Chapter 26: Peaceful Negotiation

Emma’s POV:

The first book I ever owned was a collection of fairy tales. It was a battered, used copy that I’d gotten from a donation center. The pages were creased, and the cover had a coffee stain on it, but the book was mine, so I loved it anyway.

I loved the stories inside of it, too. They were my first glimpse of a world beyond the grimy, filthy neighborhood I grew up in. And what a world it was. One with talking animals, brave knights, clever girls, and handsome princes. I was enamored by it all.

As with most worlds, though, it had its bad side. The evil villains of the stories. They came in different shapes and sizes. They were witches, sorcerers, tyrants, and dark creatures. They were jealous siblings and scorned lovers.

But I’ve never once seen a character so……