Sleeping Beauty (Faerie Tale Collection) (11 page)

She winced and shuddered at the screams her memory began to conjure up again. “Very well. What must I do? What must I learn? Please tell me anything-anything, to guarantee I will not lose another person I love to this-this monster. Start from the beginning and do not leave a thing out.”

And so he began. He explained everything that he knew—all that which Ezralon revealed into the wee hours of the morning before, and all that he knew of the legend and what he could piece together himself. He told of their past lives in the council, he told of her power and glory, and he told of all that Villeria had done to trick her family. He also told of his fears for their safety when she came again.

All this she listened to with great hardship upon herself, desperately trying not to react to the horror, the smells, the memories flooding back. How much carnage had she been forced to witness at such a young age? How could anyone cope with such madness? No wonder she was put to sleep, no wonder she was forced into this exile of eternal bliss until help could arrive.

And then she apprehended—“You are here now! You can break the spell. I do not have to be asleep any longer. What must we do? Let us do so now.”

He shook his head. “No, I would prefer not to—not now. I cannot wake you up. It will be too hard for you; we are not prepared fully for it either.”

It was her turn to hold his jaw. “I fear, my dear prince, that we will never be fully prepared for Villeria. Never. And so I believe it is better to know what world I am truly living in, than to be sheltered and protected. It is time I faced my fears, my dear. It is time. And with you by my side, I feel I can do anything.”

“Aleyna, I really cannot think this is wise.”

“Darién, I am not asking you to think right now, I am asking you to support me. How much longer must we hide from our destiny? You will break away and Ezralon will enchant me to forget this all again, and we will be back to perfection once more. Perfection may be good on the outside, but if there are no trials—if we do not face our destroyers and challenge our right to truly live—then what is the point of living if we do not gain anything, if everything is frozen, if we do not find out what we are capable of achieving? No, my dear, we must break free. I have to live—awaken me from this shell of a life and teach me what it is I must to fully understand all that I am, all that I am capable of. Until then, until I am fully awake, I will forever be vulnerable to the creation of an empty world. I want to live now, my dear, and you are the only man capable of releasing me from my sleeping prison. I beg you, Prince Darién of Lybrooke Court, allow me to exist. I am ready at the moment, I am ready to begin. Now what must we do?”

His heart swelled with love for the brave woman before him. If he had three hundred such women or men in front of him, none of them would have said or felt what she had. They would have all wanted to hide—who does not want to cast aside their troubles for another day, hoping against hope those troubles will eventually leave if ignored long enough? And yet, she was ready to face them all head on—how can he not love such a woman as perfect as the queen before him?

And so, Darién did the only thing he could do in such a moment. He simply cradled the beautiful gel in his arms, brushed aside her tears and took a long look at her striking face, his thumb gently caressing her bottom lip before he leant down and kissed her sweet forehead, then her nose, and on to the delectable rosy cheek as he whispered softly, “My dear queen, forgive me for coming so late. I had not the courage you do to fulfill my destiny. Until you spoke just now—I truly had no idea how much I allowed my own fears to hold me back. Well, no longer. I bid you arise, my sleeping queen. Cast off the shadows of your eyes and embrace the world for what it honestly is around you. And know, that from this day forth—and forever before and after—I have loved you and always will.”

She moaned slightly as his lips captured hers, sending a series of delicious sparks through them both.

Ezralon started at the shift in the atmosphere around the kingdom. He closed his eyes, his horn glowing briefly as he scanned the forest spot many miles away. Great goodness. She was no longer there, at all, in any form. The sleeping queen had finally woken up. Curse the fool boy!

Villeria’s eyes snapped open from the exhausting boredom she felt as she lounged across her bed. Slowly she sat up, silk sheets twisted within the rich mahogany cover all around her. Her mouth tightened, her heart beat quickening. Hesitant at first to believe and then more eager, she quickly scampered from the bed, and immediately stood still by the thickly carved post nearest her feet—her whole body alert, feeling the atmosphere many miles away—when all at once her lips curved into a devious smile as she whispered, “And now it begins.”

“Men!” she shouted. “Men! Man your stations now! We leave at once!”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ALEYNA’S EYES FLUTTERED OPEN, her mouth in a sweet O of surprise as he pulled back. He simply could not resist and kissed her again, and then again, his arms weaving around and pulled her in tighter as she clung to the back of his neck, her own fingers swirling in his hair.

“Prince Darién?”

“Yes?” he whispered as he gently nibbled on her lower lip.

“I did not know how perfect kissing can be.”

He grinned. “It’s quite enjoyable, is it not?”

“Oh, yes!” She nodded and pulled him down to capture her greedy mouth again.

After a few more very agreeable moments Darién pulled back. “My dear, how are you feeling? Are you in pain at all?”

“Pain?” she mumbled, her eyes still a bit hazy beneath his stare. “Was that what you were supposed to do? Am I finally awake then?”

“I would certainly hope so. If the zinging that came from your kisses was anything to go by, then you are most definitely awake at the moment.” He captured her mouth with his again, as if to test to see if the sparks were still there. They were.

“Oh goodness, do you mean it is not always this wonderful to kiss someone?”

“I believe it is only magical kisses to your true intended that are meant to feel this way.”

“Hmm…” She grinned, her eyes closed as she lost herself to the euphoria of the warmest of sensations making its way through her heart. “You say the most perfect things at times.”

“At times?” He kissed her once more. “I thought I said perfect things continuously.”

She laughed and tossed her head back. “I will never get used to your self-assurance, it is so refreshing to—“ She paused as she beheld the darkness of the room. “Where are the candles that were lit a few moments ago? Why is the room so very dark?”

“Is it dark? I did not realize. At least it does not seem much darker than before.”

Aleyna’s brows furrowed as she pulled away to look towards the only light source in the great room. Two tall barren, shattered windows allowed the sun to stream in upon the filthy place. She gasped and spun within his arms taking in the horrific eerie scene about them. “Oh, no!”

“Aleyna?” He tried to pull her closer, but she tugged out of his arms and stood quickly upon shaky feet.

“Is this how it has always looked? Is this the castle? What has happened?” Slowly her eyes took in the cold, withered, dirty and deserted ruin around her. Her hands flying to her mouth as she beheld a crumbled pile of bones and clothing slouched in a corner about twenty feet away from where she stood. Taking a step back, she asked, “Is that—over there in the corner—is that what I believe it is?”

Her faint tone pierced Darién more than her fright at discovering the world she truly lived in. He slowly stood so as not to alarm her more. “It is a dead body, yes.”

“No.” She took another step back, bumping into his chest. “No.”

His arms wrapped around hers. “Yes, my dear.”

Aleyna turned and buried her face in his neckcloth, her voice mumbled as she responded, “You misunderstand. It is not a dead body, Darién. Not
just
a dead body. No. No, sir, it is a dear friend of mine—or family member—or loved one, is it not?”

“It could possibly be a servant—” he tried to appease.

“Servants are family here!” she wailed and shoved at his chest to pull away but he would not release her. Needing to grieve in private, needing to shout and lament and—she did not know what she needed—but it was not this, it most certainly could not mean this! “If you will not unhand me, please take me away from this place—I want out of this room, so I can cope and regain some sort of footing with my new life. Please take me out of here.”

“Aleyna, I fear you will not find the solace you seek, my dear. It is not within these walls. For you cannot hide from this—truth be told this room is quite pleasant compared to some of the rest.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“NO!”

“Yes, I am afraid so.”

“Will you stop saying yes?”

“What would you have me say then?”

“I do not know, but I wish you would stop this insistence on completely disagreeing with everything I say; it is quite unpleasant at the moment.”

He would have grinned then if her face were not so tragic-looking. “Aleyna, please…”

“Please what? You are telling me that my home is in pieces. That there are literally dead crumbled bones of my dearest family and friends lying about everywhere, how is it you would have me act at the moment?”

He squeezed her hand, a gesture she found mildly irritating.

“I did not want to wake you up, you begged me, remember?”

“I know I did—I know, but it is hard.” She glanced down the deserted hall, her eyes not able to settle upon any one thing—it was all so foreign and frightening. She inhaled a shaky breath and straightened her shoulders. “So this is my life then? This is what Ezralon has been hiding from me?”

“I am afraid so, my dear.”

Her gaze locked with his—regret, mourning, disbelief, terror—they were all there for him to read. Every emotion as it flickered past her countenance. “How can I cope? How will I be able to get through this?” Her hands reached for him, clinging onto his arms. “Who is to say it will not happen again? What if I lose you too—all of you? What then?” She could feel her lip beginning to quiver as she shook her head. “Why? Why is this
my
fate? Why must it be so?”

“Shh…”

“Darién, stop shushing me, please! I need answers. Right now, I need answers.”

He half choked, half expelled a breath of frustration himself. “I do not have the answers you seek. I know just a fraction more than you do—just a fraction—but even then it is all hearsay.” When she turned her head aside, he ran his hands over her shoulders. “Aleyna, there is no escape from this. There is no easy way out. We are here now. The only thing we can do together is face it—whatever it is, whatever may come of us—we must face our fears and have a belief within us that all will go well.”

Her eyes met his. “I love you.”

“I will not leave you to fight these demons alone—not your personal ones or the sorceress. I am here with you. I am destined to stand by your side through this all. I cannot—I will not allow you to falter because of fear. Let us falter because of lack of skill, or knowledge—but do not be afraid, my dear queen, that time is over. It is time now to see what has come upon this treasured palace and battle the great demon that holds us all captive—our fears.”

She snorted a very unladylike snort and asked, “What are you afraid of? You are speaking of only me. I am the sole coward present.”

He chuckled in surprise. “Oh, you would be astonished at what I am terrified of—and believe me, it is definitely not something I am overly proud—at least not now.”

“What?”

He shook his head.

She smiled slightly. “Darién, what is it? What could possibly scare you?”

His humorous eyes settled upon her mouth, before capturing her in an intense gaze—seriousness schooling his features. It was some moments before he uttered, “You.”

“Me?”

“I was afraid of you. And now more so than ever before.”

“You are frightened of me?”

He lowered his head and kissed her brow. “I am now fearful of losing you.” He traced a small pattern of kisses over to her ear, his arms wrapping around her waist. “Before it was meeting you as an enchanted being; now it is losing this beautiful soul I have wrapped within my arms.”

“Darién, I—”

“Villeria is on her way!” Ezralon’s echoed bellow was followed by a smattering of pounding echoed footsteps and hooves, he was not too far from them. “We must prepare now! Everyone meet at the entrance and we will devise a plan as quickly as possible!”

“Darién! Queen Aleyna! Where are you?!” Michael’s shout could be heard a few rooms away.

They pulled apart. Darién reached for her hand as his gaze traced her features. Fear was evident, he could not let her leave this room to face Villeria with such torment coursing through them both. “Aleyna, we will win.” His ears twitched.

She knew he was lying, but took strength in that lie, her lungs all the sudden not quite capable of taking breaths without gulping for air in huge gasps. “Promise me, I will not lose you,” she heaved out.

“Never. If all else falls around you, my queen, I will eternally stand by your side. You will never be alone or left in an enchanted world again. I am here now. It is why I came. To release you from this and I
will
do what I came to do.” This time his ears remained still.

She nodded, took another deep breath, squared her shoulders and called out, “We are here! We are coming.” Then one last whisper to Darién, “Let this begin.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THEY RAN TO THE great hall, Aleyna’s gown clutched in her fist, her other arm wrapped through Darién’s elbow. She willed herself not to panic as they dodged dirty heaps of bones and obvious signs of filthy carnage everywhere. Her heart lurched, her beloved castle was in complete ruins.

Feeling her stomach churning was only a mere side effect when she faintly recognized the tatters of clothing or footwear lying about. Everyone she had loved died that day—everyone. Bile rose into the back of her throat and she knew she was going to be sick and would have slowed her pace, had she not been linked to Darién just then. “Just keep moving,” he said, over the pounding of her heart. “It is better if you continue forward; do not allow it to overwhelm you.”