“I think it’s why I’ve been so noncommittal with you in our dreams. I’ve been worried about returning home and about what change would mean. So part of me didn’t want things to change between us.”
His blue eyes met hers, and they were serious, penetrating. “But now they have.”
She grinned at him. “Yes, they have, and I’m glad. I think it’s a sign that I’m ready for change in my life.”
“A sign? What do you mean?”
Ah, perhaps sign was a fairy term only. “My aunt and uncle — well, they’re not really my aunt and uncle, but I’ve always called them that. They’re fairies, and they come from the fairy realm. Specifically, my Uncle Dwennon was an oracle, so he can see the future.”
James looked skeptical.
“We literally met in a dream, yet you doubt my uncle can see the future.”
He shrugged. “Where I come from, men who make such claims are charlatans and thieves.”
Rose shook her head. “Not Dwennon. He’s a real oracle. He sees much. And he says even without having the power of foresight, most of us possess the power to notice signs. They’re like literal signs on our road that hint at what our futures hold. This. Today, you and me, here, tonight, under the stars, I’m sure is a sign. A sign that means we are right together and that good is about to come.”
James leaned forward and kissed her softly. “Signs or not, I know we’re right together. I know it because it feels right. I feel strong, powerful, wonderful, the best I’ve ever felt in my life. And it’s because of you.”
Rose blushed, and looked up again. “I have to go,” she said while putting her dress back on. “I have to get back so I can go to meet my parents.”
James nodded. He put his own clothes back on and stood. He folded their blanket and placed their trash in the picnic basket to carry back with him to the castle. “So, should I walk you back to the place you came?”
Rose shook her head. “The fairy stone will work from here,” she said, and then wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so glad I was able to come here. I promise I’ll come back as soon as I’ve settled in a bit with my parents.”
James kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to come here. I shall ride for Epesland in the morning. I’ll come to bring tidings of welcome to the lost princess.”
Rose looked up at him, glee overtaking her. “Really?”
“Of course,” he said. “I always promised you I’d come find you. I just wish I could travel by fairy stone, too. I don’t want to have to wait three days to see you again.”
Rose smiled, and said. “I don’t wish to wait either, but we can visit each other each night.” He nodded, and then she gave him a quick kiss and took a step back. She removed the fairy stone from the pouch around her neck, squeezed it in her palm and whispered, “Home.”
She felt the heat in her middle, and had an urge to close her eyes. Only, she wanted to watch James for as long as she could. “I love you,” she called as her skin seared and it seemed to flicker away to ash. James’ eyes widened as he watched her and as he disappeared from sight, she thought perhaps he was trying to reach for her.
A moment later, her room began to materialize before her. Just as the fire feeling was dying away and she knew she would be firmly in her destination, it began again. The heat, the sear, the falling away. She turned, looking around as her bedroom at home vanished and she appeared in a tiny room with a woman sitting at a strange contraption.
“Where am I?” Rose asked when she was finally fully formed.
The woman with long black hair turned from her contraption and smiled. “You’re at home, the home of your parents, King Edmund and Queen Blissa.”
Rose turned and looked at the tiny room with stone walls. There was a plain bed covered with a simple quilt in the corner, and the woman with her device. It didn’t seem like she imagined her parents’ castle. Even when her mother visited in her dreams, she’d show her parts of the castle. This looked so unlike anything she recalled.
“You doubt me,” the woman asked.
This struck Rose as odd, but she didn’t want to offend the woman. “No,” she said. “I just thought the castle would look different.”
The woman, who was dressed in a long green dress, lifted her arm and pointed behind Rose. Curious to see what she was pointing to, Rose turned and saw a tiny window behind her. Rose went and peeked out. They were in a high tower of the castle. As Rose looked out, she knew that this was in fact her parent’s castle. The grounds, even in the cover of darkness, looked the same as when her mother showed them to her in dreams. She turned back to the woman. “Why did I appear here, and how?”
“You left your keepers without telling them,” the woman said. Her voice was flat and cool, and something about it unnerved Rose.
“I came back, though,” Rose said.
“But I hadn’t known,” the woman said. “I’m a fairy from the realm and I was sent to find you and bring you to your parents.”
Rose nodded. She should’ve just asked Dwennon and Hilly. Now she’d caused them to worry. To worry so much that they’d called in another fairy to find her. “Well, I am sorry,” Rose said. “I didn’t mean to cause anyone worry.”
The woman smiled. “It’s alright,” she said, and then stood up, leaving the contraption and walking over to Rose. “Are you ready to go see your parents?”
Rose peeked back toward the window. It seemed late, but she didn’t think it was late enough. “Is it after midnight already? Dwennon and Hilly said we couldn’t be at the castle until after midnight.”
The woman’s lip curved up, with what was almost a malicious smile. “They’re right,” she said softly. “Only after midnight are you safe. That’s why you’re here, and not in some other part of the castle.”
“Oh,” was all Rose said. Then she looked at the contraption. “What is that?”
“It’s a spinning wheel.”
Instinctively, Rose stepped back and tugged a hand to her chest. “Why is it in here?”
The woman shook her head. “Don’t worry. It’s missing the needle,” the woman said, and pointed to spot near the large wheel on the device. “See.”
Rose looked and saw no needle, but she didn’t feel at ease. She felt alarmed. “I should go,” Rose said as she looked toward the door.
The woman shrugged. “Certainly,” she said, walking toward the middle of the room, where the bed sat. “We just need to put on the gift your fairy cousin left for you. She’d like you to wear it.” The woman picked up a small satchel that was on the bed, and Rose could have sworn it wasn’t there a moment ago. The small pouch of red silky material rested on the woman’s palm, and she held it out to Rose.
Still feeling a tad apprehensive but not sure why, Rose opened the pouch. “What is it?” she asked as she reached inside. She felt a prick on her finger. “Ow,” she said.
Then everything started to go blurry. She could feel herself falling, and then everything faded to darkness.
***
“It’s the spinning wheel’s needle, of course,” Maurelle said as she looked at the girl on the floor. Weak, weak thing. She would have been easily influenced by Edmund, Maurelle thought as she reached down and picked up the pouch that lay beside Briar Rose. She pulled the spinning wheel’s needle from the bag, walked it over to the machine, and placed it in its proper spot. It was done. Briar Rose would sleep for a hundred years. An ageless sleep. She was glad when she’d heard that old Hilly had altered her spell. Yes, the girl’s slumber would hurt Blissa, but the girl would be none the worse for it. She would wake up in a hundred years, and be able to govern her people. It was possible to learn and grow in dream slumber. Perhaps Briar Rose would grow to be a wonderful ruler. Just not now. Not under the influence of Edmund. Not the man who Errol had raided the fairy kingdom for. As Errol had feasted on her mother’s blood, he said he was doing it for his son. Well, not even after death would Errol get the satisfaction of having his son anywhere near the fairy kingdom
throne.
Maurelle used levitation to move Rose. She lifted her from the floor and placed her on the bed. Then she grabbed the tip of the thread from the wheel and began to pull it toward the door. Opening the door, she wound a trail of thread down the stairs of this tower to a hallway that was more used. They would find their princess soon enough. And they would know Maurelle’s gift had come to pass. Yes, Blissa had taken to calling it a curse, but Maurelle was a fairy, and she couldn’t curse anyone. What she’d given Briar Rose was the gift of time. The gift of reflection and contemplation. The gift of space from a man who had unduly influenced Blissa and who did not deserve to unduly influence Briar Rose.
Chapter 13
When Dwennon and Hilly arrived, Blissa knew the worst had happened. She knew that Briar Rose was lost to them.
“You were supposed to watch her,” Edmund railed. “You were supposed to keep her safe. Why did we spend all these years without our daughter, only to have her completely lost to us now?”
Hilly was apologizing to Edmund, as was Dwennon, but Blissa had trouble caring. Their daughter, beautiful, sweet, charming Briar Rose was asleep for a hundred years.
“Where is she?” Blissa asked, turning toward them.
Dwennon stepped forward and spoke. “I’m not sure,” he said, his voice soft and sorrowful. “She went to her bedroom to rest, and when we went to check on her, she was gone. I searched for her future as best I could, but she’s become harder to see recently. She’s come into her fairy magic.”
Blissa’s eyes widened. “But,” she stammered. “I gave up my gifts. I gave up my claim for myself, for my line.”
Dwennon frowned, shook his head. “Blissa, you can say whatever you want, but you can only control your own destiny. You know the ancient rules of magic are older than any fairy’s words or obligations. Your powers are lost to you, but Rose is your daughter, and she has amazing magic within her. She’s like your father, an elemental fairy.”
Edmund, who was seated on his throne with a frown, looked over toward his wife. “What does that mean?”
“Elemental fairies,” Blissa murmured, “are able to control one of the four elements: wind, water, fire, or earth. Well, usually just one. Some of the greater fairies can actually control all four, but usually it’s just one. My father was an elemental fairy. He controlled water. While some people believe these are wonderful powers to have, they require a great deal of control and mastery. It takes years to learn. I had been happy not to have an elemental power, as my father indicated mastery would require great strength of will and practice.” She felt a pang of loss thinking of her father. He’d died suddenly, not long after she’d met Edmund. To this day, she missed his kindness and wise words.
“What is her power?” asked Edmund.
“She controls the wind,” Hilly said. “And she is quite powerful. She almost blew Dwennon and me clear away this afternoon.”
Blissa stared at them. That was incredibly powerful. “Are you sure Maurelle is the one who’s taken her? Could she have gone off on her own?”
Dwennon shook his head. “I thought she had left us on her own,” he admitted. “But then I searched the future and I saw Maurelle standing over Rose, asleep. As soon as I saw, I knew it was the near future, within the hour, so we used fairy stones to come here. But I can tell now it’s been done. The time for us to stop it is over.”
Blissa nodded. She’d felt a pang of distress more than ten minutes ago, right as the two of them had arrived. It had been disturbing and sudden. It had to be Briar Rose. “We must find her,” Blissa said. “She shouldn’t be left alone somewhere. She needs to be with her family.”
Hilly nodded.
“Is there no way to break the spell?” Edmund asked. “Surely, if she’s a powerful fairy herself, perhaps Briar Rose can do something to break it.”
Hilly shook her head. “The only way for it to break is for the hundred years to pass or for her to have a kiss from her true love.”
“Does she have any?” Blissa asked. “I mean, her friends. Is it possible one of her friends could be in love with her or vice versa? What about James?”
Hilly’s eyes widened. “James isn’t real, is he?”
Edmund stared, his eyes darting back and forth from his wife to the old fairy. “Who is James?”
“Sometimes, when I visited Rose in dreams, she told me of a friend, James, who she sometimes played with. Though she hasn’t spoken of him recently. In fact, she’s not been around recently when I’ve tried to make contact with her in dreams.”
Hilly moved closer to Blissa. “Rose would often ask to go out, to head out with more people, and we told her it wasn’t safe. She said she was stuck having no real friends, just the people she made up in her head. Occasionally, she’d say something about James, and when I asked, she just said James was her made up friend because she couldn’t go out and make real friends.”
Blissa raised a hand to her chin in thought. She was trying to figure out what it meant when Dwennon gasped. She looked over, in time to see his eyes pop open.
“What is it?” Edmund asked, rising to his feet.
“I was looking into her future, trying to see if there was a chance for her to awaken earlier, and I saw it. I saw a man come and kiss her. When Rose awakened, she smiled and said, ‘James.’”
“He’s real?” Hilly said, wonder in her voice.
At that moment, a servant burst into the royal chamber. “Your highnesses,” the woman said, her breath heavy. “There’s a maiden asleep in the high north tower. She was just discovered and we fear it’s the princess Briar Rose.”
Blissa stared at the servant, stood, and said, “Take me to her.” The servant curtsied and turned so Blissa could follow. As she walked out, she turned to Dwennon and said. “Start the search for James. We have to find him.”
Chapter 14
Rose was in the meadow of the Crystal Pond, and she was alone. She usually came here with James. She wondered why he wasn’t here. Maybe he’d been too excited to go to sleep. She’d been completely giddy when she’d returned home after meeting him. She wasn’t exactly sure how she’d gotten to sleep herself, when she’d been so elated after seeing him.
She supposed she could go for a dip in the pool, and wait around for him to return to her. Only she didn’t want to wait. She closed her eyes and called out to him. She wanted him here with her.
When she opened her eyes, there was James, just as he’d looked earlier today. Handsome, tall, sexy. Oh, so incredibly enticing, with his dimples, and his perfect, plump lips.
He seemed a tad disoriented, but smiled when he saw her. “I’ve been looking for you,” he said.
She eyed him curiously. “Looking for me? What do you mean?”
“Well,” he said, walking toward her, wrapping a hand around her waist. He kissed her briefly on the lips. “I went to sleep hoping to tell you I’d arranged my trip to your kingdom tomorrow, but I didn’t come to you, as I normally do. So, in my dreams, I called out for you, only there was no answer. It was an odd sort of sleep, as if I were wandering aimlessly, searching for you. And then I felt a tug in my gut, and I was here.”
He kissed her again, this time sliding his hands along her back, making her insides tremble. She smiled. “Then I’m glad I didn’t wait for you to show up. I’m glad I called for you.”
“Is that how it goes? I’m at your command.”
She beheld him with mischievous eyes and grinned. Then, she shook her head. “Of course not. You are a prince, and one day you shall be king, so you will never be at my command. Though, I hope, if I call you, you will come for me.”
He kissed her forehead. “Rose, I shall always come for you when you call. Even if I had lost all my limbs, I would wiggle to you the way the earthworm does.”
Rose pulled away. “Don’t say such things,” she said giving his arm a soft swat, for his awful talk. “I can’t imagine such a horror happening to you.”
He nodded. “Then don’t,” he sai
d. “Just know that I will always come.”
She relaxed a little, and looked at him with doe eyes. “Always?”
“I promise,” he said, his voice brimming with certainty.
She smiled at him, and gingerly folded herself into his arms. “I’m so glad you came. I’ve missed you so.”
He laughed, and her body shook too as the rumble of mirth passed through him. “We’ve just seen each other, and already you missed me.”
“Yes,” she said, her head nestled on his chest, relishing the warmth of him. She had a desire to cling to him. “It’s silly, I guess. But it’s been so long that we’ve been only dream lovers. Now that we’ve seen each other in the world outside of sleep, I just long to see you again.”
“And I’m here,” he said.
But not really, she wanted to say. Only that didn’t feel true to her. It felt as if he were here. It felt more real to her than it had ever felt in a dream. His fingers gently stroked her cheek, and she smiled. “You are here,” she said with a grin.
“Yes,” he said. “At your command.”
She lifted her head from his chest and squinted at him. “And what exactly does that mean?”
“It means that you brought me here. To have your way with me, I’m sure. So, I’d like you to do it. You were right about me being king one day, but you’ve neglected to mention that you, one day, shall be queen to your kingdom. As queen, you have every right to command me.”
Rose raised a brow. “To command a king?” It was an intriguing idea, and a devilish grin appeared on her face.
“If we were in your kingdom, I would be merely a citizen, yes?” he said as his hand caressed her neck, sending glorious shivers through her.
She looked into his eyes, her smile widening. “Then I would command you to keep doing what you’re doing.”
“Oh, really?” he said, straddling her, his fingers continuing down her collarbone toward her bosom. When he arrived at the buttons on the front of her dress, he plucked them off, one by one, before gently parting the fabric.
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