget!
âWell,â said Prince Ahmed, âI take it all back.â
Fatima almost fell over. He did?
âIf it hadnât been for her and her friends,â Ahmed continued, âIâd still be down at the bottom of a well. And Hassimâ¦wellâ¦Iâd prefer not to think about that. Have you seen the way she handles that carpet, by the way? Sheâs amazing!â
âHave you told her that?â Selime asked.
Ahmed paused. âNot in so many words, I guess. Itâs hard for me to say these things sometimes. You know that, right?â
âYes, dear. I do,â said Selime. âBut I love you anyway.â
Smiling, Fatima entered their room. âIcame to tell you that my friends and I are going to the bazaar,â she said.
âOkay,â said Selime. âHave a good time.â
âBe back before dark,â Ahmed said gruffly.
âWe will,â said Fatima. Then, surprising both Ahmed and herself, she gave him a great big hug.
About the Author and Illustrator
S uzanne Williams often dreamed of being a princess, but she relinquished all hopes of glitz and glory to pursue the adventure of a lifetimeâwriting childrenâs books. Besides the Princess Power series, she is the author of two chapter-book series and several picture books. Her fans know that while Suzanne might not wear a tiara, she definitely rules. Suzanne currently resides in regal Renton, Washington, where she and her husband share their reign with a toy fox terrier. When sheâs not penning princess stories, she enjoys puttering around her palace, going for walks in the countryside, and losing herself in good books. You can visit her online at www.suzanne-williams.com.
C huck Gonzales doesnât know any princesses personally (other than his sister), but he thinks wearing a crown and not having to spend his own money canât be all that bad. His noble artwork has appeared in such diverse publications as the New York Times, Weekly Reader, Tiger Beat, and Cosmopolitan. Chuck Gonzales dwells in the majestic kingdom of New York, New York. You can visit him online at www.chuckgonzales.com.
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Credits
Cover art © 2006 by Chuck Gonzales
Cover design by Jennifer Bankenstein
Copyright
PRINCESS POWER #2: THE CHARMINGLY CLEVER COUSIN . Text copyright © 2006 by Suzanne Williams. Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Chuck Gonzales. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or
Learning to Kill: Stories