by Amy Sumida
I went back to reading, “The old woman approached the second prince and asked him for shelter. The second prince waved his hand, and an attendant hustled the woman away. As she was led through the ballroom, the old woman called out to the final prince, the fairest and sweetest looking of the princes.
'Your Highness, please have mercy on an old woman. Do not let them put me out into the storm!'
The prince looked her over and said to the attendants, 'Give her a pallet in the stables, she can bed down with her own kind.'”
I gaped at the page. “Oh, you bratty bastard!” I hissed.
Then I read on, hoping that the prince would get his comeuppance. “The old woman broke free of the men who were restraining her and in a blinding flash of light, her figure transformed into that of a beautiful maiden. The entire court went silent, in awe of her beauty. The three princes came forward and stared at the woman in astonishment.
'I gave each of you a chance to be kind, and instead, you treated me like an animal,' the fair maiden said.
'We had no idea that you were a lovely lady,' the second prince said. 'If we had known, we would have offered you a room befitting your beauty.'
'Beauty!' The young woman hissed. 'That is all you can see, isn't it? I will teach the three of you a lesson about beauty.'”
I smirked. “Oh yeah, you let them have it, lady!”
I settled back against the wooden wall and read more eagerly, “The maiden's hands began to glow with magic, and the court drew back in fear when she lifted them above her head. The princes, confident in their own worth, did not cower. They faced her with curiosity only.
'Since you treated me like an animal, that is what you shall be. We shall see who stands by you when you are no longer beautiful. How many of your court will remain to fawn over you when your monstrosity is apparent on your very faces?'
The magic shimmered over the princes, and they immediately transformed into hideous monsters; part man and part beast. The court ran away, screaming.”
I chuckled, monsters indeed.
“The eldest prince cried out to the maiden, now revealed to be a witch, 'Please, we can change our ways. Have mercy.'
The witch lifted her chin and stared at the pathetic creatures.
'You who gave no mercy, now beg for it,' she said. 'All right;. I will grant you one chance to regain your human forms.' She plucked a rose out of an overflowing vase and cast it at the feet of the eldest prince. 'You have till the last petal falls from this flower to prove that you are worthy are ruling this kingdom.'
The princes looked at each other in horror. 'But a rose dies so quickly,' the second prince pointed out.
'Not this one,' the witch smiled. 'It will fade slowly, and you will not fade at all, but only I shall know how much time you have to prove your worth.'
The youngest prince crawled forward on his massive paws, 'But how do we prove ourselves?'
The witch thought about it and finally said, 'With true beauty, of course. You must find a woman, a brave and beautiful woman, to love all of you. If you can win her love, and become humble enough to share that love, then I will return your kingdom and your pretty faces to you.'
The princes vowed that they would win the love of a brave and beautiful woman... and they would share her humbly.”
I grimaced and tossed the book down in the hay.
“What rubbish.”
Chapter Two
“You didn't like The Beastly Princes?” Theo chuckled.
“Have you read that garbage?” I asked him as I returned his book. “It's ridiculous.”
“It's supposed to be a true story,” Theo said, “about our very own kingdom.”
“We have a King and Queen,” I reminded him. “And they only have a daughter, no sons.”
“We were not originally a part of the Kingdom of Hannaleigh,” Theo said. “In fact, we're not really a part of it now. Our monarchy disappeared long ago; the castle is said to be deep within the forest, hidden by magic and haunted.”
“What happened to the rulers?”
“No one knows.” Theo waved the book at me. “Or do they?”
“You want me to believe that there are three beastly princes living in an abandoned castle in the woods, waiting for a beautiful woman to come and fall in love with them?” I scoffed.
“Pure drivel,” Fabien said as he sauntered into Theo's shop.
I rolled my eyes. “For the flour,” I said to Theo as I handed him a copper coin. “And thank you for the loan of the book.”
“You're welcome Sylvaine,” Theo spoke to me, but eyed Fabien.
Fabien. Ugh. Speaking of monsters, Fabien was a real one. He was also a braggart and a bully. In fact, Fabien would probably get along famously with those princes. When he wasn't pushing his weight around, Fabien could be found admiring himself in any reflective surface nearby. And when he wasn't doing either of those things, he was annoying me.
“Where are you going, Sylvie?” Fabien followed me out of Theo's shop.
“Home,” I said succinctly. “And don't call me 'Sylvie'.”
“Aren't we close enough for me to call you 'Sylvie', Sylvie?” Fabien wedged his way in front of me, forcing me to slide between him and a wall.
“No, we're not,” I growled.
“Fabien!” Bianca, my older sister, shouted.
Fabien sighed deeply and ignored her.
“Fabien!” Bianca called again as she hastened after us.
“I'm busy, Bianca!” Fabien turned to snap at her.
I used his distraction to make my escape, ducking down a back alley and then racing out to another street. By the time I made it home, I was giggling like a girl. My giggling stopped when I saw Bayard, the horse who pulled my father's cart.
“Bayard?” I went over to the horse, who was grazing peacefully in the patch of grass before our home.
Bayard lifted his head, looking at me with somber, dark eyes.
“Where's father, Bayard?”
The horse looked guilty. And yes, I could communicate with our horse; with most animals, actually. It was a talent my entire family had. Our ancestors had been very in tune with nature. My name even meant “from the forest.” So, I knew immediately that Bayard had left my father somewhere that he shouldn't have.
“You're taking me to him, Bayard,” I said as I climbed onto his back.
The horse tensed and pranced anxiously.
“You left him somewhere alone. Now, the least you can do is show me where,” I chided him.
Bayard took off into the woods.
Over an hour later, I realized that we were on a road that I had never traveled before. It was overgrown, but not to the point of being inaccessible, just enough to make it clear that this was not a path often chosen. Then Bayard stopped.
There was a break in the trees, and through it, I could see a magnificent castle.
“Oh dear god,” I whispered. “It's like Theo said; a hidden castle. Is that where father is, Bayard?”
The horse whinnied.
“Then let's go.”
Bayard stamped and turned in a circle, refusing to go any further. Finally, I gave up, and left him there, making my way up a stone paved path toward the massive castle. As soon as I was out of the forest, the land opened up into manicured lawns and manicured gardens. A whole team of gardeners would be needed to maintain these grounds, but there wasn't a soul in sight. I looked down at my arms and saw the hair on them standing on end. Something wasn't natural here.
Even though the sun shone down brightly, and the castle gleamed as if it were freshly polished, I felt a heavy pall in the air; a sadness hanging over it all. I shivered and rubbed my arms as I hurried up the stone steps to a curved set of wood doors. I knocked because that's the polite thing to do, but no one answered. Instead, the door swung open all on its own, and I stood within the arch of it, staring at a curving staircase. Doors to either side of the entry were open to reveal vast rooms, but there was no one in them.
; “Hello?” I called out. “I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm looking for my father, and I think he may be here. Hello? Is anyone there?”
A clink sounded down a hallway to the right of the stairs. I followed the sound and came to a kitchen. No one was there. Another clatter led me to an open door near the pantry. I peered in and saw a set of stairs leading down into the dark.
“Too dark for anyone to be down there,” I muttered to myself.
Torches burst into flame, illuminating a stone stairwell which curved out of sight.
“Like that wasn't at all creepy,” I huffed.
I would have left at that point, but my father was in that castle somewhere, I could feel it in my bones, and I wasn't about to abandon him. I headed down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, I found a row of prison cells. Solid doors blocked my view of the cells, but they were each set with small windows near their tops, barred by iron.
“Father?” I called out.
“Sylvaine?” My father's shocked voice came from one of the cells. “Sylvaine is that you?”
“Father!” I snatched a ring of keys off the wall and ran toward the sound of his voice. “I'm here! Bayard brought me.” I unlocked his door and rushed into my father's arms.
“Oh, Sylvaine,” my father sobbed. “You shouldn't have come. In fact,” he pushed me away, “you need to leave immediately.”
“The hell I will,” I growled.
“Brave,” a deep voice noted from the doorway.
“Or maybe just stupid,” another rumbly voice added.
“Leave her be!” My father cried and pushed me behind him. “She has done nothing wrong. I am the one who took your damn rose.”
“Rose?” I asked.
“Your father is a thief,” a third voice, slightly softer than the other two, said. “We caught him stealing one of our prized roses. Thieves must be punished. At least, that's what Lancelot says–” His voice was cut off by a muffled thump.
“Over a rose?” I huffed. “I'm the one who asked him for a rose; you should punish me.”
“Sylvaine!” Father snapped. “I will handle this.”
“Father, you need to get home,” I said sternly. “Bianca and Anne will not be able to survive without you.”
“You can–”
“What?” I asked. “What could I do to support us?”
“More than I do,” he huffed. “We lost another cargo. I know you know about the ships, Sylvie. We are ruined.”
“Our family does not give up,” I snapped. “You're going to go home and figure this out.” I shoved him toward the door.”
“Listen to her,” one of the voices said, “she thinks she's in charge.”
“He's a merchant,” I growled at the shadowy shapes in the doorway. “What do you want with him when you could have a young, able-bodied woman? I can cook or clean, things he can't do for you.”
“Come into the light,” the first voice demanded.
I eased forward and heard three sharp intakes of breath.
“Brave and beautiful,” one of them whispered.
“Fools,” another said, “she's not the one.”
“What's the harm?” The third said. “Let her stay. Let him leave. It matters not.”
“I am not leaving!” My father declared.
“Yes, you are,” I pushed him out into the corridor.
“You heard her,” one of the low voices said. “It's time to go.”
I came out past the glare of the torches just as a clawed hand reached for my father. I launched myself at the thing before me, the one about to attack my father, but was grabbed from behind. As I flailed against my captor, my father was dragged away by something that looked ...
“Half man and half beast,” I whispered.
I swiveled my head around to peer at the person that held me and found something similar. Shaggy hair framed a fur-covered face. The fur was sleek and flowed over a muscular body. Large, liquid eyes stared at me, full of sorrow and pain. They were set above a wide, flat nose that would have looked right at home on a lion. This nose flowed down into an upper lip that was thick like an animal's muzzle, but then it transformed into human-shaped lips. The beast opened his odd mouth, showcasing sharp canines, and spoke.
“Be at ease; we will not hurt you.”
“I'm more concerned about my father,” I said calmly.
His eyes widened, and he carefully put me down on my feet.
“Your father will be escorted off the property,” he murmured. “My brother will not harm him either. We're not completely animals.”
“Animals behave better than humans anyway.” I crossed my arms and considered him. “It's true, isn't it? The story of the beastly princes. And you're one of them.”
“There's a story about us?” He crossed his own arms to mirror my stance, and I noticed that he was dressed in fine clothes.
“So, you need to make a woman fall in love with you, huh?” I asked.
“Dear God, you are a blunt one.”
“And you're a furry one.”
“Fair enough.” He chuckled, then looked shocked. “I don't remember the last time that I laughed.”
“Well, it's probably this whole having to find a woman to want you thing,” I suggested. “What happens if you don't, by the way? I stopped reading. Honestly, I thought it was a load of rubbish.”
“If only it were. If we don't find love, we stay like this forever,” he waved a paw over his body.
“That's not so bad.”
“Not so bad?” He snarled. “I'm hideous.”
“You kind of look like a loup garou,” I pointed out. “With a little predator cat thrown in. Interesting.”
“A loup garou?”
“A werewolf.”
“You believe in werewolves?” He asked.
“And you don't?” I looked him over pointedly.
“Yes, well spotted,” he huffed.
“The man has been escorted to his horse,” one of the other two beasts said as they both returned. “She isn't fighting?”
“She's quite reasonable,” the first one said. “And she knows about the curse.”
“She knows about it?” The third beast asked, coming forward to face me. “You know?”
“Yeah, but I'm not your girl,” I said. “I'm not into the idea of having multiple lovers. I'm looking for the one, my true mate.”
The second beast choked and started to cough.
“Perhaps we could change your mind.” The second one smiled, and it appeared to be very wicked, though that could have just been his face.
About the Author
Amy Sumida is the Internationally Acclaimed author of the Award-Winning Godhunter Series, the fantasy paranormal Twilight Court Series, the Beyond the Godhunter Series, the music-oriented paranormal Spellsinger Series, and several short stories. Her books have been translated into several languages, have made it to the top seller's list on Amazon numerous times, and the first book in her Spellsinger Series won a publishing contract with Kindle Press.
She was born and raised in Hawaii and brings her unique island perspective to all of her books. She doesn't believe in using pen names, saving the fiction for her stories. She's known for her kick-ass heroines who always have a witty comeback ready, and her strong, supporting male characters who manage to be sensitive and alpha all at once.
All she's ever wanted to do since she was a little girl, was to write novels. To be able to do so for a living is a blessing which she wakes up thankful for every day. Beyond her books, she enjoys collecting toys, to keep herself young, and cats, to keep herself loved.
If you enjoyed this book, please let the author know by leaving a review. Unless you want to leave less than 5 stars, in which case, she begs you not to let her know. Our little Indie Author hearts are so easily crushed.
For information on new releases, detailed character descriptions, and an in-depth look into the worlds of Godhunter and the Twilight Court, check out Amy's website;
> http://www.amysumida.com/
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