Sleeping Beauty, the One Who Took the Really Long Nap (9 page)

I laughed as I wiped the water from my face with my sleeve. How good it felt to laugh! I couldn't remember the last time I'd done so. “So you are not a dream, then?” I asked.

Rose pinched her own arm. “Thankfully, no,” she replied. “I've had enough dreams for ten lifetimes. What happened to you? You became somewhat green and simply passed out.”

How embarrassing! I was supposed to be gallant and brave and strong, and instead I'd fainted right in front of her. “I, er, was hit on the head recently. It must have done more damage than I thought.”

Rose went into the sitting room for a moment and returned with a wet cloth. “Here,” she said, gently laying it across my forehead. “Keep this on for a while. It will help. I hit my head recently, too.”

I wanted to correct her, but I did not have the heart. I could tell that the full gravity of what had happened had not yet fully sunk in. “How did you hit your head?” I asked.

A wistful look crossed her face. “Riding a horse. I could not control it, and a tree branch did me in. It was my first — and only — time on a horse. I loved it.”

This surprised me. “I thought princesses grew up riding. I know you have a large stable at your castle.”

“Most princesses do ride. My childhood was not typical. You probably would not understand.”

“Trust me, Princess. I would understand better than you could imagine. I —”

She cut me off. “Wait a moment. You just said you knew I had a large stable. How could you know that if my castle has been hidden?”

“How can I explain this? My castle is an exact duplicate of your castle. We have huge stables, so I know you must, too.”

She stared at me. “How could your castle be an exact duplicate of ours? Do my parents know about this?”

I did not answer right away. “Perhaps you should rest, and we can talk about all this later? This cannot be easy for you and —”

“Now,” she pleaded. “I need to understand.”

“Very well. Let us go into the sitting room, and I shall fix you a glass of water.” I led the way, deftly opened the cupboard, took out a mug, and filled it with water.

I handed her the cup. She took it, sat down on the couch, then quickly stood up again. “How do you know where everything is?” she asked, a bit suspiciously.

I sighed. “This is my room, also.”

“I'm sorry, what?”

I sat on the opposite end of the couch and faced her. “Let me start from the beginning.”

“Please do.”

And so I told her a bit about my early childhood, leaving out the ogre part and other unpleasant times, and focusing on the parts that had to do with her. I told her of finding the castle when I was a boy, and being determined to find out its secrets. I told her about the rumors of a ghost and the research I did to find out the truth. I told her how the fairy gave her parents the duplicate castle to live in and how my great-grandfather came to inherit the kingdom when they passed away. I told her how my grandfather had tried to get in to find her when he was a boy, but the fairy had sent him home. At this part in my story she turned white and dropped her mug onto the floor.

“My … my parents are dead? Since the days of your great-grandfather? Everyone I know and love is gone?”

I knew she wanted to hear me deny it, but my silence told her everything. “I am truly sorry, Princess.” I wanted to do something for her. To make it all better. But I was at a loss for what to say.

She stumbled to her feet. “May I have … may I be alone for a bit?”

“Of course,” I said. “I will be downstairs. I shall fix you something to eat.”

She nodded absently. I did not think she even noticed when I closed the door behind me.

I walked over to the looking glass above the cistern and stared at my reflection. I could see Mama's eyes and Papa's jaw. I did not look a day older than when I had pricked my finger, while they were now bones in the ground. I would never know what they went through when I fell asleep, or how their lives turned out. If I dwelled on that pain for too long, I knew it would consume me. Sara's face floated across my mind and it felt like a punch in the belly. Sara! I could not bear to think of us not growing old together. Did she find love? Did she have babies? Was she happy?

I was completely alone now. Not a single lady-in-waiting to watch out for me. Not a soul in the world to love me, not a soul for me to love. I turned away in despair and saw the mug I had dropped on the floor. Maybe there
was
someone after all.

I hurried into the hall and down the stairs. The whole castle was lit up, but it was so very quiet. Never had I heard it like this, even in the middle of the night. I could see out
the windows that it was still daylight. Everything looked exactly as I remembered it. If the Prince had not told me a hundred years had passed, never would I have believed it. I found him in the Great Hall, setting two plates of food on the table. It smelled delicious.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked. His concern came through with every word.

I nodded, for his sake. I knew I would never get over the losses I had suffered. I think he knew this and did not question me further. He just pulled out my seat for me and placed a silk napkin on my lap.

“How did you learn to cook?” I asked. “I do not think my father can make … I mean, I do not think my father could have made a loaf of blackbread.”

“I have to fend for myself a lot. I had a close friend — my page, Jonathan — who taught me how to cook and store food. I apologize for the cold salmon and rice stew. I would have roasted something, but I did not want to alert anyone by sending smoke up the fireplace.”

“It's perfect,” I said, already halfway done. Between bites, I asked, “Does Jonathan know about me?”

The Prince shook his head. With a pained expression, he said, “I was going to tell him, because I knew he could help me. But he left unexpectedly and I never got the chance.”

I could tell whatever had happened to his friend pained
him greatly, and I knew how that felt. I reached out and put my hand over his. We sat like that for what felt like an hour. Eventually I said, “Shall we walk in the gardens? I would love to visit my flowers.”

“I would love that, too,” he replied. “Our garden has only one rosebush, and even that is hidden amidst the weeds.”

“Didn't you say your castle was an exact replica of mine?”

He nodded. “Mother is not the best at upkeep.”

Once again, I could tell he was holding back, but I did not press him. I could not wait to feel the breeze on my face again. The Prince led the way down the corridors and into the library. It was still odd that he knew his way around so well, having never been here. He pushed open the door that led to the garden, and the vines melted away from the door, and the garden appeared before us. I stepped through the door and inhaled deeply. The whole garden was in bloom, perfectly manicured and tended. The Prince looked around carefully for a moment, like he was making sure no one was there.

Apparently satisfied, he ran through the paths like a little boy, sniffing one flower and rubbing the petals of another. “Never have I seen such beauty!” he exclaimed. Then he blushed. “Well, except for you, of course. You outshine even your namesake.” With that, he picked a red rose and handed it to me. I recalled my first meeting with a rose's thorn, and
my eyes filled with tears when I recalled Mama kissing my finger. I turned away before he noticed, though.

“And here's the swing!” he was saying. “And the fountain! Look at her spit that water, it is so wonderful!”

I couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. “You truly love nature, don't you?”

He nodded. “When I was younger, I would watch the grass grow for hours.”

I laughed. “Me, too.”

He took my hand. His grip was firm. It felt right. “Tell me more about your childhood,” he said. We began to walk through the gardens, with me telling him about the fairies' gifts, and how I was always so protected. I even told him about my failures at painting and cooking. When I told him how I had tried to dislodge the painting in the library from the wall, he laughed and said his mother had tried to do the same thing. I could not believe that painting had hung in the new castle for four more generations. Ugh!

It was nice to relive my childhood by sharing it with him. Every once in a while he would interject with something from his youth, but only rarely. Simply from what he didn't tell me I knew it must not have been an easy childhood.

As we stepped out of the garden, the brush and leaves cleared instantly from the Great Lawn. We began to cross
it, when suddenly I bumped right against something. The Prince kept walking, but I could not.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, returning to my side.

“I … I do not know.” I put my hands up and felt in front of me. It appeared to be an invisible, slippery wall. “Something won't let me pass,” I said, panic rising. The Prince felt around but could find nothing.

“That is very odd,” he said.

I was relieved he did not doubt my words. He suggested we should find out how far it extended, so we walked the entire perimeter of the castle, the vines and brush clearing ahead of us. The invisible wall extended the whole way around. Apparently it was only for me, since the Prince had no trouble walking anywhere.

“Perhaps the fairy is still protecting you for some reason,” he suggested. “I think we should go back inside until we figure it out.”

I nodded, grateful for his wisdom and his company. He took my hand, and we made our way back to the garden and into the library. A figure stood up from one of the chairs, and we both jumped back. The bright sunlight was behind us and my eyes took a second to adjust.

“What does a girl have to do to get some food around here?” the achingly familiar voice asked.

I gasped and threw myself across the room and into
Sara's arms. She looked exactly the same as the last time I saw her.

“Er,” the Prince said, “I'll go make you something right now.” He hurried from the room. I was too busy sobbing for joy to pay much mind.

“Who's the guy?” Sara asked. “And does he have a brother?”

I stood outside the library for a moment, long enough to hear the girl explain that when the fairy put the house to sleep, she requested to sleep along with it, and to wake when Rose did. What a truly wondrous and selfless thing to do! I had been dreading having to leave Rose alone when I went back to my own castle, and now I could breathe easier.

I quickly whipped up the same meal that Rose and I had eaten earlier, and brought it into the library. The two of them were talking about their families and how they couldn't believe they were so long gone. They stopped when they saw me and forced smiles onto their faces. I wanted to tell Rose that it was all right to mourn, but I did not want to tell her how to feel or what to do. From what she shared with me, she'd had enough of that in her childhood.

Her friend was introduced to me as Sara, and when I told her I was the Prince, she asked, “But what is your first name?” I had to explain I did not have one, and how Father had said I could choose one years ago, but I had not felt prepared.

The girls exchanged glances. Rose said, “Do not worry. We shall come up with one for you.” She thought for a moment. “Eugene? Raphael? Butavian?”

Sara said, “Rufus? Timothy? Philip?”

“Hmm,” Rose said. “None of those feel quite right, do they, Sara?”

Sara shook her head.

“I can see I'm going to have my hands full with you two,” I said, throwing up my hands in mock exasperation. “I think we need to move on to something more pressing. Why don't we see if Sara can pass the boundaries?”

Rose sobered up. “That is a good idea, Prince … er … Zeus?”

She and Sara laughed like that was the funniest thing either had ever heard. I was suddenly glad I'd never had sisters.

We went outside and strode across the lawn. Rose walked two paces ahead of me and Sara, holding her arm out in front of her. She stopped when her hand bumped the wall. Sara took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Ow!” she said, rubbing her nose.

“Well,” Rose said with a sigh, “I guess we're stuck here together.”

I noticed something odd on the ground and got down on my knees. “Look at this,” I said. They bent down and I
showed them a ladybug that repeatedly attempted to fly from the grass but kept falling back down. It was hitting the wall, too!

I stood up and brushed off my britches. “It appears that anything that was put to sleep along with Rose cannot leave these boundaries.”

“Forever?” Rose asked in horror.

“I am certain it is not forever,” Sara said, trying to calm her. I was not so quick to make the same claim.

I heard myself say, “I shall figure it out, I promise.”

Rose said, “I know you will,” and gave me a hug. No one who wasn't related to me had ever hugged me before. I could get very used to it.

The problem of Percival had not been far from my mind. He was no longer outside, so the vines must have released him. I needed to get back to my own castle to make sure he had not alerted my parents to the existence of this one. Striking a prince on the head is not acceptable behavior. He would have to learn that.

“I have to take care of some things at home,” I told them. “Will you be all right here? There is plenty of food in the pantry. Everything looks as fresh as if it had been brought in yesterday.”

The girls nodded. Sara said, “I do not know if Rose told you, but she is an excellent cook. We will not go hungry.”

Rose playfully punched Sara on the arm.

“I will be back before dark. Perhaps before then you could try to reach the fairy to ask about the wall?”

Rose nodded. “I have never called on one of my fairy godmothers before. They have always just shown up, usually when I don't want them to. But I shall try.”

She walked me to the door. There was an awkward moment where she tried to hug me and I tried to kiss her, then I tried to hug
her
and she tried to kiss
me
. But then we got it sorted out.

On the walk home, the colors seemed brighter, the air seemed fresher. The love songs the troubadours were always singing suddenly made sense. With an extra skip in my step, I made my way through the woods. Even though the forest was much smaller now, it still effectively hid one castle from the other. In the winter it would be a different story. The skip quickly went out of my step. I had to figure out what was going on with the barrier right away. If the townsfolk learned of Rose's return to life, she would be besieged with visitors — and if the barrier was still up, she would be trapped. In truth, Rose was in more danger now than before I awoke her.

And on top of that, I had to figure out how to tell my parents about her, and how to tell Rose about my parents. I could hear the conversations now:
“Mother, Father, I have
fallen in love and wish to marry Princess Rose, the most beautiful girl in the world.”
Then Mother's reply:
“I abhor beauty. She is not allowed in my castle.”
I did not see the conversation with Rose being any better.
“Darling, I'd like you to meet my mother. Just be sure not to come near her on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month or she may eat you.
” And then Rose would say,
“It was lovely knowing you, Prince. Have a wonderful life. Farewell.”

How was I going to make everything work out in the end?

I had absolutely no idea.