Penguin Books Australia

A long time ago, a young girl called Nina lived in a palace that stood in the heart of a graceful old city. The palace was home to the Royal Academy of Dancing Horses, where Nina's father Viktor was the stable master.

Viktor and his grooms fed and watered the famous stallions, and polished their white coats to silver. Every day they prepared the troupe for the Academy riders, who guided the horses through their elegant routines. People came from all over the world to see them dancing.

Nina and her father lived in a small apartment above the palace stables. At night in bed, Nina liked to think of the horses sleeping in their stalls just below. Sometimes her father told her stories about their life when she was a baby. Back then, they travelled all over Europe with their own troupe of horses. Nina's mother Anna was the star of the show, dancing on the dappled greys like a sequinned butterfly.

Anna had died when Nina was four years old, leaving Viktor heartbroken. All Nina could remember of her mother was feeling safe in her arms as they sat high on a horse. After Anna died, Viktor's old friend Karl found him work at the Royal Academy, where he and his little girl could make a new life.

After school each day, Nina raced home to watch the stallions dancing as the palace orchestra played. The Great Riding Hall glittered with light, and Nina dreamed that one day she would become an Academy rider.