Short Story Writing Contest: Winning Story

Tags

Fantasy, Self Published Book, Writing Contest

The Kiss of High Treason

Chosen writing prompt: Knight

To this day, words still whispered of the dark place concealed in the enchanted forest and the ancient secrets contained inside. Ariella had spent hours penetrating the thicket of oaks and silver birches hoping to uncover her one true desire. She knew the consequences for sneaking out so late unattended, but her rebellious streak overruled her ability to obey. They were always trying to control her. Training they called it. Soon, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Soon, all that would be a thing of the past.

Retracting her cloak’s hood, Ariella’s mouth fell as she beheld the rainbow of stained glass adorning the stone archway. She identified where to go once she’d passed through the lofty entrance and with grace slinked up the steep, crumbling stairs. Her skirt suspended above her ankles and she trod with vigilant footsteps. The charcoal organza of her dress fluttered in the breeze haunting the forgotten castle, her flowing black ringlets dancing against the current.
Ariella held her breath as she entered the decaying tomb. At first, she was sure dust pulsated through the air, but when she looked a little closer she couldn’t help but smile at the tiny glistening orbs.

“Fairy dust…” she whispered.

The knight’s armour, much to her surprise, was as refined as the day it was crafted, intricate swirls highlighting his large frame. Her reflection was a crystal replica of herself, the moonlight enhancing her charming face. With a delicate hand, she lifted the knight’s visor on his helm. He wasn’t the ogre the legends claimed, instead possessing a strong jaw line, pert nose and roguish smile. He didn’t have an endless white beard, yellow skin or pointed teeth and Ariella thought him rather handsome. A fine suitor for someone as highborn as herself.

Her soft, unkissed lips pressed against the knight’s rugged mouth. The deed was pleasanter than she’d imagined, sending her heart into a flurry. His eyelids unfastened like a moth’s wings, heavy with age to unveil his steely blue eyes.

“I thought I would nev’r wake again,” he said with a froggish voice, rusted and stiff. “Thou has’t rescued me from an eternity of slumber.”

Ariella perched herself on his stony bed, tossing her hair over one shoulder.

“How many years hast I slept under this curse?”

“Almost a thousand years,” she teased a curl of his golden hair away from his face. “Only royal blood can break the spell.”

“Royal blood?” The knight seized her tiny wrist, yanking her hand close to his chest as he sat upright. “Don’t thee knoweth wherefore I wast sentenced?”

“Of course,” Ariella rolled her emerald eyes and edged nearer, placing her free hand upon his metallic shoulder. “I’m a princess so I grew up hearing all the myths about you.”

“So wherefore art thou hither?”

“Why else?” A smirk crept on her pale face as she caressed his corroded sword lying beside him. She would have to work on his language, too old worldly and outdated for her taste. “You were cursed for treason, assassinating the ones you were sworn to protect. I want you to finish your mission that was corrupted all those years ago. I’m the next heir to the throne. Kill my parents, and I will make you my king.”

By K. A. Angeliss, author of “The Butterfly Project”

How much do you really trust your government?

Kwan is a political prisoner at Camp 22, Aradia is a mental patient at Serbsy Centre and the twins 164XY and 626XY are a product of a lab. They are all property of their governments to experiment on at will, hidden away from the public’s eye.

After years of her emotions being repressed Aradia begins dreaming again, against the Doctors’ knowledge. Suddenly the impossible seems imaginable and revolution is imminent.

Project Butterfly is the first installation of a series based on actual experiments on the human mind: A tale of horror, the supernatural, human nature and rebellion.

Bio: K. A. Angliss is a new author of the sci-fi genre choosing self-publishing over traditional methods of publication, not wanting to give up artistic authority and enjoys being more ‘hands on’ in all aspects of her work.

Angliss has always had a passion for reading and writing but it was only in her mid-twenties that she found her own defining writing style and the confidence to get her ideas down onto paper.

“Project Butterfly” is based on actual experiments on the human mind, a subject that has greatly affected K. A. Angliss when discovering information on past human experiments throughout the world which inspired her to write.  It was a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards.

 The second installment to this, “Project Mayhem”  was released May 2015. Angliss is currently writing the third in the series which is expected to be released in 2016.

She lives in Essex with her partner, daughter, dog and three rabbits.

Want to know more about this author and her work? Explore her website here