One Kiss Read online

  Table of Contents

  Once upon a time

  I. In Which Our Hero Confronts Fairy Godmother

  II. In Which Our Hero Meets an Impertinent Maid

  III. In Which Our Hero Spies on the Maid

  IV. In Which Our Hero Gives the First Golden Ball to the Princess

  V. In Which Our Hero Comes to the Maid’s Rescue

  VI. In Which Our Hero Is Betrayed

  VII. In Which the Villain Gets the Princess

  VIII. In Which the Hero Wins the Woman of Worth

  …and they lived

  Thank You

  Author’s Note

  Excerpt: A Happily Ever After of Her Own

  Acknowledgments

  Other Works by Nadia Lee

  About Nadia Lee

  Stay Connected with Nadia Lee

  Copyright

  ONE KISS

  He is a legend…

  Robert is a royal prince cursed into his current predicament: remain a frog until he can get someone to kiss him…willingly. After years of searching, he finally finds a suitable royal princess.

  She is but a humble maid…

  Practical maid to the royal princess, Molly promises to help Robert in return for gold enough to fund her retirement. She doesn’t want to waste her youth waiting on someone as capricious and shallow as the princess, instead of living her life.

  But love knows no boundaries…

  Unexpected problems unravel Robert’s plan. The princess thinks frogs are disgusting, and his evil cousin shows up to steal both the princess and the throne that rightfully belongs to Robert. To compound matters, all he can think about is the quick-witted Molly.

  But to undo the curse and inherit the throne, Robert must have a kiss from a royal princess and marry her.

  What’s a cursed prince to do?

  Warning: This title contains the following: Fairy Godmother, a killer punt, porcupines of evil, the Wicked Witch’s justice and a happily ever after (or two).

  ONE KISS

  Nadia Lee

  Ever After Book 2

  Once upon a time there was a proud—and somewhat misguided—prince…

  I. In Which Our Hero Confronts Fairy Godmother

  “Move aside! I demand to see Fairy Godmother now!”

  “She’s busy, Your Royal Highness,” the uniformed porcupine said, shield and swagger stick held tightly before his body.

  Robert narrowed his eyes. He wanted to hiss as well, but unfortunately it was impossible. “Why, pray tell, is she always busy whenever I come by?”

  “Maybe you should work on your timing. Or make an appointment with her assistant before showing up.”

  The porcupine’s partner pressed his lips together, and his quills quivered a bit.

  Funny, was it?

  Robert’s throat swelled before he could catch himself. Damn frog habits. “I don’t care how bad the timing is. I must see her now!”

  “Fairy Godmother is currently busy. You will have to wait.”

  Robert stiffened at the impertinent tone. If he’d been in his true form, no porcupine would’ve dared speak to him so. Who could possibly respect him, regardless of his royal title and impeccable lineage, if he looked like a frog? If being cursed was his fate, why couldn’t he at least have been a respectable lion or tiger? Even a giant octopus would’ve been preferable.

  Well, it didn’t matter what the damnable guard-rodent said. Robert was going in as soon as the door opened. If there was one thing his current insufferable condition allowed him to do well, it was jump.

  The door opened. A perfumed silk skirt brushed past him as Fairy Godmother’s visitor left. He leapt, clearing the guards in a single herculean bound, and landed inside.

  The spacious room had multiple windows and bookcases full of leather-jacketed tomes. He spotted Fairy Godmother on a love seat. Her loose curls tumbled over her shoulders, and her dress looked brilliantly colorless in the sun. Two half-eaten sandwiches and a pair of tea-cups sat on a silver tray on the low table in front of her. Two more leaps and he was in front of her.

  “Fairy Godmother!” he shouted.

  She looked down. “Why hello, Robert. How are you?”

  The impudent porcupines rushed inside. “Fairy Godmother, we’re so sorry. We couldn’t stop him from trespassing—”

  “I did not trespass!” Robert said. “I never trespass. I am a prince. A royal” —he adjusted his crown pointedly— “prince.”

  “Yeah yeah.” The guards closed in. “You and a million other cursed things.”

  “Stop.” Fairy Godmother rearranged the pleats of her dress, shifting her legs. “Obviously Robert has something urgent to tell me. I shall hear what he has to say.”

  “Thank you.” Robert turned to the porcupines with no small satisfaction. “This is a private matter, so kindly take your quills and leave.”

  The porcupines bristled, but when Fairy Godmother waved her hand, they left. The door shut behind them, giving Robert the privacy he sought.

  Finally.

  “What is it, Robert?” she said. “I have a tight schedule today.”

  “It’s about my condition.”

  “What about it?”

  “When are you going to give me a princess?”

  She frowned. “I thought you already had somebody to undo your curse.”

  “I do not.”

  “What happened to Beauty?”

  “She’s a commoner,” he said, hopping in agitation. Egad, it was horrific; he couldn’t even pace like a dignified royal in distress. Once he regained his true form, would he even remember how? “A commoner simply won’t do. I’m a royal prince.”

  “I don’t recall the curse requiring anyone specific…”

  “It does! It has to be a woman of worth.” One who would willingly kiss him. But he could never speak about it openly with anybody except Fairy Godmother and her sister the Wicked Witch. It was part of the damned curse.

  Fairy Godmother pursed her lips and frowned delicately. “What’s unworthy about Beauty?”

  “I repeat, I am a royal prince. Beauty is a commoner. The Wicked Witch was quite specific.”

  “Robert. I believe she merely implied you should get yourself a princess.”

  “I’d rather not muck this up.” The Wicked Witch had said he’d get only one chance to undo the curse. If he got kissed by the wrong woman, he would never regain his true form. He scowled. “You must have a princess available.”

  She shrugged. “I really can’t think of any.”

  “How about Gwyneira?”

  “Oh. Well.” She cleared her throat. “No. She’s already promised to another.”

  “‘Another’ can have her. I need only a kiss.”

  “No, she can’t help you. She has to think of herself first.”

  “I can take care of her.”

  Fairy Godmother shook her head, setting the golden curls bouncing with precious elastic vigor. “You’ll only make things worse in your current condition,” she said sweetly. “There’s no antidote for poison made with cursed frogs.”

  Robert scowled in frustration. He had no idea what she was talking about. “Poison? What poison? What does this have to do with Gwyneira and me?”

  “Apparently, her stepmother wants to kill her because some silly mirror said Gwyneira is the fairest of them all. The queen has the reputation of being rather fond of poisons, and you would make the most perfect ingredient for one.”

  “Well we needn’t tell the queen…”

  “But if she found out.”

  “I’m very difficult to catch.”

  “True, but still. What if she has a net?”

  He focused on his goal. “Besides, I have been given to understand that her betrothed no longer wants her. I can destroy the stepmother an
d claim Gwyneira as my own.”

  “Dear child, you are misinformed. What man wouldn’t want the fairest of them all for his bride?”

  Hmm. Fairy Godmother had a point. Perhaps his sources were wrong. “Very well. But I still want a princess. She doesn’t have to be the fairest of them all, but she still needs to be gorgeous, royal and impeccably educated.” Suddenly he stopped, as an idea popped into his head. “Aha! Sleeping Beauty!”

  The gilded tresses sprang sadly back and forth. “Best not to even think of it. If you try, you’ll not only remain a frog but acquire her curse as well. Do you really wish to become Sleeping Frog?” Fairy Godmother scrunched her face prettily. “My sister really thought this one through.”

  It seemed so. Why couldn’t he have been one of the first few the Wicked Witch had hexed? Like the Beast? That one had been easy to break.

  “Well, what do you suggest I do?” he asked testily.

  Fairy Godmother shrugged. “Convince Beauty to kiss you. She’s better than no one.”

  “No. It must be a royal princess. I’m going to inherit soon, and whoever undoes my curse will want to become my queen. I can’t possibly marry a commoner.”

  “Commoners aren’t so bad,” she said. “They’re rather sturdy, and infinitely less inbred.”

  “Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said, Fairy Godmother? I’m going to be a king.”

  “I heard you. You’re worried about losing out to John.”

  Robert’s throat swelled uncontrollably at the mention of his ambitious cousin. That insufferable pretender should’ve been the one cursed, not he. But the Wicked Witch didn’t care about bloodlines, just who could suck up the best, and if there was one thing John did better than anyone, it was sucking up.

  Fairy Godmother sighed. “If you absolutely must have a princess, why not try Serenia? She isn’t promised to anybody, and she is unquestionably royal.”

  Finally! He knew she’d had a princess in reserve. “Thank you,” he said grudgingly. Though Fairy Godmother had been reluctant to divulge this option, he couldn’t afford to alienate her.

  “But Robert, the curse never stipulated a member of a royal family.”

  “Be that as it may,” he said. “It would please the Wicked Witch no end if I wound up with some lowborn wench, and I have no intention of making her happy.” Difficult to bow when one’s head was already so close to the floor, so Robert had no choice but to perform a sort of push-up of obeisance. How undignified. Still, courtly manners dictated the gesture. “I won’t take up any more of your time, Fairy Godmother. I have a princess to woo.”

  II. In Which Our Hero Meets an Impertinent Maid

  Molly held a giant tri-colored parasol, balancing it carefully. Princess Serenia was particular about her complexion, and it somehow fell to Molly to keep it pristine.

  If the princess was that concerned, she should’ve stayed indoors. But no. She wanted the exercise, a leisurely walk through the royal garden late every morning, to ensure that she remained fit and trim. How moving at a pace even the slowest snail could match improved her constitution, Molly did not know. But anything brisker might have made the princess sweat, and heaven forbid she should perspire like a common farmhand.

  “Hold it straighter,” Princess Serenia ordered. “I’ll have your head if I get even a hint of freckles on my face.”

  Molly gritted her teeth, while pulling her lips away in what she hoped was a subservient smile. “Yes, Your Royal Highness.” She adjusted the parasol. Her shoulders protested, the muscles burning.

  “I know people don’t always understand what it’s like to be me…the princess, I mean.”

  “Naturally not, Your Royal Highness.” Most people didn’t have servants who waited on them, more food than they could possibly eat, or rooms full of silk and jewels. No, most people toiled away every day, from sunup to sundown, providing for themselves and the families that depended on them. “How could they possibly understand the hardship of being a royal princess?”

  “Exactly! I wish…” Serenia frowned, looking down in a good imitation of thoughtfulness. It was something she did often, but Molly had never heard her utter a single insightful comment. “It’s too bad Prince John couldn’t join us.”

  “He is tired from his travels.”

  “Yes. He did say that.” The princess’s scowl deepened.

  With an inward sigh, Molly made a mental note to slather more facial butter on Princess Serenia’s forehead. Preventing wrinkles was Molly’s responsibility as well.

  They had walked a bit further when suddenly Princess Serenia let out a piercing scream.

  Molly winced. “Your Royal Highness?”

  “Oh my, my! Oh my!” Princess Serenia hopped about, the trio of pink ribbons in her hair bouncing madly.

  Molly shuffled back and forth quickly to ensure the parasol kept the sun off the princess. “What’s the matter?”

  “A giant frog!” The princess grabbed Molly’s wrist and moved over to a tree away from the spot. “Kill it. You must kill it!”

  “Your Royal Highness, what about your complexion?” Molly was rather fond of her head.

  “Well…” Princess Serenia sighed, as though making a deeply distressing decision that could change the course of history. “This tree will shade me, so I think you can go. Crush that vile frog dead, then throw it away. I don’t want to see it ever again.”

  “I understand.”

  “Make sure not to leave any disgusting frog blood either. Or…body bits.” Princess Serenia put a dainty hand to her mouth. “Oh, I do believe I’m going to throw up.”

  “Please don’t.” The last duty she needed was getting stains out of the princess’s favorite pink dress. Keeping her garments pristine too was Molly’s responsibility.

  As a matter of fact, everything was Molly’s responsibility. And she had to do all of it well to earn the meager wage Princess Serenia deigned to pay each month. Otherwise Molly would lose her small cottage outside the city, and her mother would starve.

  Molly ran toward the spot where the princess had seen this “giant frog.” She looked around, not seeing anything unusual. Had it run away already? If she were the frog, she would’ve fled the second the princess began screeching.

  Something caught her peripheral vision. She turned and saw a green frog resting on a rock.

  She sighed. Given the princess’s hysteria, she’d thought it would be a large and ugly toad. But this frog was small enough to sit on her palm, and it wasn’t even of the poisonous variety. Stomping on it would constitute nothing more than cruelty, and Molly didn’t want to be mean to the frog. It wasn’t the poor thing’s fault Princess Serenia hated amphibians.

  “You, help me!”

  Molly blinked and looked around, wondering where the sudden and imperious male voice had come from. It was baritone, dark and rich. Definitely not anybody she was familiar with. She knew all the voices of the high lords and their sycophants. None of them had one this authoritative…or alluring.

  “Down here!”

  She dropped her gaze. The frog hopped twice. She leaned closer and saw a small golden crown perched on its head.

  Hmm. Most unusual.

  A hazy outline formed around the frog. She narrowed her eyes and focused. Ah there. A man’s shape. A handsome face with a sharply carved nose and cheekbones. A plump sensual mouth that softened the harshness of a strong jaw. And dark brown eyes that reminded her of a caramel and chocolate treat she’d once purloined from Princess Serenia’s many coffers of candy. It had tasted exquisite.

  But not as much as this frog’s beautiful human face.

  Molly straightened. Beautiful or not, he was clearly some cursed thing. Not her problem. The world was full of hexed men and women, and she wasn’t the sort to undo spells. She was far too practical—and not pretty or highborn enough—for that kind of thing.

  She picked him up and looked behind her. Princess Serenia was still under the tree, her face turned away.

  Molly drew
her arm back, aiming for the field beyond the large pine tree. The frog would fly over the wall and land on a soft grassy area on the other side. It might stun him, but it wouldn’t kill him.

  “No! No!” the frog yelled. “Help me and I’ll reward you.”

  “That’s what they all say,” she muttered.

  “I am not ‘they,’ whoever ‘they’ are. I am rich and will give you many gold coins.”

  She put her face close to his. “You’re just a frog.” One who apparently had been foolish enough to anger the Wicked Witch. Everyone knew not to cross Fairy Godmother’s sister. “Where are you going to get these coins?”

  “I am not just a frog.” He made a face. The eyes were rather expressive. What had he done to earn the Wicked Witch’s displeasure? “I am a royal prince, and I have the money and treasures commensurate with my rank.”

  She gazed at him skeptically. “‘Commensurate’, is it? The highborn do like their flowery words. But pray be a bit more precise for this poor country girl.”

  “A hundred gold coins!”

  Her mouth formed an O on its own volition. A hundred? This frog was desperate. She might have taken him up on it, if it weren’t for what had happened earlier with Prince John.

  “A thousand,” she countered.

  “A thousand?!”

  “If it’s not even worth a thousand gold coins to you, it can’t be that important.” She pulled her arm back again.

  “Very well! A thousand it is.”

  “And you’re to pay me half now and the rest after one week. I’ll not play your errand girl for life.”

  “That’s outlandish! How do I know you aren’t going to run away with my money without fulfilling your end of the deal?”