“We’ll fly,” he said by way of an explanation as we headed around the palace to the staviary.
The thought of flying again wasn’t a pleasant one, but at least I wouldn’t be in labor this time. I’d done it once, I could do it again.
“We’ll take Misty.”
“Right-o.” I followed Jay into the staviary and threw open Misty's stall door. She stood quickly and nudged my pocket.
“No peanut butter sandwiches today,” I said giving her a quick stroke on her nose. “I need a ride, but I promise I’ll get you as many sandwiches as you like once we are done.” She seemed to understand my words, lowering her front legs to I could mount her. I hopped onto her back and motioned for Jay to do the same.
“Williamson, Avery,” I barked at the guards. They stood to attention, saluting me. “You'll have to follow on horseback. Take two of the horses.”
They took off at a run to saddle up, no questions asked. My mouth curved. Despite mother's protection, at least no one here was questioning my authority in times of danger.
“To the meadow, Misty,” I urged. “And hurry, if you please.”
Jay clutched my waist as I gently prodded Misty with my heels. She cantered out of the stables and took to the skies.
I craned my neck and looked back toward the staviary, catching sight of two chestnut stallions as they streaked from the stables below us and toward the meadow.
A wave of nausea overcame me. Gripping Misty’s mane tightly, I took a few deep breaths to make sure my lunch stayed on the inside. I didn’t want a repeat performance of the other night, where I was sure I had thrown up at least once.
My pulse calmed as Jay pulled me closer to him. His chin nestled upon my shoulder as his arms tightened about my waist, causing my stomach to flip far more than the height had. I leaned forward, bringing Jay’s body with mine so I was snug between Misty at my front and Jay at my back. He pulled his hands from around my waist and trailed them up my arms until he laced his fingers between mine, gripping Misty’s mane. Suddenly, the height didn’t bother me anymore. I was safe. I was protected. I was confused. Confused about how perfectly my body fit in his and how much I enjoyed the feel of him.
“Do you know where the traps are laid?” I asked Jay, raising my voice so that he could hear me over the wind in our ears.
I felt his nod against my cheek, which sent a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold air whizzing past us.
“Where are they?” I shouted back, trying to ignore the heat in my cheeks that was rapidly making its way further south.
His voice was tight. “Down the hillside... We should try to land in the trees. They haven't found any there. I don’t want Misty accidentally trapping herself as we come in to land."
I nodded and looked out for a gap in the trees big enough for Misty to get her enormous wingspan through.
“There, Misty.” I leaned forward, clutching her mane in one hand, and pointed to a small clearing with the other. “Come in slowly. I want to scan the ground.”
She began to descend, and as she did, I scoured the ground beneath us. When I was sure it was safe, I told her to land.
Jay scrambled off of her back and held a hand up to help me down.
This time, when my hand took his, I managed to keep the blush at bay. Whatever I’d been feeling up in the air must have been produced by fear and nothing else. That thought made me feel a little better. I didn’t need to complicate my life further.
“Misty, stay here. We’ll be back soon. If you sense danger, fly away.”
She nodded her head in understanding.
“It’s almost as if she knows what you are saying,” Jay marveled.
“I think she does. She’s a smart unicorn. Now, where are these traps?”
Jay jerked his thumb to the left. “I left a couple of men on the hillside at the edge of the woods. They can’t be too far away.”
I looked to where he was pointing. Sunlight flittered through the canopy of leaves and, not too far in the distance, the edge of the woods was apparent.
As we walked, a couple of unicorns came out to greet us. They watched us cautiously as we walked along a well-worn path through the trees. I stopped, holding my hand out to them. They moved toward me, and the larger of the two nuzzled my hand.
“Have you seen any injured unicorns in these woods?” I asked, giving it a scratch behind its ears.
The unicorn didn’t shake its head, but I could feel its answer. It wasn’t scared. It had nothing to fear.
“They haven’t seen anything,” I said, turning to Jay.
His eyes widened, and his eyebrows lifted. “How could you possibly know that?”
I shrugged. “I just do. You head out to the men. I’ll make sure these two are safe.”
“I’m not leaving you. Your mother would have my guts for garters.”
I laughed at his choice of words. “Fine, I’ll come with you, but I think the unicorns might like to come too.”
“The more, the merrier.”
We ended up on the hillside, the city of Shipley below us in the distance. When we emerged from the trees, Williamson and Avery trotted over.
“We wondered where you’d ended up, Your Highness. We found the traps.”
Williamson pointed to a spot by the tree line where a couple of men were cautiously moving up and down through the tall grass, sticks in their hands to prod at the ground in front of them.
“You should stay in the trees,” I cautioned the two unicorns. Jay took my hand as we walked over to the men.
“We need to keep a look at where we are going too. Those traps could take our legs clean off if they shut hard enough.”
I looked to Williamson and Avery, who jumped down from their horses and tied them to a tree.
“How many are left?” Jay asked the two men, taking their attention from their job. They nodded their heads in a quick bow.
The older of the two, a man in his early sixties with a flat cap, said. “I don’t know. This tall grass is murder. The trapper knew what he or she was doing. They’re bloody impossible to see before you stand right on ‘em, pardon my language, Your Highness.”
“How many have you found?” I asked.
“Bloody hundreds of the buggers, pardon my language.” He threw a long stick to Jay, who caught it in one hand.
He glanced at the two unicorns who were peeping out of the trees behind us.
“I think it’s best if you stay here and make sure the unicorns stay in the trees. I’d feel a lot safer knowing that you weren’t in harm’s way too.”
“I’m on it.” That was why I’d been brought here. To make sure there were no accidents. I settled myself on a stump and watched as the five men worked.
Every couple of minutes or so, I heard a loud snap, and one of the men would bring his stick up, metal teeth biting into it. Then they’d bring it over to me, un-spring the trap, and throw it into a rapidly growing pile. The unicorns left soon after I sat down, probably growing bored with the lack of action. My mind began to wander in the warmth of the sun and the unrelenting thwack, thwack, thwack. The man was right, there were hundreds of traps. I wished I’d brought something to entertain myself with.
An hour or so in, something nudged my elbow from behind. My eyes shot wide in startling recognition as I met a pair of golden eyes that I’d looked into before.
“It's you!”
The baby unicorn’s mother. She nodded her head so I could stroke her snout. I was surprised to see her, but she was probably bored cooped up in the staviary just as I had been in the palace. “Baby's doing well,” I said encouragingly. “Her wound is almost entirely healed. The hostlers just want to give her a bit more time getting used to putting weight back on it, and we'll send both of you home to the meadow in just a few weeks.”
She sagged in relief and let out a soft whicker.
“Thank you.”
“You're very welcome!” I cheerily said aloud—then froze.
Oh
. My. Gods.
My voice was quite squeaky when I spoke again. “Did you just...?”
I’d sat out in the sun for too long. I understood the unicorns. I always had, but to actually have them speak to me in words, well, that was absurd. There was no way that the unicorn had spoken to me.
“I did.”
Her voice resonated in my mind but was accompanied by all the ordinary sounds that a unicorn could make. She huffed and snorted. I heard the sounds through my ears clear as day. But in my head... she sounded just as human as I did.
I was going mad. I had finally cracked.
“Don't get too hung up on this, human child. You are very well known around these parts. The unicorns far and wide have told tales of a beautiful princess. One we can understand. I wondered how long it would take you to understand us.”
“No,” I said, looking round in case I was a part of some weird practical joke. Jay and the others were far down the hillside, all of them immersed in their task. “This isn’t real.”
“Whyever not? You’ve always had an affinity with us. Not many humans would risk their own baby to save a unicorn baby.”
“I didn’t know I was going to go into labor,” I said, wondering why I was pandering to this particular delusion and talking back.
“Eliana!” Jay called from the line of traps. He threw his arms up in a question when I looked at him. “Who are you talking to?”
“No one... The unicorn!” I shouted.
He didn't need to know it was actually talking back.
Beside me, the mother unicorn huffed as Jay went back to work. In the distance, there was another thwack of metal upon wood.
I picked up another stick from a pile nearby, ready for when the one of the men came back. They’d gone through so many sticks that I could build a bonfire with the mangled wood sitting in a pile beside the traps. As I waited for the man to trek up the hill, a thought occurred to me. “Miss, er... mother unicorn...”
“Zacarina, please.”
“Zacarina, then... did you see the people laying traps?” If we had a witness and a description, we had a chance at catching the monsters behind this.
Her eyes grew shifty, and she looked away from me. “Not people. A man. One man. And yet… not a man at all,” she said with a neigh. Her entire body shuddered as she spoke.
A man and not a man at all... I'd unpack that loaded statement later. How did one man manage to do all this without being seen?
“What did he look like?” I asked urgently, my heart pounding with excitement. We were going to catch him, whoever he was.
The unicorn shook her head. “I don't know. I did not see. The forest felt strange, and I stayed well away.”
I deflated. Then we had nothing.
“But that doesn't mean I didn't hear him. He sang as he set about his gruesome work. And we heard him.”
I frowned. A song wasn't much to go on, but maybe it would help somehow. If it was an unusual song or something that had been sung in taverns recently, perhaps we could pinpoint his origin or a place he might frequent. It was a start, at least.
“What was the song?”
“It had only one word repeating over and over again,” she said grimly.
A feeling of dark foreboding washed over me.
“Rumplestiltskin.”
After the Happily Ever After…
There is more to these stories. You want to know what happens next right? Fast forward eighteen years…
Pick up book one now
PREQUEL
SLEEPING BEAUTY
1. Queen of Dragons
2. Heiress of Embers
3. Throne of Fury
4. Goddess of Flames
LITTLE MERMAID
5. Queen of Mermaids
6. Heiress of the Sea
7. Throne of Change
8. Goddess of Water
RED RIDING HOOD
9. King of Wolves
10. Heir of the Curse
11. Throne of Night
12. God of Shifters
RAPUNZEL
13. King of Devotion
14. Heir of Thorns
15. Throne of Enchantment
16. God of Loyalty
RUMPELSTILTSKIN
17. Queen of Unicorns
18. Heiress of Gold
19. Throne of Sacrifice
20. Goddess of Loss
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
21. King of Beasts
22. Heir of Beauty
23. Throne of Betrayal
24. God of Illusion
ALADDIN
25. Queen of the Sun
26. Heiress of Shadows
27. Throne of the Phoenix
28. Goddess of Fire
CINDERELLA
29. Queen of Song
30. Heiress of Melody
31. Throne of Symphony
32. Goddess of Harmony
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
33. Queen of Clockwork
34. Heiress of Delusion
35. Throne of Cards
36. Goddess of Hearts
WIZARD OF OZ
37. King of Traitors
38. Heir of Fugitives
39. Throne of Emeralds
40. God of Storms
SNOW WHITE
41. Queen of Reflections
42. Heiress of Mirrors
43. Throne of Wands
44. Goddess of Magic
PETER PAN
45. Queen of Skies
46. Heiress of Stars
47. Throne of Feathers
48. Goddess of Air
URBIS - Coming soon
49. Kingdom of Royalty
50. Kingdom of Power
51. Kingdom of Fairytales
52. Kingdom of Ever After
A NEW FAIRYTALE ANTHOLOGY
If you love fairytales, you’ll want to add this new set to your collection.
Enchanted Kingdoms is the biggest set of fairytale retellings by USAT and Amazon bestselling authors, with each story depicting a different take on a classic.
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Old tales: New twist
The stories you loved as a child have been twisted into wildly addictive tales that will bewitch you as an adult: enchanted castles, spellbinding magic, handsome princes, beautiful princesses, and as many happily-ever-afters as your heart desires.
Cherish this mesmerizing set of 20 classic tales retold by a collection of best-selling and award-winning authors. Each novel-length story features a different take on your favorite fairytale.
Your every fantasy will come to life in ways you could never have imagined, packed full of heart-wrenching romance, gripping adventure, and magic that will weave you in its spell.
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All proceeds benefit Puzzle Peace United, a children's autism charity.
Fairytales include:
Alice in Wonderland by J. A. Armitage and J.A. Culican
Cinderella by Kimbra Swain
Snow White and Rose Red by Eileen Mueller and A.J. Ponder
Beauty and the Beast by Beth Hale
Aladdin by Zara Quentin
Rumpelstiltskin by Craig Halloran
Sleeping Beauty by Stacey O'Neale
Wizard of Oz by Amanda Marin
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Lacy Sheridan
Red Riding Hood by May Dawson
Rapunzel by Anne Stryker
Sinbad the Sailor by Cassidy Taylor
Robin Hood by Jacque Stevens
Little Match Girl by Lee Ann Ward
Twelve Dancing Princesses by Kit Winters
Mulan by Charlotte Daniels and Charlie Daniels
The Nightingale by IreAnne Chambers and Rachel McManamay
The Girl without Hands by Daphne Moore
Nix of the Mill Pond by Astrid V.J
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A note from the author
The Kingdom of Fairytales authors hope you enjoyed this new way of reading. We don’t think that a series has ever been set with one chapter a day thought a whole year before and we hope we did it justice.
With this in mind, please leave a review, but when you do, remember that these books were always meant to be short breaks in your day and the blurb reflects that.
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About Emma Savant
Emma Savant lives with her husband and cat in a small town in California, where she spends way too much time watching Star Trek and eating nachos. She loves fairy tales and once took an archery class in the hopes of becoming more Narnian.
Emma is also the author of Glimmers of Scales, Crimson Daggers, Spinning into Gold and Glimmers of Glass.
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About J.A. Armitage
J.A lives in a total fantasy world (because reality is boring right?) When she's not writing all the crazy fun in her head, she can be found eating cake, designing pretty pictures and hanging upside down from the tallest climbing frame in the local playground while her children look on in embarrassment. She's travelled the world working as everything from a banana picker in Australia to a Pantomime clown, has climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the bottom of the Grand Canyon and once gave birth to a surrogate baby for a friend of hers.
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