The Cursed Lands: A Dream of Apples and Roses

Chapter Five - Ciara

I entered the library just in time to see Gryffyn ride by in the distance on a magnificent black stallion. Sighing, I looked around. As much as I would love to bury my nose in a book and forget for a little while, it did not seem appropriate in light of the way Gryffyn and I had parted. Sighing again, I realized that I needed to come clean, tell Gryffyn who I was.

Looking around, I discovered a desk which held sheets of parchment and a pen. Finding a comfortable seat in an alcove, I bent my head to write.

***

Two pieces of parchment later, I sat back, exhausted. Almost as soon as the pen touched the page the words seemed to flow of their own volition. I explained who I really was, how the curse had affected me, and my recent mysterious travels. I had no idea if Gryffyn would believe me, but someday we would hopefully be allies as we led our respective countries. Unless I was caught in my enchanted stasis for the rest of eternity. I shuddered, the thought of endless days, months, years passing as my real body lay in its crypt, no doubt forgotten, left to do whatever it is bodies in magical stasis' do.

Tearing myself away from that particularly morbid and terrifying thought, I folded the letter and set the mirror down beside it on the small table. Nodding once to myself, I focused on my body. It was probably time to check in and see if there were any changes to the crypt walls.

***

It was daytime, probably late afternoon, when the grey granite stones of my crypt came into view. I was just as frozen as ever, but today I had visitors.

"These things take time, Your Highness," I could not place the voice, nor could I see the speaker, but it was clearly feminine and not speaking to me. "We are doing all we can to urge her True Love in this direction, but there is only so much we can do. He must also follow his own path." Ah, so the speaker must be a fairy, maybe even my Godmother.

"But it has already been months. There is growing unrest. If I lay full claim to the crown I expect there to be a full-blown revolt. The people were not pleased with my marriage to the late king, and I, in my folly, did not do much to appease them." The other visitor was my step-mother, queen regent while I was indisposed. I was curious about why they were meeting in my crypt instead of the palace, but it was the next thing the fairy said that really caught my interest.

"Let us not speak of folly!" The fairy snapped. "You have, I hope, learned your lesson. It is never wise to meddle in things you have little knowledge of." I imagined magical sparks flying off the fairy as she lost her temper momentarily.

My step-mother sighed, her voice tight. "I did not mean to break, and then lose, the relic. It was an accident." I could imagine her as she took a deep breath, holding her head up high as she regained her regal bearing. "What is done is done." She told the fairy, her tone regal and cool. "There is no going back. We must move forward and find a solution. It is not just our country at stake, after all."

"The fairies and Godmothers are doing all we can." The fairy replied in a soothing voice, with no trace of her lost temper. "We understand why you did what you did and that there was little you could do once the relic was broken. You were unlucky that the leaking power attracted dark practitioners. As soon as we felt the magical release, we tried to get to you as fast as we could, but there were others who were faster." The fairy paused and sighed. "Yes, there is much at stake, but the curse will be broken. The light is always meant to overcome the darkness." Their footsteps had moved away from the crypt as the fairy spoke and then I was alone again.

There were so many questions flying through my mind, but at last I latched on to one thing the fairy had said. My True Love was on his way! I knew that because of the magic of True Love he would be perfect for me in every way, even if I didn't think so, but that didn't keep me from imagining, for the thousandth time, what he was like. I don't know how long I spent lost in daydreams before the other questions intruded.