Sleeping Judy Companion Novel-The Curse

By Chantelle Nay

Prince Phillip of Alasia was destined to rule a kingdom, marry a princess and break a curse. It had all been arranged soon after his birth. He had never questioned it or fought against it. Until Now.
When a beautiful girl appears in his world, as if by magic, from another world his life is turned upside down. This mystery girl soon becomes the object of everything he wants.
Will he sacrifice honor, duty and the fate of an entire kingdom to have her?

This is a companion novel to Sleeping Judy and follows the same story, but from Landry's point of view.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chantelle Nay
• Release date: Mar 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463110386

Chantelle Nay

I grew up in Pleasant Grove Utah where I met and married my high school sweetheart. Now I live in the tiny town of Axtell, Utah with my husband, six kids, and a whole lot of farm animals. I love to read, and I love to paint wildlife.Young love is one of my favorite things to write about and it's always more fun if there's a hard choice that has to be made or an unexpected twist at the end.Everyone loves romance!

Book preview

Sleeping Judy Companion Novel

The Curse

written by

Chantelle Nay

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2020 Chantelle Nay. All rights reserved.

First Edition

Cover Design by Chantelle Nay

Fiction/ Clean Romance/ Fairy tale

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

About Chantelle Nay

Other Titles by Chantelle Nay

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...

"My life is not my own.

Because I am the one who is

destined to break the curse-

I am therefore cursed myself..."

Landry

...

Chapter One

The sound of pawed feet pounding against the soft earth urged me forward as I broke through the dark forest in pursuit of my prey. Wolves were dangerous enough, but the fact that this particular wolf was also a shifter made this situation even worse. A shifter usually couldn't be tracked, because their tracks could change instantly into those of a different creature or—if the mood struck them right—they could sprout wings and fly. Lucky for me, this shifter was no longer able to access that magical gift.

I could just make out the rhythmic huffing of the creature as it ran, the tiny green leaves on the bushes ahead of me still trembled as a sign of its passing. I had my hunch that this shifter was not friend but foe, although, their kind could easily be either. It was dark magic that created the power to shift. Although it could be hereditary and passed down from parent to child, the smallest bit of darkness always remained tied to the ability, no matter how it was acquired.

It was common knowledge that most shifters were rogues and therefore enemies of the kingdoms—unwilling to obey any laws of man. Yet, there were a few that served the king as soldiers, or huntsmen. These were a bit more civilized, but still wild—never completely trustworthy.

I heard the eerie howl in the distance, the deep melodic sound of it reverberated in my chest. There was no denying it was a challenge. This particular wolf was toying with me, inviting me to try and keep up. This was all a twisted game to the dark creature.

I gripped the handle of my sword, flexing my fingers around it as I held my breath and scanned the dense woods around me. The sparse sunlight filtered unevenly through the branches of the trees above. The only sounds were the air through the leaves and the small stream burbling in the distance. The other animal inhabitants of this area must have already sensed the danger and had either fled, or were in hiding.

The beast was here somewhere. I could smell it. My nostrils rebelled against its pungent scent. Wolves claimed a vast territory which they marked as a warning for rivals to keep their distance. The problem was, this wasn't its territory. It was mine.

The soft breeze changed direction and blew against my face, ruffling my hair, carrying the scent away from me. That could mean only one thing—the creature was now somewhere behind me. It must have doubled back in an attempt to throw me off of its trail. I had no delusions about being the superior hunter in this game we were playing—I knew that I was also being considered as prey.

I spun around and took off at a dead run toward the putrid scent. My sudden change of direction surprised the beast and in a flash of fur and teeth the dark forest came alive as a giant wolf sprang from the dense foliage and scrambled up the path ahead of me. It snarled and barked as it ran, meaning to threaten me away and entice me into a chase all at the same time.

As it turned its huge head to judge my distance, I caught a glimpse of its blood red eyes, which seemed to glow with the fires of Hell. I now knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was the wolf I was after. His human name had been Malgor, but the deep crimson irises let me know that there was no longer any humanity left in this creature.

Malgor had been killing throughout the surrounding kingdoms for many years. He'd been in his wolf form for so long now, all that was left was the beast—and a black-hearted beast at that. Normally I wouldn't stand a chance of catching him, he was too fast, too smart, but this wolf was already injured. He was missing half of his right rear foot.

Malgor had made the mistake of messing with a girl named Ingred Rider. She was one of the fiercest warriors and most relentless hunters ever to join the royal huntsmen, not to mention the first and only female. She was an expert with a crossbow and could take down anything from a hundred yards away. Normally she hunted for bounty, but this was personal. This wolf had gone after her grandmother and therefore, had incurred her wrath.

Even with his new handicap, Malgor was fast. I would never be able to overtake him on foot. In the same moment that reality struck me, luck decided to smile down on me and the trees opened up giving me my one and only opportunity. I pulled my sword from its sheath as I continued running. I quickly judged the distance and direction and then, without hesitation, let my sword fly. It whipped through the air in a perfect arc, making a swooshing sound as it went. It came down at a perfect angle and buried itself deep between the wolf's shoulder blades.

A horrified yelp escaped the brute's mouth as he stumbled and skidded through the dirt, finally coming to a stop in a giant heap of black fur. I paused to catch my breath and let the dust clear before I moved closer to make sure he was really dead. He didn't appear to be moving and there was no rise and fall to his chest.

I walked forward and nudged the beast with the toe of my boot. Blood covered the ground and all signs of life had gone out of his crimson red eyes. As a testament to Malgor's evil state, he didn't shift back into his natural human form when he died. Shifters who chose to serve only the darkness eventually lost their humanity altogether and therefore their human shape. This one was now pure beast just as I had expected he would be.

I pulled my sword out of his thick hide and wiped the blood on the dry grass. I would leave the dead wolf here for someone else to claim. There was a generous bounty on his head. When the death of this particular shifter got reported to the constable, there would be much relief throughout all of the kingdoms.

I was in no need of bounty money. Malgor had most recently been terrorizing the small villages along the outskirts of the kingdom of Alasia. My kingdom. He had a lot of innocent blood on his hands. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again was reward enough for me. Not to mention that I couldn't risk being caught hunting again. My father would have me locked in the dungeon for sure this time.

I turned back around and headed East. Stopping at a small clear stream I washed my blade carefully, watching as the blood drifted through the water like thin red ribbons. After it was clean I returned it to its scabbard. I was exhausted from the long chase and filthy and hungry. I decided to continue on to my secret cottage in the neighboring kingdom and stay the night before traveling back to the palace tomorrow.

Traveling back and forth between the kingdoms had always been something I enjoyed. It wasn’t just a change of scenery for me, it was a much needed change of identity. In the Kingdom of Alasia I was a prince. There were expectations, formalities, and a division of classes.

In the neighboring kingdom of Theron, I could be just another peasant. I could blend in and disappear. At times, that was all I wanted to do. I knew it was selfish, but if I was ever to be granted a wish, I would wish to be normal.

Being a prince wasn’t all bad, of course, it had its perks. I had access to the finest horses, the best sword makers, and every maiden in the land swooned in my presence. But none of it mattered.

The finest horses couldn’t take me away from my duties and obligations, no matter how far we rode. My finely crafted swords were just for show, I wasn’t supposed to go out and actually hunt dragons or fight battles, I was too important for that. And the maidens could swoon and conspire all they wanted for my attentions, but I couldn't court them.

I wasn’t free to fall in love.

That decision had been made for me long ago. There was no escaping it—no changing it. I belonged to someone else. I was a pawn in a game. I was destined to save an entire kingdom. I was the only antidote for a terrible curse that plagued these lands.

As a seventeen year old boy, that was a lot to bear.

I walked with anticipation along the familiar path that wrapped through the dark trees and criss-crossed the river. Deeper and deeper into the thick, enchanted forest of Theron. Everything around me was alive, and despite the curse on this land, I felt alive here too—more alive than in any other place. This forest was my haven.

I rarely entered the populated part of the kingdom. I avoided visiting their palace. I didn’t want to be recognized. I didn’t want to be the prince here. I wanted to be nobody, just part of the land, part of the forest.

For that reason I had built my small cottage in the thickest and most secluded part of the enchanted woods. There, I was protected from prying eyes and curious passers-by. No father with his disappointed looks, no mother with her trustfulness and high expectations that I felt I could never live up to. No servants waiting on me hand and foot, taking away every ounce of my desired independence. No subjects expecting complete perfection from a completely imperfect person. I could simply be alone with my thoughts.

I would arrive at the cottage any minute now. I was on guard, as usual, always aware of my surroundings. I knew well that there were many who would love to capture or destroy me because of who I was and what I represented.

As I carefully scanned the woods around me I happened to notice an odd array of footprints in the soft, black dirt. Small human prints were everywhere, which was uncommon for this deep section of the woods. But what was even more unsettling was the presence of the large, wolf-like prints that seemed to be stalking the human ones.

Broken branches and matted down grass told the story of a very large creature laying in wait for its prey. It wasn't the same wolf I had just killed, Malgor's prints were easily distinguished because of the missing section of his hind foot. Yet, by the enormous size of the paw prints, I knew it must be another shifter taking on the form of an animal. No ordinary wolf had paws that big.

The questions began to swirl in my head. Was the shifter after the human? Was the human hunting the shifter? Or was the human the one shifting? I didn't like the thought of shifters or humans anywhere near my cottage. I couldn't chance being discovered.

As I followed the tracks and approached the clearing that held my sanctuary, I heard a noise; a voice to be exact. It wasn’t the sing-song voice of a bird. It wasn’t tinkly enough to be a fairy or a sprite. This was a human voice. A female voice.

I kept myself hidden behind a tree as I surveyed the area, trying to discern the direction and whereabouts of this human, female voice. I spotted movement inside the cottage—my cottage. Whoever was in there had not been invited and was most certainly not welcome.

My hand slid automatically to my hip, finding the handle of my sword. I was about to step out of the trees so that I could sneak around to the side and get a closer look when the cottage door flew open.

My breath caught in my throat as I watched what appeared to be a girl, step out of the cottage carrying my water pitcher. She was dressed like a man—sort of—wearing strange trousers and a shirt. But as she drew closer to my position, her soft curves and graceful movements left no doubt that she was indeed female.

She appeared to be filthy. Black smudges ran across her cheeks and her hair looked like a bird had nested in it overnight but, in spite of all of that, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

This angelic being moving toward me was definitely not human. She couldn’t be. I had never encountered anything like her in all of my travels.

Her hair had what looked like dozens of colors of browns and golds streaking through it like it had been painted by the sun. Her eyes were perfectly framed emerald jewels with thick black lashes encircling them. Even through all of the dirt, her cheeks held a perfect golden hue, and her lips were the color of an exotic fruit. Of all the maidens princesses I'd seen throughout my life, I had never seen one like this. The mere sight of her was doing strange things to my insides.

She was only a couple of yards away from my hiding place now. She knelt down next to the stream and began filling the pitcher with water. The gentle breeze brought the aroma of strange, sweet flowers to my nose. For the longest time all I could do was stare at this enchantress before me.

It was several minutes before my stunned senses woke up causing my entire body to tense. This had to be a trap, some kind of an evil spell. This beautiful vision before me was a trick