Once Upon A Kiss: Seventeen Romantic Faerie Tales
Once Upon A Kiss
Seventeen Romantic Faerie Tales
Alethea Kontis
Yasmine Galenorn
Devon Monk
Shawntelle Madison
Kate Danley
Anthea Sharp
C Gockel
Nikki Jefford
Hailey Edwards
Debra Dunbar
Sarra Cannon
Alexia Purdy
Julia Crane
Jenna Elizabeth Johnson
Phaedra Weldon
Mandy M Roth
Jennifer Blackstream
Fiddlehead Press
Contents
Once Upon A Kiss
The Glass Mountain - Alethea Kontis
The Bakers Grimm - Hailey Edwards
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Author’s Note
Galatea and Pygmalion - Kate Danley
Red - Sarra Cannon
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Princess Charming - Yasmine Galenorn
Mad About You - Jennifer Blackstream
The Sea King’s Daughter - Anthea Sharp
Romeo and Juliet: The Afterlife - Julia Crane
Soot and Stone: A Fae Tale of the Otherworld - Jenna Elizabeth Johnson
The Huntsman’s Snow - Mandy M. Roth
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Epilogue
RumpelIMPskin - Debra Dunbar
The Glass Sky - Alexia Purdy
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Alexia Purdy
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Rush - C. Gockel
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Perchance To Dream - Phaedra Weldon
The Toad Prince - Nikki Jefford
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
About the Author
Crafted With a Kiss - Shawntelle Madison
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Author’s Note
A Small Magic - Devon Monk
Once Upon A Kiss
All stories copyright 2016 by their respective authors, included by permission in this anthology.
Love fairy tale retellings? Check out Once Upon A Curse, a collection of 17 Dark Faerie tales featuring many of these same authors.
* * *
The Glass Mountain - Alethea Kontis
On the way to her wedding, brave and clever Princess Sabine falls into a Glass Mountain, where she is trapped with a crotchety man she calls “Old Rinkrank.” The two form a unique, unlikely friendship while working to escape.
* * *
The Bakers Grimm - Hailey Edwards
When two struggling business owners compete for the contract of a lifetime, it’s all bakers on deck. Mix in a dollop of rivalry, a tablespoon of romance, and a pinch of magic, and you’ve got the recipe for one heck of a bake-off. May the best decorator win!
* * *
Galatea and Pygmalion - Kate Danley
A young woman in ancient Greece is tasked with carving a new statue for Aphrodite's temple. But what happens when she falls in love with her art?
* * *
Red – Sarra Cannon
Charlotte is searching for a cure to save her sister, but what she finds in the woods is not at all what she expects...
* * *
Princess Charming – Yasmine Galenorn
Sometimes, the road to Happily Ever After leads a girl right past Prince Charming... into the arms of his sister.
* * *
Mad About You – Jennifer Blackstream
Alice doesn't want to marry the Mad Hatter. Will an unexpected trip to Wonderland change her mind?
* * *
The Sea King’s Daughter—Anthea Sharp
A mermaid gives up everything to be with the mortal man she loves – but can there be a happy ending when the Sea Witch intervenes?
* * *
Romeo and Juliet: The Afterlife – Julia Crane
Juliet enters the afterlife and discovers the truth behind her relationship with Romeo and Paris - and that their greatest challenge is yet to come.
* * *
Soot and Stone: A Fae Tale of the Otherworld - Jenna Elizabeth Johnson
Aisling, a young Faelorehn artist, finds herself falling for the son of one of the famed Tuatha De Danann. The only problem is, she’s unaware of his true identity, and her selfish uncle will do anything to keep her from realizing her dreams.
* * *
The Huntsman’s Snow – Mandy M. Roth
Sometimes, a prince isn’t as charming as history would like you to believe. And sometimes, a princess needs an alpha male shifter to find her happily ever after.
* * *
RumpelIMPskin - Debra Dunbar
An imp finds herself in a fairytale world without her infernal powers facing an impossible task. Will Sam barter away her firstborn? Will her angelic main-squeeze save her? Or will she come up with a devilish solution of her own?
* * *
The Glass Sky - Alexia Purdy
Star’s refusal of suitors lined up for her hand has her family in knots, but when the city is bombed and overthrown, she loses everything. After she’s rescued by a handsome stranger named Clyde, she sneaks away to save her parents but finds herself trapped in the new president’s clutches.
* * *
Rush - C. Gockel
Misogyny is a beast.
When the incarnation of Creation gets angry at Rush for innocently stating his opinion, she curses him to find true love in two weeks … or else.
* * *
Perchance to Dream – Phaedra Weldon
Her first love has been placed under a spell. But will her kiss wake him… or kill him?
* * *
The Toad Prince - Nikki Jefford
Isabel Ivers’s stepfather will do anything to secure his place as Far North’s new ruler, even if it means marrying her off to the depraved prince of the lowlands.
* * *
Crafted With A Kiss - Shawntelle Madison
Despite fighting in countless battles to bring peace to warring kingdoms, Pynnelope, a warrior maiden made of wood, knows no fear. Becoming human is all she desires until she discovers she can have so much more.
* * *
A Small Magic - Devon Monk
A cursed princess, a talking pea, and a wish that changes everything.
The Glass Mountain - Alethea Kontis
Once upon a time, long after the Wizard War, in the Third Age of Faerie, the kingdom of Upper Reaches was separated from the rest of the world by a glass mountain. Who had created this mountain, none could say. Origin stories spoke of wrathful gods, angry dragons, powerful wizards, and star-crossed lovers…but none of the myriad tales agreed.
Had it been a beautiful, clear mountain that sparkled like diamonds or cast rainbows at sunrise and sunset, it might have been less of a burden to the kingdom. Unfortunately, the glass was black as cinder soot and tolerated only the sparse
st of foliage, making it little more than an inconvenient eyesore. Locally, it was referred to as “The Bane of Upper Reaches.”
More than one king had tried to smash the Bane to pieces and establish a trade road straight through the thing, but the sinister glass always seemed to regrow overnight. The mountain itself was not impassable—it was the fastest route to the kingdom, to be sure, and brave travelers had worn many a foot path on its heights—but hedgewitches’ tales of hauntings and curses made every attempt to assemble a road crew completely futile. So long, wide trails were established on either side of the mountain, and the cost of imported goods remained steep, but Upper Reaches thrived just the same.
The most recent king of Upper Reaches had two daughters, both with skin as bronze as their northern subjects and hair as black as the mountain. The eldest had eyes as gray as storm clouds, while the youngest’s eyes were clear and blue as the summer sky. The girls had tempers to match—the eldest, Sabine, was the clever warrior; the youngest, Zona, was the calm mediator.
When Sabine reached marriageable age, her father betrothed her to Prince Eldon of Winding Dale, a well-to-do kingdom south of the glass mountain. Sabine made the exhaustive journey to Winding Dale for the betrothal ceremony, where it was discovered that the prince and princess got along very well indeed. Eldon was as adventurous as he was handsome, and had a spirit that rivaled Sabine’s own. They toured the countryside on the way back to Upper Reaches, where the wedding ceremony was to be held, and the couple was loved by all who made their acquaintance.
When they reached the base of the glass mountain, the carriages came to a halt. The driver asked Sabine whether she wished to go around to the right or left, as from this spot both directions were equidistant.
“Why must we go around at all?” Eldon stepped out of the carriage and peered up at the mountain. “Surely over is the fastest route.”
“It is,” Sabine confirmed. “But there is no road suitable for the horses and carriages.”
“There are paths suitable enough for us, surely,” said Eldon. “I spot at least four from where I’m standing.”
“Perhaps. I admit, I have never set foot on the glass mountain.”
Eldon turned to Sabine, his dark eyes sparkling. “Then it is the perfect adventure for us to take together. The carriages can meet us on the other side. What do you say?” And he held his hand out to her.
Sabine gave the matter a moment’s serious thought. She was tired of sitting in a carriage. She did miss her sister terribly. It would be such a relief to see her home again. And she was always up for an adventure. So she took his hand, disembarked, and together they made their way up the mountain.
At first they tread carefully, but once they found their footing they became children, chasing and racing each other to the top. By the time they reached the summit, Sabine’s face was flushed, her breathing heavy, and her heartbeat hammered in her ears. She looked down upon her kingdom, set like a gem in the mountains. She marveled at the majestic beauty of it all—the world, her home, the man she was going to marry—and thought that she had not been happier in all her life.
And then the mountain swallowed her whole.
What had happened, exactly, it was impossible to tell: one minute there had been solid ground beneath her feet and in the next there was not. She screamed as she fell down a—hole? Tunnel? Was the mountain itself hollow? She stopped screaming when the fear left her, when it felt more like she was flying than falling. It was too dark to get a sense of her surroundings, but she made out what might have been lichen or crystals glowing in the walls as she sped past. She spread out her arms in an attempt to slow her descent, tried to shift her position closer to one of the brighter walls…and in doing so, collided with something.
No, someone.
Sabine and the someone tumbled the rest of the way down in a shower of rocks or glass and she knew not what else. Something caught them—some sort of thick sheet that tangled around her—and while trying to extract herself she fell again, hit her head on the—floor? The someone bent over her prone form—a man, by the stench of him—with some sort of strange, glowing hat. He said something to her—yelled at her—but she could not answer as her body succumbed to shock and the blackness consumed her.
Sabine woke in her bed. But it was not her bed. These sheets were not silk. The wooden posters were carved with a variety of fantastical beasts, and the velvet curtains which hung from the rails were succumbing to rot. The air was dank. And where there should have been a casement, the flickering candlelight fell on solid wall.
Dark, glass wall.
She turned her head toward the light gingerly, as she was still in a great deal of pain. There, on a small table, was a candle that had burned almost to the quick. And there, in the large chair beside the table, slept the equally large man she had smelled earlier.
Sabine slipped out of the bedsheets and tiptoed closer; sharp pebbles stabbed into the soles of her bare feet. The man was a mess. Dirt and grime and—was that blood?—covered his matted hair and full, long beard. Sabine glanced down at her own torn and filthy dress; she didn’t look much better.
Sabine wondered as she studied the man. Was this the wizard who had built the mountain, or the beast who had been imprisoned here? Based on the fact that she’d fallen upon him while he had no doubt been attempting his escape, she assumed that at the very least, like her, he was a victim of the Bane.
A man and a maiden trapped beneath a magic mountain. Sabine had heard enough stories to know how this enchantment needed to end. Scrunching up her nose—gods, this man was rank—she bent down and puckered up.
He stopped her with both hands when her face was mere inches from his own. His eyes were a milky green, the like of which had not been seen in Upper Reaches for a thousand years.
“What are you doing?” he growled.
Heavens, his breath was as foul as the rest of him. “I was going to kiss you to break the curse,” she said, though the thought of doing so now made her quite sick to her stomach.
He tilted her chin so that she looked upward. “This is not a curse.” He said each word slowly and precisely, as if she were simple-minded. “It’s a mountain. And I’m not in the habit of kissing women who try to kill me.”
Sabine wrenched her face out of his hard grasp and stepped away from him. “Fine. Have it your way,” she mumbled. “Rinkrank.”
“Thank you, Mother Mandrake, I believe I will.”
Sabine scowled at the nickname he’d given her. “Mandrake?”
Rinkrank surveyed her filthy form from head to toe. “I’ll vow I’ve pulled more attractive roots than you in all my years down here, but the moniker fits all the same.” He stood up from the chair—goodness, he was tall—and crossed to the ornate chest of drawers at the foot of the bed, where he retrieved several items of clothing. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to bathe. And since you no longer appear to be dying, be a dear and clean up the mess you made while I’m gone.” He crossed back to another wall, opened the door there—a door!—and closed it behind him.
Sabine stood and blinked at the door for a good long while, sure that the fall had addled her brain. For sanity’s sake, she tried to concentrate on only one thing at a time.
Firstly: She did not mind that he was going to take a bath. In fact, she was relieved that she would not be trapped down here with the foul stench of him.
Secondly: There was a bath behind that door?
Thirdly: There was a door? Inside a mountain?
Granted, it was a magic mountain, one that had swallowed her up and into which she had fallen—miles?—without meeting her death at the bottom. It was entirely feasible that there might be a door. And a chair. And a table. And a bed. And a dresser. And…what else?
The candle flickered again—Sabine did not have much time to find another light source. She lifted the candlestick and, cupping the dying flame, stepped quickly around the room. Apart from a few cupboards and an empty basket there was little else
along the wall, but in the middle of the room she discovered a large brazier filled with dark stones she recognized. She held the candle to the coals and prayed that they would catch before it guttered. Even so far down, some god must have heard her petition, for the coals took up the light and heat of the tiny flame. The space instantly warmed…and brightened, as the coal fire reflected off crystals and facets in the glass mountain.
If it had not been a cavern at the bottom of the Bane, Sabine might have called it cozy. There were no windows, of course, but the floor—it was indeed a proper floor—was smooth enough to have been installed by her castle’s very own stone masons. A pile of cloth large enough to be the sail of a ship—was this what had caught them?—was crumpled up on one end of the room. Other than the well-crafted furniture she had already noted, and the dust and rubble from their avalanche that covered everything, there were no other features. Apart from that door.
Sabine stared at the door again. Fifthly—or was it seventhly?: If there really was a bath beyond that door, she’d desperately love to make use of it herself.
She tiptoed back over to the chest of drawers. The handles on each drawer had been designed to look like dragons in flight—their metal was cool to the touch. The top drawer contained naught but a few precious candles. Since the brazier was doing its job tolerably well, she decided to conserve them. The second drawer contained nothing. Oh, please, she prayed. All she needed were some linen underclothes to keep her warm, a shirt and trousers…that would set her up nicely. Miraculously, in the third drawer, she found exactly those things.