Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story (Passion-Filled FairyTales Book 4) (10 page)

“Then once I am well, I will go to Rose and kiss her.”

Dwennon shook his head. “It’s not that easy,” he said

James raised an eyebrow. “Why not? You said she just needs my kiss.”

“That is all she needs,” he said. “But you, you will need help getting past Maurelle. She’s a fairy, a powerful one.”

“She guards Rose?”

“Not yet,” Dwennon said. “But my friend, the man I came with me, is an oracle. He used to work for Maurelle and he knows her well. He knows that she will do everything in her power to stop you, once she realizes that you are Rose’s true love and that you can awaken her.”

“But why does she care? She allowed this as something that would awaken Rose. So, why does she care if it comes to pass?”

“Because she thought — well, we all thought that when Blissa gave up her powers, it would end them in her line. Only it didn’t. Rose has fairy powers. A great deal of them. This means Rose, as the granddaughter of Roldan, can claim Maurelle’s throne. She has more of a right to it than Maurelle.”

James shook his head. “Rose isn’t interested in the throne.”

Dwennon shrugged. “Perhaps not now, but she might be, especially if she were to learn of Maurelle’s careless rule. No, if Maurelle wants to keep the life she’s come to know, Rose must sleep a hundred years. And Maurelle will do whatever it takes to stop you.”

James leaned back on the pillows, trying to digest all the old man had said. An evil fairy queen who would do all in her power to stop him. He hadn’t anticipated this.

“I’m going to ask you a very personal question,” Dwennon said. “And you don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to. But your answer will determine how likely you are to succeed in awakening Rose.”

James motioned for Dwennon to ask his question.

“Rose left us on her birthday to visit someone. Was it you?”

James nodded, though that didn’t seem very personal to him.

“Did you have relations with her on that day?”

James blushed. There was the personal question. He debated answering a moment, then nodded.

Dwennon smiled. “I suspect that’s why you’re still alive. The strength men procure from relations with fairies tends to be proportional to the power of the fairy. A fairy with great power provides a great increase in strength. Ones with lesser power provide less strength. Members of the royal line tend to provide more strength than your average fairy, but it also tends to be proportional. Radella, Maurelle’s mother, had great power, both elemental and emotional gifts. Blissa is royal and her power of bliss is, um, quite useful, but it’s not stupendously strong. Giving up her powers to be with Edmund was an act of love and kindness. But even had she maintained them, she would not have offered him extreme strength. Yes, her husband’s strength would have been great compared to men, but not so menacing as a fairy. However, with Rose’s powers, the strength she could give to man is great. The strength she gave to you was great enough to allow her to draw you into a cursed sleep. It was great enough to allow you to survive for weeks without human sustenance.”

James couldn’t help feeling startled by the revelation. Yes, he’d known he felt exhilarated after being with Rose, but it seemed somewhat preposterous the idea that being with her had given him strength. Though, as absurd as it sounded, he could think of no reason why he hadn’t died, even though he’d gone two weeks without food.

“It’s why you are weak in the way that you are,” Dwennon said.

“I don’t know what you mean,” James said.

“Since when has hunger brought pain to people?” Dwennon asked. “Weakness, yes, but aches and pains in every part of your body. That is a side effect of overindulgence in the fairy power. Mate with a fairy once or twice, and you’ll have enormous strength. But if you continue to do it, without exerting that energy, it can cause pain. The kind of pain you had. I take it you and Rose were active in your dream sleep?”

James nodded.

“That’s a good thing,” he said. “It’s why I asked. It means that her powers gave you strength even in the dream state,” Dwennon said. “For the moment, you need to eat, rest, and regain your strength. In three days, we will set off to Epesland and you will awaken Rose.”

Rose had actually fallen asleep in her dream. It was weird. That had never happened before. She was always well rested, even after a night of long and vivid dreams. But now she was tired, even in her dreams, even though the sun was still bright.

She was worried. Worried the curse had taken hold of her. But she didn’t know how or when it would have happened. She remembered so vividly her afternoon of love making with James. Then, she’d gone home, but she could remember nothing after that. She couldn’t remember talking to Hilly or Dwennon, or even going to bed. It wasn’t that odd, though. Dream sleep often clouded one’s memories. It was the reason she and James knew so little of each other, despite knowing each other well.

She wondered if she should call to him again. She’d sent him away because she’d been worried. But maybe that had been foolish. Maybe he had been fine.  Or even if he hadn’t been fine, maybe he would be fine now. She yearned to see him. To smell that wonderful scent that was his, a woodsy, earthen mix that made her heart sing.

But maybe she should nap first. She was very tired.  Truthfully, she and James had been quite active in their time together. It seemed very silly to her now that they hadn’t done that before, that she’d been reluctant to feel him deep inside of her, smothering her with kisses, making her heart beat faster, filling her with pleasure. That had been a mistake. One she hoped to rectify when she saw him in waking hours.

Maybe that was why James had looked ill. Maybe it was because he wasn’t supposed to be in dream sleep. Or maybe they weren’t supposed to make love in dream sleep. He’d always been fine before. Maybe something about doing that particular thing at night in their dreams tired him, sapped him of energy, making him ill.

Perhaps she would call to him again, and they would visit as they used to. She would make sure he didn’t look so pale and gaunt. They would take pleasure in each other’s company, not just their bodies, despite the urge she felt even now.

“Rose,” she heard. Someone was calling her name. “Rose,” the voice said, louder now, She recognized it.

“Mama?” she called back.

“Rose,” the voice called again, but this time a delight in it, a delight at being heard. “Dear, call out to me again so I can find you.”

“I’m here, Mama. In the meadow.”

A moment, later her mother ran into view. Her face was flushed and she was wearing a red silky nightgown. It was odd to see her mother without cheer. Whenever she visited Rose’s dreams, Blissa was always happy.

Her mother ran to her and threw her arms around Rose. “Thank goodness I’ve found you,” she said, breathing heavily. “I’ve been looking, it seems like I’ve been searching for days, but it’s always hard to tell how long you’ve been under in an enchanted sleep.”

Blissa released her daughter and looked around frantically. The meadow was surrounded by woods, but everything on the flat grassy plain was exposed and whatever it was Blissa was looking for was not to be seen.

“Where is James?” Blissa asked.

Rose squinted at her mother and lifted a hand to her chin. “How do you know about James?”

Blissa explained quickly all that had happened in the recent days and as Rose listened, her heart sank. Her mother knelt next to her, wrapping an arm around her.

“I sent him away,” Rose said, turning frantically to her mother. “James looked ill, so I told him to go and he disappeared. But what if he wasn’t alright? What if he died?”

“Dwennon and Hilly will attend to him,” her mother said, patting her daughter on the back. “You needn’t worry. If you sent James away, and he was still alive in your sleep, he will still be alive when he awakes, alright.”

Rose sat on the ground, the soft cushiness of the grass somehow making her feel worse. She wished the ground were harder, that things would be better if it somehow mirrored the reality of her predicament. But everything about this enchanted dream sleep seemed intent on fooling her. Intent on making her think everything was alright. Perhaps that was the real curse of the sleep. That you spent one hundred years believing that all was well, only to learn it was a lie. When you awoke expecting the next morning, you learned everyone you knew and loved was dead. That everything familiar was gone.

Tears trickled down her cheeks and she buried her head in her hands. This was awful. It couldn’t be happening. Could it? She lifted her head and looked around. Of course it was happening. She looked back at the sun. Unmoving. It seemed eternal morning. Yet two weeks had passed.

She looked at her mother. “What can we do? How do we wake me? Is that why you’re here? To help me awaken?”

Blissa shook her head. “I wish I could awaken you. I can’t. Maurelle’s curse was very clear. One hundred years of sleep or a kiss by your true love. Only James can awaken you.”

Rose pursed her lips. “Do you really think he’ll be alright, Mother?”

Blissa nodded. “I do believe that. Dwennon was only worried that dragging him into the sleep would be a danger if he couldn’t get out. But you’ve released him, so that’s not a problem.” Blissa smiled. “Now, what I need from you is James’ location. Dwennon wants to set off for him, to help bring him to you.”

Rose nodded. “Jastenland. He’s the prince there. He promised he’d leave for our kingdom the day after my birthday, but if it’s already been two weeks …”

Blissa patted her daughter’s shoulder. “Well, if he knows how to find you, then that’s good. I wanted to reach you to find out where he might be, but that may be less important now, because he knows how to find you and he will be along. The key is to help him get here.”

Rose stared at her mother. Her lips were a firm line, and her freckled cheeks lacked their rosy glow. “I don’t understand how I can help.”

Blissa nodded and took her daughter’s hands in her own. “My dear, you do not understand the depth of Maurelle’s anger because I have never explained it. It’s not just anger at me, but she also wants to preserve her position. You can claim her throne, and the fact that you have inherited fairy powers means that you will have more of a claim to it now. So, if she learns of James, she will try to prevent him from waking you.”

Rose’s head was spinning. This still wasn’t making sense. She reached up and gently rubbed her temple. “But I still don’t understand how I can help.”

“Your powers,” she said. “You can control the wind?”

Rose nodded. She’d almost forgotten about this fairy power. She had knowingly used it exactly once. Hilly only had realized because she’d been moving objects in her sleep. Her eyes widened as she realized what her mother was getting at. “You think I can use my powers out there, even though I’m not awake.”

“I know you can,” she said. “We just have to teach you. I think I know how.”

Rose shook her head. “But how will I even know when to use them, or on what? I’m asleep.”

Blissa sucked in a breath. “There is a way,” she said. “It involves the power of sight, I believe. But I’ll need to try to contact Hilly to be sure. For now, let’s just focus on honing your power.”

Hilly sat in the room, watching the two princesses. Well, technically they were one queen, Blissa, and one princess, Briar Rose, but Hilly would always think of Blissa as the sweet princess who roamed the castle bringing joy to all she met.

Now, they were asleep in beds, side by side. The king had suggested bringing Rose to lie in her mother’s chamber. Hilly had agreed, thinking physical proximity might actually help Blissa make contact with her daughter.

The king had gone to bed, and Hilly was ready to retire herself, but she felt like she should stay just a few minutes more. She didn’t want to leave if Blissa was going to offer her a sign of contact. And she had a feeling that one was forthcoming. She wasn’t an oracle, but she had been married to one long enough to know that certain moods signaled news. And tonight, she felt a crackle in the air, a soft hum that hinted something important was coming.

So she sat in the rocking chair in the corner and watched the sleeping princesses. That’s when she noticed it. The air in the room seemed to come alive. A gentle breeze passed her by, though the window wasn’t open. Then, the curtains on the four poster bed rippled in the breeze. An unnatural, swirling breeze. A breeze that seemed to travel around the room with a purpose. As if it were trying to say something or searching for someone.

And then it stopped. Hilly pursed her lips, uncertain. Had this been a sign, an intended signal from Rose and Blissa? Or was this an unaware Rose sending the winds unknowingly while she slept? The former was a good thing. The latter was bad. Very bad.

Hilly got up at once and exited the room. A servant girl was stationed in a chair outside. She nodded at Hilly when she emerged from the room. “Young lady,” Hilly said. “You’ll need to go wake the king. I must speak with him at once.”

* * *

Rose held her hands out in front of her, and she could really feel her power now. It was nothing like the other day with Hilly and Dwennon, where she’d barely noticed a change, yet she’d created a gale. Now she could feel the wind responding to her will, to her direction, could feel it in her core, could feel the control running through her body. Her mind was directing the wind, telling it how and when to ebb and flow. It was exhilarating and amazing. She’d created a wall of wind around her mother and herself and it was rising to the sky, more than a hundred feet tall, swirling around them. She could feel the slight lick of the wind on her face. It seemed just a gentle breeze on her, while just beyond her, it raged like a storm, ripping roots from the ground and destroying everything in its path.

“I think that’s enough,” her mother said.

Rose could hear her clearly, here in the eye of the small storm she had created, so she took a deep breath, relaxed and felt the dying of the winds within her body, and soon all was still. Just the remnants of churned earth remained.

She looked at her mother and smiled. “I did it.”

Her mother nodded. “Yes,” she said. “You did. The question is whether only we felt it here, or if it did anything out there.” Blissa lifted her eyes skyward, and they both wondered had Rose been able to affect the world beyond her dream sleep or just inside it.

* * *

“Why would I evacuate the castle?” Edmund asked, quite alarmed that Hilly had even suggested it.

“Because it’s dangerous for people living here, if Rose is unknowingly creating windstorms,” Hilly said, her voice quite controlled, even though this was the fourth time she’d tried explaining this to Edmund.  “If she doesn’t know she’s doing it, things could get out of hand. Even if Blissa is helping her, it could get out of hand. We need to think of the safety of your subjects.”

Edmund stared at the older woman, her eyes resolute. But Edmund was king. No one would tell him to leave his castle, his stronghold. Blissa was with their daughter. She would ensure everything was alright. He shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he said. “That is my final decision. You may go back to your quarters now.”

Hilly’s eyes flared at the dismissal, but she didn’t say anything else. She had nothing else to say. The king was making a mistake.