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True LoveWicked WitchesVillainsDancingRival KingdomsCrownsWarHappy EndingsAdventurePrincessesMagicHeroesVillaDancWarAdventurePrincessesHappyWicked WitchesCrownsMagicRival KinHeroHopTrue LoveCrownsJingHre

Gisela, the WitchAh Gisela! How he’d missed the beauty’s strangestarts and quips.Leopold’s grip relaxed on the hilt of his sword. Whathad he to fear from her? For this was his witch. Intruth, Gisela looked more a siren than enemy. Findingher thus attired in the palace courts would put hismen to the blush, but in a cluttered room withunusual spectacles such as these, she belonged.He grinned broadly, longing only to put his hands onher again.

Leopold, Emperor of AuschlovakThe witch glared. “The Holy Roman Emperor of Auschlovak inmy humble cottage and in the company of such strongsoldiers.” Her spiteful gaze swept over him. This time, the emperor was unable to keep his appreciativesmirk from dancing about his lips.The witch’s eyes pierced his. “You need sons or your housewill lose its rule over Auschlovak. The young babe of theHoundsberg House is next to inherit when you die, and youdespise the thought… more than you despise me, I take it?”Leopold fumed at the mere mention of his rivals

Premier Captain of the Palace Guards at theCarlsbad HouseAh yea, yea, Gisela had made a mess of this man’s face the lastthey’d met, so that most was nigh missing.A monster she’d left him.There was no trace of that smug grin from long ago whenLeopold had first set his giant to assassinate her. Nay, thosethick lips were now set in a frown. The witch broke into acrooked grin when she detected how the giant hid his fear. Aye,his stern shoulders trembled and shook like a baby torn from itsmother.Norbert

The Witch’s Odd ToyThe sound of wood clattering together like a box ofblocks made the weary soldiers back up many steps. Apuppet the span of two palms in height wobbled from thepile of junk to its feet. With strings dangling limply behind its legs, the puppethobbled to whence the emperor had last stood anddelivered a vindictive kick into the air. A dull thud met its thimble-sized foot.“Don’ts touchesGisela’s stuffs!”Fritz

Lieutenant of the Carlsbads, Earl of BhrineLeopold twisted to Conrad--the man stood plantedthere as a wilted tulip. “Why do you tarry there,Lieutenant? Take her!”The witch’s face twisted sideways to see this newthreat. The weakling’s face grew pale and he took a fewsteps back.“Conrad!” Leopold bellowed. “Show me you are notsome spineless prig from Bhrine! Die for my honor. Diefor yours!”Conrad

Witch’s AssassinsEyes sliding to the side, Conrad spied the dome of an oversizedhead lurking over him. Instinctively, he knew what had come forhim. A doll, which moments ago hung lifelessly from this very tree,now crouched directly behind him akin to a bloodthirsty ghoul.He could not turn to meet the face of his doom.The Ragdolls

Crows cawed angrily and flew high above them, higher andhigher until they circled the cliff side over their heads, theirshrieks mingling with those emitted from the silhouettestanding high above them on the rocks of the mountainouscrags.The witch howled down at them: “Thief! Rogue! Scoundrel!Libertine! I curse you!” She lifted her arms high above herhead. “If man cannot stand against this weapon thenwoman will be the end of you and your house!”A storm of sleet followed her words and drenched thehapless riders.The Witch’s Curse

A pox on his heart! Such a disobedient, treacherous heart.How it sank and dipped, lifted and flew until the prince feltfairly dizzy from this dance of hope and despair thatbeset him since he saw her in the woods.Joseph held up her pendant, tracing the Carlsbad heartover the four-winged nightingale. “My Nightingale.”Nay, not mine.How could she be, for she was a Carlsbad? Not just anyfrom that house. The princess! His rival to all that shouldbe rightfully his.Fie on it! Wherefore was he born a Houndsberg prince?Joseph and Wilhelmina Forbidden Love from Rival Houses

The lumbering warhorse made a threatening noise andran his haunches against the stall, his yellow eyes wild, hisears back.The sensation of pure terror wasn’t new; Max wasaccustomed to facing something taller, bigger, meaner,but these current stakes held a fresh danger. One wrong move could mean death.Pushing past his frozen limbs, Max stepped closer.MaximilianPage from the Carlsbad House, Orphan,Stableboy

Max watched Alfie’s face darken nastily ere he shouted: “Yecalling me a liar?”“Ye’ve been lying since the day I saw yer ugly face,” Maxspat.Alfie ran at Max, his fists flying. Max managed to fend off afew blows ere he was tackled to the ground by the others.AlfiePage from the Carlsbad House, the LittleDuke of Bhrine

Haris was amongst them, a boisterous lad with a readygrin and freckles. His father was the Count of Munstria,though he’d no airs to speak of. Haris did always enjoy a good row of fisticuffs, thoughperhaps not a fair one.HarisPage from the Carlsbad House, Part of theMunstria Nobility

“What’s yer name?” Max asked. The boy’s hand tightened on the ragged blanket. “Pepin, sir.”A smile tugged at Max’s lips at being called “sir,” though hetried to remain stern. “Pepin,” said he, “The boys here revileevery reminder of home. They say that’s for babies. And ablanket? They’ll tear ye to shreds.””Pepin shook his head mournfully. A tear squeezed from hiseyes.Max put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, reddening at theshame of this undue emotion, and still he understood it well.PepinPage from the Carlsbad House, son of SirEgger, the Prince of Maschusse

The boys threw their hands behind their backs at thesight of the old man. His bony arms were much stronger than they looked.Many a boy had felt the rap of the training sword in hisside when he failed to move his legs fast enough toblock a parry or a jab in their many military drillsThe Man with No TongueConstable from the Carlsbad House

Joseph rushed to his wife, taking her trembling hands in his.“My dear, how now? What ails you?”“Only, look, look!” said she.He picked up the letter, expecting to read of how thatbelligerent battle axe had finally taken his last violent breathand expired. Unfortunately, no. The old man had onlydeigned to write. Joseph read the correspondencethrough… and then a second time:My dear Wilhelmina, I intend to visit my grandchildren atonce. I will bring with my party a royal prince from theCarlsbad House to woo your eldest daughter.Joseph crumpled up the letter and hurled it in the fire.WilhelminaHoly Empress of Auschlovak

The side of the bed lowered as her beloved sister sat upon it.“Mimi?” Maria Theresa’s gentle hand found her arm as sheslipped a warm plate of food through the curtain. Mimi sat up with a soft whimper. Maria Theresa lit the candles near her bed. The merciful angelenfolded her in a soft embrace. “My darling, what tears arethese?”Mimi looked down and shuddered. “Do you love PrinceSigimund?” Her sister looked surprised. “What? No, my dear heart,certainly not.”Mimi’s shoulders slumped in relief.Maria TheresaCrowned Princess of the Auschlovak Empire

Sighing, Maria Johanna collapsed next to her sister and begancombing ferociously. Her quick and nimble fingers jerked thebrush through her hair.“Marry, do not carry on so!” Maria Josepha told her twin with agrumbling laugh. “For what more can you improve? You arealready a devastating beauty.”Maria Johanna smirked and inclined her head slightly. “Oh tut,such flattery. Is this only that I am the picture of you?” The twoerupted into giggles which put an immediate end to their earlierquarrel.Maria Johannaand Maria JosephaTwins: Second and Third Eldest of theImperial Princesses

Maria Carolina was the first to break the silence as she sether hair in curling papers. “You must haste to the bath,” shetold Mimi. “Ere long there will be naught left but mud andthen the servants will be unable to tell you apart from it.”A giggle escaped Mimi until she saw Maria Carolina was inearnest. Maria Christina softened her twin’s lectures with a smile,drying her long blonde locks in front of the roaring fireplace..If these fair maids could miraculously become thefragrances they’d collected, then Maria Christina would besweet and Maria Carolina spice.Maria Carolina and Maria ChristinaTwins: Fourth and Fifth Eldest of theImperial Princesses

The damsels laughed whilst they rushed around in theirundergarments of shifts and garters and petticoats. Maria Amalia, the oldest of the triplets by a full two minutes,dropped into a nest of pillows, blankets, and furs that fit neatlyinto an alcove near the window seat. where they could holdthe most secret of councils with the most delicious of gossip. The youngest was never invited,. However, during the timesMimi detected the whisper of her name, she’d barge in with ashout of outrage.Maria Anna, Maria Amalia, and Maria AntoniaTriplets: Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Eldestof the Imperial Princesses

“Where is the prince?” Maria Louisa asked eagerly. The windplayed with her wheat blonde locks. “Does he ride in thecarriage or a horse?“He would have his own mount,” Maria Ludovika cut in, as ifshe knew, the braggart! The green silk of her dress crushedagainst the railing.“It is much more dashing to ride!””Mimi shook her head. “The prince must be wary of assassins.He’ll bide in the carriage.”“Assassins?” Maria Leopoldine snorted beside Mimi. “Whoplans to murder the prince? You?”Maria Louisa,Maria Ludovika,and Maria LeopoldineTriplets: Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh Eldestof the Imperial Princesses

Mimi couldn’t think clearly. Her whole body had grown hot. Shetore off her constricting kid slippers and flung them across theornamental rug.“Do not lose those,” Maria Theresa admonished. “We are to bepresented to Grandsire this afternoon.”“I care not for them. They are too tight!”“Mayhap her feet are too big!” Leo said. As usual she leveled asuperior look at her youngest sister’s childish ways, thoughMimi was only three years her junior.“Hush,” Maria Theresa said. “Her feet are perfect.” She gatheredMimi’s slippers.Maria MarieKnown as Mimi, the Youngest Imperial Princess

As Leopold instructed him many times in private, PrinceSigimund was foretold to be the great protector of theold man’s heirs. One arm to rule. One to protect. Andregrettably, since the archduke’s flesh and bloodproduced only daughters, it was providential he take theeldest daughter to marry. From that day forth, Siggy could only hope that the chitdid not possess a face of stone. Be that as it may,mistresses were invented for such unhappycircumstances.Prince SigimundHeir to the Carlsbad House

Their grandsire shoved away from the carriage, every moveirritable. Her mother wiped the sentiment from her eyes,though she stayed her distance. Mimi frowned, feeling as protective as Poppa. The empresshad not seen her father these twenty-two years past and stillhe refused to embrace her?The cad!Unlike the prince, the archduke did not bother to glance up atthe balconies whither his granddaughters stood, offendingMimi even further. Nay, she’d nothing to do with thecantankerous old tartar!LeopoldArchduke to the Auschlovak Empire, King of the Carlsbad House, and Grandsire to the Houndsberg Heirs

“Which of my daughters do you prefer?” the emperor’s mockingwords broke into their conversation.Maria Theresa gave her father a scolding glance, tinged withhumor. She was used to his ways. Siggy was not and never wouldbe. He composed himself, endeavoring to hide his annoyance. “Iown you are teasing.” He kept his tone light. “Though I understandyou’d wish to chase off all suitors; your princesses are a treasure.”“Particularly the eldest, I presume?”“Hush, husband, no more.” The empress had taken leave of herfather and come to Sigimund’s aid out of pure pity.The emperor chuckled and brought up his eyeglass yet again tostudy the fuming Carlsbad prince. “I am merely being helpful. Forsome reason, this young upstart prefers our eldest.”Holy Emperor of AuschlovakJoseph XIV

The strange maid came out behind the reeds, mud in hair andslathered over her arms and legs. Her white shift was filthy blackand she had hitched the ends of it to her bare knees.In faith, she was a veritable nymph, not real at all!“Hold up your hand,” said she.Wordlessly, Max did as told and she laid a toad in it.Max quickly forced his traitorous lips down. She most assuredlywas borne of the Houndsberg House, moreover, she was givento mischief. What did she mean scampering about the countryside withnaught but a dog as her companion? Wherefore did she dressso? Act so? Be so?Maria MarieKnown as Mimi, the Youngest Imperial Princess

The witch gave a sharp intake of breath. “Are you not afraid ofwhat I might do, wretch?”“Aye, very much,” said Max, “but, in faith, ye’ll never touch her!”Rubbing at her eyes, Mimi saw the blurred image of the witch asshe crowed out with an alarming show of pleasure. “Ah, such apeculiar, handsome boy, you are—-perchance I’ll give you a giftto match your strong heart.” Recklessly waving her crookedwand, the witch pointed the end at Max. At that very instant, thejagged teeth of glowing chains linked about his neck. Maxstartled at the sight of a glowing amulet.The cruel dark mistress chortled. “You are worthier of a crownthan that stupid prince, I warrant. Let you prove to them aserving boy is mightier than they and make fools of them all.””MaximilianPage from the Carlsbad House

Servants rushed forward to smooth down his wife’s skirts andassist her to sit. It was a complicated process, only made moredifficult by her great many complaints and frustrations. “You must spirit away all the princesses,” said she with a wave ofher hand as if ’twere simple. “Use them to force the girl to acceptmy Siggy, if you must. We will take no chances.”Could it be? Might it truly be that all those beautiful grandbabies,rightfully belonging to the Carlsbads, could reside under his ownroof, with but a simple gesture from his shrewish wife?Eleanor MariaArchduchess to the Auschlovak Empire, Queen of the Carlsbad House, and Grandam to the Houndsberg Heirs

Gisela knelt, her layers of blood red skirts splaying out over thedirty planks. She hitched the hems over her knees and rolledthe dough against the wood.“Fritz, about you!” she cried out when he tried to put thedough into his mouth. When his shoulders slumped, she tookpity on him. “You may help me divide the dough into twelvepieces.”As soon as they were done, she spread her fingers over theirwork and murmured a transformation spell, making eachsculpture twist and brighten into sprightly feminine colors.Bows, ruffles, ribbons, embellishments bloomed from hercreation like flowers, as all at once, the shapes became elegantdance slippers.Gisela, the Witch

War was his exorcism for pain. It ground to dust the sharppieces left of his heart like it had never existed. EmperorJoseph XIV had not known he was made for this bloodshed;he just knew that it numbed him so that he could look backat the past without sentiment, without regret.His daughters were nowhere. Nowhere. Joseph Holy Emperor of AuschlovakXIV

Angry waves crashed against the beach as Max stared up atthe crags that separated him from whither he’d first seen Miminearly seven years afore. He still remembered the spritely andfair nymph she’d been whilst running freely down the paths inbare feet and shouting for him to play.Was she just beyond those crags, hating the Carlsbads andhating him, too? Remembering the rumors that Sigimund hadbreathlessly imparted to him, he winced. Perchance she’dalways despised him to play him so false.He wondered if she’d heard of his exploits in this war againsther people. Would she recognize him as the boy she onceknew? Their years apart felt a lifetime. MaximilianCaptain of the Royal Carlsbad Armies

Haris came in from the waves, soaked from his feet to histhighs and glistening with sea foam. He dragged out a netfrom the blue waters, carrying with it bits of flotsam andjetsam from the shipwreck. “What do you hither, Max?” asked Haris, as always feigninggood spirits. “Haven’t you a hundred men to kill?”“Have a care or you’ll be the first,” Max quipped back. HarisSoldier of the Royal Carlsbad Armies

Alfie gathered his bow and propelled to his feet. “Nomore of this waiting,” said he. “We’ll not danceattendance on this beach whilst you run off and playthe hero. We go with you.”“Our odds are not good,” Max said.“What is that to me? I can die as well as you.”AlfieArchery Lieutenant in the Royal Carlsbad Armies, and Duke of Bhrine

Mimi flounced angrily away, refusing for the time tocomply as she approached her father with her own terms.“And what if I find my sisters, pray, what do I win? Myown hand?”She grasped her skirts and laced petticoats up and overher ankles—bare ones, for she wore no slippers.Such impropriety elicited another gasp from the assemblywhilst she stormed from the ballroom. Whispers of“barefoot princess” followed her out.Max’s fiery nymph was not much changed, it wouldseem… or at all.Maria MarieCrowned Princess of the Auschlovak Empire

He spied her knee deep in the pond. By this day! The lasspossessed within her a heart untamed. ‘Twas exactly how he’dfound her seven years ago! He urged his horse into this idyllic spot of lily pads and toads.She grunted out in vexation and sat upon the rocks, tuggingat her slippers.“I beseech you, do not—do not—take me…” Herwords ended in a shriek as her feet jerked out from beneathher. She caught herself on the rocks, and sucking in a deep breath,plunged her shapely legs back into the pond until they quittheir convulsing. “Water!” cried she. “Water does hinder thespell’s hold on me for a time.”.Maria MarieCrowned Princess of the Auschlovak Empire

Max’s horse was a brutal black beast with stiff ears prickedforward—as unbearably terrifying as its master had become.The princess breathed out with unease, feeling her new ally’sbreaths against hers as she leaned unwillingly into the rise andfall of his chest. What must he think of her, now that she was entwined in hisarms? Her cheeks warmed with her blushes as she caughtglimpse of the bareness of her knees. None must see themtogether whilst she was in such a state.She shivered.Her father would have Maximilian’s head were he anyone else,but this Carlsbad warrior was more ferocious than a force ofnature and none could stand against him.Max & MimiTwo Enemies from Rival Houses

As Maximilian put the last of his belongings on his bed, afamiliar and welcome voice interrupted his musings. “Ah blessme. Ye be here! I’m right glad.”Max startled at seeing Pepin before him, looking for all theworld in good health and spirits, but not hidden away in theleast. “What do you do in my room?”“Aye, aye, the princess showed me the tunnels of this place,”Pepin took on a faraway look and proceeded to interrupthimself, “—she be very lovely.”Max’s annoyance must’ve shown on his face, for Pepin quicklydispensed of such talk. “’Tis of no import, anyhow. The king...he’ll have you dead."PepinRegency Prince of Maschusse

“Prithee, hold.” Mimi threw a gloved hand against him, even as hislips brushed over the heightened color of her cheek. “Faith, mypoor conscience scolds my heart,” said she, “for I must not lovethe enemy of my house so.”“Your enemy?” He gave a growled laugh. He adored the play ofher jests. “Nay, Mimi, I will never be your enemy, for an enemyyou must hate. And if you hate me then I do hate myself and tohate myself would be to hate you. For are we not the other halfof the other?”She swallowed. Her earlier show of spirit hushed in the face ofhis. He’d made her quite out of breath, did he? He’d the madimpulse to make her even more so ere he released her from theinvisibility of this cloak.Max & MimiStar Crossed Lovers from Rival Houses