Beauty's Gift

  BEAUTY’S GIFT

  PART IV OF THE ONCE UPON A PRINCESS SAGA

  ҉҉҉҉

  C. S. Johnson

  Copyright © 2017 by C. S. Johnson.

  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.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017912444

  ISBN-13 eBook: 9781943934300

  ISBN-13 Book: 9781943934317

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Beauty's Gift (Once Upon a Princess, #4)

  This book is published courtesy of | www.direwolfbooks.com

  ҉ | PART IV

  *1* | ҉

  *2* | ҉

  *3* | ҉

  *4* | ҉

  *5* | ҉

  *6* | ҉

  *7* | ҉

  *8* | ҉

  *9* | ҉

  *10* | ҉

  *11* | ҉

  *12* | ҉

  *13* | ҉

  *14* | ҉

  *15* | ҉

  *16* | ҉

  *17* | ҉

  *18* | ҉

  *18* | ҉

  *19* | ҉

  *20* | ҉

  *21* | ҉

  *22* | ҉

  *23* | ҉

  *24* | ҉

  ҉

  Epilogue | ҉

  Thank you for reading! Please leave a review for this book and check for other books and updates!

  MORE BOOKS ON THE WAY!

  Get emails full of updates and insights, and possible prizes when you sign up for the mailing list! Sign up at https://www.csjohnson.me. | ONCE UPON A PRINCESS

  Also By C. S. Johnson

  For my mother, with much love. It always stuns and amuses me that as a writer that I have trouble putting into words just what you and your support mean to me.

  And again, this is also for Sam. God doesn’t give people to me randomly or haphazardly. I’ve seen some of the reasons for you and look forward to seeing more.

  This book is published courtesy of

  www.direwolfbooks.com

  ҉

  PART IV

  “... LOVE IS NOT LOVE

  Which alters when it alteration finds,

  Or bends with the remover to remove.

  O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

  That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

  It is the star to every wand’ring bark,

  Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

  Love’s not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

  Within his bending sickle's compass come;

  Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

  But bears it out even to the edge of doom.”

  ~ “Sonnet 116,” William Shakespeare

  “Greater love has no one than this: To lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

  ~ John 15:13, NIV

  *1*

  ҉

  IT WAS AN UNESCAPABLE observation that, after years traveling across the world, seeing distant lands, meeting new people, fighting battles, and forging peace between fighters, Rose, the Princess of Rhone, found the day to day business of the king’s council room seemed unforgivably dull by comparison.

  Especially when her father used it as an excuse to herald his “brilliant” discoveries and decisions over the course of his reign, she thought, irritated as King Stefanos, as he continued droning on about some unrelated matter or another with one of his advisors.

  Inside her father’s council room, it seemed that it was business as usual, and that meant the king was intent on ignoring actual business.

  She tried not to sigh in exasperation—again.

  Even a princess has to learn how to deal with politics.

  Moments, seemingly hours has passed as the knights of her father’s council chatted, often getting off topic. Which would have been bad enough, but the topics were hardly relevant to the kingdom in the first place, Rose thought.

  Finally, Rose had enough. She cleared her throat, cutting into the conversation. “Excuse me.”

  “What’s wrong this time, Princess Aurora?” Stefanos asked, glaring down his nose at her.

  Rose almost rolled her eyes. There was no need for him to look so repugnant. It was clear from his tone and his use of her proper first name he did not appreciate her interruption as he was describing the cuisine of the Orlo Empire.

  “I was hoping we could move onto the next topic of the kingdom agenda, Your Majesty,” Rose said, her own voice clipped. After several days of similar meetings, she could tell the King did not care she was getting impatient with him.

  “We’ll get there in a few moments. If you are feeling tired, you may be excused,” Stefanos told her, chiding her as if she was a child. “I know this cannot be easy for an active young lady such as yourself.”

  Rose gave him a bitter smile. “I’m perfectly capable of sitting through a meeting, Majesty, but our subjects are more concerned with our decisions for the future, not stories of the past.”

  Stefanos’ face reddened. He caught several looks around the table and suddenly laughed. “My daughter certainly has a bleeding heart for the people,” he said. “No doubt they are much relieved to have her back in Rhone after all the years she has been abroad. Let us hope she will be able to learn how things are done here quickly, so we might truly be a force for good.”

  There were many nods and small voices of agreement around the table, before Stefanos once more turned the conversation back to himself.

  Indignation simmered inside of her, but Rose held still. Since she had returned to Rhone several days prior, Rose had learned quickly that there was no stickier and messier battlefield to navigate than politics.

  She breathed out a silent sigh as the King and his knights continued to laugh and joke as they half-discussed border security policies and taxation.

  She was the heir to the kingdom’s throne, and she had a right to be there as much as the King or any other of his knights—not that all of them would agree with that. As Rose looked around the table for support, she was not surprised to find many knights who avoided her gaze; of the ones who did look her way, most of them were glaring at her, suspicious. It did not help that several of the knights were older than her father, and years had passed since many of them had been sent out on assignment or they had fought in battles. Rose had her own ideas of who would be demoted the moment she took over the kingdom.

  If I ever take over the kingdom.

  As King Stefanos started telling another one of his stories, arguing for this or that, and the room resumed its informal, unserious atmosphere, Rose groaned.

  If I ever get through this meeting.

  Rose felt her eyes slip to the wall behind the King, wishing there was a window in the room. The room would have felt less like a prison.

  A small amount of color in the council room would have brightened up the room considerably. After several days’ worth of meetings where their subjects’ concerns were either dismissed or endlessly debated, it would have been nice to have a reminder that they were responsible to their nation and its people.

  Rose sighed as she thought about her trip home. It had taken her several days to ride through the countryside, going from one small village to the next, before crossing forests and open plains. Rhone was a smaller country, surrounded by others with a few port cities, where traders hustled and sellers would bring their goods out to market every day. Rose had seen it on her own grand tour, and she knew that her nation was as indebted to the sea as it was to the forest.

  Thinking of the trip back to Rhone, one she had made with only the company of Mary, her fairy and friend, only made her think of
the morning sky of Einish, and why she had been so desperate to get away.

  She could see the sky as it glittered with early morning stars, the night of Isra’s engagement ball. That was the night she had discovered her father’s secrets, the night she had learned of her uncle’s heavy-handedness, the night she had allowed herself to revel in a lover’s kiss.

  Theo’s kiss. Rose could not resist reliving that moment, when his lips pressed against hers, and her heart ached with sudden pleasure.

  At that thought, Rose quickly jolted out of her reverie. She gripped her hands together tightly, letting her fingernails dig into her knuckles. Pain wrecked through her, vivid and devastating, compounded by the weeks of carrying around her hidden longing and silent suffering.

  That was the night she had last seen him. The early morning dawn had come just as she watched him vanish out of Einish’s palace, and out of her life as well.

  No.

  Her hand slowly covered her heart, as if to steady its sudden, erratic beating. She almost cursed at herself. Several weeks had passed since she had seen him, and she still felt the same tumultuous rush of shame and regret. It was too much to bear, the thought that she would never see him again.

  No, Rose thought. I know him. He will come back.

  He had been her best friend for years. He had family matters to attend to, and then he would come back to Havilah.

  But would he really come back? The voice at the back of her mind whispered. You sent him away. You let him leave. You hurt him.

  Her head suddenly ached as much as her heart. Rose pretended to brush her hair out of her face as the prickly feeling behind her nose warned of unshed tears.

  Her attempts to feel better were always half-hearted and nearly useless, but Rose just could not make herself stop. She tried to console herself with the knowledge that he had family issues of his own to take care of, as he was going to find his aunt.

  Surely, Rose told herself, she could understand that. She had her own family problems.

  “That reminds me,” she said, raising her voice as she glanced back up at the King. “Have you worked out any resolution with Uncle Hebert?”

  At her words, the room finally went silent.

  The king crossed his arms. “What are you talking about, Aurora?”

  “I asked what you and others have decided to do about Uncle Hebert,” Rose repeated. “He has been here for a little over a month now, hasn’t he? What are you going to do about him?”

  “Why do anything about him?” One of the other councilors asked. “He has not done anything wrong.”

  “You mean other than bringing in his own troops to patrol castle?” Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “Not to mention he has blocked off a number of visitors to the Queen since my return?”

  Stefanos dismissed that matter with a wave of his hand. “Hebert is my brother,” he said in even tones. “There is no cause for concern.”

  Before Rose could say anything else, Stefanos turned back to his friends. “Councilors,” he said, “I’d like to adjourn our meeting for now. It’s been a long day, and we have done much for the betterment of our people. You’re dismissed. All of you may leave—except for you, Princess Aurora. Stay where you are.”

  Rose was surprised the king was going to hold her back. He had ignored her throughout the last several meetings, unless it was to chastise her or challenge her. But she knew Hebert was an important issue, despite what the king might have told his advisors.

  She was almost concerned when the doors shut, the rest of the council members on the other side, and she found herself face to face with the King.

  It was almost like last time, Rose thought, suddenly infuriated. Before she had left Rhone for the Serpent’s Garden, she had talked with the King about her abdication, and he had not been happy with her decision to continue fighting for her freedom.

  She was not surprised to see he looked even more upset with her this time.

  “You need to stop this, Aurora,” he said. “You can’t keep coming to these meetings and expecting my men to support you when all you want to do is tear down my legacy.”

  “What legacy?” Rose huffed. “I am your legacy.”

  “I’ve done other things.”

  “Most of them more than thirty years ago.”

  “I am your father, and I am still your king. You need to show respect.”

  “I have,” Rose insisted. “I’ve allowed you to sit here and waste time while we have real problems to deal with. There’s our new treaty with Einish to finalize—”

  “Isra’s engagement is finalized.”

  “No, not that one. There’s the new one, where we’re pledging to help stop the Magdust trade from crossing our borders,” Rose said. “We need to solidify our relationship with them if we’re going to take on the traders.”

  “Isra’s engagement—”

  “Is finalized, I know,” Rose interrupted. “But we still have plenty of time before she actually gets married. She’s not even seventeen yet.”

  “You could have gotten married at sixteen, or even younger,” Stefanos said. “Isra does not need to wait so long for that.”

  “She’s still a child.”

  “A child of the crown, and therefore she must make certain sacrifices. It shames me that she knows this, and you don’t, Aurora.”

  Privately, Rose knew that Isra had much more of a reason to be eager for marriage. Her younger sister had fallen in love with her betrothed, and Rose was even glad she would soon be able to count him as a brother. He was a good man, with a good family, and an even better friend.

  “I know that just fine,” Rose insisted. “But you know I am determined to make my own choices in the matter. After all, it wasn’t my choice to be cursed by Magdalina, was it? It was hers, after you went to her to get some Magdust.”

  Stefanos’ face instantly purpled with flustered rage. “You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” he pointed out.

  “But I am here,” Rose argued. “There’s no point in arguing out possibilities, Majesty. Not that you seem to be willing to discuss other, real problems we face. Including Uncle Hebert’s presence here in Rhone.”

  “You need to stop talking about him,” Stefanos hissed. “Aurora, these are my councilors. I’m not blind to the reality that they serve me at their leisure more than my command. Their armies and the people on their lands help protect us.”

  “I know that.”

  “But what you’re forgetting is that Hebert used to live here, before I arranged his marriage to that Duchess of Aragon. He has his friends as much as I have mine on the council. They’ve remained loyal to him as well as to me. Don’t ask me to make them choose, especially needlessly. They might choose him.”

  She was astounded to realize her father was afraid. He was afraid, she thought, and alone. Rose softened. She wanted to ask him if he thought the queen would choose Hebert, too.

  “Maybe I can help you with Uncle Hebert,” she said. “I can go and talk to him. And the queen, too.”

  Stefanos shook his head. “I don’t want to make him upset,” he said. “He was angry when I was the one who managed to bring the Rose Ruby back to Leea’s father.”

  He began to pace the floor, wringing his hands nervously, as Rose reached over to her own wrist, feeling the rosary beads Theo had given her. She felt another wave of sadness.

  “I can understand the fear of not being loved,” Rose told her father quietly. “But I would not choose to sit around and do nothing.”

  He stopped at her words. “Aurora,” he said. “That’s all well and good, but sometimes you just don’t know what to do as a leader.”

  I would at least stop all the meaningless chatter at our meetings, Rose thought, but she kept that to herself.

  Stefanos shook his head. “My councilors are reluctant to face Hebert. And I am, too. You might not believe it, but he is doing me a favor by staying here.”

  “What?” Rose gaped at him. “What are you talking about?”


  “He said he was here to protect Leea and oversee that she had a fair trial.”

  “Okay, well, the queen’s trial is coming soon,” Rose said. “Right?”

  “Once we get through the rest of the kingdom’s problems,” Stefanos told her.

  “You’ve delayed it plenty of months,” Rose argued. “Can’t we just go through with the trial, now that I’m home?”

  “No, Aurora, that’s not how that works.”

  “How that works is wasting time!”

  “It is not wasting time if it is in accordance with the kingdom,” Stefanos snapped back.

  “I don’t understand why you just don’t change it,” Rose said.

  “I have my reasons, just like I have my secrets,” he told her firmly.

  What’s that supposed to mean? Rose wondered. She had discovered some of his secrets, and she knew that they were more shocking than she would have liked. She hated to think that his reasons for his actions could somehow be worse.

  “In the meantime, you’re better off worrying about your own problems, Aurora. You’ve been here for the past several weeks, interfering with my work and trying to usurp my meetings.”

  “This is my kingdom, too.”

  “But it is under my rule right now, and you should respect that.” Stefanos shook his head. “For now, just stay away from Hebert and his guards. And stay out of my council room, too. I have too much to do, and you’re getting in the way of my work.”

  Rose felt insulted.

  “Besides,” Stefanos said, “your siblings are due to arrive from Einish with Prince Philippos any day now. You might as well see to the castle, especially since your mother is occupied otherwise.”

  It took more willpower than Rose would have liked to admit to grit her teeth together and say, “Yes, Your Majesty,” before she stomped out of the room.

  *2*

  ҉

  “WELL,” ROSE SAID, AS she made her way up to her tower room, “I can see why nothing has gotten settled since I left.”