Disguised Queen: Beyond The Curse, #2

By Laura Greenwood

Keira never expected to end up in the middle of a war, but with her curse broken and King Xavier's armies threatening to invade, she finds herself without a choice. 

But when the unthinkable happens, she finds herself having to go into hiding alongside Philip and her friends. 

The only problem is that when she emerges she won't be a princess anymore, but a queen. 

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Disguised Queen is book two in the Beyond The Curse dark fantasy fairy tale series. It is inspired by fairy tale lore, including Sleeping Beauty and Hansel & Gretel. It includes an m/f romantic sub-plot.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drowlgon Press
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781393524717

Laura Greenwood

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy romance. When she's not writing, she drinks a lot of tea, tries to resist French macarons, and works towards a diploma in Egyptology. She lives in the UK, where most of her books are set. Laura specialises in quick reads, with healthy relationships and consent positive moments regardless of if she's writing light-hearted romance, mythology-heavy urban fantasy, or anything in between. You can find a full book list and more information on her website, or in The Paranormal Council Facebook Group. Happy Reading!

Book preview

One

I pace back and forth in the tent, trying not to let the nerves get to me too much, but with everything going on, it's almost impossible not to.

Your Highness, a runner says as he ducks inside. A message.

Thank you. I reach out and take it from him, tearing the letter open before he's even left.

Your father? Philip asks from his seat at the table.

I nod.

What's he saying?

That he's seeing the same thing we are.

Ah, so my father's troops appear as if they're going to attack at any moment, but none of them have actually done it.

Does he normally do this when he's at war with someone?

I wish I knew, Philip admits. I've never been privy to any of his decisions or tactics, and he hasn't actually been at war with anyone that I remember. He's threatened a few times, but this is the first time he's actually done it.

Hmm. What's different about this time?

I'm guessing you.

But why? Does he know the curse is broken? I bite my bottom lip.

He'll know for sure in three days, Philip points out. I'd guess he'll have been able to tell the moment Finette gave you the potion to end it though.

I let out a small groan and drop down into the empty chair opposite him. As much as preparing for war is exhausting, the more streamlined dresses I've been wearing for the past few months have their advantages, especially at moments like this.

You should return to the castle, Philip says, opening an argument that's been going on for weeks.

No.

Keira...

That's exactly where your father is going to expect me to be, especially if he doesn't know that the curse is broken. The castle will be better off if I'm not there.

His scouts have probably told him where you are already.

Then it's safer for everyone if I don't move.

You're making it very difficult to protect you.

No, my mother has made it very difficult to protect me, I counter quickly. And she's made it difficult to protect Alventia.

Ah, so that's why you really don't want to return to the castle. You don't want to face your mother.

Would you if you were in that situation?

That would involve my mother paying attention to me, he mutters.

Is she still alive? He rarely talks about her, which makes it hard to be sure about what's going on there.

He shrugs. As far as I'm aware. I'll probably hear from her at precisely the wrong time.

Would she help us?

I suppose it isn't impossible, but if she did, she'd be doing it for her own gain.

Because she doesn't like your father? I can work with that. If she's against King Xavier, then we can come to some kind of arrangement.

Philip grimaces. Because she worships chaos. It's hard to explain the relationship between the two of them, but I don't think she'll do anything against him.

Ah.

I'm sorry.

It isn't your fault. I pick up one of the water goblets from the table and take a drink, barely registering the refreshingness of it.

Philip sighs. Sometimes it feels like I'm going to be apologising for the behaviour of my parents for years to come.

I don't think you're going to be the only one, I mutter, thinking about the damage my parents' past actions are causing. If they hadn't meddled with King Xavier, then he wouldn't be threatening to invade our country now.

Perhaps that's an oversimplification of the situation but considering no one has ever actually explained everything to me, I can't work out what actually happened. The only thing I know for sure is that Philip and I seem to be responsible for fixing our parents' feud. Not that any of them seem to want that.

All right, so my father is currently patrolling to the north, we're here. My mother is back at the palace, and your father could storm our borders at any point, I summarise.

You forgot to add my mother as a party whose allegiance and actions can't be predicted, Philip adds.

Great. Just what we need. Why do they have to have had lives before us?

He chuckles. That may be something our children lament about us too.

Despite the seriousness of my kingdom's current predicament, a soft flutter travels through me at his words. The threat of a looming war between our countries has certainly put a dampener on our courtship, but I don't want to rush into things just because of a crisis.

We should go back to the palace, Philip says again.

I raise an eyebrow. Has Mother been sending you letters to try and convince me?

Only one. And I responded that it was your choice, and I would support whatever you decided.

Hmm. She's getting desperate considering how little she wants us to have to do with one another.

She might just be getting used to the fact we're spending time together. She did let us come to the same camp.

Only because we have several thousand chaperones.

They're not paying any attention to anything other than your security. He waves around the tent to punctuate his point.

I have to admit that he's right. There isn't anyone in our tent. There rarely is unless someone is giving us a report. That would be plenty of time for anything untoward to happen if I decided I wanted it to.

It's best if Mother isn't made aware of that.

You should make amends with her, Keira, Philip says softly. I'm sure your lessons were similar to mine, you know that the toll of war is never small. If you don't make amends with your parents now, then you may never get a chance.

The sense of dread building within me at the thought of that is too much to ignore. He's right, and there's no way of avoiding the truth.

"All right, I'll send word