All Chapters of The Princess’s Pride: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Ariana's voice trembled unexpectedly. 'Y-Yes. I am.'The stranger's smile widened into a thin line. 'Then prove it. Tell me something that only I would know. A secret.'Ariana's words tumbled out, as if she had been waiting to get them out since she had arrived in the castle. 'You sleep with the window open on rainy nights. You have the blue ribbon from your seventh birthday hidden in the bottom drawer of your study. When sleep will not come at night, you count the horses in the stables of the royal palace, beginning with the black mare that threw you.'A heavy silence followed. Footsteps sounded in the corridor, then quickened and disappeared. The men posted in the antechamber shifted uneasily.The princess's skin had gone ashen, then flame-red with some violent emotion. Her rouged mouth opened in an almost frightened gasp, but then her expression altered, to something colder and more menacing. 'How dare you?'The slap came so fast Ariana's head snapped sideways. Heat bloomed across

A tall, brown-haired man walked into the room and the cell seemed to shrink by half.Ariana looked up. Turquoise eyes, as cold and calculating as an oncoming winter storm, swept over her bruises, and the stool beneath the high window. Navy uniform, black cape draped over one shoulder, gloved hand on a broadsword. The door slammed behind him. "I am Captain Kaleb Orion of the Imperial Guards. I have questions."Ariana scrambled to her feet, her chapped lips tight against the sound of a pained moan escaping her. Not even like this, Ariana would not let a mere guard bully her!"And by whose authority do you have to do that?" Her defiant nature flared in her every word.The long pause that followed her question was, Ariana had to admit, terrifying; only one person ever caused her to feel this...small."Ah. It does seem as if what they say is true. You really are mad."Ariana was glad of the sudden rush of anger heating her cheeks, "You're the mad one! In fact, your whole family is mad! Wha