A reverse Sleeping Beauty tale where the
princess goes on the quest to save the prince.
Princess Kaylee has never had to fight for
anything. Her entire life has been arranged, even her marriage. But when Prince
Devlin falls under an enchantment, she finds she is willing to do anything to
save him, even if it means fighting a dragon.
Devlin's own sister, Princess Arabella, is
behind the deadly plot. She wants the throne and will use any means necessary
to gain it. Her perfect plan unravels, leaving Devlin caught in a magical sleep
that is slowly spreading through the kingdom of Breniera. All Arabella needs to
finish her spell and claim the crown is a drop of Kaylee's blood, but obtaining
the single drop is proving more difficult than expected.
To save her betrothed, Kaylee embarks on a
quest to find an ancient sword and gather a drop of dragon's blood, while
trying to stay out of Arabella's traps. But Arabella's traps aren't the only
danger. Time is everything. For once the last inhabitant of the kingdom falls
asleep, the spell will be sealed, and not even true love's kiss will break it.
Book Excerpt:
“There’s
nowhere to go, Princess,” Arabella said. “And don’t get any ideas, either. I
can finish things just as easily with the hag’s daughter as I can with you.”
“Kaylee, don’t
listen to her. Only your blood will work, ” Sabrina yelled.
“Silence,
wench! Thaddeus, get Princess Kaylee and keep hold of her.”
Kaylee
started, so focused on Arabella she had missed the knight waiting at the edge
of the stream. When he stepped into the water, she took a step backward, but
his long arm caught hold of her and tugged her toward the bank. She considered
struggling, but with his height and strength, it would be useless. Instead, she
trudged to the shore, her mind whirling with plans to escape Arabella’s
clutches.
“Kaylee,”
Sabrina said. “You must get away from here.”
“I won’t leave
you here with her. There’s no telling what she’ll do to you.”
“Princess
Arabella will not harm Sabrina,” Thaddeus said. “She has done nothing to
warrant such action.”
“I don’t have
the same faith in your princess as you do,” Kaylee said. “Not after what she
did to her brother.”
“What she did?” Thaddeus asked.
“Enough talk.”
Arabella pressed the dagger closer to Sabrina’s neck, and glared at Kaylee.
It was clear
the knight had no inkling that Arabella was the most dangerous person in the
area. If she could get him on her side, they might be able to leave unharmed.
“Let her go,
Arabella. I’m the one you want.” Kaylee held up her hands in surrender. She
gave a low whistle, thankful Arabella didn’t seem to notice. Not knowing what
animal ability the other princess possessed made it dangerous to be calling for
help, but her options were sparse. Hopefully the birds still in the area were
listening. A faint trill rose from below, and Kaylee felt hope spark to life.
“Thaddeus is
going to tie your hands, and you’re going to cooperate.” Arabella tipped her
head toward Sabrina, a warning in her eyes. “Unless you would like your friend
here to pay the price.”
“Princess
Kaylee will come peacefully,” Thaddeus said. “Why don’t you put that blade away
before someone is injured?”
“Why don’t you
tie her up like I ordered?” Arabella snapped.
Kaylee held
her hands behind her back, whistling a longer melody, asking the birds to be
ready, to wait for her command. She waited for the rope to bite into her flesh,
but Thaddeus made it tight enough to restrain her yet loose enough to keep from
chafing.
“Kaylee, why
didn’t you go? I’m not worth you losing Prince Devlin. You must finish the
quest and save the prince.” Sabrina’s words ended on a whimper as Arabella dug
the blade into her neck.
“Sabrina!”
Kaylee struggled against the bonds holding her. Thaddeus grabbed her shoulders,
and she bucked against him, desperate to aid Sabrina.
“She only
nicked me,” Sabrina said.
“But the
spell. That means—”
“No, Kaylee,”
Sabrina said. “She has to have your blood to finish the spell. And it has to be
on the special dagger, not this one.”
“Are you
suggesting Princess Arabella is working with you to ensorcell the prince?”
Thaddeus asked.
“No. I’m
saying Princess Arabella is the one who be-spelled him to begin with. She needs
my blood to finish the curse. A death curse.”
“Princess? Is
this true?” Thaddeus asked, and Kaylee prayed he could be swayed to their side.
“Of course
not. They’re just trying to deceive you so they can go free.”
“Good sir
knight. Were I to blame for the curse put upon Devlin, why would I be here at
Paladin’s Sword when I could have been safely back in Palindore by now?”
Thaddeus
frowned. “I don’t know, but my princess has assured me she was not the one to
harm her brother. That she saw you cast the spell on him. Why would she lie?”
“Because the
only way she can have the throne is if her brother is dead.” Kaylee blinked
back tears at the thought.
A clatter of
rocks echoed around the clearing, and Kaylee felt Thaddeus stiffen. He stepped
forward, sword in hand, relaxing his stance when Lady Deirdre and Lady Maeryn
stumbled their way around the bend.
“Well?” Maeryn
asked, bending over at the waist and panting. “Have you finished the deed?”
Arabella
grumbled something, and the two girls paled.
“W-We should
have w-waited at the w-waterfall,” Deirdre whined. “Y-You d-didn’t n-need our
h-help at all.”
“I need you to
watch the hag’s daughter while I finish things here,” Arabella said.
“Maybe you
should just throw it at her and be done with it,” Maeryn said.
Arabella bent
and pulled a dagger from her boot. Kaylee shuddered, certain this was the end.
Devlin had bragged at how perfect his sister’s aim was, and now she would see
it first hand.
“Thaddeus!
Bring her here.”
Thaddeus
didn’t move.
“I won’t allow
you to harm her. Your father’s orders were quite clear about that.”
“I will do as
I will with her.”
Kaylee decided
she had waited long enough. The knight was not going to believe her, and she
wasn’t going to give Arabella a chance to use her for target practice. She
whistled, and the air filled with birds.
Arabella,
Maeryn, and Deirdre shrieked. Thaddeus released Kaylee, waving at the birds as
he rushed toward his princess as all good knights would.
“Sabrina!
Follow me!” Kaylee yelled as she stumbled up the path, her hands still bound
behind her back.
Chaos reigned
by the stream. Thaddeus waved away the birds, but more swooped in. Maeryn and
Deirdre screamed. Arabella gripped the dagger and glared at Kaylee.
“Let me help
you.” Sabrina grabbed Kaylee’s arm and tugged her up the path. Their only hope
was to follow the path around the bend and pray there was a place to hide.
“Don’t let her
get away!” Arabella screeched.
Today I have Mary Waibel author of Quest of the Hart on my blog today. Welcome, Mary.
At the end of this post there is a chance to win a free ebook.
1. Tell
us about your book and how the story came to be.
A
friend told me I should write a story where the girly-girl princess had to save
the prince, and Quest of the Hart was born.
2. What
three words best describe your main character?
Fragile yet strong
3. Do
you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do
you think makes them believable?
I search names on the baby names sites,
sometimes by meaning, sometimes by origin. I keep looking until I find one that
resonates with the image I have of the character in my mind.
4.
Do your characters follow your plot path or do they take on a life of
their own? Do you keep them in check?
Plot path? LOL! I have a loose idea of where I want the story to go, but my
characters definitely lead the way. I've learned when I can't go on from a
point, it's usually because I had a character do something they wouldn't, and
they won't let me go forward until I fix it and make it right.
5. Have
you ever suffered from writer’s block? If so, how did you over come it?
Laundry
seems to be the thing that breaks through my writer's block. It never fails,
the answer comes as I'm switching clothes from washer to dryer. I also have a
great group of CP's (critique partners) I bounce things around with.
6. What
types of books do you like to read?
I a
sucker for a good romance, usually with some kind of intrigue or paranormal
element in it. Over all, I want a good story, with characters I want to escape
with time and time again.
I have to agree, Mary.
7. What
do you like to do when you aren’t writing?
Spend
time with my family, camp, read, take a trip to the wineries, watch hockey or
baseball. My son plays hockey and lacrosse, so I'm usually at a rink or field
in my off time.
8. What’s
next for your writing? Are you working on a new story?
I just finished up my content edits for Charmed Memories, a companion novel to Quest of the Hart, and I am currently revising a third book in the
group for submission.
9. What’s
the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?
If you don't write it, you can't fix it. As long as you have something
on the page, you can always work at making it better, but if you leave it
blank, it will never become anything.
Good advice.
Mary lives with her husband, son and two cats. When she
isn't twisting fairytales, she enjoys reading, playing games, watching hockey,
and camping. Her debut novel, Quest of the Hart, will be available from
MuseItUp Publishing April 19, 2013. Charmed Memories, a companion novel,
will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in August 2013
You can find Mary Waibel at:
@mewtweety14 (twitter)
Buy Link (Quest):
MuseItUp Publishing:
Amazon:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Book Trailers (Quest):
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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