Knight of Cups

By Byrd Nash

A ghostly medieval knight and a creepy curse spoil the summer.

Brigit, a fae dryad, and Jib, her talking cat, become trapped in a haunted French chateau. They quickly become embroiled in a creepy family mystery with ties to the medieval myths and legends of the Holy Grail.

"I also had an interesting time," the True Beast said, ignoring the materialization of the knight. "This family is under a curse."

"Duh," said Brigit, warily eyeing the ghost who was floating about a foot off the ground. "This guy probably knows something about it."

Taking Brigit at her word, the knight began to speak, "For three days, I shall warn those at the Château du Puis. On the third night, one of you will die."

The púca commented, "Sounds like we will be leaving tomorrow."

Between the bizarre dinner ritual and unearthly screaming from the cellar, can the two break the Dupois curse before it claims another victim?

A contemporary fantasy - this Fae Magic adventure short story is a standalone tale using characters from the YA fantasy, Never Date a Siren - the College Fae Magic Series, book #1.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rook and Castle Press
• Release date: Apr 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734893823

Book preview

License Notes

Copyright © 2019 Byrd Nash

http://www.byrdnash.com

Cover Art by Original Book Cover Design

https://www.originalbookcoverdesigns.com/

Publisher: Rook & Castle Press, Tulsa, OK

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN 978-1-7348938-2-3

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.

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Other Books by Byrd Nash

College Fae Series

#1 Never Date a Siren

#2 A Study in Spirits

#3 Bane of Hounds

#4 Storm of Songs (2022)

Contemporary Magical Realism

A Spell of Rowans

Romantic Fairytale Retellings

Dance of Hearts (Cinderella retelling)

Price of a Rose (Beauty and the Beast)

Fairytale Fantasy

The Wicked Wolves of Windsor and other Fairytales

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Dedications

To Black Cats everywhere

who are all very clever.

Knight of Cups

College Fae #1B

A Fae Magic Adventure

takes place the summer

after Never Date a Siren

Byrd Nash

rook_and_castle

Rook and Castle Press

Tulsa, Oklahoma

First Night

Brigit Cullen didn’t like this forest. Being a fae dryad, she knew when things weren’t right, and these trees felt all wrong.

Stop bouncing around so much, I’m trying to sleep back here, said the cat she was carrying in her backpack.

Excuse me, Jib! the woman snapped back at her companion, But if you hadn’t told off the driver, we wouldn’t be taking a cross country hike.

Poking its head up, the black cat dislodged the knapsack flap. The fae being climbed partially out, placing its front paws on Brigit’s shoulders to meow in her pointed ear.

I was simply correcting that poor human’s belief that I was a cute kitty. I’m a dangerous púca Trickster. He should be grateful I didn’t set him on fire for the insult he gave me.

Like all True Beasts, Jib was far more massive than its form promised. The púca felt as heavy as a bowling ball. Brigit bounced the pack up, to give her lower back some relief. Jib yowled a protest, causing Brigit to snarl, Well, genius, we would already be at the hostel if it weren’t for you.

Both of them were feeling out of sorts. The summer was almost at an end and, while touring had been fun, Brigit was ready to be back home in Geheimetür.

After completing her first school year at Leopold-Ottos-Universität Geheimetür, in Bewachterberg, the two fae had toured Italy and France. Using her dryad healing skills among the vineyards padded Brigit’s purse, but she was ready to be back among her friends and with a regular schedule.

Being on the road, sleeping in strange trees, and without regular meals had made them both cranky. The fall semester would begin in just a few weeks, but Jib insisted on a detour.

Now they were lost in an unfriendly forest with the late summer sun setting in a bank of what looked to be stormy clouds.

If you didn’t insist we visit a castle, I could already be sleeping in a tree, she told the cat, adding, and saving my money.

You are so stingy, princess. Who taught you that? It wasn’t your mother. The queen appreciates the finer things in life as I do, replied the púca.

As a member of her parents’ court in the Perilous Realm, Jib had known the dryad since birth. Sometimes this long familiarity made Brigit resent the fae Trickster.

She had run away from the Perilous Realm to attend LOTTOS, only for Jib to rat out her location. After she was discovered, the True Beast negotiated an agreement with her parents that if the púca chaperoned Brigit, she could stay in the human lands.

This arrangement, made without her input, numbered first in her list of resentments. Thinking upon this, the dryad muttered, Jailer.

Jib ignored her remark, meowing plaintively, Just because I’ve never slept in a human castle doesn’t mean I need to. I’ll return to school and tell all of our friends about sleeping in ditches and under mushrooms.

Okay! Okay! I get it. Your life is nothing but suffering. Enough already.

After their spat, the two continued in silence for about half an hour as the cloud cover increased. A slight mist started