Not Another Happily Ever After (Tragically Ever After #1)

Prologue

Once Upon A Time

There was a boy and a girl.

Their fates were twisted in toil

Their bleeding hearts left to spoil.

Still, they did not break.

“Ithought princesses were supposed to be beautiful?” the nobleman’s son said with a sneer, watching the small mess of black waves and scarred skin recoil in fear.

“That’s because she isn’t a princess. She’s a beast,” the young prince spat, kicking dirt up the little girl’s skirts, not caring for her suffering.

Two tear-filled eyes—one silver, one lilac blue—looked up in surrender. Begging for a mercy she’d never been shown, the princess wished for a life that wasn’t her own.

They were two halves of a tale,

drawn together without fail.

A dark chuckle started from somewhere in the trees, followed by a thud and the crunching of leaves. “They say that true beasts bleed black. That their skin is so thick, it’s nearly impossible to pierce.”

A rebel boy stalked forward, his face shrouded in shadow. “I wonder…” he paused, lifting his bow. “Which of you is willing to prove you’re not a beast?”

One cursed to be the ending of all that is good.

One raised not knowing all that he should.

The courtly boys’ hearts raced in their chest. The hatred on their tongues turned to ash with each breath.

But it wasn’t the unruly pairs’ fear that bent the rebel boy’s bow. It was the little girl that now stood between them, heart-to-heart, toe-to-toe. She rivaled his strength with a softer approach, forcing the rebel’s brows to turn in above his nose.

“Why protect them?” he asked. “Why give your life for someone who doesn’t value it?”

The princess frowned, saddened by the sight of these boys doing wrong because they thought it right.

“Because I am no beast,” she answered unashamed, and though no arrow was fired, a heart was pierced, all the same.

One was born with a heart of gold,

the other unafraid to defy what he’s been told.

The prince and his friend scrambled, quick on their feet. But not the rebel, nor the princess— they stood rooted in their fate.

“Come with me?” The rebel offered, his wistful grin wide. His heavy, low hood hid the longing in his eyes. “He’ll call you a beast, but I’ll call you mine.”

The young princess smiled, her only reply before returning to her castle without a wave goodbye.

Once upon a time

there was a boy and a girl

and a not-so-happily-ever-after.