The Puppet Queen: A Tale of the Sleeping Beauty Page 12

A month passed, and then another. I grew comfortable in my teaching position, and Corec proved to be a clever student. Life in Clemen was harder than I had dreamed it would be in my palace, but it had been rewarding—and the visions of dancing in taverns had certainly come true, although I forged no real attachment to my suitors. Soon, a year had passed, disappeared in the blink of an eye. And then another and yet I could not bring myself to pack my bags and return to Aquia. It was sheer cowardice. I knew now that not only had I brought about, however unintentionally, the curse on Aquia, but now I had compounded my family’s worries by disappearing. I could not face their disappointment. I had lived those past two years with a certain fear of being recognized, but independent, I had grown responsible, aware of the world in a way that is impossible when one lives in a palace. I had matured past my initial shock of guilt at the curse. Now, Corec was marrying and my term as his governess was finished, my time in Clemen itself almost up.

  On the eve of my eighteenth birthday, I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. After all, on the stroke of midnight, I had an eternity of slumber to look forward to. I wished I had ridden home earlier in the week for now I had to face this enchantment on my own. I would have liked to see my family one last time. I wondered what Madame’s household would make of my irreversible slumber. Would they draw the correct conclusion? I had considered penning a note, but every time my quill touched paper, my fingers seized up in faintheartedness.

  I clutched the blankets tightly to calm my nerves, to have something warm touching my skin. What would an eternity of slumber be like? Shall I dream? Or will the Pari send me nightmares as a punishment? Or will I be conscious in truth, able to think and perceive, but unable to see, to move? The thought terrified me and I huddled closer into my blankets. How I wished this was a future I was facing alongside my family, with Gen’s tenacity, Rory’s constant comfort, Gareth’s humor, Nic’s unyielding pride, Ceara’s bright intellect. All qualities necessary to face such a destiny. I eyed the portrait that I had brought with me from Aquia and that I now kept beneath my bed, to be taken out only in response to the deepest homesickness. I had no idea how my family was readying themselves for this blow. A part of me did not even believe something would happen. How could it? How could a whole principality fall into enchanted sleep? It seemed impossible, a magic too big and too insidiously evil to even be possible.

  The town bells boomed once to announce midnight. A bolt of terror jolted me upright.

  I was awake.

  I was awake.

  What the Seasons…?

  I scrubbed my eyes, pinched myself. Was I dreaming? Was I asleep? Well, if this is a dream then it is bloody well indistinguishable from reality.

  “What happened?” I murmured to myself. Swinging out of bed, I rushed to the window. The sky was as dark as ever, nothing was different. I had expected some signal to indicate the curse had been enacted. A great ripple in the harbor, or a gale blowing through the trees. Nothing. The bells were no longer ringing. Then, it struck me. “‘In Aquia!’”

  Of course, such a simple loophole. How could we have missed it? But maybe they hadn’t! Perhaps my family had figured out purposefully what I had discovered accidentally. Hope, that I tried futilely to temper, surged through me.

  Seasons, perhaps the Pari’s curse had been mere pageantry, an empty threat to frighten us for eighteen years. Yet, even I was not optimistic enough to truly believe that. Nonetheless, with a relieved smile on my face, I fell at last into unbroken sleep.