.
Four Kingdoms.
No Heir.
An Uncertain Future.
After an evil curse is cast upon the four corners of Syracuse, a vast country ruled by the Rothhaven family, maidens across the land suddenly become barren.
Years pass and the future of Family Rothhaven looks bleak, until eighteen-year-old Mariselle Langer wakes up one morning with cramps, a craving for chocolate, and a highly unexpected visit from Aunt Flow.
Upon realizing that his daughter is menstruating, Mariselle’s father approaches the leaders of the four kingdoms with the wonderful news. This sets off a chain of events which threaten to divide the Rothhaven brothers, who all desire her for themselves.
Meanwhile, Mariselle has her own ideas about whom she wishes to wed, which not only shocks the nation, but ultimately… saves it.
Copyright 2018© Cassie Alexandra / Kristen Middleton
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Acknowledgements:
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Please note – THIS IS A REVERSE HAREM FANTASY. THERE IS AN HEA, BUT IT WON’T BE WHAT YOU EXPECT. HINT – FOUR HEROES AND ONE HEROINE…
Mariselle – strawberry blonde and pale blue eyes
Hecate – black hair, amethyst eyes, pale skin, scent of jasmine
Characters in order of age –
Youngest - Mathias, curly light brown hair and blue eyes
Prince Zackary (dark blonde hair and beard), hazel eyes. A romantic and a clown.
Aiden (reddish blonde hair) green eyes and a hothead,
Oldest - Griffin (Oldest, dark brown hair, gray eyes).
EVA – jet black hair and blue eyes
King Edward (Dark brown hair), Queen Lizbeth (pale blonde hair), Princess Eva (Blonde hair),
Sorceress – Angelique – red hair and honey colored eyes
Wizard – Gaylen – white hair, demigod.
Marcus (brown hair) and Karina Langer (auburn hair) – Mariselle’s parents - Berkshire County Sheriff.
1
Castle Rothhaven
Central, Syracuse
Ten Years Earlier
“You have to make a choice, Mariselle,” twelve-year-old Prince Zackary demanded, looking frustrated. “Tell us, who do you believe to be the best swordsman?”
“I think you’re all really good,” Mariselle Langer replied, trying to be patient but getting more frustrated by the minute. Her father, the sheriff of Berkshire County, in West Syracuse, had allowed her to accompany him to the castle and all she really wanted to see were Princess Eva’s kittens. Since it was her ninth birthday she’d been invited to select one as a gift, and had yet to see them. Upon arrival at the castle, her father had immediately dropped her off in the courtyard, where the four princes, Zackary, Aiden, Griffin, and Mathias, had been practicing with their swords. The brothers were almost exactly two years apart, with ten-year-old Mathias being the youngest and seventeen-year-old Griffin being the eldest. “Where is Princess Eva?”
Their sister, Eva, was on the edge of eighteen and Mariselle adored her. Eva treated her special, more like a younger sister than someone beneath the royal family.
“We’ll tell you when you give us an answer,” Mathias said, swinging his sword around as if he were dueling a ghost. “Which one of us would you want to protect you in battle?”
“Can’t I have all of you?” she replied, the answer being simple. She’d known all four of them for as long as she could remember and didn’t want to hurt any of their feelings. Although they were boys, they’d allowed her to tag along whenever she was invited to the castle. They’d climbed trees together, skipped rocks across the pond behind the castle, and even hunted for rabbits. Mariselle adored them as much as Eva, if not more.
“No. It doesn’t work that way. You can only have one,” Zackary said stubbornly, blowing a blonde curl away from his eyes.
Prince Griffin, who was sitting on a bench and eating an apple, looked over. “Let her be. She’s too young to appreciate a true swordsman.”
“No, I’m not. Fine.... I choose…” She looked at each of them as they stared back. All four wore such serious expressions that Mariselle giggled.
“What’s so funny?” Prince Aiden asked, his red eyebrows knitting together.
“Nothing.” She sighed. “I don’t want to choose. I won’t choose,” Mariselle huffed. She had a feeling that if she did, Zackary would get his feelings hurt, because in truth, Mariselle would pick Griffin, since he was the oldest. “You are all my heroes. Why can’t I have four champions?”
“She’s right, why can’t she?” Prince Mathias replied, getting up from the rock he was sitting on. He deepened his voice and raised his sword into the air. “I will protect you with my life, Maiden Mariselle. Forever and always. You have my word.”
The others made the same vows, even Griffin, and it made Mariselle’s heart swell. The four Princes of Syracuse were offering to be her champions and she couldn’t have loved them more.
“Mariselle!” hollered Eva, walking toward her with a straw basket. “I have a special delivery for you!”
Squealing, Mariselle ran raced toward the princess. Normally, she would have gushed about her beautiful gown - today’s was made of layers of green and gold satin - but she only had eyes for the kittens. “Oh my word!” Mariselle gushed, opening up the lid. “They’re adorable!”
Eva set the basket down and Mariselle kneeled next to it. Inside were four kittens, each of them had different markings and were so cute she knew it would be a hard decision.
“Which one do you want?” Eva asked, smiling down at her. “Your choice.”
“I don’t know. I love them all. Can I play with each of them for a little while before I make my decision?” she asked, grabbing the closest one, a gray kitten with white paws.
“Of course,” she replied. “You can decide, before you leave, which one you’d like to take home with you.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Mariselle replied, taking the kittens out of the basket.
Princess Eva smiled. “You’re welcome.”
Mariselle, Zackary, and Mathias spent
the next couple hour playing with all of the precarious kittens, while the elder princes practiced sparring. When her father’s meeting with the king was finally finished, he came to fetch her, but Mariselle still couldn’t decide on the kitten.
“Well, which one is it going to be?” he asked, blotting the sweat from his forehead with a rag. “We’ve got to get going.”
An idea came to Mariselle and she looked at Eva, “Are you going to give the others away, too?”
She sighed. “Yes, Mother is making me. We already have too many cats roaming the castle.”
Mariselle looked at her father. “Then… can I have all four of them? They play so well together. It wouldn’t be right to separate them.”
“Your mother wouldn’t approve,” he replied, petting the black one. He smiled as another kitten began playing with the laces on his boot.
“Please,” she begged. “They shouldn’t be torn apart. They’re brothers and it wouldn’t be right.”
He frowned.
“What if someone tried separating the princes?” Mariselle said, trying anything that might sway her father, who she knew had a difficult time denying her anyway. “They wouldn’t know what to do without each other.”
“That’s not the same thing,” he said firmly, knowing what she was trying to do.
“You don’t think the kittens would miss each other? I bet they would cry all night, looking for their missing brother. And if I am only able to choose one, he will surely be lonely. They need each other, Papa.”
Marcus didn’t reply.
Mariselle could tell from his lack of response that he was starting to soften. She begged and pleaded until he finally gave in.
“You are responsible for taking care of them,” he said sternly.
She squealed with joy and ran to give him a hug. “Can’t they stay in the house?”
He hugged her back. “No. You’ll need to find a safe spot for them in the barn,” he told her.
Mariselle stared up at him, her eyes wide. “What? Winter’s coming. They’ll be cold.”
“They’ll have the straw to keep them warm,” he replied.
She started to protest.
“Marcella,” he said firmly. “You got your way once. Don’t push it or the kittens will stay with Princess Eva. I mean it.”
From the look in his eyes, Mariselle knew when enough was enough. “Fine,” she mumbled.
Marcus looked up at the sky. It was getting cloudy and he feared a storm would be coming soon. “Gather them up and we’ll go. Your mother will have our heads if we don’t make it home before supper.”
“Okay, Papa.”
As they were preparing to leave, King Edward made an appearance and Eva told him that Mariselle was taking all four kittens.
“She talked you into it, huh?” he said to Marcus, amused.
He gave a sheepish grin. “Yes.”
The king looked at Mariselle. “You’re going to have your hands full with them. Are you sure you can handle it?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m going to be take very good care of them,” Mariselle said, staring wide-eyed at the imposing king. As usual he was dressed in an elaborately embroidered surcoat, this one made of rich blue silk and fur. Her mother, Karina, claimed that next to her father, he was the most handsome in the land. With his striking blue eyes and wavy black hair, Mariselle agreed.
“I believe it.” King Edward looked back at Mariselle’s father, smiling. “Your daughter has spirit, Marcus, and from what the boys tell me, she’s quite the Tom-boy. A chip off the old block, I’d say.”
Marcus chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. “Yes, although I’d say she gets it more from Karina. Somehow, I think she’ll be the death of me one day.”
King Edward’s eyes rested on his own daughter, Eva. “I know where you’re coming from,” he replied, as Griffin and Aiden began arguing about something. Noticing, he turned toward them and let out a weary sigh. “Although…”
“Will it ever stop?” huffed Eva, crossing her arms under her chest. “All they ever do is argue.”
“My brothers and I were the same way,” Marcus said, also watching. “It’s part of growing up.”
Mariselle was used to seeing the two eldest princes squabble. They were always in some sort of disagreement, especially lately.
The group watched as Aiden, who was known to be a hothead, shoved his older brother roughly. Glaring at Aiden, Griffin pushed him back. Soon both boys were on the ground with fists and dust flying everywhere.
“Hey!” Eva shouted, her eyes wide. She picked up her skirt up and rushed over to them. “Griffin! Aiden! Stop this at once!”
“Let them be, Lass,” King Edward said, looking calm and almost proud of the boys as they continued fighting. “They need to figure this out on their own.”
Eva’s eyes hardened. “Father, you know this never ends well. Both will be bloody and blaming the other by the time this is over. Nothing is ever learned.”
King Edward didn’t reply.
The boys continued fighting until Griffin had the best of Aiden, straddling him and pinning the young boy’s arms down over his head.
“I hate you!” cried Aiden, his reddish blonde hair askew and his face covered in dirt and tears.
“Yeah, I know. You tell me all the time,” Griffin growled in his face.
“Enough,” King Edward said sternly. He snapped his fingers. “Up. Both of you.”
Griffin released Aiden and both boys stood up, still glaring at each other.
“Now, what was that all about?” their father asked, pacing slowly back and forth in front of them.
Both boys started talking at once.
“Silence!” King Edward snapped.
They quickly became quiet.
“Aiden, what’s your excuse for attacking your brother?” the king asked, stopping in front of him.
“He called me a liar,” Prince Aiden said loudly. “And I wasn’t lying.”
“About what?” King Edward replied.
“He swore that he saw a dragon last night,” Griffin said, rolling his eyes. “I told him to quit making things up and that’s when he blew up at me.”
Mariselle sucked in her breath. Dragons were said to be extinct. The very idea that Aiden might have actually seen one was terrifying. Moving closer to her father, she looked up into the sky, half expecting to see one fly out of the clouds in their direction.
“No. I said I saw a woman turn into a dragon and fly away,” Aiden snapped before turning to look at the king. “And I did see her, Father. She had bright red hair and wore a gray cloak.”
King Edward’s face turned ashen. “When was this?”
“Last night… when I was getting ready for bed. I left my sword on the balcony and when I went to retrieve it, I saw her down below. Staring up at me,” he replied, wiping a spot of blood from under his nose.
“And she turned into a dragon?” Marcus asked, looking amused. He wiggled his fingers by his mouth. “Did she breathe fiery flames?”
“No,” he replied with a grim expression. “But, she leaped into the sky and flew away after she saw me looking down at her.”
“How big was the dragon?” Matthias asked, his eyes wide.
“Enormous. About one-hundred feet high. Maybe more,” he replied, looking at him.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” the king asked.
“I was going to but Mother made me go to bed. She didn’t believe me,” he said, looking cross. “And… I was going to tell you today, but you were too busy.”
“You don’t actually believe him, do you?” Griffin asked with an incredulous look on his face.
“I’m not lying,” snapped Aiden, his hands now curled up into fists. “Why don’t you ever believe me, Griffin?”
“Because you have an overactive imagination,” Griffin said sternly. “You’re going to be fifteen soon. Act like a man.”
“I… I believe you,” Mariselle said shyly.
She coul
d see that Aiden was about to lose his temper again and didn’t want him to get into trouble. If he thought he saw a woman turn into a dragon, then Marcella trusted that he did.
Aiden smiled at her with gratitude. “Thanks, Mariselle.”
“I believe you, too,” Zackary said and then raised his sword. “And if that dragon comes around here, I’m going to chop it’s head off!”
“Father?” Eva said, studying King Edward’s face. “Why are you so silent about this? It couldn’t be true, could it?”
He sighed. “I have learned that a closed mind is dangerous one.” King Edward walked up to Aiden and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Are you positive that you weren’t dreaming?”
Aiden nodded. “I swear on my life, Father. I was wide awake.”
He stared into his eyes for several seconds. “Do you remember if she had a wand?”
Aiden bit his lower lip and sighed. “I couldn’t tell. Maybe under her cloak? It was dark in the courtyard.”
“I imagine so,” the king replied.
“You actually believe him?” Griffin asked, looking shocked.
“I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’d do the same for you, too. ” He looked at Aiden again. “Was she alone?”
He nodded. “I think so.”
King Edward turned to Marcus. “If this is true, and he actually did see someone, it could be Angelique.”
Mariselle had heard stories in the village about a woman named Angelique. It was said that she’d been banished from the kingdom for practicing Black Magic many, many years ago. When she’d asked her father about it, he’d said that Angelique was nothing more than a legend.
Marcus frowned. “Why would she return now, after all of these years?”
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