I've never been afraid of the dark. Not normal dark, anyway. Not the night. It's nature, isn't it? Natural dark. Nature is beauty.

That's what they said about me. Natural beauty.

That's what you said.

I thought you were beautiful, too. My fairytale prince. All I had ever wanted. Tall, dark, handsome, strong shoulders, white horse – what more could I have asked for? I didn't think you'd notice me, though. Not a peasant girl. You noticed a princess, though. You had to notice the princess.

Am I still beautiful, trapped in ageless sleep? To be ageless is not natural – I shouldn't expect it, therefore, to still appear beautiful. But to have you still think me lovely would be a dream come true.

Believe me, I know of dreams. Mine are always of you, you know. I know I'm trapped, but I don't know how. All I can remember is a pain like the stab of a thorn, and the brilliant orange light of the sunrise. And a name that is not mine. Dawn Princess.

You almost kissed me, that night. The night before my sixteenth birthday. You almost kissed me. Your face was so close to mine, your eyelids drifting shut – but you turned away at the last moment.

Did you guess who I was? I waited for you to ask me in marriage. I didn't know we were already betrothed.

You wouldn't know, would you, how scary it is to become royalty. I suppose, like you, it has been within me my whole life. But I haven't known it. I don't really understand what it is to be royal.

I wanted to be a princess, of course I did. Once upon a time, before she settled for wife and cook and maid, every woman has dreamed of royalty in some way. I wanted to be your princess. I wanted you to crown me with flowers and kiss me as the sun set.

I didn't know I was the sunset. Because that's the legend. The beautiful princess, our kingdom's brightest light, is embodied in the dying sun. Every night the curse takes its vengeance and she falls, fading and golden. Every morning, true loves saves her and her light comes back. But tonight may never end.

This isn't like normal dark. I drift between dreams, and some of them feel like I'm awake. Sometimes, it feels as though my eyelids are just too heavy, I can't lift them, no matter how hard I try. I try to open my mouth, to make a sound, to move, but I can't. That's how I know this isn't ordinary dark. Through my eyelids, it seems black and thick, holding me back, pinning me down. I can't even scream. This isn't a dream any more, now that you're not with me. Nothing can be a dream any more. I've been asleep so long that every nightmare comes true.

Where are you? I'm frightened.

I don't even know who I am any more. The only thing that I'm sure of, that I've ever been sure of, is you.

What if I can't do this? What if I don't want to be a princess? Particularly a cursed one. I don't even remember the crime that my curse is punishment for.

What if you never come back?

It doesn't matter. I don't know how long I've been waiting here for, now. Maybe I'll never know. Would that be so bad?

Sometimes, I think maybe there was a mistake. This is all a dream, an ordinary dream, and I'll wake up at any moment. But I've never felt as deeply the things I feel now.

I'm still waiting for you.

A sound. Movement. Light. I can sense these things without hearing or seeing. I can sense you.

Come to me. Rescue me.

Breathing, soft. It's you.

I feel your lips on mine, and my eyes are open. I'm kissing you back.

I'm awake. I'm awake, and the dawn has come. You're tall and strong and brave, your wounds washed away. You sweep me up in your arms and carry me away. It doesn't matter how or where you take me. Because finally, this is the end.

The sun rises, a pink colour, delicate, like the petals of a flower. The petals of a rose. A dawn rose.

I don't have to choose. Whichever name I take, I will always be both of these. I'm free, now, with you.

I am awake, and the world has awakened with me. We are free.