Every day, Artemis would go back into that room. She would sit in front of the portrait, not doing anything, just looking at it. Somehow, looking at it would made her feel a bit less lonely. Every night, she would come back to join the Fairy around the bonfire, and before they fell asleep she would keep asking her a whole lot of question. What was her favorite color? What did she like to eat? What did her voice sound like?
The Fairy didn't know how to answer most of it, but she had a lot of stories to tell. Stories about the Princess's life, about how she would walk around and look for flowers in her fields. What would her favorite flower be?, Artemis would ask, and the stories would make her feel the happiest she had felt in a very long time. And when, unable to sleep, she stared at the castle's ceiling, her thoughts always came back to Aurora.
The Fairy's memory wasn't the same as before, though, and it very soon became usual for her to repeat some of the stories she had already told. Artemis realized she had no new stories to tell, so she had to keep with only her imagination and the old portrait in the empty room.
Not knowing more about her made Artemis unquiet. The sadness in that portrait was still glaring to her, and even after the Fairy had told her all the stories about how the Princess would kindly smile to all of her people, she couldn't unsee it, and she couldn't understand it either. How could the Princess put such mask above that sadness? How could she do it?
Maybe I'm just projecting myself onto her, Artemis thought. She wondered if her curiosity was becoming an obsession. She felt desperate. Every time she looked at those tired eyes, she felt like she discovered a new form of sadness. And it was one of those days, when she sat in front of the portrait and looked at it, it became too much for her - it felt like Aurora's eyes were almost looking through her. Artemis looked away, and that was when she noticed something.
Among all kinds of debris in the old fireplace, there were remains of burned parchment. It was all covered by dust and ashes that Artemis had never looked at it twice. But now, in that big pile, Artemis could now see a fine calligraphy standing out.
She reached her arm to look at it. The page looked like it was ripped from a book – a diary, to be more precise. It was so thin and fragile Artemis feared it would turn into dust when she held it on her hands. The calligraphy was delicate, but messy, as if written in a hurry.
"Dear diary,
It's the fourth this week. I can't keep track of them anymore. They come back every night to meet me. Sometimes I find myself in the dark, and sometimes it's to a forest full of creatures that they take me. It never feels like it's going to end any soon.
I heard father say I was cursed today. He didn't exactly say it with those words, but I heard him whisper something to mom, something about me having a curse. I guess that's why they called me to talk about marriage again. They said it's time for me to at least think of finding a man to love me, because love is a very important thing.
They said again I don't smile enough, and that I will never find a husband like this. I think I've heard some of the people around talk about a Grumpy Princess, and something makes me think it's me they're talking about. They call me all kinds of names, I'm rather surprised they haven't forgotten my true one. But I don't mind. There's no reason to smile, so what should I do?
They seem very focused on finding me a husband. I wish they just said they want to get rid of me and let me go. I don't like living in the castle. I never did. Every corridor seems to bring the worst memories I could have. Sometimes I don't know if they are real memories or ones of nightmares.
They also spoke to me about my birthday. It's tomorrow, but they said they don't want me to celebrate it. Can you believe it? Of course, I protested. They agreed to give me a gift instead, and I asked to go for a walk without the guards. That made them so furious they locked me in my bedroom. Again.
I can't understand them, really. They say all kinds of things, and they don't want to hear what I have to say, so I can't help but write it down where no one else will read it.
I say I dream of seeing the outside one day, of visiting the fields and seeing the lands far away. So many were the stories I heard! Father never wants to hear it. He just says I should leave my dreams for the time of sleeping. But reality feels far more unbearable than the bad dreams I have at night. I'd have to be a fool to only dream while I'm asleep.
I'm already plotting my plan to escape tomorrow. It's my sixteenth birthday, and I don't want to spend it locked up in the tower. Maybe I'll just walk around the forest. There are plenty of places to..."
It ended so abruptly that Artemis's first instinct was to stare it, like she was waiting for it to continue. She searched on the other side of the paper, and in the remains in the fireplace and on the piles around the room, but there was no sign of another page.
She couldn't believe that was it. Could that be the last register before Aurora fell asleep?
"Her eyes were so kind, but distant, like she lived in a dream." Maybe that was the reason. Her reality was so sad, she had no other option but live in her invented daydreams – since, at night, the nightmares would get to her. She wondered if Aurora kept having the same nightmares in her eternal slumber. That thought only now occurred to her, and it made her feel desperate. Could that be it?
Artemis felt something tightening up in her stomach. A scream of horror felt stuck in her throat. The page she had just read was still on her hands, and her tears left marks on the thin parchment. She cried over Aurora's words, like she had never done before.
"Artemis?"
The voice seemed louder than it actually was. It felt distant, like a dream. It took Artemis a moment to realize the Fairy had finally left the hall and was now at the door. Her expression was a mix of confusion and concern. Artemis stared at her, incapable of explaining. The tears fell down through her face, but her lips kept paralyzed, like they couldn't move.
"What happened, my dear?
Before she could say something, a noise frightened them. Quickly enough it became closer, and they realized they were steps - many of them, as if a really big group entered the place. Artemis and the Fairy looked at each other, frightened. It was getting closer.
Artemis ran to hide behind one of the pillars, with the Fairy on her side. The steps seemed to get even closer, and a voice spoke in the room.
"Your highness, there's something in here!"
They both heard it as a man entered the room, his firm steps echoing. They didn't see it when the man looked at the portrait for a few seconds, without noticing the tiny letters engraved under it, or when he scanned the room with his eyes with his sword in hand, not noticing the parchment thrown on the floor.
"Keep looking", said the man. Artemis recognized Prince Philip's voice.
As soon as she felt it was safe, Artemis looked through the pillars, verifying they had actually left. Now they only needed to figure out a way of getting out of here.
"Here, child!"
She looked to the other side. The Fairy gestured to Artemis to follow her, with a foot already out of the window. It was tall, but the holes on the ragged walls allowed them to climb their way down. Artemis tried to be as quiet as she could as they climbed the walls down, not wanting the Prince's knights to find her there.
"Well, that was close!", the Fairy said relieved when her feet touched the floor.
Artemis was barely listening to her. The words she had read still echoed in her mind. She felt dizzy, and she knew the reason had nothing to do with the climbing.
"Fairy, where is she?"
"What, Artemis?"
"The place. The secret place where Aurora sleeps. You said you knew where it is."
Her tone was urgent, rushed. She asked impulsively, not really sure why. She knew that, even if she knew the place, there was nothing she could do. But thinking of the Princess laying in there alone made her heart want to scream. She felt the urge of doing something, whatever it was.
She looked at the Fairy, desperate, her hands trembling as she waited for an answer. The old woman, however, looked at her hesitantly. For the first time, she seemed to fear Artemis.
"Why don't you tell me?"
The Fairy kept silent. Artemis stared at her, confused for a moment. Until the realization fell over her like cold rain, and her words came out in a weak murmur.
"It was you."
"I'm sorry?"
Artemis's eyes shined with anger. She felt dizzy with such revelation.
"It was you, wasn't it? You did this to her!"
The Fairy shook her head.
"Artemis..."
"And all for what? For envy? For the hatred you felt for not being invited to a celebration?"
"You're being absurd, child!"
"Oh, am I? You seem to know everything there is to know about her, and yet, you lied! I know she wasn't as happy as you told me she was. She lived miserably, she was haunted by her nightmares and the curse she didn't even know about!"
"Oh, please!", the Fairy said firmly. "Wasn't I the one who told you that story? Me, who cheered when knew the Prince was looking for her? Why would the Fairy who cursed her act in such a way?"
Artemis, however, kept looking at her accusingly. She felt now like she could see something so much bigger.
"Because you have nothing to lose", she replied. "You created a perfect curse."
Artemis's words seemed to get a weak spot. Even she was surprise by the effect they had. The Fairy's appearance didn't seem to change, but when she smiled, Artemis felt like there was something different than the old woman she had met in the middle of the forest. She waited, allowing herself to hope that the Fairy would just smile warmly and prove Artemis wrong. However, her smile was cold and it spoke for itself.
"And why is it like that?"
"It's perfect cause it's impossible to be broken", Artemis said, as if in a trance. "Because the only thing capable of bringing it back is true love, and that is..."
"...nonexistent", she laughed. "Yes. I knew that it would be impossible for her to find it in such age, anyway. I knew those foolish princes would look for her and even kiss her in the lips, and it wouldn't make a difference. I must say, I'm impressed you find it out. You're as dark as me, Arty."
Artemis frowned, surprised.
"Isn't that how your family calls you, Arty?"
"You're not my family."
"Oh. And why do you suddenly mind about who's your family? Weren't you the one who ran away and left them behind?"
The Fairy smiled as she noticed the surprise in Artemis's face, so much that the girl took a step back.
"Oh, yes, I know. I know how to read hearts like open books, Arty. I know very well that, like Aurora, you've been barely living and, like Aurora, you've wished to run away from your kingdom every day in your life. Your tears don't let you lie."
In an impulse, Artemis raised her hands to touch her face, finding the trace of tears left. She felt exposed, caught off guard.
"Until one day you did it, didn't you? One day, you decided to steal a horse and simply run away. When you faced the Prince, you invented that ridiculous excuse of a mission for the King. I could see it in your face. There was never a mission, you never showed interest of coming back to 'your king' or to complete said mission, who do you think you fool? Wandering around like that, with no destination, listening to stories about the Princess who Sleeps... I wonder.... I wonder if you weren't looking for her as well. "
Artemis shook her head.
"Don't be absurd! I didn't even know said story!"
"Your head could not know, but that doesn't matter. Your heart did. It always brings us to where we need to be."
"Stop!", she screamed. "Your words are cruel and poisoned. Look what you did to her! You didn't even curse Aurora, you condemned her. You condemned every day of the life she lived, and now... she's not even asleep, she's dead. You killed her with an incurable poison."
The Fairy hissed. Her eyes assumed a green color, just like the fire in her hands. Her eyes were stuck on Artemis. The girl, however, stood still. She knew that, even though she looked more like an evil witch, the old woman was still a fairy – and Artemis knew exactly the effect the iron in her sword would have on a fairy.
"I don't fear you", Artemis said. Curse me as you wish. Poison me with as many words as you say, and I won't have words to answer to you... "
The satisfied smile in the Fairy's lips, however, didn't last long. With a subtle move, Artemis raised the sword towards her. She didn't plunge the sword into her; letting the iron blade touch her skin was enough to make her burn. The pain was so strong the Fairy fell down on Artemis's feet, squirming.
"...for my sword speaks for me." Artemis added, clenching her teeth.
The young girl stepped back with her hands trembling. She didn't know how she was capable of doing that, but she could already see that the Fairy's suffering would turn into anger against her. Without thinking twice, she ran into the woods.
Once again, she found herself running with nowhere to go. Once again, she felt her feet moving almost involuntarily. The forest seemed to get denser every step, but she felt incapable of stopping.
Branches falling from trees hit her in the face. She closed her eyes, knowing she didn't have to look. The Fairy's words echoed in her mind. "Your heart did. It always brings us to where we need to be." Right now, the only thing she needed was to run away.
She ran until she felt something change in the air; maybe it was the wind that took place of the suffocating warmth coming from the forest. Her feet stopped moving, and she opened her eyes and looked around.
She was in a perfectly round clearing - a conveniently spot where the trees seemed to have stopped wanting to grow. In front of her, she saw the ruins of a strange tower covered by moss and heath.
A really strange place for a tower to be, indeed. Until a detail caught her attention.
For a moment, she couldn't believe what she saw. But it was crystal clear. It was obvious, and it made her wonder again what had brought here there. It all made sense, and yet nothing did.
In the corner, thrown against tower's wall, there was an old, faded spinning wheel.