Wear these to know the truth of your heart.
They hold a power to keep your steps straight
And all the answers will unfold
If only you should do your part
He'd sighed a little as he'd finished writing it. Usually, he was a better poet. But then usually he had more time and knew more than just a vague generality of what the matter at hand pertained to. He'd never have agreed to this present, without heaps more details, except for who had placed the request. He could not deny royalty.
Chapter Fifteen
Midnight
“You look beautiful tonight, Midnight. Absolutely perfect,” Mother greeted me with a kiss on each cheek, in the manner of Father's people, as I appeared at the top of the stairs.
I knew what the words meant. I looked perfect to solve this problem. I reached for Mother's hand and squeezed it.
“This will work.”
Mother nodded.
◆◆◆
Yes, the dreamcatcher had been finished this afternoon and it hung above Aurora's bed. Three physicians attended her bedside. The order had been given that if anything should happen, immediately word must be sent to us. With joy, true joy now, in my step, I stood ready to face the ball. Aurora's cure was coming and soon. It was bound to be. Any moment now I'd see my sister again!
“Mother, thank you for the slippers, they're absolutely beautiful!”
“Slippers?” Mother said, but before I could ask her anything further, someone appeared at the queen's shoulder and whisked her away.
◆◆◆
“Well, you know it's all the sister's fault.”
“The sister's? What's her name again? Asteria or something? It's so ostentatious.”
“You think that's bad! You should hear what her sister calls her!”
“What is it?”
“Something like Mi – Ma –”
“Maleficent?”
“Yes! That's it! I'm pretty sure.”
“Have you ever heard of something so ridiculous? Maleficent?!”
From my place behind the pillar, I clung to my resolve.
How dare they talk about me like that? Here! In my palace! They're guests. They're guests and they say that I...
I trailed off in my thoughts. Yes, they're guests. Only guests. It's not as if what they said mattered. It's not as if –
“I hear she did it on purpose?”
“You mean – ”
Here, their voices became indistinguishable as they turned away from me. Their thick dresses and the even thicker walls of the castle blocked their voices. I held my breath, afraid to breathe lest I should reveal my spot.
The voices reemerged.
“How'd it happen anyway?”
“Pricked her finger on a spindle.”
“A spindle?”
“From a spinning wheel, yes.”
“But how does a spindle put one to sleep?”
“How should I know?”
Then, the visitor thought better of turning her friend away and couldn't resist adding another tasty morsel to tempt the conversation,
“Poison, I'd think.”
“She poisoned her sister? Are you serious?”
I gripped the rail, certain that it would crumble under my hand's tension.
“Would I lie to you?”
They giggled at that, actually giggled. It was a lyrical answer that meant they believed each scrap of lies that the other said. They sounded like school girls, though as they stepped in front of the pillar now and I glimpsed them, I realized they looked at least ten years older than Aurora and me. Shouldn't they know better?
My skin seethed, as though heat had been poured over me through a flaming cauldron. It was the kind of piercing fire that sent me into uncontrollable shaking shivers.
I have to get out of here. I have to leave. I have to escape.
The thoughts bubbled up inside of me, like an incessant incantation.
Kicking the pavement seemed just about perfect tonight, but how could I kick in slippers made of glass? Despite being upset, logic still held me captive. Captive, yes, for if I were not so logical, then I could have escaped long ago from all of this. But, emotion had no place, not for someone so restrained, so methodical.
I balled up my fists, punching at the air. No one was there. Free, outside, in the cooling breeze, my skin began to relax into the night air. There was an ease in life outside the palace. It was as if inside the walls, I held everything in, but outside I could expand. It was like that. My spirit was too knotted up inside, tangled into a mass of responsibilities, regrets and trying to compose myself.
“They think that I would hurt her! That it was on purpose! That my name is Maleficient! Malificent! Did you hear anything so ridiculous?”
I talked to myself when I was upset.
“Who are you talking to?” Aurora had said, when we were young.
“Myself.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm upset,” I had said.
Then Aurora had started talking aloud to herself. She'd described what she'd had for breakfast. Still, I could hear her perfectly,
“Toast and juice, eggs and cream.” She said it over and over, like a little song.
“Toast and juice, eggs and cream.”
“What are you doing?” I had said to her.
“I'm being upset with you. So you don't have to do it alone.”
I had stared at her, touched by my sister's kindness. We were so young. How did Aurora have the capacity to even think to do that?
“Am I doing it right?” Still, I could see her. Her eyes had grown, as though the intentions of her heart had swollen them.
“Yes, Rosie. It's perfect.”
Rosie.
It was an old name, a name that I no longer called her. We were grown-up and she was Princess Aurora. Aurora was a beautiful name. It suited my sister. But in that early memory, my small mouth had not been able to wrap itself around all of the letters of Aurora. And so, I'd called her Rosie. Sometimes, it'd been AuRosie, but I thought that sounded silly.
Pricked her finger on a spindle. Next thing they'll be saying it was the roses' fault. Briar roses caused her to fall asleep!
Had my words spilled over onto anyone else, I'd have burned them with their causticity.
It was all so frustrating!
“I want – ugh!” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Excuse me, Your Highness, are you all right?”
“I'm fine,” I said, quickly, startled by the arrival of the servant, but unwilling to share my sadness with anyone. Aurora could take up that mantle, but no one else – oh dear! That's exactly what she'd done. Beautiful, wonderful Aurora. She'd taken up the sadness for me. The sniveling guests had been right. I might as well have poisoned my sister with a spindle. I really was Maleficent.
Chapter Sixteen
Midnight
“Excuse me, are you – ”
“Look! I told you already, I'm fine,” I said. It was easier to shield myself with the anger than to erupt with the sadness. No one would see me cry. Even Aurora had not been a part of that; at least, I had hidden her from it as often as possible.
“I'm sorry, Princess Asteria, I did not mean to intrude.” There was something in his voice, an unexpected gentleness of a friend that made me look up at him. I didn't think about it. I was just drawn to him, as though a magnet were connecting my eyes to him.
“Pardon,” I said, “I didn't realize. I thought the servants had returned. They can be troublesome.” I said it with a little smile. His eyes blinked, ever so slightly at that, as if surprised to hear that I should say something about servants. Then, he nodded, agreeing, for I believed him to be a prince, a prince who would have countless troublesome servants of his own.
“Yes, of course. Would you prefer to be alone?”
It was an odd question, for had anyone else asked, I would have said yes. Yes, go away. Yes, be gone. Yes, let me be in peace.
Only, I
didn't say any of that to him.
“Your name is Philip, is that right?”
He nodded.
“Yes, that's right.”
“Then, Philip, you are welcome to stay.”
From the portico, we could hear the music. It drifted over us, not unpleasantly, like a cooling breeze of summer. The instruments could breathe here. Maybe it was the night or the way that I turned my head, right at the moment, and the moonlight hit me. Whatever it was, Philip stepped forward in bravery.
“May I have this dance?”
I laughed a little at that. But when I saw that he was in earnest and that this was no joke, I nodded, consenting.
He held out his hands to me. He knew that I would lead. He knew it without ever having thought of it and I knew it too as I struck up the dance. He followed as I danced perfectly, a vision in the night. A few steps into the dance, he realized that I was not consciously leading. Instead, I seemed propelled, as if my feet were gliding over the ground of their own accord. He looked down at my feet then, unable to resist the pull they exerted, and saw a cascade of winking colors.
“Most unusual shoes,” he said.
“Hm?” I said, as though waking from a dream. My mind was elsewhere, occupied with matters beyond the ball.
“Your shoes are most unusual.”
I nodded.
“Yes, a present from my mother,” I said.
“Are they made of glass?”
Again I nodded, a smile coaxed from me this time.
“I know they should hurt or be uncomfortable or something, but I don't even notice they're there. It's like I'm floating on air. All I really feel is the connection to my sister. It's as if she's right here, dancing with me and not – ”
I stopped, blinked at Philip as if forgetting he were there and brushed my words aside,
“So, Philip, tell me about yourself.”
“Myself?” he said, stumbling over the words, “There isn't much to tell there.”
I reached into the annals of my intuition. It was kindled deep within me, like a fire, that had been steadily fed over the years. These slippers, made of glass, magnified that now. I continued dancing, hoping to pry whatever information from Philip that I could. Something had happened for no steps were missed. He didn't change the rhythm of the dance or trip over my feet. The note tucked inside the package had said that if the dance were beautiful and free of hindrance, then he would be the way forward, the way to Aurora's cure.
Fear pierced my heart, that he would leave before I was able to obtain the secrets of waking Aurora. I had to keep him talking.
“I live a simple life,” he said.
“You seem anything but,” I said. The dance quickened. I had to know for sure that this was the magic of the shoes, that he really was the only one who could deliver a cure and that he was not simply a wonderful dancer.
He looked uncomfortable, as though I had questioned his genuine motives. Though bashfulness rose in his cheeks, the steps remained perfect.
“You didn't say what was troubling you,” he said as answer. That almost made me miss a step. Almost. But not quite. Was it payback for me embarrassing him? No. As I looked at him, I saw that there was nothing malicious in him, no disenchantment with kindness. I took a deep breath, still dancing, and exhaled through my nose. Philip observed my concentration. I was weighing whether to tell him the truth. That much I could tell he knew and I had to act fast or experience the disturbance of continuing being observed in this state.
“I overheard something,” I said.
He nodded, waiting for me to say more.
“It doesn't matter,” I said now. I'd made up my mind. He was not to hear of my misfortune. Maybe, he had hoped that I would confide in him, for he seemed to want to make this all easier for me. I'd been through so much with Aurora locked away in the chambers of sleep. It was like that, wasn't it? She was a prisoner of another world and I was not allowed to visit her.
And then, call it intuition, or the spark of the starlight above him, he knew exactly what to do.
“Would you like to see my carriage?”
“Your carriage?” I said.
He nodded,
“It's most unusual. I think that you would find it interesting.”
I didn't ask how he knew so much about me, to know what I would take an interest in. But, he was right; I was intrigued. Perhaps, this is where the answer for Aurora lay and so I nodded.
“Yes, thank you. I would love to see it.”
Chapter Seventeen
Aurora
I picked up the ax and chopped at the tree. Chips of wood tore away from the trunk. They rained down over me, like a cascade of leaves. Holding the branch securely in my hand, I finished cutting it away.
◆◆◆
I picked up the knife, whittling the branch. Bark splintered off from the limb.
As each piece of wood chipped away, the music burst from the tree. Each shaving splintered away from the emerging form. As it did, notes replaced them in the new hollows. A harp, that's what this was. Strings, shimmering with gold, I plucked from the air now. I held them in my hand and the song resonated in my palm. Then, I placed the song into the instrument.
The harp shone with its beauty, but it looked empty standing alone and I summoned another instrument to life. A lute. Yes. There were countless songs that a lute could play. I'd be kept busy, busy enough to not even think of...
Stop! Stop!
Already, her shadowy figure was materializing at the margins of my sight. I put up my hand and a curtain appeared that I pulled across to shut out the vision. My hand sank into the velvet layers of it.
Midnight loved velvet. She looked perfect in it. It only made her hair and eyes look that much deeper, her smile that much –
Stop!
A drum. I will create a drum.
I lifted the branch, feeling it form in my hand. I didn't bother to craft a knife first to whittle each intricate detail. No. That would give me far too much time to think. Instead, the drum burst into being and I drowned my thoughts in the melodic rhythm that I strummed against it with my hands and with the sticks. Mother taught me long ago that the rhythm of life coursed through the drums. It had been that way for generations. The rain remembered this, tapping its life song against the walls of the castle.
“I want to find a way to remember how to wake up again.”
I found myself saying the words aloud, though I'd not heard them before. From the moment that I'd arrived in this world, this place of perpetual dreaming, I had pushed my family away, released them all from my thoughts, especially Midnight. But in pushing them away, I was also divorcing myself, for I could not be me without them. I had to wake up. I had to find a way back or else, I would lose all of them. And myself. Forever.
Chapter Eighteen
Philip
“Oh!” Midnight said with utter delight. She had not thought that anything could entice her to such excitement, not on this night, the night when they were searching for a cure for Aurora – other than finding the cure itself. This, though, this was pure magic.
“Why, it's a pumpkin carriage,” she said, her smile more fully filling her face now.
Philip nodded, pleased with himself, mentally noting to thank Tilly later. All of his scraping, all of the clearing away of seeds, all of it had been worth it. For in this moment, Midnight shone. Everything inside of her lit-up, as though she herself were an illuminated pumpkin. It was magic that poured from her, magic in the moment, a beauty in this time.
As the carriage rumbled over the hills, Philip sat beside her, repeating again and again silently.
Tonight is the greatest of my life. This is the night that everything changes. This is when Midnight will finally know everything inside of me.
The carriage hit a log on the road, throwing Midnight closer to him. Without thinking, he put an arm around her to steady her.
“Whoa!” she said with a little laugh at the lurch. He prepared to draw back his ar
m, afraid that he had trespassed too far, but she smiled and she settled more securely into his embrace.
“Don't want that to happen again, do we?”
Was she flirting? Was Midnight, Princess Asteria, actually flirting with him? He didn't trust himself to speak. The words would tumble over her, ending in some horrific flop and she'd run, flying from the carriage, never able to look at a pumpkin again. And so, he sat there, saying nothing, holding her lightly, feeling the warmth of her back under his arm and praying that his beating heart would not be heard like a ticking clock in a too quiet room.
◆◆◆
The carriage tumbled along through the forest, passing the burrows of sleeping rabbits and tired deer. One blinked its eyes and seemed to look straight at the carriage. Had Philip turned and looked, he would have seen that there was no deer, only a girl.
Chapter Nineteen
Midnight
I awoke, for the first time in months, with a smile on my face. Last night had been perfect. It was a large word, one that often was said when not at all true, but not last night. Oh last night really and truly was! I hugged my arms around myself. He'd been the answer. I'd known it since first I'd danced with him. The slippers had told me. Never once had he stumbled on my feet. Never once had I stuttered in my steps. It was as if we had always been dancing together, as if Prince Philip and Princess Asteria were written on the stars. Indeed, the stars had never seemed so bright, as I stood beside his pumpkin carriage before he'd helped me inside of it. I was charmed by his wit. Yes, if any man could awaken my sleeping sister, it was someone unorthodox, who had a carriage from a pumpkin and yet was gentle enough to steady me as the wheels rolled over the knotty roots of the thousand year old oaks. All had gone exactly to plan. All that is except for one tiny detail: I hadn’t intended to fall for him. I was smitten, absolutely, no questions about it, smitten. I only needed him to awaken Aurora, to help me uncover the answer. That's what was supposed to happen. But oh happy circumstances! Now, I could have him awaken Aurora and then live happily with him. I laughed, sounding more like a girl than the young woman I was. I was absolutely giddy!
While Aurora Slept- The Complete Trilogy Page 7