a little too much like me, but there was something in her eyes, an innocent and knowing quality that reminded me of Owen.
"You could sleep now, you know," Cress said as Cosmo chatted softly with Dahlia.
"I know. I think I get as much comfort from listening as she does," I admitted with a sheepish smile.
"I'm getting partial to storytime as well," Wendell admitted, settling down on Thao's other side, slouching into the bench and resting his head on our prince's chest.
"Once upon a time, there was a princess in a beautiful castle at the edge of the sea," Cosmo murmured. Owen moved from the bed to sit behind me, Daniel and Cress moving in to join us all. "She had a pretty room and a pretty garden, but she was all alone, so she made friends with the characters in the books she read."
"Oh, not that one," I gasped, realizing Cosmo was telling my own story.
"It has a happy ending," he teased, smiling at me as Dahlia reached up to slap his chin for more.
"It has the best ending, but parts of it are too…" Painful, I thought, Camellia's face in my mind. Emory's too. Daniel's as I left him on the floor of his office. Aric's as he turned away from me in the orchard, eyes flashing with anger. His hand squeezed mine now, and I sighed, falling back into the moment with my family.
"Mm. Fine then," Cosmo said with a nod, closing his eyes to think. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little princess, born in a castle by the sea, to the most wise and powerful and fair queen in the world, and seven very loving and lucky fathers."
"Bryony doesn't approve of this one either," Thao said, nudging my cheek as tears coursed down.
"If she has a story, it means she'll face trials," I sniffled.
Cosmo chuckled and tilted his head at me. "Muse, we all face trials."
"She's so little!" I cried.
"I think it's time for our wife to be taken to bed," Aric said, stifling his own laugh as I scowled at him.
"She'll have us," Owen said to me. "We'll face her trials with her until she can slay them herself."
"It was always going to have a happy ending, little muse," Cosmo promised me. "One every bit as beautiful as our own."
I sighed and closed my eyes. I was a little hormonal lately, and it was only a story after all. "Very well. Continue."
"Start from the beginning again," Daniel said.
"Once upon a time, there was a princess…"
The End.
Also by Kathryn Moon
COMPLETE READS
The Librarian’s Coven Series
Written - Book 1
Warriors - Book 2
Scrivens - Book 3
Ancients - Book 4
Summerland Series
Summerland Stories, the complete collection plus bonus content
Standalones
Good Deeds
Command The Moon
Say Your Prayers - co-write with Crystal Ash
The Sweetverse
Baby + the Late Night Howlers
Lola & the Millionaires - Part One
Lola & the Millionaires - Part Two
Sol & Lune
Book 1
Book 2
Inheritance of Hunger Trilogy
The Queen’s Line
The Princess’s Chosen
The Kingdom’s Crown
SERIES IN PROGRESS
Sweet Pea Mysteries
The Baker’s Guide To Risky Rituals
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my author world, full of incredible friends and encouraging readers and outstanding authors. I’m so lucky to be a part of the microcosm I’ve found and so grateful for the hundreds and thousands of amazing women making it richer with every word!
Now specifically onto the people who keep me on track and in the best possible shape-
Gorgeous cover compliments to Covers by Combs for the exquisite work on the cover!
Proof-reading amazingness thanks to Bookish Dreams Editing!
My alphas - Desiree and Momma Moon for helping me organize my thoughts and see this to the bittersweet end!
My beta babes who absolutely devoured and protected this story; Jami, Ash, Kathryn, and Helen - thank you so much for all of your input and for helping to shape my stories!
My author pack - most notably my babes Lana, Chloe, Aleera and Crystal
And thank you, lovely reader, for taking this journey with me, Bryony, and her Chosen. I hope this happily ever after sees you satisfied!
About the Author
Kathryn Moon is a country mouse who started dictating stories to her mother at an early age. The fascination with building new worlds and discovering the lives of the characters who grew in her head never faltered, and she graduated college with a fiction writing degree. She loves writing women who are strong in their vulnerability, romances that are as affectionate as they are challenging, and worlds that a reader sinks into and never wants to leave. When her hands aren't busy typing they're probably knitting sweaters or crimping pie crust in Ohio. She definitely believes in magic.
You can reach her on Facebook and at ohkathrynmoon@gmail.com or you can sign up for her newsletter!