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 PROLOGUE

The Great Hall of Ever After High

smelled like floor wax and old stone mixed

with the tangy musk of magic. The fire in the hearth

burned blue. An enchanted frog sat beside the arched

doorway, repeating, “Welcome to the Legacy Day

ceremony. Please watch your step. Crrrroak.”

The second-year students passed the frog—some

tripping on the step—and walked solemnly outside.

On the castle terrace, the audience waited in gilded

chairs. Beyond a stream-carved ravine, the Enchanted.

Forest twinkled with the bright trails of fairies. But

the students hadn’t gathered on the terrace for the

view. All eyes were on Headmaster Grimm, standing

at the podium. He smoothed down his gray-turningwhite

hair and smiled at the audience.

He held up the Storybook of Legends so all could

see. Magic sparked off its gold-embossed cover like

glitter in a whirlwind.

“Today is the most important day at Ever After

High—indeed, the most important day in all of the

Land of Ever After.”

The audience cheered.

“This year, Legacy Day is your day,” the headmaster

said to the second-year students, who were lined up

before the stairs to the podium. They were dressed

in their formal Legacy Day outfits—beautiful ball

gowns, regal prince suits, mermaid dresses dripping

salty puddles.“Today you take the first step in claiming your

glorious fairytale legacies. Once you sign the

Storybook of Legends, you are magically bound to

your parent’s story. You will relive it. In this way,

your story, your legacy—and your very life—will be

preserved.”The headmaster placed the book carefully on the

podium and stepped back of a mouse all the way up the side of the podium.                                                                                                                                                                                

enter text here

 The first student to climb the stairs rode on the

The tiny boy leaped off the mouse and declared his

destiny as the next Tom Thumb. His signature in the

book was a blot the size of an ant.

The daughter of a fairy godmother pushed her

glasses up her nose and signed her promise to become

the next Cinderella’s helper.

A future witch wore her mother’s black dress and

pointy hat, but lavender flip-flops peeked from

beneath the ragged hem. She signed with a frown,

hastily wiping a tear off her cheek.

While everyone watched with interest, two in the

audience barely breathed. They barely blinked. One

leaned forward, yearning for her chance to sign. The

other leaned back, as if nervous to get too close.

Both would take their turn at the book in just one

year. And one’s choice would change the Land of Ever after for ever.

CHAPTER 1

NEVER TOUCH

THE MIRROR

Once upon a new school year, Raven

Queen was packing. She blasted Tailor

Quick’s new album from her Mirror Pod, dancing

while grabbing things from her closet and tossing

them into her clothing trunk. The heap of clothes

was entirely purple and black, so she threw in a pair

of silver sandals to add color.

Raven opened her window. The sun was setting into

the copper sea. The last page of summer was closing.

“Hey, Ooglot!” she called out as she hefted her

trunk onto the windowsill of her fourth-story

bedroom. She let the trunk fall. In the courtyard

below, the family ogre caught it with one blue hand

and waved to her. She waved back.Summer had been nice. No 

homework—just hours

and hours to listen to music and read adventure novels

 A couple of days each week she had babysat

Cook’s twin boys—Butternut and Pie—in exchange

for heaps of pastries. And she and Dad had sailed

their little boat down the coast to spend a week with

Pinocchio and his daughter, Cedar Wood. Raven had

loved making tea visits with the Blue-Haired Fairy,

playing card games by the fire, and staying up late

with Cedar, singing karaoke and laughing into their

pillows.

All nice as mice. But Raven was eager to rejoin her

friends at Ever After High for her second year of

boarding school.

She was trying very hard not to think about how

her Legacy Day was just a few weeks away. Ever since

witnessing Legacy Day as a first-year, she’d done her

best to block it out. Back then, the future had seemed

so distant.

A foghorn bellowed, calling her to dinner.

Raven put on a sweater as she left her room. 

Queen Castle was chilly. There were far too 

many

unoccupied rooms to bother lighting fires in 

all their

hearths. When her mother had ruled, the castle 

had

teemed with servants, soldiers, and creatures 

of the

shadows. And all of them had watched young 

Raven,

ready to tattle to her mother if they caught 

Raven

doing anything kind.

“Raven,” her mother would say, “Yop the 

Goblin

heard you apologize to a rat for stepping on its 

tail.

Such behavior must stop!”

“But I didn’t mean to step on its tail,” she’d 

say.

“Not that. The apology! The Evil Queen never

apologizes for anything. You must learn that 

now.”

Raven preferred the castle mostly empty.

She made her way through the massive Great 

Hall,

feeling as if she’d been swallowed by a whale. 

She

stuck out her tongue at the shadows and slid 

down

the banister of the staircase as she used to 

when she

was a kid.

She flung open the huge dining room doors and

announced, “I’m here!” Years ago her mother hosted

hundreds of guests at that dining table. Tonight, as

usual, the only diners were Raven, her father, Cook,

and Cook’s four-year-old sons.

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