Beast in Shining Armor (A Kinda Fairy Tale Book 2) by Cassandra Gannon

Author:Cassandra Gannon [Gannon, Cassandra]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Star Turtle Publishing
Published: 2013-08-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

His parents knew Avenant was Bad all the way through.

It was why they detested the very sight of him.

Many nights I was dragged from the cupboard and lit up, so his mother could read to him about his ancestors.

She hoped that if he heard about the royal line, he’d try to live up to their example.

Or at least not to be such a total disgrace.

Testimony of the Palace’s Talking Candlestick- The People of the Northlands v. Prince Avenant

Five Years Ago

“The woman is making a goddamn fool of you!” Vincent, Prince of the Northlands threw the newspaper at his son and heir. “She outsmarts you at every fucking turn and you do nothing to stop her. How do you think that makes us look?”

Avenant didn’t even bother to duck as the day’s headlines rained down. He could read them as they drifted around him, the typeface three inches tall:

Belle Bests Beast!

She’d singlehandedly stopped Avenant from strip mining the Great North Mountains. Her environmental appeals and legal tactics had scuttled the project for good. Millions in gold would be lost so that Belle could protect the homeland of some rabbits and owls. The minerals would stay trapped beneath the rocks, the wildlife would frolic, and Belle would win.

And his father would kill him.

Avenant eyed Vincent, prepared for a fight. His father was the one who’d wanted the mining deal to go through, even though he’d made sure Avenant was the face of the project. He might despise the fact that his only child was Bad, but he knew how to use it to his advantage. All the family’s unpopular actions were blamed on Avenant. Strong-arming uncooperative teddy bear shop owners… Jailing people for picking the royal roses… Seizing orphanages so the land could be used for lucrative property deals… Everything that would necessitate threats or extortion or heartless greed. Vincent liked to keep his hands clean with the citizens, wearing a façade of princely nobility.

But, within the castle walls, the mask fell and he was free to be his cruel self.

“Were you even trying to defeat her or were you thinking with your cock, again?” He demanded nastily.

“I was trying.” Avenant said. Belle had just out-maneuvered him. “I didn’t anticipate her getting the funding for those ridiculous commercials with the crying chipmunks.”

The public hadn’t liked the idea of making the chubby little rodents extinct. Especially not when Belle got done editing videos of the fuzzy bastards frolicking to mournful music. Then, she showed some photos of what their homes would look like after the bulldozers came through and rows of little chipmunk graves and hearts broke throughout the land.

The woman played hardball.

“You’re an impotent moron.” Vincent leaned forward in the Icen Throne, looking so much like his son that Avenant hated his own reflection. “That girl is laughing at you. The whole kingdom is laughing at you. And you stand there like the failure you are.”

Avenant didn’t respond to the insults. He was used to his father’s hatred and scorn. It had been heaped on him every day of his life.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.