JUST RELEASED: Destiny's Queen

The dark-fantasy stand-alone short story, Destiny's Queen is now available from any of the platforms listed on its Books2Read page, which can be found here: https://books2read.com/u/4jMp9v.

What's it About?

In Destiny's Queen a queen must secure her kingdom, by marrying a suitable ally, but on the night of the ball in which she must choose a suitor, her fiance's ghost returns to haunt her, and the assassin who claimed him, returns as well. With trouble in the ballroom, can she really blame those who withdraw their suit? And what does that say about those who remain?

You can find links to where it is available on this Books2Read page: https://books2read.com/u/4jMp9v, and subscribers to my ReamStories page at the Perimeter Surveillance level and higher can begin reading it straight away.

How Does It Start?

“But your dream prince is a ghost!” My valet was beside himself, but I wasn’t about to give in.

“Shamraven’s Hollow is open, tonight.”

He glanced toward the open balcony, and the gathering dusk.

“My lady, my…my Queen, please!”

“I want him back.”

“But you have to be at the ball, tonight. The kingdom cannot survive another war.”

“Hush your mouth!” I warned, all too aware that the walls had ears. “That’s not something I want the world to know.”

He stared at me, his face growing pale, his eyes luminescent with unshed tears. They’d be tears of frustration, I was sure, and I refused to let them move me. I watched his face, as his mind worked to find another excuse to turn me from my path.

“My lady, you are needed. Your suitors…”

“Are not whom I would choose.”

His lips firmed in a tight line of disapproval, and his next words were a slap across the face.

“The Prince Rothvannen did not care a whit for you!” he said, and I gasped.

“He so very much did!”

“He did not. He only cared for your fortune and your lands.”

I felt my heart freeze, wanted to send the man from my presence, banish him from the castle, to cry, and shout, and scream, but queens did not do such things, and especially not when their kingdoms were at stake. Now, it was my turn to stare, as I felt my face grow cold and pale.

“Tell me,” I said, hearing the brittleness in my voice, and he took a step toward me, his hand half-extended as though to soothe. I backed up a step. “Now.”

“Let me show you,” he said, and walked to the window overlooking my private courtyard.

I followed, coming to a stop beside him, close, but not close enough to touch.

“Watch,” he said, indicating the corner I knew as ‘The Cascades.’

Water splashed down a rock wall, and into a pool at its foot. The ferns bordering either side had perfumed foliage that scented the air when wet, and fish swam through tall stands of lilium at the waterfall’s base.

The prince and I had spent many hours on the stone bench tucked alongside a garden bed opposite, trusting the water to mask our voices.

I had not returned, not to my courtyard, and certainly not to The Cascades, since the night my prince had taken an assassin’s blade meant for me.

The assassin had also taken my lady-in-waiting, which was why I now had a valet—the man who had once walked at Rothvannen’s side, who had fallen for his counterpart, and grieved her as much as I had grieved my prince. For that alone, I listened to what he might say.

As I waited, I stared at the Cascades, my secluded bench, and the scene of my recent nightmares.

“Watch,” my valet instructed, indicating the shadows over the bench.

Where Do You Find It?

You can find this short story in A Collection of Death and the Undead, the eleventh volume in the C.M.'s Collections series, or in this newly released updated version on this Books2Read page: https://books2read.com/u/4jMp9v.