Fairy Tale Retellings Summary: Dark Curses and Elven Princes That Will Haunt You
Introduction
A young woman kills a toad in a dry well. Her village cheers, believing the curse is broken.
Moments later, five elven princes appear to drag her into the Enchanted Forest as punishment—because the toad was their brother.
This is the world Scarlett St. Clair builds in Fairy Tale Retellings: Volume One.
The book contains “Mountains Made of Glass” and “Apples Dipped in Gold,” both set in a realm ruled by seven elven brothers who each command a kingdom.
The stories follow mortal women whose lives become entangled with these fae princes through unintended violence, cruel bargains, and curses that can only be broken by true names and true love.
Read Also: Explore summaries of all her books at URSummary’s Scarlett St. Clair archive.
Who Dwells in the Enchanted Forest
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Gesela (Ella) | A mortal woman from the village of Elk who becomes the Princess of Thorn after breaking Casamir’s curse. |
| Casamir (Anguish) | The seventh brother and Prince of Thorn, cursed to lose his name and cease to exist unless his true love speaks it. |
| Samara | A mortal woman from Gnat who suffers abuse from her brothers before becoming Lore’s beloved. |
| Lore | The third brother and Prince of Nightshade, cursed with an all-consuming love for Samara after she cut off his hand. |
| Eero | The sixth brother, transformed into a toad and killed by Gesela in the well. |
| The Other Brothers (Silas, Cardic, Talon, Sephtis) | The remaining elven princes who rule their own kingdoms and serve as antagonists or morally gray allies. |
| Jackal, Michal, Hans | Samara’s three brothers who physically and mentally abuse her throughout her life. |
| Friedrich (The Fox) | A cursed man in fox form who guides Samara and Lore toward the Wishing Tree. |
| Naeve | A brownie who serves in Casamir’s castle and assists Gesela. |
TL;DR: Two Mortal Women Enter the Fae Realm
Gesela kills a toad that turns out to be an elven prince. His brothers sentence her to serve the youngest, Casamir, who is cursed to lose his name and vanish unless his true love speaks it within one week.
She trades sexual favors for letters, bargains with a selkie and a raven, and ultimately names him Anguish to break the curse. Samara lives under her brothers’ abuse until Prince Lore abducts her.
Seven years earlier, her brothers forced her to cut off his hand. He believes his obsessive love for her is a magical curse.
They journey to a Wishing Tree, she eats a golden apple to free him, dies, and is revived by his true love’s kiss when he finally accepts his feelings are real.
Both stories end with the mortal women choosing permanent life in the fae realm.
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Fairy Tale Retellings Volume I Summary: The Seven Brothers and Their Captive Brides
SPOILERS: This section details the complete plots of both novellas, including endings.
The book opens with “Mountains Made of Glass.” Gesela lives in the village of Elk under a curse. The well has run dry, and her fellow villagers force her to kill a large toad at the bottom to break the enchantment.
She kills the creature. Immediately, five elven princes arrive. The toad was their brother Eero, the sixth prince. As punishment, they sentence Gesela to seven years as a prisoner of their youngest brother, Casamir, the Beast of the Kingdom of Thorn.
Casamir carries his own curse. He has one week to have his true love speak his real name, or he will forget it entirely and cease to exist. He offers Gesela letters of his name in exchange for sexual favors, creating a tense power struggle between captor and captive.
Desperate for freedom, Gesela strikes bargains with a selkie and a talking raven named Wolf. She sacrifices her ring finger to the Glass Mountains to learn Casamir’s name but is deceived because she lacked his true hair.
Through encounters with wicked fairies and moments of shared vulnerability, Gesela realizes she has fallen in love. A magical mirror provides a riddle, and she solves it. His true name is Anguish. She speaks it, breaking the curse.
Casamir and Gesela return to her village. He rains shards of glass from the sky, killing the corrupt villagers who mistreated her. They return to the Kingdom of Thorn to live together.
The second story, “Apples Dipped in Gold,” follows Samara. She suffers constant physical and mental abuse from her three brothers—Jackal, Michal, and Hans—in the village of Gnat.
Prince Henry of Rook proposes marriage at first sight. During their journey to his kingdom, her brothers hire thieves to attack the carriage. Henry is killed. Samara is rescued by Lore, the Prince of Nightshade.
Lore is cursed with an all-consuming love for Samara. This obsession began seven years earlier when he offered her a magical knife. Under her brothers’ duress, she used it to cut off his hand. He believes his love is a magical affliction and that Samara hates him.
They journey toward a Wishing Tree in the Glass Mountains, guided by a talking fox named Friedrich, who is actually a cursed man. Along the way, they take refuge with Lore’s brother Cardic in the Kingdom of Larkspur. Later, at a witch’s cottage, Samara kills the witch in self-defense using a golden thread.
Samara confesses her love to Lore, but he remains convinced it is only magic. At the Glass Mountains, her brothers catch up to them.
A violent confrontation leaves Hans and Jackal dead.
Samara is carried to the Wishing Tree by a raven. She eats a golden apple and wishes Lore free of his curse. The wish causes her to fall into a death-like sleep.
Lore, finally accepting that his feelings are real and not magic, kisses her. She revives. They return to her cottage for a year of peace before she agrees to marry him.
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Similar Books to Explore
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair — For readers who enjoy the author’s blend of myth, spice, and dangerous supernatural bargains in a richly built fantasy world.
King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair — A similarly gritty and sensual fantasy romance focusing on high-stakes deals between a mortal woman and a powerful supernatural ruler.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas — Shared themes of fae kingdoms, Beauty and the Beast dynamics, and a mortal woman finding her power in a dangerous magical realm.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent — Focuses on a human surviving in a deadly supernatural world with complex romantic tension and high-stakes bargains.
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten — A dark fairy tale retelling that explores a sentient, dangerous forest and the sacrifice of a young woman to a beast-like figure.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik — Atmospheric world-building about a woman taken to live in a tower on the edge of a corrupted, sentient forest with a powerful and feared keeper.
Summary by Chapter
SPOILERS: The following groups narrative arcs across both novellas.
The Blood Debts (Mountains Ch. 1–3 / Apples Ch. 1–2)
The stories begin with mortals committing unintended violence against the fae. Gesela kills Prince Eero in a well, and Samara’s brothers force her to maim Prince Lore by cutting off his hand.
Both women are taken into the Enchanted Forest to serve or save elven princes. The setting establishes a world where mortals fear the fae as monsters and magic demands a heavy price for every bargain.
The Bargains of the Heart (Mountains Ch. 4–14 / Apples Ch. 3–8)
The protagonists enter a phase of psychological and physical intimacy with their captors, where lust and loathing blur.
Gesela seeks Casamir’s name through dangerous bargains with selkies and ravens, while Samara and Lore begin a journey toward the Wishing Tree guided by a cursed fox.
This section establishes the lore of the seven brothers and the specific curses haunting the Kingdom of Thorn and the Kingdom of Nightshade.
Horror in the Wood (Apples Ch. 9–11)
Samara and Lore face the darkest elements of their journey, including a forest of hanging animals and a deadly encounter with a deceptive witch who offers the path to the Wishing Tree for a price. Samara kills the witch in self-defense using a golden thread, an act of violent self-liberation.
The tension between Lore’s belief in his curse and Samara’s reality reaches a breaking point.
The Glass Mountain and Resolutions (Mountains Ch. 15–22 / Apples Ch. 12–13)
Both women scale the literal and metaphorical Glass Mountains to resolve their stories. Gesela uses her wits and love to name Casamir Anguish, breaking his curse and watching him turn from beast to protector.
Samara eats the golden apple to free Lore, dying in the process before being resurrected by a true love’s kiss that proves his feelings were never a magical curse.
Both stories end with the violent removal of mortal antagonists and the women choosing a permanent existence in the fae realm.
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FAQ
How does Mountains Made of Glass end?
Gesela solves the riddle of Casamir’s true name, Anguish, breaking his curse before he ceases to exist, and he kills her abusive villagers by raining glass from the sky before they return to his castle.
What is the curse in Apples Dipped in Gold?
Lore believes he is cursed with an all-consuming love for Samara, which began when her brothers forced her to cut off his hand seven years before the story starts.
How many stories are in Fairy Tale Retellings Volume I by Scarlett St. Clair?
The volume contains two novellas: “Mountains Made of Glass” and “Apples Dipped in Gold,” both set in the world of the seven elven brothers.
Who are the seven brothers in the book?
The seven brothers are elven princes who rule the kingdoms of Thorn, Nightshade, Havelock, Foxglove, Hellebore, Larkspur, and Willowin, with Casamir and Lore being the central love interests in this volume.
What fairy tales are retold in this collection?
“Mountains Made of Glass” retells Beauty and the Beast with a frog prince element, while “Apples Dipped in Gold” retells Snow White with the golden apple and death-like sleep.
Does Fairy Tale Retellings Volume I end happily?
Both stories end with the couples united and the mortal antagonists dead, though the paths to those endings involve sacrifice, violence, and temporary death.
Are the stories in this volume connected?
Yes, both stories share the same world, the same seven elven brothers, and overlapping locations such as the Glass Mountains and the Enchanted Forest.
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