Fifty Shades of Sleeping Beauty by Lotte Harding Read Free Book Online Page B

herself - she doesn't need any help from me."
    There was a gasp at this, and Magnus's face became as hard as stone. He began to move towards Bellatrix but she raised her hand and stared at him, a look of steel in her eyes.
    "Don't threaten me, pup. I'm the one who held off the emperor's army, don't forget." Everyone paused at this (Isis and Serena considering their own corrections to this interpretation) when suddenly Bellatrix smiled. It was like a shark considering her prey.
    "I jest with you, Prince Magnus. I am simply here to celebrate the birth of your beautiful daughter. I am sure that she will be the one who truly justifies the epithet, 'the fairest'." At this, she raised her goblet of wine and gestured a toast towards the young baby.
    Magnus, obviously discomforted, sat down and joined the rest of the family in an awkward toast. Serena was seething with rage but held her temper. The high table's jollity evaporated for a while and they ate in silence, though after a while the royal family and two sisters began to converse once more. Bellatrix said nothing and none of the others were sure how to speak to her.
    "And now, it is the custom of bestowing gifts on Princess Talia," King Roland announced. "We had thought we would begin with the sister of our beloved daughter, Lady Serena." He began to sit down but the queen tugged on his sleeve and whispered in his ear. Red faced, the king stood up again and added: "I meant sisters, of course, if Lady Bellatrix would also be so kind."
    Bellatrix gave a hard smile at this but nodded her head courteously. "I would be glad to, your Highness. You may have forgotten to give me a present, but I won't hold a grudge. But please, Serena, you go first: that's the way these things usually happen, isn't it?"
    Ignoring the jibe, Serena turned her full attention to Isis, Magnus and little Talia. "A gift from a witch has to be something special, don't you think? With a father and mother such as Talia has, I'm sure she will be the most beautiful woman in the land, the fairest of us all." She stared hard at Bellatrix as she said this. "But my gift is to ensure this is the case, my gift to young Talia is a grace and beauty that will be irresistible to all. She will be indeed the fairest woman that all of Nysa has ever seen."
    The crowd in the hall broke into spontaneous applause at this, and the king and queen smiled benevolently on Serena, as did Isis and Magnus. Even Talia, young as she was, seemed to recognise the joy in the room, gurgling in her mother's arms as the applause continued for several minutes. Only Bellatrix scowled.
    When the clapping and cheering had ceased, however, she controlled her expression. "Just like you, sister, always thinking of the coarser things in life." There were a few gasps at this and Serena frowned, wondering whether Bellatrix had gone mad. "No doubt you want to make the daughter more irresistible to men than the mother, so that if Isis was the nympho of the forest, Talia will be the whore of Nysa."
    This led to cries of protest, but Bellatrix ignored them. "As you are all so bloody sex-obsessed," she said loudly, "then I'll make my gift an appropriate one. When this girl becomes a woman, her first orgasm will be her last."
    "What do you mean?" asked Isis, shocked at the malevolence in Bellatrix's face.
    "When your daughter cums, that's the day she dies," snarled the dark-haired witch.
    There were shouts of horror and disgust from the floor of the hall, and Isis stared in astonishment at her sister. King Roland stood and shook his fist at Bellatrix.
    "This is too much!" he roared. "You may once have saved the kingdom, but to threaten the royal family in any way is treason. Guards! Arrest this woman!"
    As the soldiers rushed towards the high table Bellatrix simply smirked at them and, lifting her hand, clicked her fingers. Instantly she was gone and there remained only a sulpherous smell at the table. Serena groaned.
    "Oh, your Highness, why did you have to go