Book excerpt: When Meg's dragon, Laddy, flies away from home, she knows she must go on a quest to find him. But she hasn't counted on her parents, the king and queen of Greeve, sending ten guardsmen along. Fortunately, she is also accompanied by her best friends: Dilly, a lady-in-waiting and a cool head in any crisis not involving heights; Cam, a gardener's assistant who knows the exact value of a brick shed filled with sausages; Nort, a skinny guardsman who has never given much thought to crows; and Lex, a young wizard with bad taste in horses, magic carpets, and sorceresses. Of course, Meg's quest goes topsy-turvy once she enters the enchanted forest—and her adventure is just beginning. What's more, meeting up with the dashing bandit Bain again isn't at all what she expected. Will this princess be able to rescue herself, let alone anybody else? In The Runaway Princess, Meg and her friends defeated a pack of princes. Now they're going to need swordplay, magic, and a whole lot of courage to find Laddy and get back home!