At the beginning of the story, Mabelrose is invited to a ball in the kingdom of Warwick. Unlike most fairy tales, when she arrives at the ball, the other princesses made fun of her uncouth, un-princess-like features, and her clothes, and the prince never even noticed her. She decides to make the ball more "entertaining" by letting loose a frog and causing chaos at the ball. Later, she tells her parents about the horrible experience that she has had at Warwick, and asks to be excused. She is then kidnapped by a fearsome dragon named Shalathrumnostrium, using his power of making her feel weak. His hobby is to kidnap princesses for their parents' gold.