twelvewstars

Gifted a candle that was said to make wishes come true, Alice Clemente burned it to find herself awake in a different world. She had wished for a life of adventure away from the city and its routine. With her wish granted, she was no longer in the 21st century and was instead lost in the middle of the Kingdom of Gladiolum, a place reminiscent of the 1800s.

With luck, she soon gained connections to the rich and powerful of this new world— the nobility. However, how much of it was good and how much of it would eventually be detrimental? After all, mingling with royals not only meant extravagance and daily parties. It also meant warfare and death. 

Caught in the middle of the two princes and other nobles, Alice would soon have to face the battle between those two royal brothers― a fight for the throne.

She had wished for adventure, after all, and she received just as such.

Kept in the center of all this, would Alice be able to emerge from the rabbit hole unscathed? Or will the overwhelming troubles of love and war be too much for her to bear?


***

“And what if you, too, are unable to help?” Alice threw the question back. “What if helping would risk everything?”

Spade didn’t miss a beat.

“You are everything.”

“Don’t say things that you don’t mean,” Alice chided. “You’ll leave a trail of broken hearts.”

“And would you believe me if I say that I have no intention of breaking yours?” Spade countered. “However, mine is yours to play with. Shatter it, fix it, do anything you desire. As long as it feels the warmth of your hand, I am content.”

***

Image used in cover not mine.

A Courtyard of Roses

DOCTOR BROWN, ALICE soon came to find out, was a young man who couldn't have been older than maybe twenty-five. He looked scholarly and kind, with glasses set on his nose and soft features that almost made him look feminine.

However, in the event where he was called in for Cedar's health, he looked anything but soft. His eyebrows were twisted into a tight furrow as he stumbled into Cedar's room, the door snapping open sharply as everyone turned to look at him.

"Where is he?" he asked, wasting not even a second for niceties.

"Here," Rose said, standing to her feet and backing away so that Doctor Brown was allowed space to work on Cedar.

The frail boy lay on the bed, breathing raggedly through his mouth as he frowned even in his sleep. Shortly after he had coughed up blood, Cedar had gone unconscious. It took Alice and Rose every bit of strength they had to pull him back to the cabin.

The Withering