Kingdom of Fairytales: After ever after - a Kingdom of Fairytales Prequel

by J. A. Armitage

  Kingdom of Fairytales

  Prequel

  J A Armitage

  Audrey Rich

  B Kristin McMichael

  Emma Savant

  Jennifer Ellision

  Scarlett Kol

  R Castro

  Margo Ryerkerk

  Zara Quentin

  Laura Greenwood

  Anne Stryker

  Copyright © 2019 by Enchanted Quill Press

  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.

  Edited By Rose Lipscomb

  Cover by Enchanted Quill Press

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Sleeping Beauty

  2. Little Mermaid

  3. Red Riding Hood

  4. Rapunzel

  5. Rumpelstiltskin

  6. Beauty and the Beast

  7. Aladdin

  8. Cinderella

  9. Alice in Wonderland

  10. Wizard of Oz

  11. Snow White

  12. Peter Pan

  13. After the Happily Ever After…

  If you enjoyed this book, carry on the saga…

  A note from the author

  The Kingdom of Fairytale Team

  Kingdom of Fairytales - The Prequel

  You all know the fairytales, the stories that always have the happy ending. But what happens after all those storybook characters get what they wanted? Is it really a happily ever after?

  In this prequel, you will find out what happens next, be transported back to those lands you fell in love with and be prepared to meet some new characters along the way.

  * * *

  Kingdom of Fairytales is a new way of reading with one chapter a day and one book a week throughout the year beginning January 1st

  * * *

  Lighting-fast reads you won’t be able to put down

  * * *

  Read in real time as each chapter follows a day in the life of a character throughout the entire year, with each bite-sized episode representing a week in the life of our hero.

  Each character’s story wrapped up at the end of every season with a brand new character and story featured in each season.

  * * *

  Fantasy has never been so epic!

  1

  Sleeping Beauty

  The prince cut through the vines, hacking away at the hundred-foot thick wall of brambles said to have been grown as part of a curse. His fingers bled, and thorns cut into the few parts of his skin not covered in thick leather. Warm liquid dripped down his face, and he knew without bringing his hand up to it that it was not sweat, but his own blood. He carried on, regardless, the thirst for knowledge about what lay beyond the wall of thorny vines stronger than the pain that stung him. The legend of the sleeping princess was something he’d grown up with, something he’d always been curious about, but no one talked about it anymore and after failure after failure of young people, men and women alike, to get through the thorns, the legend had grown dim. He’d waited until he came of age to try it himself, believing that only a man and not a boy could get through. His friends had called him foolish, but it was something he had to do. He had to know if the legend was true.

  From a distance, she watched. No one had gotten so far before, and up until now, she'd had no reason to think they would. But this one worried her. His tenacity, the way he relentlessly hacked through the vines made her nervous. They'd all given up before now. Every single last one of them.

  Most of the time she didn't even bother to come and watch the stupid people trying to get through her magnificent curse. Watching the attempts of fools did not interest her, but something had changed last night. Something had happened to upset the magical ether, and she didn't know what.

  The knot in her stomach grew as he ploughed on, relentless in his task.

  At the start, it was only she that paid attention to the efforts of the young prince, but as the days went on, more people began to show up. She watched them all, hidden out of sight as they came to see the prince destroying her creation. A hundred years ago, she'd have sent lightning bolts of magic into the crowd, but she'd grown old, and her magic had dimmed. She couldn't afford to use it willy-nilly. Besides, it wasn't the crowd of onlookers that she needed to worry about It was him.

  It took the prince a whole week to hack through the brambles and by the time he was through, his face and arms were shredded by the thorns.

  She screamed at the injustice of it. No one should have gotten through the curse, and yet, someone had. From the looks of him, he was ordinary. His title was Prince, but beyond that and his unwavering resolve, there was nothing special about him. So why was it that he was able to hack through her curse? What was it that had made her magic vulnerable? This was much bigger than the prince. He probably didn't even know what had happened any more than she did. She had to find out because if there was anything she hated more than losing, it was not knowing why.

  * * *

  The castle was pristine as though it had been cleaned only this morning. Not a speck of dust lay anywhere. What piqued his interest more was the fact that there were other sleeping people. Not just the princess, but members of the staff, other royals, visitors to the palace. Even the dogs lay in peaceful slumber, unmoving, un-breathing, but alive, held in a curse for a hundred years. He made his way through the castle searching for the princess. While he had no interest in the princess herself, aside from the legend, he couldn’t very well leave her now that he was here. He had a duty to break the curse and kiss her. The legend had foretold it. It had also foretold love, but he was here for the adventure and nothing more. That and the hero status he was bound to receive when he walked out having saved her. That would finally make his father proud.

  He found her at the top of the highest tower lying on a bed, her long blonde hair splayed out around her head, and her eyes closed in eternal slumber.

  He'd readied himself for this moment. What he hadn't readied himself for was the punch to the chest seeing her caused. He'd heard legends of her beauty, but never in his wildest dreams had he expected his breath to catch in his throat and his heart to skip in double time at the sight of her. The prince had not come here looking for love, he'd been adamant about that, and he wasn't in love now. He didn't know her, but right at that second, he knew that he could fall in love with her.

  It was not in his plan at all, but it was happening. Whether it was part of the curse or something else, he didn’t know, but the thought terrified him and thrilled him at the same time.

  He took her hand in his. She was as cold and pale as marble with porcelain skin and cherry pink lips that begged to be kissed.

  Legend foretold that his kiss would break the spell, and as he gazed upon her beauty, the urge to kiss her was overwhelming. He wanted it for no more reason than to feel her lips on his. Waking up an entire castle of people and lifting a century old curse didn't even cross his mind as he lowered his face down so his lips could meet hers.

  His heart was on fire as his lips brushed against hers and a whoosh of energy surrounded them both making their first kiss more than anything he’d experienced in his whole life.

  Her
eyelashes fluttered, and her chest expanded as she took her first breath in a hundred years. The prince stepped back and watched the miracle of life coming back to the princess. Blood flowed in her veins and the cold heart inside her once again pumped. When she saw him, her pupils widened and her mouth formed into an o shape. Pulling back her fist, she punched him square in the face, sending him flying backwards and ending up on his ass on the floor.

  "Who are you to come into my room?" she screamed, cowering back in terror.

  He wanted to comfort her, to take her in his arms and hold her. She was obviously panicked, but what could he say that would make her believe him?

  "Look outside your window at the wall of brambles, your highness," The prince said, rubbing his face where she'd punched him, a grin playing on his lips. He liked that she’d stood up for herself. She had spirit. This was not the recumbent princess of legend. It was a real living and breathing woman, with passion and beauty he could not compare to anyone else.

  She climbed down from her bed, keeping her eyes on him as she backed up to the window. When she turned around, she brought her hands up to her face in shock.

  “What is this?”

  "That wall of brambles has been there for a hundred years. You have been sleeping for all that time and so it seems has everyone else. You were cursed. A kiss was the only thing that could break the spell."

  He stood and slowly made his way over to her. When he was next to her at the window, she moved slightly to let him see the outside. Now that the curse was broken, the brambles were receding, and as they did, the sun's warm rays lit up the palace. Below, in the gardens, a couple of puppies were waking up from their slumber. When they noticed each other, they rolled around locked in a play fight.

  The princess smiled as the sun touched her face, illuminating her perfect skin and bringing out the honey tones in her hair. She was extraordinarily beautiful, and when she turned and looked in his eyes, he knew he was gone. He'd not set out to find love, but that's what he'd found. Irrational love was the only way he could describe it because he didn't believe in love at first sight. He didn't believe in love at all, but if this wasn't it, then he didn't know what it was. Maybe it was magic; maybe it was part of breaking the curse. He found that he didn't care what it was. His heart hammered and his whole body trembled as their eyes locked together.

  "I'm sorry. I knew the curse was on me, I just didn’t expect it to really happen. You broke it?" She brought her hand up to his cheek where a bruise was beginning to form and ran her thumb lightly across it. Just the lightest touch from her had goosebumps erupting on his body. Nobody in his life had affected him as much as she did. In that short space of time, he knew he would do anything for her, even lay down his life if she desired. He nodded at her question. “It was the kiss.”

  "You know..." she whispered. She was so close to him; he could feel her breath on his cheek. "I was asleep when you kissed me. How do I know it was you that woke me up?"

  She was playing with him. He knew that. She knew that he wanted to kiss her again so badly that it hurt. He could see in her eyes that she wanted it too.

  "I guess you don't," he managed to get out, but he couldn't finish the rest of the sentence off because she was kissing him. This time it had nothing to do with curses and legends. She was kissing him because she wanted to and he kissed her back freely

  He could have spent his whole life in that moment, kissing her in the sunlight, but the noise of the castle grew as the people within it awoke.

  "You should meet my parents," she said, taking his hand and leading him downstairs.

  In the throne room, her mother and father sat, each on a throne, both of them in shock as they became aware of what was happening around them.

  The brambles were now all gone, and sunshine poured into the castle. As the prince walked across the grand hall to meet them, hand in hand with the princess, the staff applauded him. The king stood and pulled him into his arms.

  “You broke the curse. For that, I will forever be indebted to you.” He bowed down at the young prince’s knee. “My sweet young daughter,” he said turning to the princess. Tears rolled down his face as he took his daughter in his arms. The queen joined them, and once again, the staff clapped and cheered.

  Weeks passed, and the prince became famous. He was lauded throughout the land, and the king passed the whole kingdom to him. In time, the prince and princess married to much fanfare. The wedding was the spectacular event of the century. The prince had never been more happy to be proved wrong about love. Whatever magic had filled his soul stayed with him and with his beauty by his side, he knew it would forever.

  The night of the wedding, they sat at the table in the palace. The staff had gone to bed, and her parents had retired for the night. It was as though they were the only two people in the world.

  “Did you love me from the first second you laid eyes on me?” she asked, although she already knew the answer. He’d told her many times before.

  “With my whole heart, my love. What about you? When you opened your eyes, did your heart beat with the passion of love?”

  She swiped his hair playfully and opened her mouth to answer, but she was cut off with the resounding boom of someone knocking on the castle door...

  Find out what happens next in Queen of Dragons

  2

  Little Mermaid

  The Sea Witch hovered twenty feet above the water. “Little Mermaid you can’t swim fast anymore. Why don’t I call you the Fake Mermaid?” She snickered.

  Princess Antonella, the youngest child of the mer-king ignored the dig and continued to swim away from the kingdom of Atlantice, despite the pain crawling up her human legs,.

  I can’t let her kill him. I need to swim faster with these useless human legs or I won’t be able to distract her long enough for my sisters to return from the other sea kingdoms.

  Why didn’t I listen to my sisters and not negotiate with this evil witch in the first place?

  Love.

  For years the Little Mermaid dreamed of venturing above her underwater home like her older sisters. Unlike them, she fell in love with Prince Ermias the first time she rose from the sea and witnessed him jump into the water to save a young boy.

  During the day he spied on him for days, while he commandeered his ship but at night, she sang him love songs while he strolled on the deck.

  “There’s no escaping me, little girl! We made a deal and you broke it so it’s time to pay.” The Sea Witch raised an anvil from the sea’s floor and threw it.

  It barely missed her as she dove under the water.

  “Missed this time but I won’t the next time.” The Sea Witch cackled.

  Antonella plunged deeper and backtracked to the cave underneath the Atlantice kingdom.

  She entered the submerged opening her dilemma weighing on her. Should she save herself by hiding or risk losing her life by distracting the witch?

  She paced the dark, damp area. Antonella had never allowed anything to stop her from obtaining what she wanted. But since she couldn’t out-swim the witch she planned to outwit the witch.

  Love had led her to bargain with the witch.

  Twice.

  She had first traded her voice for legs, but the Sea Witch tricked Ermias into believing that another princess was Antonella. With her heart breaking at the thought of losing him, she struck another deal.

  The Sea Witch agreed to return Antonella’s voice, in exchange for a quick peek at the underwater Kingdom.

  Understanding that her father would have hooked her to a rock if he had known what she offered the witch, Antonella blindfolded the witch to ensure that she could never find the Kingdom again.

  Once they reached the large glass doors, Antonella removed the blindfold and pointed to her throat.

  The Sea Witch waved her hand near Antonella’s vocal chords. “There now you can sing again.”

  “Thank you,” she sang testing out her voice. “I can sing all day long again.” Anto
nella twirled around and stopped to face the entrance.

  Her sisters stepped outside and shut the doors.

  The eldest sister pointed at the witch. “Why have you brought her here?”

  The Sea Witch slid back a couple of feet.

  “She returned my voice,” she sang.

  “I repeat, why is she here?” her eldest sister’s voice rose. “We were on our way to see you. Once you kill him your heart will heal.”

  “No, but my heart is no longer broken because once the prince hears me singing he will know it’s me.” Antonella smiled. “I can now be happy with him.”

  The Sea Witch sidled back another couple of feet.

  The sisters surrounded her and all of them spoke.

  She held out a hand. “One at a time, please.”

  “What? But you knew that we had bargained with her so you wouldn’t turn into sea foam.” Her eldest sister raised a knife with its ruby covered hilt. “You needed only to kill the prince with this knife because he betrayed you. Why did you still bargain with her?” She shrilled. “And why did you bring her here? It’s prohibited.”

  “But he didn’t betray me. She tricked him into thinking that other princess was me. Now he’ll hear me singing and recognize my voice.” Antonella waved. “Return it to her or throw it away.”

  Antonella turned and her eyes widened. “Did she return to the surface?”

  “No,” the second oldest sister screamed, while she pointed at the doors. “They’re ajar, she must have snuck inside.”