Free The Forbidden Room (Fairy Tales Behaving Badly) by Annie Eppa

The Forbidden Room
     
     
    Few people would have expected Melisande to marry for money. Everyone agreed that she was the most beautiful girl in their small village, with long lashes that framed her deep blue eyes, and untamed hair that looked to have been kissed by the sun. Her skin was soft and creamy, unmarred by any blemish, and it only heightened her exquisite beauty. Her sweet bow mouth, pink and lush, could drive any man to distraction, and though her clothes were plain and conservative, it could not completely hide her curvy hips and delicate waist, nor could it mask the swell of her full breasts. She was gentle and obedient, and never raised her voice in anger. Her sweet allure could drive any full-blooded male there to temptation, but she was beloved by many of the villagers, and they protected her in their own way.
    As she grew into womanhood, many of the boys in the village came to court her. Melisande politely, but firmly, rejected each and every one of their proposals, for she had wished to stay with her parents a little while longer. Her family was a poor one, not unlike many of the other residents of Sleeping Fallow. Her father had been a woodcutter, and her mother a gentle woman who kept their tiny cottage by the woods as clean and as happy for her husband and daughter as she could possibly have it. Nobody thought that both would die from the plague that had so recently ravaged through the lands, the man dying a mere week after the woman. It was fortunate that a group of healers had been passing through the village, who wound up staying behind to render their assistance, thereby saving more lives that would have been lost had they not been so kind to remain. They were especially concerned for the grieving Melisande, and took great pains to keep her safe and healthy.
    It left Melisande in dire straits, for the loss of her parents had now left her a young orphan at the tender age of eighteen. They had no other relatives, and she nowhere else to go. The boys who had once come courting her had already left the village in pursuit of some better line of trade. The plague had devastated most of the population of Sleeping Fallow, leaving left many destitute. No one could help Melisande, for they were still coming to grips with their own personal losses.
    So it came as a surprise to many when an expensive carriage arrived at the village, such luxuries being unheard of there. The richness of the coach, with its fine gilded edges and polished jewels, seemed offensive somehow, given the villagers’ current troubles. The man who emerged from the carriage was tall and imposing, though he was considerably older in years. He had receding white hair and fierce eyebrows, his nose hooked like an eagle’s. He paid scant attention to the residents of Sleeping Fallow, who were still mourning and burying their dead, and instead demanded that Melisande be brought to him.
    This astonished the young girl, who had never seen the man before in her life. Still, she had been brought up to be respectful and polite, and immediately went to meet him.
    “You are the girl named Melisande?” The man inquired. At her nod, he continued. “I have come here on behalf of my master, the Marquise of Eddom.”
    This brought a gasp to her lips, for the Marquise of Eddom was one of the richest nobles in the land, and also one of the most secretive. Very little was known of him, though rumors say he had amassed his wealth dealing in weapons of war, indirectly responsible for the many battles waged within the kingdoms. They called him Bluebeard though, curiously, most had never seen his face. It was a term used among the common folk, to refer to one they considered rich but unnatural; blue-blooded, and strange. From all the gossip she had heard, rumors that reached even her tiny village - of dark tortures conducted in his castle, how he had sold his soul to the devil to gain his wealth and influence - Melisande could understand why people thought his