Answers
There are eight possible routes
through this book:
1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9
1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9
1,3,4,6,7,9
1,3,4,6,8,9
1,2,5,6,7,9
1,2,5,6,8,9
1,3,5,6,7,9
1,3,5,6,8,9
sneak preview
SLEEPING BEAUTY VAMPIRE SLAYER
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows lining the western-facing wall of the palace’s reception room. On a raised platform at its north end, Queen Catia of Xandra, two months shy of her eighteenth birthday, sat on her throne with her husband, King Stefan. Between them, their baby girl lay asleep in her fur-lined glass cradle.
Since the baby’s birth, the palace staff had worked around the clock to make the room beautiful for the princess’s naming ceremony. Bright tapestries and banners decorated the glistening marble and glass walls. Ribbons of silver and gold hung from the vaulted ceiling, waving and dancing in the light summer breeze blowing in from the open skylights. The royal guard, in their scarlet, gold, and blue uniforms, lined the room—no fewer than ten on the throne platform alone.
Yet the young queen’s shoulders were as tense as a mountain lion ready to pounce. At least there were no vampires, she said to herself.
Diplomacy demanded that the Queen of Xandra entertain the leaders of other kingdoms, but all those assembled could sense the young queen’s discomfort.
The queen turned to her sweet, raven-haired baby girl, who so clearly took after her tall and extravagantly handsome father. Even at this young age, the princess’s cheekbones were sharp, and her jaw defiant. Her big, electric-blue eyes flashed intelligence and mischief from under long, dark lashes and strong brows that commanded attention.
The fairy delegation hovered near the platform, their translucent wings acting like prisms as they passed through beams of sunlight. The fairies would grant a wish for the newborn based on what their queen saw in the child’s future. They’d been known to grant wondrous gifts, but they’d also been known to bestow gifts more akin to a curse.
The fairy queen, the smallest of the group and dressed in a shimmering ice-blue dress, flew forward until she was hovering over the cradle. Holding her hands over the baby’s head, the fairy queen closed her eyes and nodded, seemingly in a trance, and her entire body sparkled even more than it had before.
Suddenly, the fairy queen flew back from the cradle so quickly that a rush of air caught the tendrils of Queen Catia’s hair.
Everyone gasped, and Catia’s eyes widened in fear.
King Stefan leapt from his throne and strode down the steps toward the fairy queen. “What is it? Tell me, what did you see?”
Still hovering in the air, the fairy queen’s body paled to the point where she was nearly translucent, then she laid her hands on his shoulders. “Stefan, King of Xandra, my friend and descendant of my old friends now passed, I see many shadows in your young daughter’s future. Loneliness, darkness, and danger.”
Queen Catia rose, lifted her baby from the cradle, and, holding her tightly, went to stand at her husband’s side. “Darkness? Danger? What do you mean?”
Color had returned to the fairy’s skin and she radiated pale blue.“My young queen, the danger’s source isn’t clear, nor its duration.” She turned to the king.“I was planning to grant this child grace of movement, but I’m changing my gift.” The fairy raised her hands above the baby.
“To symbolize light,” the fairy said, “I grant this baby girl the name Lucette. May this name lead the princess out of the darkness she will encounter.”
Queen Catia pulled the baby back from the fairy queen. “We’re naming her Rose.” Rose, for Catia’s favorite flower. Rose, for the acres of gardens her husband had planted as a wedding gift last year. Rose because it was a beautiful bloom that could also protect and defend itself. Given the name Rose, her daughter would be both beautiful and strong.
King Stefan laid his hand on his wife’s arm. “Darling, Lucette is a lovely name.” He leaned down and whispered, “And it’s not smart to decline a fairy queen’s gift.” Growing up in the country, his young queen had much to learn about other cultures.
The queen opened her mouth to protest, but before she could speak, a shadow fell, as if the sun had been covered by storm clouds, and an icy cold rushed into the room. The king wrapped his arms around his wife and child.
One of the wall-sized windows at the side of the reception hall shattered.
Everyone screamed and ducked as shards of glass burst into the room. Natasha, newly crowned Queen of the Vampires, burst into the room through the broken window. Nearly six feet tall, the vampire queen’s rich red hair flowed and her skin shone as if it were cast from porcelain, providing a stark contrast to the shiny black stone that hung at her throat. Turning toward the royal couple, her yellow-flecked eyes flashed hatred. Crossing the room, Natasha’s hair flowed around her, as if she held the wind at her command.
“But—it’s daytime,” Queen Catia blurted. “How can this vile creature walk in the daylight?”
What the young queen did not know was the black stone at the vampire’s throat was magic and granted its wearer many powers beyond those of a normal vampire. The vampires of Sanguinia had stolen the Stone of Supremacy from the fairies over a thousand years ago.
Queen Natasha stepped forward and the satin of her low-cut red dress swished around her legs, flowing over the floor like pools of blood spreading across the marble. “Handsome as ever, Stefan,” she said to the king.
“Hello, Natasha,” King Stefan said. “I was saddened by the news of Vlad’s death.” King Vladimir had mysteriously died just weeks earlier, many suspected at his own wife’s hands.
“Thank you, Stefan,” the vampire queen said. “I wanted to invite you all to the funeral.” She gestured around the room. “But in deep mourning, I couldn’t bring myself to entertain guests.” The vampire stepped up and leaned in to embrace him and peered over the king’s shoulder toward his young wife. She bared her fangs dangerously close to the king’s neck, but instead of biting, she turned and kissed King Stefan on the mouth. A small cry burst from his young wife, but she remained frozen in fear.
Natasha stepped away from the king and continued to leer at Queen Catia, her eyes filled with hatred.
“Go away!” Catia yelled. “You’re not welcome here! You weren’t invited!”
King Stefan spun toward his wife. “Catia?” The king’s shock and hurt were obvious in his voice and expression, for his wife had lied and claimed the vampire delegation from Sanguinia had declined to attend, when in fact she’d burned their invitations.
“Please accept my apology, Natasha,” King Stefan said. “I’m sure it was an oversight.” He looked at his wife with pain in his eyes, then turned back to the vampire and continued, “But how fortuitous you arrived before the naming ceremony. We were just about to begin.”
“Lovely.” Queen Natasha smiled and her fangs showed between blood red lips. “But not before I offer my gift.”
“No need for a gift,” the king said, his voice strong and deep. “Especially not after your invitation failed to arrive.”
“Do you think me that petty?” the vampire queen asked.“It is tradition for all reigning monarchs to offer gifts to new members of the other royal families.”
“You are most gracious,” King Stefan said.
The young queen tensed, because she knew that the vampire queen was not gracious at all. More like vengeful and desperate for power.
Many believed Queen Natasha had killed her husband for his power, and that she wouldn’t stop there. They believed the newly crowed vampire queen coveted the kingdom of Xandra’s gem-rich mines, its fertile farmland, its vast coastline, its fine fleet of ships. Her quest for power would not stop at controlling Sanguinia, the land of the vampires, she wanted to rule over the humans, too.
“What are you naming the child?” the vampire queen asked.
“Rose,” Queen Catia blurted before her husband could speak.
“What a fitting name.” Natasha stepped back and her skirts swirled around her. “A flower with fangs. I like that. Now, if you will hand me the babe”—she bared her fangs—“I will bestow my gift.”
“Never!” Queen Catia retreated, hugging the baby to her chest. “I will never let you touch my child.”
Natasha snatched the baby from the young queen’s arms, and leapt to the empty orchestra balcony, high above the room. The assembled crowd screamed in shock and dismay.
The iron- and protein-rich vampire diet made vampires notoriously strong, but none had seen one jump so high.
“Get her!” Queen Catia screamed. “Someone! Save my baby!” The guards raced for the stairs.
Stefan stepped forward and called up.“Natasha, what are you doing? Please don’t hurt my daughter.”
“Hurt her?” The vampire queen held the child high above her head, and a stream of sunlight burst through the darkness and struck the babe. “Nonsense. I’m only offering my gift.”
She set the baby down on a planter of flowers on the balcony railing, then addressed the crowd. “ To punish her rude mother, this child’s blood will bring a curse upon the Kingdom of Xandra.”
The entire room gasped, knowing such words might lead to war between Sanguinia and Xandra, after so many centuries of peace—so many years during which the necks of the Xandrans had not been at risk of vampire bites.
“Here is my gift.” Natasha glared down at the assembled crowd of royalty and other dignitaries.“One day the princess will prick her finger, and the instant her blood is shed, she shall never again wake while the sun is in the sky. Every morning, as the sun breaks above the horizon, the princess will fall into a deep sleep, waking only as night falls.” The vampire queen smiled. “And every other citizen of Xandra will suffer the opposite fate. They will fall asleep each night at dusk, leaving the princess alone in the darkness.”
The vampire queen picked up the princess, and Queen Catia screamed, “Save my baby.” The guards reached the balcony, but the vampire queen leaped onto the railing, balancing on the toes of her black stilettos.
She expelled a cackle that filled the room and shook the crystal chandeliers. “This child and the people of Xandra will pay for their young queen’s rudeness and deceit!” She licked her lips, flew into the air, and vanished.
Sunlight once again streamed through the windows, and everyone shaded their eyes against the sudden onslaught of brightness.
“My baby!” Queen Catia ran toward the window as soon as she could squint her eyes open. “She’s taken my baby!”
“No, she’s here!” King Stefan yelled.
The queen turned to see her husband standing next to the cradle between their thrones. When he picked up the child, her little hand poked out from her blanket and her tiny fingers wiggled.
Queen Catia ran to join her husband and fell into his arms. “I’ve changed my mind,” she cried.“Our daughter will need all the light in her life we can offer. Let’s accept the fairies’ gift and name her Lucette.”