The Tiara Club at Silver Towers 7: Princess Charlotte and the Enchanted Rose Chapter One It was my first day ever at Silver Towers! I was so excited I could hardly breathe. I'd started packing weeks and weeks before, and I'd read the letter from the principal about a million times. I kept pinching myself as our coach rattled along the road. I'd been dreaming for so long that I was a proper Tiara Club Princess at Silver Towers--and now I was nearly there. My trunks were on the seat beside me, and I had a beautiful new dress for the Royal Reception. It was pale violet silk, with the sweetest little matching shoes with real pearl buckles, so I really did feel almost pretty when I wore it. (My hair's rather plain, and my nose is very ordinary.) And I was longing to see Katie, Daisy, Alice, Sophia, and Emily. I'd missed them so much over the holidays! Of course, we'd sent plenty of letters by Royal Messenger, but now we were going to be together again. When we finally turned in through the twirly silver gates, I bounced from one side of the coach to the other, trying to see everything at once. The silver towers were so romantic! Even though it was a gray day, they were still shining and the tops reached right up to the clouds. We drove into a huge courtyard, and the coach stopped. "Is this the place, Your Royal Highness?" the footman asked. I fished around in my bag for the map--and it wasn't there. I'd forgotten it, even though Mom and Dad had reminded me about a hundred times before they went off on their Royal Tour. I could see an enormous doorway, though. That had to be the Grand Entrance, so I said, "Yes! This is it! Thank you!" The coachman piled my trunks by the step, and there I was--standing outside my new school. Rat-a-tat-tat! I grabbed the knocker and banged on the door with a flourish, but there was no answer. And I suddenly noticed how quiet it was. Surely there should be other princesses arriving by now. I began to feel just a teeny bit anxious. Could I be in the wrong place after all? I didn't quite see how I could be, because all the signs saying Silver Towers: Main Entrance had pointed to the courtyard where I was standing. I decided to go and check--just to be sure. I could see another archway in the wall beyond the front door, so I ran over to look. It was beginning to rain, but I didn't pay any attention. Oooops! I felt so stupid. There was another sign pointing through the arch, and in the distance I could see rows of coaches. They were standing outside a huge silver doorway that was so amazing I realized I must have gone to the back door. Even though there was nobody around to see me, I turned bright red. If only I'd remembered the map! I crept a little farther through the arch, and something caught my eye--a rose! A real rose! It was lying in a muddy puddle, so I picked it up. And then I saw another, and another, and by the time I'd picked them all up, I had a whole bunch. I was just wondering why they'd been thrown away when I heard the rumble of wheels behind me, and my heart jumped. Could it be my friends? It sounded like a big coach, and Princess Sophia's coach was huge. I swung around to take a look--and stared! The grandest coach I'd ever seen in my entire life was bowling toward me. It was covered in so many glittering jewels, I had to rub my eyes. It slowed down as it reached the archway, and I saw a snooty-looking girl peering at me from the window. A voice said, "Look, Gruella! There's a strange, dirty girl outside!" I had a quick glimpse of another sneering face, and it was exactly the same! And then they went through the arch and out the other side. I glared after them. They were so rude! I looked down at my beautiful traveling dress, which wasn't beautiful anymore. It was dripping wet and covered in muddy splatters. I nearly burst into tears. I'd thought being at Silver Towers was going to be fabulous and lovely, and it wasn't. It was absolutely horrible. The Tiara Club at Silver Towers 7: Princess Charlotte and the Enchanted Rose . Copyright © by Vivian French. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Princess Charlotte and the Enchanted Rose by Vivian French All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.