Raven Tower Princess : The first chapter from a 30,000-word children’s novel seeking a publishing home.

Synopsis: The novel is about a young princess named Irene who was banished to a tower full of ancient forgotten secrets. These secrets might be the key to saving her step-sister from a curse, hopefully before it is too late. This is an adventure about discovery, friendship, and overcoming family challenges.

CHAPTER 1 ~ The Princess Irene

“IF ONLY I HAD A MAGICAL ROPE THAT WOULD LET ME DOWN,” Irene exclaimed as she dangled a foot out her high window. Gazing into the tangled forest below, thick trunks pushed up knobby branches and tufts of earth-colored leaves. Light glinted off sharp teeth and dull eyes through patches in the leafy canopy.

“Then again,” She hastily drew back onto the wide ledge, “I would also need a pair of magical shoes to outrun the brutes.” Uneven paths wound up the mountain, swarming with loathsome creatures anxious to get her. “If it weren’t for you bloodthirsty savages,” she burst aloud, “I would have tied my sheets together and escaped long ago.” She rested her head on her knees, “That’s the sort of thing that happens in fairy tales. I am a princess after all.”

“Used to be a princess,” Echoed the taunting words of her stepsister Lexi, right before banishing her.

Irene had argued back, “Just because I have an older sister now, doesn’t stop me from being a princess!” That had been the wrong thing to say, but anything would have been wrong. Lexi was a few years older, and a teenager now. This meant she always had to be right. 

“I will never become a teenager,” Irene decided. Though it didn’t make sense why becoming a teenager had made Lexi so unpredictably mean. “Perhaps”, Irene wondered aloud, “when she was a baby, a wicked enchanter cast a spell that would make her bossier the older she got. Or maybe,” and here she felt deep down inside that this was true, “I stumbled upon a bad-luck curse that began when my father died and will follow me for the rest of my life.” 

Things had been hard when Irene’s father passed away. Then, a couple years later, her mother married the neighboring king and moved them to his much bigger palace. Being in a new home, in a strange land, and with a new older sister, had been difficult. Though Irene liked her new father and Lexi was nice enough, soon their parents started going on frequent trips all over the two kingdoms to unify them. These trips would last a day or two, while Lexi was left in charge. At first, this wasn’t a big deal, but after Lexi turned 13, she grew bossier. In the end, it got so bad that if Irene disobeyed, even a smidge, Lexi would threaten to throw her into the dungeon. The crazy thing is, even the guards and servants began to listen and obey her, more diligently than the king and queen.

For example, one night while their parents were out, Lexi demanded Irene finish eating her portion of dandelion and rose petal salad. Irene hated dandelions as much as Lexi and had already finished her own, but she wanted to be a good sister. Lexi promised to bring her ice cream in return, but after she finished eating Lexi’s leftovers, and when she didn’t come back, Irene found her hiding in the magic box room watching stories alone. Not only that, but she was in the act of finishing off the icy dessert she had promised while eating it directly from the container 

“You lied to me,” Irene had exclaimed to her.

“I never lie, and I am always right. How dare you bother me!” Lexi had flown into a rage and chased Irene around the palace until the guards helped corner her. Irene was being dragged off to the dungeon, just as their parents returned. You would think that Lexi would have gotten into real trouble then, but she made up a lie that everyone believed. Even her own mother.

“That’s how everything is these days,” Irene sighed. So, when her mother and stepfather went on a special trip that was going to last “months,” it shouldn’t have been surprising that Lexi grew more and more unbearable. It got so bad that the guards, the servants, and even some random ravens that started showing up, all became her spies. Everything Irene did or didn't do was told to Lexi immediately. Eventually, Irene found herself bound, blindfolded, dragged off to the middle of nowhere and left in some sort of abandoned abbey, or royal hunting lodge with a tower. Irene wasn’t even sure what had tipped Lexi over the edge this time, but here she was banished far, far away. Probably forever. This place had no doors and only one window. In fact, the very window in which she now gazed out at the dull trees and unfamiliar gray mountains..

“It’s not all that bad,” Irene sighed and traced her finger over the exotic birds, vines, and flowers that had been carved into the ancient stone around her window. “At least she didn’t send me to the dungeon with the rats, ghosts, and goblins.” The idea of that damp and dark place sent a shiver that started from her head and went all the way to her toes. With that in mind, and despite being alone, Irene found this place quite charming.

It was hard to tell where the mountain ended, and the picturesque tower began. They both seemed to be as old as time. There was also writing carved all over the place in an ancient language Irene didn’t understand. On occasion, she fancied these inscriptions as some sort of instructions on how to escape the place or deal with bossy older sisters. Then, beyond the tower, was an outer wall that included a courtyard, kitchen, pantry, washroom, and a small library. All of this kept her safe from the loathsome beasts outside and busy enough inside to stay happy. Much of her peaceful and uninterrupted day was spent reading books, cooking meals, and cleaning. Every now and then, she would take a moment to gaze out her window sadly and wonder if her parents were home yet and were soon going to send for her. Or perhaps, and this made her saddest of all if anyone missed her at all.

Swallowing down any tears or lingering sadness, a cold breeze caused the hair on her arms to stand. “Well,” Irene said and abruptly stood, “better start dinner.” For one thing, it was nice to get her mind off sad things, for another, it was nearing the part of the day she hated the most. Right after sunset, the creatures in the forest grew unbearable with their growling, howling, and snapping of teeth. During these terrible times, it didn’t take much to imagine one of them leaping up the tower in a fit of rage and clawing their way to her window for a feast.

As Irene tried to clear her mind, a flurry of cawing lifted from the treetops and sent streaks of black past her window. Irene fell back in terror. Only when she heard the scratch of claws on the roof, and a squabble turn into a fight, did she peek out of the shelter of her arms.

“The spies are at it again,” Irene growled as black feathers drifted by her window. Back on her feet, she reached to close the window and shutters when a lump of ravens tumbled down, broke apart, and suddenly surged straight at her. Irene stifled a scream as the shutters slammed open, she was knocked to the ground and her room flooded with movement.

“Get out, you pests,” Irene took up a pillow and began to beat everything in sight. Toys were knocked off shelves with panicked wings, pages were torn from books by scrambling feet, beady eyes cocked back and forth to try and keep track of wherever Irene went. She danced about the room until only one raven stood on the window ledge. “Things are hard enough,” she exclaimed, panting with the pillow above her head, “But for my sister to send you brainless goons to watch my every move is too much!”

We have always lived here, the Raven seemed to say with a bitter and defiant caw. Then, with a short hop, it joined the others as they murmured from the tops of the trees and along the outer building walls. Slamming the window shut and out of breath, Irene turned and gaped in horror. Her perfectly organized and tidy room was now an utter disaster. The work it was going to take to clean it all up left her livid.

“Ugh,” She tossed the pillow towards her bed and stormed down the circling steps.

By the time she made it to the wide courtyard, she had cooled enough to think straight. Lifting a metal ring on the floor, she descended a ladder and emerged from the pantry with the hem of her silken skirt loaded with food.

Placing a couple of potatoes, a full carrot, a package of dried meat, and a small loaf of bread onto a wooden table in the kitchen, Irene threw open the cabinets and added a cutting knife, stirring spoon, matches, and bunches of various dried herbs. 

After lighting a fire and fetching the water from the well in the courtyard, it wasn’t long before she began to cheerfully hum. The tune was simple and one her original father had always sung to her at bedtime. Soon, she had the veggies and meat diced and tossed into a small cauldron that she had filled with water. Stoking the fire’s coals, so that they were low and hot, she swung the cauldron on its hooked arm over it. For the final touch, she crushed some of the dried spices and stirred everything together.

“One good thing about being here is that I can eat whatever I want,” Irene smiled as she took a strong whiff of the boiling concoction. Of course, she had to do all the work herself and it was surprising how much she knew, but Irene was a fast learner and wasn’t afraid of hard work. It also helped that she had spent a lot of time in the kitchen at her old palace. It was a place where she could hear all sorts of useful gossip or try and help the cooks’ children come out and play sooner. “That was a simpler time,” Irene sighed.

Once the stew was ready, she poured it into a bowl and with much ceremony placed that and the container of butter and honey, next to the bread and a knife on the table.

“You know I don’t miss Ice Cream. I would argue that bread, butter, and honey are almost as good,” she exclaimed as a sort of secret revenge on her sister.

After a quick prayer, she began to eat and decide what to do tomorrow.

“Obviously, I’ll need to clean my room, and if that doesn’t take too long, the library could use a dusting as well. Maybe I’ll find a new and exciting story to read!” That thought carried all through dinner, then while she merrily lit a lamp, spread the coals so the fire would die down, washed and dried the dishes, put everything back in its rightful place, closed the cabinets, grabbed the lamp, and jauntily headed back up towards her room in the tower.

Irene was in such a good mood, her messy room no longer hung over her like a dark cloud. As she reached for the handle on her door, she froze. With her hand hovering in place and her breath held high in her chest, she didn’t dare move. Biting her lip, she leaned until her ear was almost resting against the wood. There it was again. A noise. She hadn’t imagined it. There was something alive in her room!

Irene fled downstairs in a flash. 

“I definitely chased every single Raven out,” She wrung her hands. “One of those- those- those creatures must have climbed through my window,” She reasoned and paced the courtyard in a fit. “What am I to do?” Irene had never seen any of the creatures fully, but some had sickly matted fur like a wet dog, others scaly legs like a chicken, tails like a snake, and so on. Each is more disturbing than the last. 

“This just isn’t fair,” Irene exclaimed. “I really am cursed with bad luck.” 

It was then her eyes rested on the fire poker in the kitchen.

“I can’t. I won’t let them get the best of me,” She decided. “This is my new home, and nothing is going to ruin it!” Snatching up the fire poker like a sword and taking one step at a time she ascended. The lamp swung from her other hand and cast her shadow eerily over her shoulder. With each step, her confidence began to wane as her heart beat faster and she started holding her breath again. Setting the lamp in front of the door, she took a solid grasp of the fire poker with both shaky hands. Then, before she lost her nerve, she burst into her room yelling and swinging.