Let Slip The Princesses of War Read Free

a threat Queen Mallory and her Malevolent are.   We have all lost kingdoms, husbands, friends and even children.”
    She looked at me. They all did. 
    I was a rock. 
    I had been all cried out for years.  Just the mention of my dead children wasn’t going to shake me now.  I never forgot them.  Not even for a second.  Nothing Ms. White could say was going to make me feel any worse. 
    “My own kingdom, is the last to stand against her.  And we only manage it because all of you have come to fight at my side. But, perhaps you don’t know exactly how poorly the war is going.  We’re losing territory and patrols at a frightening pace.  Mallory seems to know exactly where we’re at our weakest and when to strike.  If we continue as we are it’s just a matter of time before we are completely defeated.” 
    She paused to let the situation sink in.  “Our only hope is to take the battle to her.  To strike back.  To take back what we have lost and push her into the sea.  Until now that’s just been a dream.
    “We’ve recently obtained, at great expense in both blood and treasure, intelligence about the location of a secret weapon that can help us turn the tide of this war.”
    She smiled sweetly at us, that dazzling smile that makes you feel like you’re the only thing she sees, the only thing she wants to see.  “The mission to acquire this weapon is both difficult and dangerous and nobody in our Company of accomplished warriors is better suited than you three.”
    She paused again and leaned forward over her desk. “If you agree to undertake this mission and you succeed, we can all of us begin to dream different dreams.  We can satisfy our longing for revenge, we can reclaim the lost kingdoms, we can start to rebuild.  We can’t get back what we’ve lost, but we can hope for a future again.
    “I ask you to volunteer because you three are our best chance and we need your full commitment.”
    Cinderella stood up, her gown rustling and drew her sword and placed it on the desk.  “My sword and my life are already yours.  I’m sworn to the Company. You can make it an order, or ask for volunteers, it doesn’t make any difference to me.  If there’s a chance to hurt Mallory, I’m in.”
    Pea stood up too, she put her bottle on the desk alongside Cinderella’s sword, then thought better of it, took it back, took a swig, then put a gun on the desk.  “Revenge.” She said nodding her head in agreement with herself, as proud of herself as if she had made a fancy speech like Cinderella. 
    I stood up too, I put my whip on the desk.  A small shudder of anxiety passed through me.  I don’t like to be separated from my whip.  “Revenge.” I agreed.
    Ms. White beamed with satisfaction.  “Shay?”
    We all retrieved our weapons and Shay rolled out a large map on the desk and we all leaned in.  “Like all good quests,” Shay began, “This one has some sub-quests.  The three of you won’t be able to acquire the weapon on your own.  The first thing you’ll have to do is pick up some help.” Shay indicated a spot on the map, deep inside Malevolent territory.  “There is a prison tower here.”
    I felt suddenly nauseous.  Shay looked at me and nodded.  “Yes.  Your old tower.  Even more secure now that you and your magic hair aren’t there.  The first addition to your team is a prisoner in the tower.”
    Shay hesitated and looked at Ms. White, who nodded for her to continue. “You all know her.  Beauty.”
    Of course we did all know her.  Beauty, no longer asleep, had been the best fighter in the Company. Bar none.  Sword, gun, knife, even, I’m ashamed to say, with a whip.  Nobody was better.  But, Beauty was, well … difficult.  Vain (what the fuck were her parents thinking?  Who names their kid Beauty? Although Belle, is a real sweetheart, and apparently her name means beauty too, so who knows), arrogant, not much for orders (taking them, she was fine with giving