Page 1 of A Thieving Curse

PROLOGUE

RAELYN SQUEEZED BEHIND the towering suit of armor and through the narrow opening of the door. Only a stripe of light illuminated the little windowless room. “Is the monster big?”

Gareth clapped his hand over her mouth and pushed the stone door closed with a rasp, sealing them in darkness. “Quiet!” he hissed.

She shoved his arm away, and they both pressed their ears against the wall, listening for their pursuer.

“Princess Raelyn! Prince Gareth!” Nurse’s muffled call sounded on the other side. “Please, Your Graces. Where are you? Prince Gareth, Princess Raelyn, you need to come back!” Her voice drifted away as she passed their hiding place.

Gareth burst into laughter. “We’re gonna be in so much trouble.” The sleeve of his loose-fitting tunic brushed against her ear. She heard him feeling around, then atinkrevealed he’d found the lantern. Steel grated against flint.

Light flared to startling brightness as her brother closed the glass door of the lamp in the middle of the otherwise-empty secret chamber. The candlelight cast strange shadows on his chubby face.

Raelyn crossed her legs under her skirt and sat down across from Gareth. The cold of the stone floor pushed through her dress, and the chamber had a damp, musty smell, but they were free there. Free of their tutors, their titles, and to talk about whatever they wanted.

“Tell me now; tell me!” She clapped her hands.

Gareth straightened, his expression serious, especially with his eyes mostly hidden in shadow. “It’s scary,” he warned. “Frederick got in trouble for telling me.”

“I’m not scared.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not a baby. I’m seven.”

Gareth snorted. “Not for three months.”

“So?” She lifted her chin. “You’re only eight.”

“And braver than you.”

“You said you’d tell me the story,” Raelyn whined. “Everyone stops talking about it whenever I’m around. I want to hear about the monster! You promised!”

“All right, all right!” He grew serious again. “Once upon a time—”

“You told me this is a true story.” She slouched. “Not a fairy tale.”

“Yeah, but it’s more fun to start that way. Now shush, or I won’t tell you.”

“You’re mean.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.” She stuck out her tongue. He stuck out his tongue back.

“Do you want to hear the story or not?”

Raelyn covered her mouth and nodded as excitement tingled down her back.

“Once upon a time”—Gareth made his voice sound deep and creepy, which made her giggle—“there lived an evil king and a wicked queen. The queen was a powerful sorceress who ate children for breakfast.”

Raelyn squealed and drew her knees up to her chest. “You’re adding that!”

“Am not. That’s what Fred told me.” Gareth frowned. “Stop interrupting. Anyway, the queen became so villainous, her wickedness poisoned her. She got sick and died. The evil king went crazy with grief. He abandoned his kingdom and wandered away from the palace, never to be seen again…until they found his body eaten by crows.”

She shivered.

“The king and queen left behind a son. The courtiers planned to crown him as king, but a hero knew that the boy was as horrible as his sorceress mother. He confronted the prince.” Gareth leaned forward, so the candlelight made him look even stranger. “Then the young prince grew horns and wings and transformed into a ferocious beast!”

“No!”

Gareth held up his hands like claws and bared his teeth. “Rawr!”

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