Sleeping Beauty, the One Who Took the Really Long Nap (7 page)

For my fifteenth birthday I decided to perform again. Now that I no longer felt defined by my gifts, I was happy to share them. I joyfully tap-danced my way across the stage and then playfully went from the flute to the piano and back again. I had written this piece of music in such a way that it sounded like the piano and flute were having a conversation. The audience loved it, and since I had written it myself, I felt like I could rightly share in some of the praise. I was taking my last bow when I caught a glimpse of something in the back row. Since everyone was standing, I could not see clearly. As the audience began to mill about, though, I saw her. It was the old fairy! The one who had cursed me fifteen years ago! Even though I was an infant at the time, I knew her face. She held up an hourglass and slowly tipped it over. “Tick, tick, tick,” she whispered. Even though she was on the opposite end of the large room, I heard her clearly. Then she vanished. My heart pounded in my chest. I told no one.

Once the guests left, I ran out to the garden and sat on
the old swing. I had grown much too big to swing anymore, but sitting there brought me comfort. I watched the marble mermaid spit her water into the air, over and over again. She would spit that water forever. I, on the other hand, had no secure future. I figured the old fairy's warning could mean only one thing: Time was running out.

I could not believe Father had sprung Percival on me in this way. No doubt he thought he was doing what was best for me. I had to force myself to be a gracious, princely host. I tried to smile, but I am sure it came out more like a grimace. “Bailiff will show you to the finest guest room, Percival. I must run out, and I am not certain when I shall be back. Please make yourself at home.”

I turned toward the gate, but he reached out a hand. “Where are you going? May I accompany you?”

I shook my head. “Just an errand for my father,” I lied. “Royal matter. Boring. You shall have more fun here.” I knew I should warn him about Mother, but since she was to be away for at least another fortnight, I saw no rush. Hopefully by then he'd have heard it from someone else in the castle. I could not bear to be the one to have to tell him.

“You are the Prince,” he said, bowing low. “I shall do as I am told.”

I was not so certain of that, but I had more important
tasks on my mind. I left him in the foyer and hurried out the gate. Huddling against the storm, I made my way across the Great Lawn and into the woods. The wind was less brutal here, as the trees offered some shelter. I stopped in at both forts only long enough to collect the tools I had stashed there. While I had tried many times before to cut the vines, perhaps I wasn't trying in the right places. Or perhaps now that I knew the importance of getting in there, it would be different.

I decided to start at the library window. Since there was already that tiny peephole, I figured the vines might be weakest there. I hacked and sliced, careful not to break the window in the process. But it was no use. The vines did not loosen even an inch.

“Shall I give it a go?” a voice behind me asked.

Every morn I awoke and wondered if I would be waking again the following morning, or a hundred years later. After a few months of this, I decided enough was enough. I would live my life to the fullest while I had it. Every day I took a walk with Mama in the gardens. Or if the weather was bad, she would brush my hair and tell me stories of her own childhood. Papa let me sit in on meetings and taught me to play chess. I began to pay more attention to nature. Sometimes I would sit on a blanket and stare at the grass, just to watch it grow. I helped Mama plant new rosebushes, chrysanthemums, and lilacs. I prayed I would still be around to watch them bloom.

I often went with Sara to visit her family. As crowded as that house was, I loved the boisterousness of it. Children were always laughing and getting themselves into trouble. I wondered sometimes if my parents wanted more children but were scared after the old fairy cursed me. More than anything, I dreaded the fact that sticking myself with that spindle would leave them all alone.

One autumn afternoon I came across the list I had written about the tasks I wanted to undertake. I'd completed that painting (even though the fairy ruined it) and I'd made a whole meal by myself (even though the fairy ruined that, too). The last item on the list was horseback riding. Even though I no longer felt I had to prove myself, I was still eager to feel the wind against my cheeks.

I knew Mama would never let me do it if I asked, so I did not ask. One afternoon I told Sara I only needed to run downstairs for a moment, and instead I ran out to the stables. I had pulled some riding britches out of Mama's closet and wore them under my dress. I quickly shed the dress and asked a stable boy to saddle a small horse for me. I saw him hesitate, but I flashed him a wide smile and he hurried to grab a saddle from the shelf. Sometimes being beautiful wasn't such a bad thing.

He helped me up, gave me a few pointers, and then tapped the horse gently on the rump. The horse began to head slowly out of the stable and onto the lawn. Very, very slowly. Honestly, I thought I could walk faster than this horse was moving. So I dug my heels in lightly, and he picked up the pace to a slow trot. This was great! I loved seeing my familiar surroundings from a whole different perspective. The gift of gracefulness came in handy, because I was very at ease as I bounced up and down in rhythm to the horse's movements.

I was about to enter the woods to take the riding path when I heard shouts coming from behind me. Papa was running toward me, waving his arms. Behind him was Mama, with her long skirts hiked up and her face red, followed by Sara in the rear, who scowled at me. They were all yelling at me to get down, it was too dangerous.

“I am fine, truly,” I called out to them. But they kept getting closer. The horse was starting to get a bit jumpy and was shifting his weight from leg to leg. I wanted to tell them to stop yelling, but it was too late. The horse had enough and took off. I yanked the reins like the stable boy told me, but the horse did not stop. If anything, he went faster. He veered into the woods and began jumping over fallen logs and between trees. It was all I could do to hold on. Before I could duck, a tree branch was directly in front of me. I hit it with my head and was instantly unseated. The fall to the ground seemed to take forever.

I am sure I fell very gracefully, though.

As I hit, my vision seemed to turn in upon itself. I saw bits and pieces of my life. The last image I saw was of the old fairy, smiling wickedly and pointing to the hourglass.

Then all was dark.

“Why did you follow me?” I was furious. Of all people to discover the castle! I should have thought to hide my tracks in the snow. It must have been easy to follow my exact route.

Percival shrugged. “I had nothing better to do. What are you up to? Seeing who is stronger, you or a bunch of vines?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but shut it again as I realized he couldn't see the building! All he saw was a mess of leaves and vines, the same things I saw when I first got here. “Um, yes, you caught me.” I slowly started stepping away from the castle walls and began swinging my ax at the regular bushes. As I had hoped, his eyes followed me. “I am trying to build up my strength,” I continued. “These vines are tough, so they afford an excellent challenge.”

“Why did you not tell me this back at the castle?” he asked.

“I was embarrassed,” I replied readily. “You are so strong and fit. I did not want you to judge me poorly.” I could not believe the words coming out of my mouth. It was worth it, though, if it would keep him away from here.

He clasped me on the shoulder. “I see I arrived at your castle not a moment too soon. We shall start an exercise regimen tomorrow morn. We'll have you fit as a fiddle in no time. Now shall we get back? It is bitter cold.”

I desperately wanted to stay, but I could see no way without making him more suspicious. I left the tools where they were and reluctantly followed him back to the house. I planned to return the next day.

It was a full WEEK before Percival let me out of his sight long enough for me to run into the woods. I had begun to suspect that Father may have included watching me as a condition for his stay. Even though Father had not admonished me in years, I knew he did not like it when I disappeared for days or weeks at a time. After all, I was the heir to the kingdom.

The snow had stopped, and I had hoped the warmer weather might have loosened the vines' hold. But no. If anything, the vines were tighter. I pounded against the castle walls, calling out Rose's name. If she were trapped in there, perhaps she could find a way out if I could not find a way in. No response. I called again. “Rose, if you can hear me, go down to the library. Roooose!”

Nothing. Then, from behind me I heard, “Who's Rose?”

Percival was fortunate I had already laid down my ax.

When my eyes fluttered open, it was light. Water soaked my face and hair. I was lying on my bed, with four panicked faces staring down at me. The fourth belonged to the castle physician, who was holding a now-empty bucket of water over my head. I looked up, wiped the water from my eyes, and asked, “Is it a hundred years later?”

“It is an HOUR later!” Sara replied. “And none of us are speaking to you. You gave us a terrible fright. Your poor mother here had to be given smelling salts when we found you lying in a heap upon the forest floor!”

“Forgive me,” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears. Mostly the tears were out of guilt from worrying everyone, but they were also because my head ached fiercely and my throat was very dry.

“Is she going to be all right, Doctor?” Papa asked.

The doctor nodded. “Sleep, fluids, perhaps a leech or two. She shall be as good as new. Right as rain.”

Mama tossed me a towel, drew my curtains closed, and
went into the sitting room. “You sleep, I shall be right in here in case you need me.” Without waiting for my response, she turned and sat down on one of the red velvet couches. Clearly she was still angry with me. I wondered how old I would have to be before I could make my own choices and take my own risks. I was going to be sixteen soon, for goodness' sake. One glance at Mama gave me my answer — I would
never
be old enough!

The castle physician kept me in bed for a full week, which I believed to be excessive. He tried to attach a leech to my leg, but it refused to stick. This may have had something to do with the beeswax ointment I rubbed on before each visit.

Every night I dreamt of horses and how free I had felt. I never dreamt of the fall.

By the end of the week, being laid up in my bed had begun to feel like a punishment. All my meals had been served to me, and stories had been read well into the night, but I missed my walks in the garden and the busy castle life. When I was finally allowed out of bed, the first thing I did was to go downstairs and visit the horse. I wanted to make sure he was all right. The stable boy jumped when he saw me and said, “I'm sorry, Princess, but the queen has given me strict orders not to let you in here.”

Why was I not surprised?

He assured me the horse was fine. I tried to sneak a look, but he stepped to the side and blocked me.

I considered sulking for a few days, but that got tiring after only a day. Before the fall, I had truly enjoyed living every moment to the fullest, and I intended to keep that up. For the next few months I kept painting. My horses looked like ladybugs and my ladybugs looked like trees, but I was having fun. My plum cakes slowly improved to the point where we could almost fully enjoy them without the help of fairy magic. I read most of the books in the library, even the boring ones.

For my sixteenth birthday, my parents said I could choose something special to do. I was tempted to ask if I could ride a horse through the countryside but did not want to anger them. It had been years since we had taken a family trip, so I chose that. We decided to go visit the estate of Papa's second cousins. They had a lake where we could swim, which was something I had not done since I was a child. The only body of water near our castle was the moat, and NO ONE wanted to swim in there, considering it was where one of the dung chutes emptied.

Sara was coming with us, of course. She had never been farther than the outskirts of town and we were both ready for a change of scenery. The ride was long, but we made it
fun by singing silly songs and guessing what kind of animal would cross the road in front of our carriage next.

I asked Papa if his relatives minded that he was a king while they were just regular nobility. He said that not everyone wants the responsibility that comes with ruling. I had not considered that before. It took a special person to give up their personal freedom in order to protect and provide for hundreds of others. I reached over and gave Papa's hand a squeeze.

The first thing Sara and I did when we arrived was change into our swimming dresses and jump in the lake. We splashed around like two little kids. My cousins joined us. They really WERE two little kids, so we had fun with them. For lunch we were served a whole platter of local delicacies outside on the veranda. We sipped cold tea and tried a little bit of everything. One of the dishes tasted so bad that Sara whispered, “Are you sure
you
didn't cook this?”

After a game of croquet on the lawn, Sara yawned and suggested we both retire to the room we were sharing for an afternoon nap. I agreed, but when we got there I wasn't the least bit tired. Sara fell asleep instantly. I put on some walking clothes and tiptoed out of the room. I felt slightly guilty for not telling Sara I was going out, but how much harm could I get into? Their whole estate was not much bigger than our Great Lawn!

I decided to explore the grounds. Even though the estate was small, it was quite pretty and well kept. I wandered toward a cottage with a thatched roof and a welcoming aroma. In fact, it smelled so good, I decided to knock on the door and ask for the recipe. It would truly impress my family if I could cook something as delicious-smelling as that.

An old woman answered the door and ushered me inside happily.

“You are here to pick up your dress, right?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“Oh,” she said, surprised. “When a young lady knocks on my door it is usually to pick up her dress for the big ball. All the eligible men in the area will be there. And you are of marriageable age, are you not?”

I nodded. By sixteen, many girls were engaged to be married. My old friends Bethany and Tabitha had been engaged for a year already. My parents had never tried to fix me up, though, for which I was grateful.

“Well, never mind all that,” the woman said. “What can I do for you today?”

I was about to inquire after the delightful aroma, when I noticed a big wheel on a wooden stand in the center of the room. I walked toward it, never having seen anything like it. “What does this do?” I asked.

She laughed. “Why, it weaves things.”

I had never seen a wheel that weaves things. “May I try?”

“Of course. Here, you just lift this and pull that and push this, and that's all there is to it.”

So I sat down as she instructed, and lifted and pulled and pushed. Two large pieces of wool crisscrossed each other in a beautiful pattern. I'd finally found something I did well the first time. I repeated the steps.

“You are a natural,” the woman said. “You might put me out of business.” Smiling, she said, “Here, try this, it will make it go faster.”

I wasn't watching what she was handing me because at that moment the door banged open and my parents and Sara stood there, out of breath. I grasped the object in my hand at the moment the three of them yelled, “NOOOOOOOO!!!”

I saw the confusion on the old woman's startled face and looked down at my hand. Even though I had never seen one before, I knew without a doubt that what I now held could only be a spindle. I opened my palm wide to release it, but it was too late. A tiny drop of blood had already begun to form on my thumb. Mama ran over and tried to blot it away with her skirt. It stopped bleeding nearly instantly, since it was just the tiniest of holes.

Mama and I stared frantically into each other's eyes, both wide with fear and panic. She was holding on to hope,
but I was not. I already felt a subtle change in the air around me. Everyone started to seem far away, instead of crowded around me. They were screaming my name and weeping but I could only faintly hear them. I tried to tell them not to worry about me, that I would be all right. All I could croak out was “I love you.” Then all was black. Again.