The Girl With the Ill Omens

Penny Wilder, a country girl, was born with a "crow's mouth"—whoever she curses suffers misfortune, and the villagers treat her as a jinx. To raise money for her seriously ill sister's medicine, she signs a contract to enter the palace as a maid. On her first day, she curses the mean housekeeper and strikes him with lightning. Crown Prince Adrian Sterling was poisoned, his legs crippled, deposed, and confined. He gives up on himself and refuses to take medicine. The king offers a reward of one hundred thousand crowns to anyone who can make him drink it. Penny steps forward for the money and, with her crow's mouth and quick wits, brings the arrogant prince to heel. From bickering rivals to inseparable partners in life and death, they join forces to slap the faces of the treacherous consort and rebellious ministers, open trade routes, and brave the desert. Penny is ennobled, and the prince is restored to his position. In the end, she grandly "marries" the prince, turning bad luck into good, and entrusts her remaining years to him.