Title: A Noble Cause
Series: Legacy, Book Two
Author: Mickie B. Ashling
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: August 26, 2019
Length: 64500
Genre: Fantasy, NineStar Press, LGBT, fantasy, mpreg, magic, royalty, gay, age-gap, men with children, intersex, demons, wedding, kilts
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Synopsis
Having achieved his heart’s desire at a high price, Prince Colin of Sendorra and his fiancé, Nobel Prize winner Alain de Gris, find themselves at the epicenter of a twisted plot. Colin’s cousin, Drake Bradford, and his grandmother Maura, the high priestess of the Bradford Coven, have conspired for years to bring down the royal family.
Resembling his cousin in features and coloring, Drake, the soulless rat, has been using their similarities—and black magic—to his advantage. Princess Charlotte, Colin’s ex-girlfriend, is unwittingly drawn into the feud, blissfully unaware she’s been sleeping with an impostor.
In this anticipated sequel to A Tangled Legacy, Colin and Alain, along with their fearless group of witches, ghosts, and familiars, embark on a convoluted journey to save the people they love and ensure the royal succession.
I’d like to thank Dani for giving me the opportunity to share an exclusive excerpt of A Noble Cause. This novel is a direct sequel to A Tangled Legacy, a spin-off from my queer retelling of The Princess and the Pea that appeared in the Once Upon A Rainbow anthology published by NineStar Press in 2017. If you enjoyed Tangled and are interested in the resolution of this love story, you’ll be happy to know that this one does not end on a cliff hanger. 2019 also marks my ten-year anniversary as a published writer. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me through the years—editors, cover artists, reviewers, bloggers, and, most especially, my loyal readers. As a small token of my appreciation, I’m offering an e-copy of A Tangled Legacy, the first book in the Legacy Series, along with the $10.00 gift card from NineStar Press.
This short excerpt is in Andrew’s POV. He’s Prince Colin’s dead twin and newly appointed familiar.
A Noble Cause by Mickie B. Ashling
Copyright 2019
Andrew disappeared and materialized in Isabelle Simon’s foyer. He’d been there once before, the night Colin asked him to be his familiar, and had toured the palatial residence, including the turret Isabelle used as her workshop. The high priestess had warmed to Colin, even though he was a member of the Bradford family, sworn enemies of the Simons for decades, and the last person on earth she would have chosen for her only son. Colin revealed the unbroken connection with his dead twin, and the need to get Andrew up to snuff as his familiar, so Isabelle offered Bibi’s services.
Tonight, Bibi let out her usual annoying screech when she spotted his ghostly presence. Isabelle appeared shortly after, looking remarkably composed in a lace-trimmed peignoir with her silver hair tumbling around her shoulders. She looked damned good for a woman in her late sixties. Although Isabelle couldn’t see Andrew, she felt his presence and listened intently while he explained the urgent need to find Princess Charlotte. With a nod of approval, she waved them away and the hunt was on.
Andrew didn’t have the foggiest how Bibi’s tracking device worked, but he had to trust the owl to lead him in the right direction. He questioned her accuracy after they crossed into Austro-Hungarian territory. Wouldn’t Drake head toward his place in Brussels, or better still, to Navarre, Charlie’s ancestral home? Her royal parents would have to consent to the marriage if Charlie was onboard with his plan, especially if she was pregnant. Then again, Drake’s lies had overtaken the truth a while back, and Andrew wondered if pregnancy was just wishful thinking on Drake’s part.
In the heart of downtown Prague, Bibi perched on a parapet outside a double-paned window while Andrew slipped into an apartment to explore. The place was small, but well furnished, with all the amenities one needed to survive a long stay. There was a kitchenette with a stacked washer and dryer tucked into an alcove beside the rear exit. A large TV cast a bluish light over the small sitting area, where Drake had fallen asleep on the recliner. Whatever he’d been watching had long since ended, and the only thing on the silent screen was the network logo.
Andrew studied his cousin in repose. Older by five years, Drake’s physical similarities to Colin, often described as the golden boy, could be effortlessly enhanced by magic. The same flaxen hair, lean build, and arctic blue eyes were a genetic match, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t hard to tell them apart. Years of privilege contributed to Colin’s illustrious appearance, whereas Drake, raised under different and oftentimes difficult circumstances, was a tarnished version of the prince.
At present, Drake looked harmless, but Andrew knew there was powerful evil contained in his serene façade. Drake hadn’t hesitated to cast the toxic spell that had stopped Colin’s heart. If it weren’t for Alain, the principality would be minus an heir and thrown into a constitutional crisis. Fortunately, it wasn’t the case, but Drake, under his guise as Colin, had managed to convince Charlie to run off with him, and his day of reckoning would have to wait until she was safely out of his reach.
A stifled cry of distress drew Andrew’s attention away from the sleeping menace toward the bedroom. He passed through the wall and found Charlie lying on her side covered by a thick quilt. Colin’s ex, a perky brunette with an engaging smile and a wicked sense of humor, looked awful. Her eyelids were puffy, and her normally shiny hair lay in dull tendrils around her pale face. There was a plastic bucket on the floor by her side of the bed, which she’d been using to catch the remains of her latest meal.
Andrew grimaced when he watched her throw off the blanket, lean over, and retch spasmodically, backhanding the slimy mess consisting of tears, snot, and ropes of saliva, while pleading for help to no one in particular.
Her voice was croaky from vomiting, and Andrew wished he could get her a glass of water or a cool washcloth, a simple task under ordinary circumstances, but…seeing a tangible object floating in her direction might result in hysterics, which would alert Drake. Andrew had no desire to prove his mettle without reinforcements. All he could do was report his findings and hope the royals would arrive in time to rescue poor Charlie.
She’d been the unwitting pawn in this dangerous game Drake and his grandmother, Maura, had conceived a while back. Colin had unknowingly participated by suggesting Drake impersonate him while he jetted off on a romantic holiday with his new boyfriend. He’d paid for his terrible mistake in ways he’d never anticipated but so had others.
The bedroom door swung open, and Andrew watched Drake walk into the bedroom, eyes darting suspiciously. He knew Drake couldn’t see him, but the warlock’s sixth sense must have picked up a new presence in the room, and he was instantly on high alert.
“Is that you, ghost?”
Damn, he was good. Andrew didn’t engage in any way, but Drake continued.
“Tell my resurrected cousin to back off if he ever wants to see Charlie again.”
He knew Colin was alive!
“Who are you talking to?” Charlie asked plaintively.
“No one,” Drake replied.
“I can hear you.”
“You’re overwrought,” Drake deflected.
“Please call my parents.”
“Not yet.”
“What are you waiting for?”
He walked up to Charlie and helped her sit up. “Get in the shower, Charlie. You reek.”
“I’m sick,” she whined. “I can’t keep anything down.”
“The doctor said morning sickness is a good sign.”
“Good for whom?” she asked irritably. “I see no benefit to any of this.”
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Mickie B. Ashling is the pseudonym of a multifaceted woman who is a product of her upbringing in multiple cultures, having lived in Japan, the Philippines, Spain, and the Middle East. Fluent in three languages, she’s a citizen of the world and an interesting mixture of East and West. A little bit of this and a lot of that have brought a unique touch to her literary voice she could never learn from textbooks.
By the time Mickie discovered her talent for writing, real life got in the way, and the business of raising four sons took priority. With the advent of e-publishing—and the inevitable emptying nest—dreams of becoming a published writer were resurrected and fulfilled in April 2009.
Mickie discovered gay romance in 2002 and continues to draw inspiration from the LGBTQA community and their ongoing struggle to find equality and happiness in this oftentimes skewed and intolerant world. Her award-winning novels have been called “gut-wrenching, daring, and thought provoking.” She admits to being an angst queen and making her characters work damn hard for their happy endings.
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