20 Shades of Shifters_A Paranormal Romance Collection
Page 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Works by K.L. Bone
The Black Rose Series:
The Flames of Kalleen
Isis and Osiris by N.D. Jones
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by N.D. Jones
Wicked Woods by Kaliin Gow
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Shimmer
Bitter Frost
Other Books By Kailin Gow
Trust Me by Moxie North
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Epilogue
Also by Moxie North
Roar:
Goldilocks Retold
DEMELZA CARLTON
A book in the
Romance a Medieval Fairy Tale series
Three bears. Two enemies. One winter that will change everything.
Ursula thought her biggest worry was hiding her magic powers long enough to catch a husband, until Lord Vauquelin invades and slaughters her whole family. When she emerges from hiding, she finds she's snowed in with a wounded enemy soldier, in a valley full of bears.
Can a girl who can't even make porridge survive until spring?
Copyright © 2018 by Demelza Carlton
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
For Shani and Ivor, who first invited me to Berehaven.
I wish you both a happily ever after that rivals fairytales.
Copyright © 2018 Demelza Carlton
Lost Plot Press
All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Berehaven would be a much pleasanter place if it weren't for her family, Ursula thought as she tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep.
She kept thinking she heard the scratch of mice again. Had she missed one?
Probably. Her brothers had kept them in the chest containing her best clothes, knowing it was the most secure place to breed mice, far from the prying eyes of their nurse. Especially as there would be no feast days until midwinter.
Of course, the boys hadn't considered that Ursula was a woman now, old enough to be betrothed and married, and the presence of Lord Vauquelin's envoy in the castle meant she would have to present herself in her best gowns, night after night, until the feasting and negotiations for her wedding to whoever Father decided she would marry were concluded. Never mind that she'd never met her prospective husband, or that she never wanted to leave the shelter of Berehaven. The Bere River came down from the mountains, pure and clear as the ice that fed it, carving their valley and the fertile fields into a slice of heaven, nestled up against the mountains.
But she was a dutiful daughter, however grudgingly, and Ursula had sought a new gown to air for tomorrow night, only to discover the hems of every single one chewed to ribbons. Further investigation had revealed a chess set that she knew belonged to her brothers, but inside it there were no chess men to be seen. Just a mouse and her litter of pink newborns, in a nest of strips torn off her dresses.
As a good lady should, she took the problem to the source. Her brothers' chamber was off the passage below her tower, and she'd laid the chess set and a destroyed gown on Gidie's bed before demanding an explanation.
Gidie had just stared at the items on his bed in horror, so it was Eudes who had told her the story, claiming it as his idea. The boys had wanted to breed mice to bait a trap for the golden eagle who lived in the crags upon the mountain. If they could catch the eagle, they could train it to hunt for them, bringing in fresh meat all winter once the ice had closed the passes and isolated the valley until spring.
She might have lost her temper at that point. Perhaps a little. And her voice may have been a little louder than it should have been, telling them how foolish their idea truly was.
Loud enough so that Father had heard, and Baron Orson had not been pleased to find his two youngest sons squeaking on the floor, transformed into terrified mice, while his only daughter stood over them with her arms folded, insisting they apologise before she'd change them back into boys again.
At Father's insistence, she'd changed the boys back, expecting to see them punished properly. Instead, her father had then seized her arm and escorted her back to her own rooms at the top of the maidens' tower, before unleashing a torrent of words that echoed in her head, even now, hours after he'd uttered them.
"That is the last time I ever want to see you practice magic," he'd said. "Do you know who is in this castle,
at this very moment? An envoy from Lord Vauquelin himself, asking for your hand. A marriage alliance with one of his sons would ensure peace with our neighbours for a generation, so that when it is my time, your brother Geoffrey will not have to worry about attacks from anywhere, for Vauquelin is the power in these parts. He is asking for an enormous dowry, oaths of allegiance…all manner of things, for allowing you the honour of marrying into Vauquelin's family. I have told him you will be a perfect wife, meek and obedient in all things…but if he has heard any of this, he may leave tonight and find another, more suitable bride for his lord's son. Instead of peace, we will have war, for without an alliance, Vauquelin will conquer us before King Siward can come to our aid. We are a small barony, but we have been loyal to King Almos even when we had no contact with him through the Wall, and after fifty years, our loyalty is about to be rewarded by his successor. King Siward has promised all trade shall pass through our valley just as it once did, but only if we can protect the trade route. If this alliance fails, we will be forced to fight, and many of our people will die to defend what is ours. And their blood will be on your hands."
Ill though it had sat with her, Ursula had vowed to do no more magic, ever, if it would place Berehaven in danger. She'd have to marry someone, eventually, and at least one of Lord Vauquelin's sons could afford to buy her nice gowns. He'd be a man, and, like all men, her father and brothers included, he'd care only for war and honour and position and, occasionally, hunting. Violence and status. She wouldn't be expected to see him more than a few times a year, as he went off to lead armies or hunt bears or whatever it was men filled their days with to make themselves feel important, so it was best that she choose a husband who would help her protect what she loved most – Berehaven. Even if her marriage meant banishment from Berehaven forever.
But if something were to happen to her brothers…turned into mice, perhaps…she would inherit Berehaven one day. She was Father's first born, after all. Before Eudes, Gidie or even Geoffrey, it had been just Ursula and her mother and father, and they'd shared this tower room when her grandfather was alive. Father's and mother's chairs still sat by the wall, beside the tiny stool she'd once sat upon to listen to her mother's stories. Oh, stories where princesses married for love, or defeated monsters, and lived happily ever after.
Ursula smiled into the dark at the fantasy, but it didn't last long. She might not like her brothers, or even her father much at the moment, but her father and then Geoffrey would do what was best for Berehaven.
And so would she, even if it broke her heart to leave.
If only the world were different, and it didn't have to be that way. Where the eldest daughter might inherit as readily as a son, and a woman could choose her own fate, and her own home. She might as well wish for the ability to fly, like the eagle that had inspired her brothers to destroy her best dresses. What a world that would be.
Another scraping sound jerked her out of her reverie. It sounded too big to be a mouse. A rat, maybe? Or a cat trying to catch the mice.
Ursula settled deeper under her blankets, waiting for the panicked squeaking then silence as the cat claimed its victory.
Chapter 2
So, does everyone understand their role in this attack?" Lord Vauquelin asked. He waited for the other men to nod before he continued, "Good. Be swift and silent, leave no survivors, and Berehaven will be ours by dawn. Ready your men. In an hour, we march."
Father's knights trooped out, leaving Bernard alone with him.
"Did you not hear me? I said get ready." Father waved his hand in dismissal.
"I still don't know what my role in all this is," Bernard began. As his father's brows descended, Bernard felt the childish urge to hide under the table from the blow he knew would be coming next. Childhood habits die hard. "I'm sorry, Father. I've never been in a battle before. The King…"
"The King is no longer your concern," Lord Vauquelin snapped. "He no longer wants you at court, and so you are no use to me there, either. So make yourself useful. Every man in my army is a skilled swordsman, and as a member of the King's court, you must have had plenty of training. In fact, I have the perfect task for a man of your talents." When Father grinned like that, Bernard often thought he looked like a wild beast about to devour his dinner alive.
Bernard shivered. "I am your obedient son, Father. Anything you command, if it is within my power to deliver it, then I shall."
Father grinned even more widely. "Your job is to make sure there is no one left alive in the maidens' tower when the sun rises. I'm sure you are man enough to defeat Baron Orson's defenceless daughters."
Bernard closed his eyes. In his imagination, he could already hear the girls' screams. But if the girls must die, better that they die on his sword, than that of some of Father's common soldiers. Anyone else would keep the girls alive as long as possible, and not kill them before dawn. He'd seen firsthand was soldiers could do. At least he would leave them their virtue, if not their lives. Bernard bowed his head. "Of course, Father. By dawn, I shall report to you that there is no one left alive in the maidens' tower."
"Good boy," Father said distractedly, already pulling on his armour.
Bernard had better do the same. The women he sought might not be fighters, but there would still be guards, and Bernard had no desire to die. There was no longer a place at court for him, but if he did well tonight, there might still be a place for him in his father's service. If he survived the night.
The allocated hour sped by, and in no time at all Lord Vauquelin sent his men marching into the valley where Berehaven lay.
Bernard wanted desperately to run, to head back to the court that he knew so well. There was no honour in this. To attack like robbers in the night, to slaughter them in their beds. The Baron of Berehaven and his family had every right to this valley, that no one had cared about until now. If he hadn't sent a message to his father about the envoy from King Siward, this backwater barony might have remained forgotten.
But Bernard was his father's son, and he'd learned a long time ago to be obedient to his father's wishes. So he'd written the letter, and he marched now. Marching into darkness and he did not know what, for who could see what awaited him in the dark?
The stories alone of this place were enough to terrify anyone.
"May heaven help us all," Bernard whispered to himself.
Chapter 3
That was the scrape of a sword coming out of a metal scabbard, Ursula was certain of it. She'd heard the sound only on the rare occasions when her father had drawn his weapon. Ceremonial occasions, on feast days, when she was expected to stand in the great hall along with everyone else. No one should be drawing weapons in the castle tonight.
She crept over to the window, reaching up to unbolted the shutters, but the bolt was too high. Grumbling, she dragged a chair that had once been her father's over to the window so that she could reach the stubborn bolts.
Finally, she'd unfastened the shutters. She pushed them open a tiny bit.
From her room in the top of the tower, she could see the castle gates and clear across the valley, but what she saw threatened to stop her heart altogether. A river of men raced across the bridge, through the gate. Invading her home.
She wanted to scream at them that they would never take Berehaven, never, not while one of her people lived, but she had to warn her family, wake them up and get them out to safety.
Ursula fumbled in the dark for a gown, not daring to strike a light. She put on the first one she found, shoving her stockinged feet into boots before seizing a cloak.
She grabbed her dagger, wondering whether she'd need it.
The clomp of footsteps on the stairs told her she would.
Ursula whirled to face her visitor, trying not to let her hand shake too much as she pointed the dagger at the door.
The man who emerged was breathless from the climb, doubling over the moment he reached the room. Then he straightened, and Ursula saw it. The blue and gold blazon of Vauquelin a
cross his chest.
"Get out," she hissed, brandishing the dagger.