Once Upon a Tale

By Jenniffer Wardell

There’s more to these fairy tales than what you might think.

Return to the world of “Fairy Godmothers, Inc.” and “Beast Charming” with this all-new short story collection! Follow Fairy Godmother Kate on a particularly spooky assignment! Watch Beauty try to outsmart her father and locate a lost sleeping beauty! Hear a tale about a ghostly challenge from Waverly’s conman past! Take a peek into the future with a sequel story featuring Rellie’s first Fairy Godmother assignment!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jenniffer Wardell
• Release date: Feb 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463663660

Jenniffer Wardell

Jenniffer Wardell is a fantasy author and general fairy godmother-at-large. She's always on the lookout for witty dialogue and a well-earned happily-ever after. She loves to chat with anyone who loves a good story.

Book preview

Once Upon a Tale

Short Stories From a World of Fairytales

by Jenniffer Wardell

Cover art by Jenniffer Wardell

Copyright 2016 by Jenniffer Wardell

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Uninvited Guests

Some Assembly Required

Belief

Happily Ever After

More by Jenniffer Wardell

Uninvited Guests

We hear a little about Beauty’s back story in Beast Charming, but the following story is a much closer look at one particularly formative incident. Moments like are why Beauty probably should have sought therapy at some point.

Beauty woke up coughing, a common side effect of accidentally sucking a lungful of dust up your nose. Since that wasn’t how she usually started her mornings, it took a second to realize what it meant.

This wasn’t her pillow. Which probably meant she wasn’t in her room anymore.

She sat up, disturbing even more clouds of the aforementioned dust. They drifted back down gracefully in the carefully angled moonlight, not daring to be anything less than artistic in such a carefully arranged bedroom. Roses were even scattered on the floor, probably knocked off the bed by the undoubtedly cursed girl the bedroom actually belonged to. In a perfect world, her absence would mean her rescuer of choice had already kissed her awake.

But in a perfect world, Beauty wouldn’t be here either.

Furious, she threw the coverlet aside and scrambled out of the stranger’s bed. Father! she shouted, hoping he hadn’t managed to lure some poor man off the road yet. If you don’t step out of the shadows this instant, I swear to you I’ll steal the carriage you have hidden outside somewhere and leave you to walk home.

The sound of running footsteps was gratifyingly quick, though her father didn’t seem the slightest bit apologetic as he burst into the bedroom. Noble Tremain moved like a cannonball, almost perfectly round and heedless of anything in his way. "Shhh, he hissed, his whisper loud enough to be heard for miles as he waved his flabby arms. I heard a horse in the distance. Do you want to scare them off?"

Yes, Beauty shot back, dragging the coverlet off the bed and wrapping it around her like an impromptu robe. Abandoned houses were chilly, no matter how fancy they looked, and her nightclothes weren’t helping much. "Because, as I have told you at least a hundred times by this point, you won’t magically get a rich son-in-law just by stuffing your daughters in the middle of every curse, enchantment or magical forest and hoping a prince won’t notice the difference!"

You know as well as I do some of these men don’t care who it is, as long as they’re willing to be rescued properly, he snapped. "The fault’s with you, rather than them."

One, those idiots normally insist on their rescuee at least be related to royalty. The fact that we’re not is as much your fault as it is mine. She turned around, already bored with the fight that always began and ended the same way. "Two, you never bother asking us whether we want to marry one of those idiots."

That’s because you never do. She’d seen the glare he was undoubtedly giving her often enough she practically had it memorized. "You could at least try to show an interest."

And you could let me move in with Grace without making her resort to legal action, but it looks like we’re both doomed to disappointment. She opened a few doors until she found the closet, silently apologizing to the room’s original owner for the pair of shoes she’d have to steal. Besides, whoever it was probably wasn’t coming anywhere near here. You see how long this place has been abandoned – the fact that someone broke the curse has to be pretty common knowledge by now.

Noble paused, as if he actually bothered to give the issue a few seconds of thought, then made a dismissive noise. There’s always someone I can talk around.

You should have that printed on business cards. Beauty sighed, pushing her no doubt hideous morning hair out of her eyes she looked through dozens upon dozens of tiny, jewel-encrusted high heels. Even if she could have gotten any of them on her feet –a process probably requiring the removal of at least a few toes – they'd hurt rather than help when she had to walk outside.

Giving up, she abandoned her search and turned back to her now clearly frustrated father. And you need to reset the security wards on the house before we leave, she told him, moving past him towards the door. Even if no one's been back here for years, they clearly care about it enough to not want it looted.

He caught her arm, giving her a disapproving look. You're 17. You shouldn't know about looting.

Beauty made a disbelieving noise. Grace and I have watched you break into strangers' castles since we were kids.

Offended now, Noble’s brow lowered even further. I was capitalizing on potential opportunity. Not the same thing at all.

Beauty rolled her eyes, pulling her arm away from her father and stepping out into the hallway. He’d at had at least had the good sense to light the wall sconces, which meant she had just enough light to find the exit by. Well, there’s no opportunity here, so you should probably follow me. I was serious about—

The rest of the sentence cut off when she tripped over something unexpectedly solid on the floor, sending her sprawling forward in a tangle of blankets and terrible decisions. She hurriedly sat up again, gaping in horror when she realized she'd tripped over