β Scribed by Ciacchella, Nicole
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
A sweet/clean Beauty and the Beast retelling.An orphan who grew up thieving on the streets to survive, Yukari has excelled at keeping herself invisible and alive, until a foolish lapse in judgment lands her on the criminal overlord Amundβs bad side. Only one safe place is left for her to flee: Layalis, Lord Talalβs lands.The legends of the Beast Lord are lurid, and though Yukari doesnβt believe them, the superstition works to her advantage. Amund and his thugs wouldnβt dare follow her, and she may even be able to turn the forced exile to her advantage. Lord Talalβs lands are prime territory, unexploited for the last decade, and if she can get in his good graces, she may just be able to swindle him out of enough coin to appease Amund.But Layalis is even stranger than Yukari could have anticipated. Though Lord Talal looks like a monster, he proves to be a kind, considerate master beloved by his tenants, and he treats Yukari like a guest. Yet despite the beauty of his castle and the bounty of his lands, his servants have a habit of implying that Layalis is a horrible prison, and what initially seems a paradise gradually reveals its darker side. In spite of herself, Yukari begins to care about Lord Talal. Can she find a way to break the curse that has plagued his land for ten years? Or has she escaped to Layalis only to trade her hardscrabble existence for a different kind of cage?
Blessing and cursing -- Fiction
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
Previously published in the print anthology *Dates From Hell*. Kelley Armstrong returns to the Otherworld with "Chaotic," where a half-demon tabloid journalist's boring date is saved...by a supernatural explosion? She's off to save the day--if only her less-than-stellar date wouldn't tag along! Luc
**In this tale as old as time, Isabelle Hawking must tinker a solution to a heartbreaking mystery.** When Isabelle Hawking and her papa set out from London on a sea voyage, Isabelle is thrilled. Visiting foreign courts, learning from master tinkerers, and studying mechanicals is her dream. And