The Wayward Princess

by Sally Watson

A Gypsy lad named Finch arrives at Wychwood Castle to find it a tangle of muddled chivalry and magic. Though four royal children conform to rules of chivalry, Princess Elaine is a red-haired hoyden who can't faint, wants to study witchcraft rather than marrying, and whose magic spells always go wrong (and so do most others). Prince Arthur wishes that just once, people would follow the rules of chivalry-but they never do-not even Thunder, his warhorse, who loves to cheat at tournaments.Finch, fascinated, stays as stable boy and tone-deaf troubadour to join Elaine in scrapes. What with the awful Fer de Lance family, a wicked enchantress, a mad magician, two witches, three cats, a sourcerous hive of bees, a spell-casting mouse, and some temperamental horses, they manage to enchant broomsticks, palace guards, a feather duster, a footstool, troubadours and even Elaine herself.King Godobert, determined to find husbands for his daughters, holds a Quest. No one wants Elaine, so, betrothed willy nilly to a perfect stranger, she rages that she won't marry him. Finch vanishes. Elaine misses him-but when a pink magpie delivers a "save me, save me, save me" message, life promises to be interesting despite everything.

Genres: Fantasy

116 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2006

About the author

Watson is a YA historical fiction writer, mostly about the British royals. She moved to England in 1964 and lived there for 24 years. Her most well-known works are parts of her English Family Tree series. Most of her books went out of print in the 1970s, many eventually reprinted by Image Cascade. She has also written YA novels set in ancient Egypt.

Her most recent book is The Angry Earth, an adult story of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811.

Reviews

[Karen Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny and entertaining sequel to Sally Watson's early book "Magic at Wychwood." Princess Elaine is slightly older but no more like a proper princess than she ever was. Her family despairs of finding a husband for her, but Elaine wants none of that. She prefers magic and adventures, and still can't manage to faint, which she thinks is a silly thing to do anyway. Unfortunately her magic never comes out quite as she intends.