COLD (Twisted Forbidden Tales) Book One

Chapter Five

SNOW (Two years ago )

My father was gone. Why did he leave me all alone? I wasn’t ready. I refused to cry. The letter he had left for me still lay on my bedside table unopened. Those petty words meant nothing if they wouldn’t bring him back.

The kingdom felt dull and bleak at his death. He was a great king and a loving father. There was so much he wanted to do for the future of our kingdom and I wanted to follow in his footsteps, but he was no longer there to pave the pathway for me to follow. I was simply angry.

Something was off about the whole thing, I could feel it. He looked fine and well a week ago and then suddenly. I remember the last dinner we had together; his close friend King Finnigan and his son had visited. That man and his son gave me the creeps every time they stopped by. I was truly grateful to my stepmother Hannah on these days as she would make excuses for me not being able to attend said dinners.

It was as if she knew King Finnigan and his son were sinister. Especially when Finnigan couldn’t keep his eyes off my stepmother and his son openly ogled her breasts with his eyes on every occasion with no respect for my father. I had witnessed all of this in a hidden space off the balcony that angled a good hearing and viewing distance to our dining hall.

I have to admit that my stepmother was indeed breathtaking. I would never admit to anyone out loud that on more than one occasion she had been the starring lead in my deepest, darkest fantasies. I shook my head, discarding that train of thought. How could a woman have fantasies about another woman, let alone my stepmother? It was wrong. I knew this, well my brain did, but the rest of me disagreed, especially my heart. Something was really wrong with me.

Putting that dilemma aside, I remembered the argument my stepmother had with my father later that night. She begged him to quickly cut ties with King Finnigan. He was a lecherous, jealous, spiteful, malicious person. I agreed with her for many reasons, the main one being the first and only time I met them.

It was my sixteenth birthday, to be exact. My official introduction to the royal court as princess of the Wisteria Kingdom. Not fond of crowds, I opted out of mingling until my father appeared, as news reached the kingdom that he had a big surprise gift for me and would be a bit late. I often hung out with the staff as I loved food and, of course, how to make it.

I wanted to surprise my father as well by helping the cooks with my birthday cake. My father was known for many things and one was his cooking skills. He was humble in many ways. The staff and servants looked up to him because he never treated them as such. Instead, we were more of a big family. I stepped into the pantry room to gather supplies when Prince Walden appeared.

At first, I thought he was kind after he introduced himself and he offered to help carry some of the supplies needed for the cake. Things quickly went south as I ended up needing a change of clothes from his so-called accidental spill of flour and molasses. Luckily, I wore simple clothes at the time but soon would need to change into my evening gown for the banquet.

I used the staff quarters to wash the ingredients off so as to not trail them through the palace to my room. I became trapped with said Prince, who then attempted to attack me. Walden didn’t come to know who I was then, as I didn’t give my name, but what stood out that day was his evident intention and the swift action of my stepmother.

I never asked her how she found me and even knew where I was. Dad's special guard trailed behind her as the door to the staff quarters was kicked open. She was like sunlight in the darkest of nights as she took a good grip with her hands on Walden's hair, removing him from my presence. She gave him to the guards to handle and then she took care of him. I still don’t think my brain fully processed the danger of that day because all I wanted to remember was her.

Something about that particular smile, the whole aura that was hers, made me just want to be closer to her and breathe in. The spell broke when we reached the banquet hall. I have no idea how I got presentable for anything, but there I was in front of my father King Silas, his childhood friend King Finnigan, Finnigan’s son Prince Walden, and my stepmother Hannah.

Prince Walden nearly had a stroke that day after learning my identity and quickly hid in the crowd away from me. King Finnigan was a different story, completely lingering with his hand holding and gaze. I couldn’t be bothered by him at all as to how curious I was about who the woman beside me was. When my father announced to the crowd my big birthday surprise was. The new Queen and my stepmother Hannah, who stood beside me, nearly broke my heart. I had only felt this way once before, but I was much younger then and I thought her to be a Magical fairy Queen as she lay so peaceful in sleep. They looked completely different, but I couldn’t shake the familiar feeling when I was near her.

The kingdom was overjoyed at the news and my stepmother settled smoothly into her role as Queen. My Father and Hannah worked well together as King and Queen, reshaping the kingdom into a formidable reign. As time passed, I began to notice things between Hannah and my Father were a bit strange.

For one, they had their own private quarters and never shared a bed. The second was my father's relationship with his head guard who he spent quite a lot of time with, but Hannah didn’t seem jealous or mad. The three of them got along seamlessly as if they were long-time friends. Hannah and I grew close as well, more like best friends than mother and daughter. She was very protective of me, yet I wished she would be more than that.

My stepmother, Hannah, gave private lessons to exclusive students of her choice. My father had a special residence built for her and her students to ensure complete privacy. I scoffed at that because they didn’t know my skills for sneaking in and out of things quietly. Little did I know that my curiosity about finding out what it was exactly that she taught would lead us both to something much deeper and more profound than either of us had yet to understand.