“I’ve always wanted to chase down a beautiful space princess!” Zaivar Witz remarked hopefully when the reward for the missing Princess Mira came through on the Interstellar Broadcast Bands.
Two days later, the hope solidified as his chances of nabbing the princess improved. He’d learned what he could about her, which wasn’t much:
In an elevated section of the amphitheater reserved for foreign dignitaries, Sparksworth, Duke of Spauldingshire, watched the opening ceremonies of Ulteria’s annual Festival of the Roses while struggling to resist the urge to chew his fingernails over the true purpose of his visit.
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They call her the Ice Queen. They say she has no heart.
I know better, because she entrusted me with its care.
I struggle through the snowdrifts, my frozen breaths blending with the blinding mist. If the people of my kingdom knew I was attempting this, they’d call me crazy.
But they hadn’t spent
“Do we have to go this way?” Edelweiss whispered, clutching my arm as we maneuvered through the shadowy valley. Dark, frozen cliffsides loomed on each side. Heaps of snow and rock shards rendered the path nearly invisible. “Isn’t this giant territory?”
“There’s no going around it,” I whispered back to her, fingers ready to
Having sent her stepdaughter Jo Bright on a goodwill tour of the far realms, Queen Regality consulted her hand mirror again. “With Jo gone, I’m now the fairest in the land, right?” The mirror replied: “Not to embarrass you, but alas! Queen, those fairer would fill my glass.” After briefly considering tours for all those women too…
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August is prime princess-kidnapping season. Ask even the tiniest dragonet, and they could tell you a thousand stories of Thunderclaw the Terrible, Blazebite the Brutal, or even Grumblewing the Grim and their renowned kidnappings. What did all these dragons have in common?
They planned their kidnappings in August: when princesses are about to…
I assume you’ve heard of the princess and the frog: a darling meet-cute about a prince transformed into a frog by an evil witch, and the princess who saved him with a kiss. Such a romantic story—and a complete lie.
While a witch was involved, she wasn’t evil. Galavia had been hired…
Camden’s armor sinks into the soaked ground, but he doesn’t dare break his stance. The Lady of the Lake stands before him on the water’s surface, shrouded in moonlight, hair flowing in expansive waves. She alone holds the authority to name the next heir who will rule Killeg; should he not be named, House Visroy will fall, and the province will descend into war.
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I saw the dismay in Princess Auvora’s eyes as soon as I removed my helmet; I’d probably have felt the same in her situation. But she recovered quickly. Smoothing her skirts, she lifted her chin and extended her hands in a welcoming, gracious gesture.
“Brave…” She faltered, her brow wrinkling. “Knight-ess?
Cherry blossoms drifted like snowflakes over the princess, reminding Sendai of that fateful night. He shook a petal off his helmet. An imperial guard on duty shouldn’t let his thoughts wander. Total vigilance, not sweet distraction.
The prince, on the bough above them, shook down more blossoms. Seventeen winters may have brought the princess an entrancing grace, but her twin still acted the child.
Straightening her shoulders, Lani stepped into the chilly palace hallway. One last banquet. She could do this.
She remembered Lantern Festivals of old, giggling with her brothers as they stuffed themselves with sweet rice-ball soup and ran from one glittering event to the next. Now, after two weeks of festivities, she felt as empty
Lunar New Year was the best time to uncover secrets. Adon leaned on his broom and listened to firecrackers sputter in the courtyard. At midnight, the fireworks should cover any noise he made breaking into the inner sanctum.
That was the difficulty in sneaking further into the assassin-spy’s compound.
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