**A Blue Beard retelling** Based on Charles Perrault's fairytale, this YA Historical Fantasy short story set in Victorian England mixes romance, magic and mystery. After agreeing to an arranged marriage to escape her greedy relatives, 18-year-old heiress Amelia moves into her husband's manor determined to start a new life. But the gothic mansion's forbidding surroundings, the servants' strange demeanour and her husband's mysterious past soon awaken her suspicions. If Amelia truly wants to become the lady of the house, she'll have to discover what secrets lie beyond closed doors and unravel the mystery of the old house's forbidden room. But sometimes secrets are kept for a good reason... HIGHEST RANKING IN HISTORICAL FICTION # 44 Copyright © 2017. All works posted here are the property of EM Castellan. Please do not use without permission. Any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal. Cover artist: @seventhstar

Piercen Hamilton is his name and he has been calling this two bedroom house his home his whole life. He inherited the place from his parents when they died on his eighteenth birthday. A tragic car accident leaving him with their money. He isn't poor from their wealth they left behind and his late father's construction business he took over. But despite the steady income from the bussiness he continues to rent out the room downstairs. Living alone here would be lonely to most in the redwoods and lonesomeness is part of the reason. Company, affection, love but not the money. Murder, rape, a perfect forced romance between him and another is more like it. When a young couple first arrive at the house Piercen appeared and sounded harmless. All was a lie to get them inside. See he hadn't intended to rent to two people. He prefers one girl, less the mess to clean up. Two is a bigger risk he is taking on but the moment he saw Helen he knew he wanted her.