GWYNEIRA OF TACEVALON used to have spirit.

She was a strong-willed princess who was unafraid to speak her mind, but a terrible accident took everything from her -- including her mother. Since then, she'd grown ashamed of herself and ceased all public appearances, only venturing through the kingdom in disguise.

As most kings do, her father remarried to a woman more beautiful than his deceased wife. Unbeknownst to all, Queen Callista possesses an enchanted mirror that continues to influence her vanity each day. To her, appearances are everything, though her own daughter, Nyssa, tends to disagree.

No one could compare to the Queen's beauty -- until a visiting prince shows affection toward her stepdaughter. As Gwyneira's confidence grows, Callista's envy starts to boil over. And when the princess usurps her title as the Fairest of Us All, the Queen snaps.

Forced to go on the run, Gwyneira finds refuge with the Hidden Folk, shapeshifting guardians of nature. But she soon realises that as long as she breathes air, her stepmother will not rest until she's dead.

GWYNEIRA, CROWN PRINCESS OF TACEVALON
claudia jessie

TRISTAN, PRINCE OF CRIRAL
dev patel

CALLISTA, THE WICKED QUEEN
katie mcgrath

NYSSA, LADY OF TACEVALON
emily carey

EVERARD, PRINCE OF TACEVALON
joe locke

FREYA ALLAN as ANTHEA
NATHANIEL PARKER as ADEMAR, KING OF TACEVALON
CLAIRE FOY as EILONWY, QUEEN OF TACEVALON

... and THE HIDDEN FOLK as described.

disclaimer!!
this story features mature themes, such as depression, thoughts of suicide, violence, blood, death, grief, murder, attempted murder, sexual references, etc.

please be wary because this is gonna get dark.

Hello, and welcome to The Original Sin -- the first book in the Misthaven Series.

Misthaven is a large country in a fantasy world that means Enchanted Forest in Swedish/Danish/Norwegian. And yeah, I might have gotten it from Once Upon A Time, but that's not the point.

Now, I LOVE fairytales. Ever since I was a kid, they've just enchanted me and I've always wanted to write retellings. This idea's been floating around my head for a few years now. I came up with it during secondary school and I started writing the first draft in college, and I, of course, scrapped it because it was really bad. It was a learning experience though.

Anyway, I eventually came back to it older and wiser with lots more ideas and changes to the narrative, such as the protagonist now having a brother and a stepsister.

This story is inspired by Nordic and Welsh folklore, a few adaptations of Snow White and 80s-90s fantasy films. It's got a very dark fairytale aesthetic. Also, I'm using a couple of elements from the original fairytale while putting my own spin on them.

Just before we begin, I wanted to share a few fun facts: Gwyneira means White Snow (Gwyn = white, Eira = snow), and Callista means most beautiful. Originally, this retelling was going to feature more Biblical stuff as I planned for Callista (who had a different name when i first started) to be Lilith, who was technically the first woman, but she was kicked out of Eden for being a feminist, I think? Anyway, I scrapped that and I've given Callista a whole new backstory (which will be shown in a couple of flashbacks).

This retelling also features some references to other fairytales, some lesser known so keep an eye out because future books will be focusing on that stuff. But they can be read as standalone, though.

AND a few characters pop up here and there, so keep your eyes peeled because I'm building LORE.

Thank you so much for choosing to read this book. It means the world to me when I watch my reads increasing. If you're enjoying it, then please leave a vote or a comment as your support keeps me writing and increases viewership so you would be doing me a huge favour.

Thanks again and I hope you enjoy THE ORIGINAL SIN.

- Alice.