THIS STORY IS NOW FREE! When a newlywed princess discovers her Prince Charming is married to six other royals, she brings the outraged spouses together to plot revenge. But will their story have a fairy tale ending?
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Teeth chattering, she cleared her raw throat (it must've been her screaming). "Are you here to tell me where to get my harp and robes? These clothes are kind of wet."
"However, she may have been mentally damaged." He covered her quivering body with his velvet coat. Its warmth and weight calmed her.
"Come on, Derek. She just crashed and is probably disoriented," said the angelic-voiced woman they called Sadira. She wore an orange veil and gown, studded with jewels. An elaborate turquoise and ruby pendant dangled in the middle of her forehead.
Ashley decided to sit. She tried, but every muscle in her body begged to differ with this decision. "Louis and Gerald," she groaned.
"Don't move," breathed a woman with elbow-length black hair, fringe cut straight as a sword's edge across her forehead. She covered her mouth with an arm smudged with several yellow bruises and yawned. "It could make it worse."
"Layyin, come on. She can't live the rest of her days on the lawn. Not everyone is as delicate as you," Derek said.
"Sensitive. Not delicate," Layyin pouted.
Derek rose, grinning. "You bruise if someone breathes on you."
Layyin pursed her heart-shaped lips. "So. It's not like it's a personality flaw."
The arguing made Ashley's head throb even worse. She struggled to sit, then abandoned that idea. "Gerald. Louis. Are they ...?" she rasped.
"Your groom and unicorn?" said the angelic-voiced woman.
"Yes."
"They're both fine, dearest. Because of your quick thinking, your unicorn healed a fraction of a second before it would've crashed. We were told they're both being tended to."
"I need to see them," Ashley said.
"Sadira, she needs to remain still until the damage is assessed."
"Yes, Derek. I know."
Derek. Sadira. Layyin. Kai. These names were significant in some way. "Who are you?" Ashley said. "Are you from the Ever After Paramedic Guild?"
"No, we were told they're on strike, but we've summoned help. We are your guests," Sadira said.
"Didn't you invite us for a sleepover?" said another gorgeous woman. This one with brown, wavy hair so long, it flowed behind her like a bridal veil.
"She did, Tressa," said a very pale woman holding up an invitation in Ashley's handwriting. "I'm Blanche, by the way."
Everything came flooding back. I'm not dead!
She was alive, and so were Gerald and Louis! Thank God!
And all the royal spouses had come!
That was all good news.
The bad news?
All the royal spouses had come.
And rather than welcoming them with pomp and dignity, she was greeting them horizontally, soaking wet, with grass in her hair.
And no preparation whatsoever.
But the worst news?
The last thing Ashley had seen on the ground before crashing was Sadira's army headed up the mountain with a bevy of archers. All the royals would've brought archers to protect them on the long journey.
Which meant, any one of them could be responsible for the shooting.
Ashley couldn't accuse anyone without evidence unless she wanted to start a war. She'd have to tread carefully.
"An honor to meet you, Blanche. And you too, Derek, Sadira, Kai, Tressa, and Layyin. Welcome to Ever After. I never got any replies, so I assumed no one could make it.
"I replied," Kai said, her voice like a silvery fish cutting through the water, which made sense, as Kai was a mermaid.
"I did as well," Blanche trilled.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Loved your pigeon, by the way," Blanche added. "Tried to offer her a job in Gravenstein with twice the birdseed, but she said she was happy in Ever After." Ashley blanched that Blanche had attempted to hire Domino away. Better keep an eye on that one. Perhaps the Princess of Gravenstein had stolen Domino, and that's why she hadn't yet returned. Oh, poor pigeon. Please let her come back soon. She would have to send a search party.
"I apologize for not greeting you more appropriately and vertically. I seem to have had an ... um ... unicorn accident."
Derek smiled. "Really? Because I think this is the most interesting reception I've ever had. Points for originality!"
Ashley laughed, which made her head throb and burn as if she had a swarm of fireflies inside her skull, trying to escape. She finally managed to sit. Her riding habit was covered in mud and unicorn blood, and she had something clutched tightly in her hand. An arrow. She had managed to remove it during the fall.
"Do any of you recognize this arrow?" So much for treading carefully. Indeed, she had unleashed hell.
Derek clapped his hands. "Yep, most original welcome ever."
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