One night, the dream came. After another night of the restless balls and social events, Adelaide was exhausted and annoyed. So, after a nice relaxing bath, she had fallen asleep quite quickly. That was when it hit her.
She dreamed of seeing herself, dressed in her finest, moving to her bed and pressing the designs of the bed posts in a sequence. It was a very short dream, but it stuck with Adelaide. She woke up, finding it was the middle of the night.
Her eyes snapped quickly to the bedpost where she saw the designs. Somehow, she remembered the pattern exactly. She got out of bed, pulled on her robe, and tiptoed her way over to the bedpost. Trailing her fingers along the designs, she took a deep breath, then pressed the designs in the order she remembered.
There was a soft click, and an even softer sliding noise. She turned, staring, as where the carpet had been, there was now a set of stairs, leading down into.. Well, into who knows where!
She was stunned for a moment, but her curiosity got the better of her. Taking a candle from it's spot beside her bed, she lit it, and moved to the stairs. She stepped carefully down, glancing behind her. She saw the door shut behind her, and was panicked for a moment, but relaxed as she saw a matching design to the one on her bedpost near the top of the stairs.
She turned around, and stared at what she saw. The area was illuminated with the soft, pale glow that can only come from the moon. She was outside. Or at least, what appeared to be outside. A path led on as far as she could see, and there were wonderful trees bearing all sorts of fruit imaginable upon their leaves. Adelaide was tempted to pick some to eat, but her better judgement told her she shouldn't.
Carefully, she moved along the path, leaving her candle on the side of the road, so as she could make sure she went back in the right direction. Besides, the light of the moon was enough to see by, and Adelaide wanted her hands free in case she ran into something.
As she moved further along the path, things got a bit more interesting. Instead of the trees bearing every kind of luscious looking fruit, the trees were pure gold, glittering and shimmering in the moonlight. She traced her fingers down the bark of a tree, and determined that it was real gold. This place had made her even more curious, and she wanted to know what was at the end of this now.
She continued her pace, until she found another grove of trees, this one similar to the gold, only it was a pale silver. Once again, feeling the trunk and leaves, she determined that it was really silver.
Her pace quickened. The next grove, was glittering diamonds, more than she had ever seen, the trees were made out of them.. Giant diamonds, diamonds of different sizes.
The last grove was once more lush trees, except this time they bore gemstones of every kind instead of fruit. This amazing place was more than Adelaide could bare. She had to see the end of it.
Soon, her pace carried her to a river. It was too deep to cross on her own. She heaved a sigh as she glanced around, but it cut off as she noticed that there was a person. Finely dressed, he seemed to be a young lad of perhaps twelve or so. It was odd to see him here, but what was even odder, was that he had a boat.
Adelaide stared at him for a moment, but the boy simply seemed like he was waiting. Stepping towards him, she found her voice. "Would you carry me across?" The boy turned to look at her, slowly, and then he nodded, saying not a word.
She founds this odd, but stepped into the boat, taking a seat where she could see across the river. The boy began rowing, and Adelaide got a better view of across the river.
It was even more amazing than all the groves of jeweled trees and fruit. It seemed so unreal that she had to rub her eyes and pinch herself to make sure it was real. A pavilion of pure white marble lay, steps leading up to it, much like a dance floor. The trees and grass were as if they had never had a shortage of water or a disease, and had exactly the right growing conditions. Upon the pavilion of marble, was a table, filled with foods she had never even seen, but she was sure they would taste wonderful. There were two chairs at the table, but nothing else.
Once on the other side, Adelaide stepped out of the boat. Embarrassed that she was in her nightgown and robe, she approached carefully, glancing around. As she reached the pavilion, she stood in the center, gazing around at all the marvels. She could see the different trees across the river, and the amazing land on this side of the waters.
And then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She felt herself gasp as she turned, but her breath was even more taken away when she saw the figure. He was stunning, the most handsome man she had ever seen. His hair was a dark black, the deepest shade she had ever seen, and his eyes were a beautiful blue. His features were the most clear cut and perfect features that she had ever seen, and he was dressed in garments suited to someone of the status of a prince.
"Welcome, Princess Adelaide. I hope you enjoy the surroundings?" His voice matched his exterior; perfect. Adelaide struggled to find her voice, her eyes never looking away from this stranger.
"It's beautiful here. Tell me, where are we, and who are you, exactly?" She tried to make her questions sound as polite as possible. She didn't want to be rude, as this place was amazing and her curiosity was the thing controlling her at the minute.
"You may call me Prince Virion, sweet lady, and this land is an enchantment I've created. I am under a spell, and cannot leave this place. However, I heard of your beauty and what an amazing woman you are, and I had to find a way to get you to come here, to see me. Thus, the dream you had." His words were soft, sweet on her ears, and Adelaide had no trouble believing him. Her simple nod urged him to continue.
"I wish, my lovely princess, that you could stay here tonight, but my enchantment is weak tonight, and I must urge you to get back. If you come again tomorrow night, sweet one, we will have a celebration in your honor." He paused for a moment, then continued. "You have eleven sisters, correct? It just so happens that I have eleven brothers, younger than I, that I would enjoy introducing to your sisters. Bring them here, for your celebration. I am sure they will get along well.."
Adelaide could not believe her luck. She smiled, looking to Virion. "I promise. I will return tomorrow, and I will try to bring my sisters with me." Once the words were out of her mouth, she felt Virion lips brush across hers in a light kiss. Her first kiss. "I will look forward to it, Adelaide.."
She only wished she could have stayed longer...