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    Stolen Legacy
    Stolen Legacy
    Stolen Legacy
    Ebook45 pages38 minutes

    Stolen Legacy

    By Cathleen Townsend

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Being different can be dangerous.

    Falada is a kelpie, hated and feared because she can change shape.

    Only Jentelle has looked past Falada’s outward appearance to see the person within. And now Jentelle must marry the prince of the neighboring kingdom to forge an alliance against invasion from the south.

    But no one in their new home can find out that Jentelle is part siren. In horse shape, Falada accompanies her friend because if anyone discovers the truth about either of them, they could lose more than an alliance.

    Many humans kill what they don’t understand.

    ***

    Note to readers: This is a novelette, not a full-length novel.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCathleen Townsend
    Release dateDec 6, 2018
    ISBN9780463295625
    Stolen Legacy
    Author

    Cathleen Townsend

    Cathleen Townsend discovered fairy tales as a child and never outgrew them. She lives in California gold country with her husband and two dogs, as well as a horse who’s firmly convinced that he’s the real top dog and a cat who’s sure he can take on any dog, anytime. Cathleen can be contacted at cathleentownsend.com, and she tweets @CathleenTowns.

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      Book preview

      Stolen Legacy - Cathleen Townsend

      Stolen Legacy

      CATHLEEN TOWNSEND

      Copyright © 2017 Cathleen Townsend

      All rights reserved.

      Published by Phoenix Flight Press

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      Cover art by Cathleen Townsend, font by Deranged Doctor Design.

      This one’s for Julia.

      Acknowledgments

      I’d like to thank my fabulous beta friends who gave so generously of their time and talents. They helped make this story far better than it would have otherwise been. Amphora Graye, Alisa Simonoff-Smith, Anna Kander, Jessica Bakkers, Judy Helfrich, Aaron Perry, Diana Wallace Peach, and Todd Strube—you are all terrific!

      Contents

      Stolen Legacy

      Golden Key excerpt

      About the Author

      Other Books by Cathleen Townsend

      Stolen Legacy

      We kick off from the river bottom, and the brilliant ring of light above our heads grows brighter as we emerge, gulping our first air in over an hour. I cast a quick glance at the ferns lining the riverbank—we are still alone. The castle is safely out of view, hidden by a turn of the river and a willow grove.

      Ah, that was fun, Jentelle says, finger-combing her blonde hair back from her eyes.

      I push my hair back as well, dark to her light. We are unalike in so many ways, but when we play in the river, none of it matters. Shall we go riding to dry off? It will help avoid the courtiers’ questions.

      Jentelle laughs. We won’t let anyone catch us until we’re quite ready for them, will we, Falada?

      She should never have been born a princess. Her mother’s court has been kind to her, but what will it be like when she is married to her prince? Royal blood is no guarantee of virtue, despite all their words to the contrary. Will they value her independent spirit or try to take it from her? Would they slay her if they knew she is different from them?

      You should have been born a full siren, I murmur as I clamber onto the bank and drop to all fours. Jentelle stands watch while I shift—anyone else would see me as a threat. I groan as my bones lengthen and my joints settle into place. My body shakes itself into another form, that of a black mare. After a certain point, there’s an inevitability to the change. Stopping it would be like trying to stifle a whole-body sneeze.

      When the change is finished I nod, and Jentelle leaps onto my back with a cry of joy. We race past the pavilion of courtiers nibbling succulent morsels and sipping wine from ornate goblets. Princess, wait, one of them calls, but we gallop past, my hooves hammering a litany of disdain for their mounts. No horse ever foaled can catch a kelpie.

      We race past the castle gates, the frowning iron and wood just another cage to fence my friend in. We keep to the road, and Jentelle’s people know to stand aside as my hooves

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