Kingdom of Fairytales: After ever after - a Kingdom of Fairytales Prequel Page 2

  They searched until they found the Sea Witch locked inside the throne room with their dad.

  Through glass walls, Antonella stood helpless as the Sea Witch dropped a magic potion that filled the room with a black cloud. When the darkness lifted, the witch had her eight legs wrapped around the throne holding The King in his seat. The Sea Witch laughed as she seized the Golden Trident and knocked him out.

  “Now I’m the one with the power and I will rule the sea and the Kingdom of Atlantice. Everyone will bow before me, even those useless humans.” She swam out of the palace.

  Antonella allowed her tears to flow, because her bargain had allowed the sea witch to own the most powerful weapon her father and generations before him had been entrusted to guard with their lives.

  The theft placed everyone on high alert. Since no one in the palace wanted the Sea Witch as their ruler, her sisters swam to alert the other Merpeople kingdoms and obtain weapons to defeat the witch. They also sent Prince Ermias a message to warn the Kingdom of Atlantice that the witch had her eyes on his kingdom and all the underwater kingdoms.

  They left Antonella to help their father. Once he regained consciousness, she volunteered to distract the witch, while her father gathered the guards to fortify the kingdom and hunt for the cloaking magic to prevent the witch from returning to the kingdom.

  I should have been more careful.

  The Sea Witch’s laughter filled the small cave. “I’m not going anywhere and no one is coming to save you. Not even that weak human you love so much.” Her words bounced off the walls.

  Antonella paced the cave, hoping that her sisters would return before Ermias did. She’d rather die than put him in any danger.

  Confident that her sisters could overthrow the witch if they stuck together, she decided to confront the witch once again.

  She jumped into the water and swam away from the cave toward a tiny island closer to the Sea Witch. Her legs shook as she pushed them faster but she didn’t dare stop. She kicked faster, ignoring her throbbing limbs.

  The witch spat in her maniacal voice, “You don’t know who you bargained with Little Mermaid.” She twirled the mer-king’s golden trident around her fingers that were the size of a rowboat. “You should have followed the instructions I gave your sisters.”

  In the distance, Prince Ermias’ ship sailed toward the witch.

  Antonella reached the island and stood on her trembling legs with her hands on her hips. “I couldn’t kill him no matter what you said would happen to me. I’d rather die than kill Prince Ermias.” Her hands crossed in front of her heart. “He is a pure soul and doesn’t deserve to die.”

  The witch sneered. “You’re a disobedient child who will now die a slow death.” She grabbed floating driftwood and threw the twenty feet long log toward Antonella.

  She dodged it but slipped on seaweed. Two jutting branches staked into the sand. Antonella pushed against the driftwood with all her might but it didn’t budge.

  Not one inch.

  Trapped.

  Her heart raced as she scanned the horizon for her sisters or a sea creature that could distract the witch or at least help her move the driftwood.

  The sea was empty, except for the ship with the wind filling its sails.

  “Maybe we can bargain again?” She placed one hand on the driftwood and another at the base. Her fingers dug into the sand. Antonella sang a song.

  The Sea Witch threw back her head and cackled.

  Antonella continued to singing, watching the ship heading toward the witch.

  The humongous woman moved closer to her. “Stop singing. There’s nothing I want from you. Not anymore.” She waved the trident. “You should’ve killed your darling love with the knife I gave your sisters. I told them it was the only way to save you…but then when do you ever obey your elders?”

  Antonella didn’t move her body, except for her fingers that continued to dig into the sand.

  “Should I bury you under more driftwood logs and let you die a slow death or shall I burn you to a crisp? Decisions, decisions.”

  “Please give me another chance.” She pleaded.

  “You’re such a hopeful child but the answer is still no. And since you didn’t follow my orders, your lovely prince will also die by my hand.”

  “If you kill me, no one in the sea will obey you. Not my father. Not my sisters. You will have no one on your side.”

  “Do you think that affects me? I’ve always been by myself and now with your father’s weapon I can rule the sea without anyone.”

  Beyond the witch’s enormous body, Antonella watched her sisters swimming toward the witch. Flashes of metal caught the sun’s rays and lit up her dress.

  “Please, don’t kill him,” Antonella begged.

  The Sea Witch quickly turned and blew the sea causing the waves to force her sisters back for at least a hundred nautical miles.

  “You didn’t think I could see them?”

  Antonella’s heart faulted. I hope she doesn’t see his ship.

  “No one will stop me now, Little Mermaid,” the sea witch screamed.

  “Her name is Princess Antonella,” Ermias shouted before a cannonball flew toward the witch.

  Unfortunately, it plummeted into the sea.

  “Buahahaha,” the Sea Witch shouted. “Foolish human, you missed. Now I will bring your true love to her rightful fate: Death. She will die before your eyes.”

  Antonella pressed both her hands against the log.

  “You will die Little Mermaid.” The witch raised the mer-king’s Golden Trident and pointed it at the small island.

  Antonella’s body quivered as she closed her eyes. “Goodbye my love,” she whispered with tears falling on her cheeks.

  Black netting flew from the ship and covered the Sea Witch’s body.

  “I can’t move. What have you done?” shouted the witch.

  “It’s a magical net and will hold you on the sea floor until I decide to release you.” Ermias jumped out of the ship and swam to Antonella. The Sea Witch’s howls disappeared as the water covered her hair.

  When Ermias reached Antonella, he crouched, kicked the driftwood loose, and wrapped his arms around her. “You didn’t have to risk your life my strong, sweet Antonella.” He kissed her lips. “I love you.”

  Through the tears that flowed down her cheeks, she gazed into his blue eyes. “And I love you.”

  Two weeks later, Antonella and Ermias stood in front of the balcony, after the wedding guests left the ballroom.

  “Are you happy, my sweet Antonella? You appear sad.”

  She stared out into the ocean with her fingers spread across her heart. “Yes, I’m happy.” She smiled. “It’s just that the Sea Witch...”

  His fingers traced the outline of her face. “You don’t have to worry about her. Now that we’re married, I will always be at your side and I’ll protect you against her and anyone else who tries to harm you.”

  “But you’re sure she can’t escape?”

  “No, your father said that the netting will hold her until I undo the magic.”

  “I’m glad my father helped you.” She smiled. “I’ll miss the sea.”

  Ermias placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “They’re never far away and you can visit them.”

  She sighed. “No, my father told me it’s best if I don’t visit. Your subjects might find out that I was a mermaid.”

  He sighed. “He’s right. No one should know.”

  They walked back to the front of his palace hand-in-hand, when there was a knock on the door…

  Find out what happens next in Queen of Mermaids

  3

  Red Riding Hood

  Red ran through the woods as quick as she could. Ducking a branch, she slid soundlessly on the wet earth. Years of practice and the magic that surrounded her made Red move as gracefully as any animal that was stalking in the night. Elder wasn’t a place to go wandering at night, but Red had a job to do. The howling in the wind was enough to
keep her running as fast as she could to the last little cottage.

  The howl of a wolf filled the night air again. He was stalking closer. She knew that much, but it wasn’t her scent he was finding. It was the poor couple that was still waiting at the cottage. She should’ve been there earlier; she should’ve moved them first. She shouldn’t have listened to the husband as he asked her to give them a little more time.

  It was a full moon, and the curse would be at its highest. While most of the wolves were contained in the caves, he would never go there. He refused to be locked up. He refused to be afraid of the monster he became at night. He was the reason kids cowered in their bed, and parents would tell tales of the big bad wolf.

  Red wasn’t even out of breath as she made it to the cottage. It was her job as the Red to keep the village and the people of Elder safe. And she would do everything in her power to protect every last person.

  “Mason, open up,” she called to the husband that was just inside the door.

  The wolf would be able to hear her, but it didn’t matter. He would find them soon enough. Red just hoped that she would have enough time to cloak their scent before they made the trek back to the trees.

  “How do I know it is you?” a muffled male voice replied.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Red answered before she aimed one square kick at the door.

  The husband opened the door, and she toppled in. With her grace, she was able to remain standing, and she quickly moved to the wife.

  “You have to move now.” Red helped the pregnant woman from the chair. “He will be here soon. I know my grandmother told you this cottage was protected, but that must have faded when she died. You have to get back to the trees with all the rest of the humans.”

  The wife looked to her husband. There were tears in her eyes. Red understood. She couldn’t imagine being raised in the trees and never allowed onto the ground. To be able to see the world below but not be part of it. A childhood like that was why her grandmother had made all the cottages she could with her magic before the wolves took her.

  “Cover yourselves with this. It won’t hide your scent for long, but it should be enough to get to the trees. They are waiting for you and will get you up as soon as they see you.” Red handed the couple a vile of green mush. She never asked what it was exactly, but she knew the witches were trying to protect the people of Elder as much as Red was.

  The couple did as Red commanded. She gave them a minute to say goodbye to their dreams of raising their child on the ground. She watched out the windows and waited for the next howl. He should be coming soon. She took off her dark blue cape and reversed it to the bright red of the other side. The magic cream was to confuse the wolves scent tracking, but her red cape was to make her the target instead.

  A snap of a twig not too far away in the tree line was the last thing Red wanted to hear. The wolf was closer than he should have been. Red looked into the darkness. Her sight was better than most, but his black fur made him almost impossible to see. If he was at the house, it meant only one thing. He had followed her. The magic on the house was still holding, but would it keep all night?

  “On second thought,” Red turned to the couple. “You need to hide here.” She shoved them towards the only closet in the room. She knew what needed to be done.

  Red had once had plans for her future. Ideas of how she wanted her life to turn out, but it was never going to be that way. The day Hunter was bitten was the day it all ended. When he became the big bad wolf, there was no future for Red. Her dreams died with him. Humans and werewolves could never be together.

  The husband looked like he wanted to ask, but knew better than to question Red. She was the leader of their people for a reason, but little did he know it was a magical reason. Red was the leader because she understood some of the magic, but more importantly, she was the Red because her grandmother made it so. The magic to protect the people was inside her and would pass to her own children someday, unless she gave it away.

  The wolf paced outside the house. He couldn’t enter. Another bone-chilling howl shattered the silence of the night. Red knew what needed to be done. She had been avoiding it for too long. Red needed to face the wolf that was once her best friend. She would protect him as much as she protected her people, but first, she needed to do something.

  Red slid the knife she always carried from her belt. With one swift motion, she cut her hand. Reaching for the wife, she did the same to the pregnant lady. Taking her cut hand in her own, Red began to chant. She couldn’t change what had happened to Hunter, but she could change what would happen to the unborn child. The power of being the Red would pass onto the child and protect them no matter the outcome of what was to come.

  “Do not leave this house for any reason. When day breaks, bring your child to the trees and tell the elders I have marked your daughter as the next Red.”

  The wife looked to her husband, worry evident on her face. Red felt as dire as she sounded. Most would have considered their child being the next Red an honor, but the circumstances made it hard to celebrate. Red tried to smile at them. It was a happy occasion for the child and all of Elder. The power of the Red was starting to fade inside of Red. She had to face Hunter now.

  “Stay inside,” Red warned the couple one last time.

  It was time to face the truth. Red walked outside and stood in the clearing before the cottage. The air was crisp, and the moon shone brightly. It was a beautiful night and as good as any to end the game they had been playing for many moons.

  “Hunter,” Red called into the night. She could barely see into the dense forest, but she didn’t need to see. She could feel he was out there. Red took two more steps away from the house, out of the protection of the spell that kept the cottage hidden.

  A giant black wolf, almost as dark as the night sky, walked out from the tree line as though he just appeared from nothing. He stalked closer, gnashing his jaws and emitting a low growl.

  Nothing about the animal was Hunter. Red could see that much, but in her heart, that monster was her best friend and the man she had hoped to one day marry. The giant teeth and large black eyes didn’t deter her as she looked closer at him. He couldn’t be gone. Not Hunter. He was stronger than that.

  “I’m not going to fight you, Hunter,” Red told the gigantic wolf as it stepped closer and closer to her. “I won’t kill you.”

  The wolf paused as if it could understand what she was saying. He pulled back a step, his growl ending and his head drooping. Red wanted to see his eyes. Was he Hunter now or the big bad wolf? For the first time since Hunter had been cursed, Red had hope.

  She took a step closer, and the wolf’s head snapped back up toward her. The growl returned. Red froze in her spot. The wolf moved close enough she could feel its hot breath.

  “You never have been or will be the big bad wolf, Hunter. You don’t have it in you.”

  Red should have been afraid. Her powers as the Red of Elder would be gone soon. She would be vulnerable to the werewolf curse just as any person of Elder was. But she wasn’t afraid.

  “I’ve always loved you, Hunter. And I always will, curse or not, fur or no fur.”

  Red didn’t wait to see if he was going to attack. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the giant wolf. It was true. She would always love him, and the curse didn’t change that. Inside that monster was Hunter—the kind soul that had snuck out more times than she could count to make sure she didn’t have to walk in the woods alone. The gentle friend that made Red feel safe and secure. The man she had pined for her whole life. The fur didn’t change that. Hunter would always be Hunter, and she would always love him.

  At that moment, Red felt like the whole woods shook. Tingles shot down from her head to her toes and back up again. It pulsed, not just all around her, but inside her too. Magic pushed the trees back like a storm had gone through, swirling the world around Red and the wolf. Every sense she had was overloaded with the magic that was around her
. Red held tight to the wolf as the magic died down.

  When she finally let go, she noticed a change. The wolf stared back at her with Hunter’s incredible blue eyes.

  Red smiled at the wolf. “See. I told you I’m always right.”

  The wolf coughed a little like it was trying to laugh before leaning in and licking her face. Red tried to be disgusted, but she wasn’t. No one believed her that Hunter could be saved. But he was. Hunter was fine, and the curse seemed to be broken. All it took was a little love.

  Hunter wolf whined as he looked up at the moon. Even without the curse making him into a terrifying killer, he was still a werewolf, and it was still the full moon. Talking to him and the leaders of the wolves would have to be done in the morning when they were all back to being human. Obediently, Hunter sat as he kept checking over his shoulder into the woods. Red had heard the animals return too. No one was afraid of the wolf now.

  “Go play, but please, no more hiding,” Red scolded him, trying not to smile but failing miserably.

  Hunter pranced off into the woods, traipsing so loudly that nothing would be caught by him tonight. Red just smiled as she turned back to the cottage. She had given up her Red powers to the child, but that would be okay. The curse was lifted, but the Red would always be needed to lead the people.

  A breaking branch had Red turning to the woods to scold Hunter for coming back. Instead of the large black wolf, there were two people shrouded in capes waiting for her…

  Find out what happens next in King of Wolves

  4

  Rapunzel

  Thick, pointed leaves. Sturdy branches giving way to pliable ones. Clusters of berries, fat and round, and dusty blooms that created the slightest bit of friction under his fingers.

  Alder crushed one of the berries. It gave way with a gentle pop, and the sweet aroma of wild blueberry filled his senses. His stomach growled in answer.