-Finish my embroidering
-Groom Winton
-Ride Winton
-Spy on Ken and Emma with Asher
-Snicker at Ken and Emma with Asher in the bushes
-Tease Ken about Emma with Asher
-Tease Emma about Ken with Asher
-Spy on Asher and Lydia with Ken
-Snicker at Asher and Lydia with Ken in the bushes
-Tease Asher about Lydia with Ken
-Tease Lydia about Asher with Ken
-Have cooking lesson with Amanda
-Have fighting lesson with Ken and Asher
¡K.¡K.¡K...
-And get married to Prince Edward
Where did the time go? It really isn't fair how two years can just fly by so fast. I mean, come on! At least give me some more time to enjoy my freedom since I'm going to be attached to the ARROGANT ASS for the REST OF MY LIFE.
Wait.. This is actually going to last for the REST OF MY LIFE.
Oh dear God.
I stared gloomily back at my reflection while the maids my father sent me to prepare for the wedding flitted around me, giggling mindlessly. A few cooed over how beautiful I was and how I'll surely make my future husband proud. They chatted lightly about how lucky I was as they painfully pulled my hair and pinned it down to my scalp. I grimaced as one particularly annoying one giggled shrilly right into my ear as she yanked harder on my golden locks.
I gasped in surprise and pain as one of the maids behind me somehow strapped a corset on me without me noticing and pulled the strings so tight I could hardly breathe.
"I think the corset is a little bit too tight," I choked, gasping for air.
The maid looked at me as if I made the funniest joke, "Oh, don't be silly! I barely tightened it!"
The words might have been convincing if she hadn't been panting from exertion from pulling the strings to the corset. She continued, "Besides, you need to look your best, and looking your best means that you need to have a tiny waist, and having a tiny waist means looking your best, and looking your best means looking beautiful, and looking beautiful means-"
I held out a hand to stop her from continuing, "All right, I get it!" I yelled.
She smiled triumphantly.
Damn manipulative maid!
But soon, I was standing in front of a long mirror, looking at my reflection glumly, wearing the beautiful white lacy dress with the corset that was slowly killing me. The maids had gone by then, and I was biting my lip, trying not to cry. Amanda came up behind me and tried to smile at me comfortingly.
Suddenly, I broke down, "Oh Amanda, can't you magic me away or something? Please, I can't stand the man! I would do anything, just get me out of here," I pleaded, "Please," I whispered brokenly.
Amanda started to cry as well as she gave me a warm hug, "I'm sorry child, I don't have enough magic for what you're thinking. I just have enough magic to do simple chores and to give my cooking extra flavor, nothing big. But if I did, I would have definitely helped you in a flash." She whispered sympathetically.
With a strangled sob, I detached myself from her and fled to my sanctuary.
I had developed my scorn and hatred of Prince Edward over the two years at all the meetings over tea, balls, and more. I had discovered a violent side of him that I never suspected the oblivious jerk of a man had before. When he had caught sight of Asher and me in a friendly hug, he exploded and yelled about how no possession of his would be touched by another man, and had backhanded and slapped me until a group of knights who had heard the commotion restrained him.
I had no doubts whatsoever that since he has struck me once, he would not hesitate to do it again if I displeased him ever again. Ever since, my fear of him grew, and my reluctance turned into dread.
Tears ran silently down my cheeks as I gazed up at the statue of the water faerie. Kneeling down gingerly at a spot I had dusted off, I brought my hands up, closed my eyes, and prayed.
I now know that I cannot escape this marriage, but I beg whoever's out there to let me get through this as unscarred as possible. Please.
I opened my eyes again and found my inner turmoil calmer than before. Looking around sadly, and realizing that this would probably be the last time I would be here, I walked over to my favorite roses.
I smiled lightly as I softly caressed the soft petals of the blood red roses. Then I paused.
Tilting my head, and curious in spite of myself, I caught sight of a dark feathery thing that doesn't seem to be part of the rose bush. Gingerly moving aside the sharp thorns, I gasped in surprise as I realized that it was a small hummingbird that was caught in the thorns and couldn't get itself out.
Ignoring the thought that it was a strange thing since the hummingbirds here isn't usually interested in the roses, I gently freed the small bird and extracted any thorns that had been caught in its wings. Throughout the whole process, the hummingbird was curiously quiet and still, and seemed to realize that I was helping it and gave no protests.
"Princess! Princess!" I heard Amanda's call. I sighed. It must be time for the wedding.
Smiling wistfully as the hummingbird drew up and fixed its feathers, I wished that it could have been that easy to free myself out of my betrothal. The bird gave a happy tweet and zoomed off.
I am in your debt.
I blinked. Did someone just talked to me? I whirled around and still found myself alone. The small sweet voice sounded like it came from.. my head.
I shook my head, maybe I cried too much and the loss of liquid in my body is starting to get to me and I'm starting to have little hallucinations and/or little voices speaking to me.
Shrugging it off, I walked out of the garden area with a stately calm to my step that I most certainly did not feel.
I was walking gracefully along the path of the scattered roses, halfway across the path to the priest and Prince Edward when I realized something. I'm getting married. It hadn't really, really sunk in until now, where my feet are frozen to the ground, listening to the gentle romantic notes from the orchestra and the confused murmurs from the audience. I'm going to have to be completely obedient to Prince Edward, and I'll probably be beaten if I displeased him. I would be thrown into a completely strange surrounding with no friends or allies that would be willing to help me or ease the pain.
Suddenly, my facade of calm gracefulness dropped, and a terrified expression made its way towards my face no matter how hard I tried to keep it away. Glancing up, my breath came in short panicked breaths as I met the menacing eyes of Prince Edward. Somewhere beyond my vision, I know my father is watching me with a disapproving frown at my expression, which I somehow cannot bring myself to care. (Being sarcastic, you say? Oh, no, you must be mistaken..)
My hands that were holding the bouquet of white and yellow roses tightened as I clutched them for dear life.
"I want to sleep and never wake up, I want to sleep and never wake up, I want to sleep and never wake up," I chanted shakily under my breath like a mantra. But are you sure? A voiced asked curiously. Ignoring the fact that I'm answering or questioning myself, depending which perspective I'm looking at, I answered the voice. "Yes, I wished it with every fiber of my being. I wish I could sleep and never wake up where nobody can get to me."
As you wish.
Perhaps the wish was a little bit childish, all imaginary voices aside, but I'm allowing myself one last foolish whim before I marry the bastard. But imagine my surprise and everybody else's as a bright flash of light filled the entire garden, and I disappeared without a trace.
I groaned and shook my head when I came to my senses. I opened my eyes gingerly and widened them in amazement when I caught sight of the place I'm in.
¡KTo be continued¡K
..ahahahaha.. I'm just joshing with you! -wink-!!
-ducks many heavy and sharp pointy objects-
eh-heh.. You gotta admit.. that was fun.. but I'm not that cruel.. I'm making this chapter longer as compensation for making you guys wait so long!! Aren't I wonderful?! ;)
Anyway, back to the story! (Oh yeah, by the way, any bold lettering are notes from me!!)
My jaw was open in a quite undignified manner, as I was literally struck dumb with awe and amazement. I was sitting in front of the water faerie fountain that I love so much, but the surroundings were quite different, as it wasn't closed off and surrounded by bushes.
All around me were tall humongous trees. There wasn't enough to crowd the area, but enough to let the warm sunlight stream through the rustling leaves above me. The area around me radiated tranquility and peacefulness, and the beauty was breathtaking. There were a few wild rose bushes, untamed in its wild beauty, and there were even more rose vines that entangled themselves with the huge trees. In the distance, I thought I could hear the trickling of water that was harmonious to the trickling of the water faerie queen statue.
But as I gazed at the statue, I realized something different about it. Instead of the small sad smile, a more peaceful and happier smile replaced it as the faerie queen's eyes radiated joy and content. As I stumbled in surprise, I noticed that my attire. Instead of my frilly wedding dress, I was dressed in a beautiful, yet simple silk light blue dress that were the same shade as my eyes. It was the same shade as the ocean on a cheerful sunny day, and I fell in love with it instantly.
Then, I jolted in surprise as I remembered.
"Where am I?" I asked myself aloud softly. Wasn't I about to get married? A wild hope began to materialize in my mind that hadn't been there since I was 14 when I was naïve to hope that I could escape my betrothal.
A clear, sweet laugh filled the air and I whirled around, almost tripping on my dress as I did so. Then, my eyes widened in surprise at the beautiful woman before me.
The woman was slim and petite with a perfect figure. Her pure white hair was short and curled right at the length of her chin although I suspected it wasn't a sign of old age. She had dancing pale blue eyes that was neither old or young that also radiated playfulness, mischievousness, and kindness. Her nose was small and petite, and her mouth had a teasing tilt that also had a definite playfulness to it. She was wearing a pure white simple dress, not unlike what the Romans wore, like me.
"Who are you?" I asked in awe, feeling insignificant next to such a beautiful woman.
The white-haired woman's pale blue eyes crinkled up in merriment as she smiled, "I'm a Fae, of course! I'm also one of your ancestor from your mother's side although I never liked her much," her nose wrinkled in distaste. But I didn't even pay attention to the last part.
She was a Fae! Faes were the royal/nobles of the faerie race that had long been wiped out, or so we believed, by a group of creatures that hated and/or envied the beautiful beings. It was said long ago that if a Fae so much as talks to you, you and your family would be blessed. The Faes were almost a race all by themselves, and had much more power and abilities than any other faeries. They were just one level below the Gods and Goddesses, and only they were able to communicate to them. But all of that aside, I cannot believe I'm talking to a Fae!!
The Fae probably sensed what I was thinking, and couldn't help but drew up in pride a little. "My name is Naiya, and I granted your wish to repay my debt."
Realization struck as I murmured, "The hummingbird,"
Naiya blushed sheepishly as she confirmed my suspicions, "Yes, the hummingbird was me. I thought it would have been delightful to flit among the roses, but as you could see, I got myself in quite a fix. But luckily, you came along and freed me. Speaking of which, I still didn't thank you properly for that. So I offer you my deepest gratitude for freeing me from the thorns," she said with a graceful dip of her head.
Grinning with embarrassment, I waved at her hurriedly, "Oh, you don't have to thank me for that! Anyone would have done the same!"
Gazing at me earnestly, Naiya explained, "Yes, they may have, but what chances did they have of discovering me before I perished of hunger or thirst or whatever else? Not many would have found me, so I owe you my life."
Looking at her with understanding, I smiled, "Then I accept your thanks. But didn't I wish to sleep and never wake up? So why did I end up here?"
Moving forward with a fluid grace, Naiya took a seat on the edge of the fountain and I followed her. "But my dear, you are asleep!" Smiling at my confusion, she continued, "You had made this place up in your mind, so technically, we are in your dreams, and you are sleeping right now. Now, as for the second part where 'you cannot be found', your body is now in a tower that has the highest security I can give you."
With a graceful wave of her hands, the scene wavered a bit before melting onto the next scenery. Instead of sitting, we were both now floating peacefully in the air, looking down on a tower. Ignoring the bubble of disappointment of leaving my dreamscape, I paid close attention to her words.
"Now, you're in that tower in there in the highest room. There are different kinds of booby traps around from all the way from that path," she pointed at a set of stairs that started from a hill, "to your bedside. A fully-grown male Sowaroc will be arriving tomorrow to guard the tower. This place is located on one of the rockiest and most dangerous mountain terrain with dangerous wild beasts lurking about. To sum it up, they'll have a hell of a time trying to get to you." She chuckled.
I was sure my eyes were popping out of my sockets at the end of her explanation. Sowarocs were the most dangerous and fiercest dragons in the world. The species has huge golden wings with silver spikes, and diamond-like scales. It also has sharp poisonous claws, blades on the tail, neck, and head, and they are fiercely intelligent. They are able to spit energy balls, which are better than low-level fire-spitting dragons, and they are incredibly hard to find and catch, and even harder to tame. I was still in shock until I realized her wording.
"'Trying to get to me'?" My eyes narrowed in suspicion. Naiya laughed weakly and backed away nervously as I continued, "And why, pray tell, would they be trying to get to me?" I asked, my eyes flashing.
"Oh," she waved her hands off-handedly, "just a little note I left behind," she mumbled.
"What note?" I asked dangerously, advancing on her. Fae or no, I'm sure whatever she did was not safe for my well-being.
"Just a little something I wrote up to make things a little more interesting," she laughed nervously.
"What did it say?" I asked slowly, one more time.
Naiya sighed before reluctantly reciting the note she left at my wedding, "'It seems like your pretty little princess won't be here to get married to your snotty excuse for a prince. What a pity. But, good news is that I haven't killed her. You see, I left her sleeping at a certain tower at certain mountain, and you can do whatever you want to do with her if you can get to her. I have kidnapped her just to watch you sorry excuses for men to try to get her back, and Lord knows it's always good entertainment. Happy hunting! (And no, I won't be telling you any time soon where the tower is exactly located.)" She finished, looked off to the side guiltily.
While my temper flared, I looked over at her suspiciously, "There's more, isn't there?"
Pouting, Naiya nodded reluctantly before dutifully reciting the post script, "Oh, and by the way, you won't have to worry about any time limit while you lot waste away. I have cast an anti-aging spell around the room she's in, so if you bastards fail (which is very likely), your descendents and their sons will still be able to try to 'rescue' her. Although, once anybody steps into that room and wakes her up, the spell will degenerate and she'll start to age normally, so you people can't try to stay in that room and stay young forever. So good luck and good hunting for your Sleeping Beauty because God knows you need it.'"
When she finished, I was torn between anger and amusement. I settled for anger as I glared at her furiously before exploding, "And just what will happen if they got to me?! Have you ever considered that? God, woman,"
"Fae," she corrected helpfully.
My eye twitched, "FAE," I gritted, "if they get a whole army here, I think they would have a pretty damn good chance of getting to me, Sowaroc or no."
"They can't." she said brightly.
"What?"
"I put a spell on the mountain so that no more than one person can come up at a time with the intention of getting to you. So you're probably going to stay up in the tower forever, dreaming your life away."
My anger ebbed away as a smile crept on my face, "Really?"
Naiya nodded, seemingly grateful that I wasn't angry anymore.
Sighing in relief, I gave a pleased smile. Then, remembering the note, I broke into gales of laughter before sighing wistfully, "I wished I could have seen their reaction when they read the note,"
Naiya's eyes gleamed mischievously before waving her hands. The scenery blurred and changed to one that I recognized immediately. I squealed with delight before linking arms with the Fae. We skipped off to the side as we watched the reactions of many of the people at the ceremony.
We watched and laughed uproariously as the faces ranged from horror, to scandalous, to determined, and to anger. My father's and Edward's father's face turned several shades of red before settling on cherry red and magenta as they roared in anger. Edward looked very displeased and annoyed and two spots of angry pink appeared on his cheeks when he read the part of him being a "snotty excuse for a prince".
Meanwhile, Ken and Asher were torn between emotions of relief, horror, amusement, and disapproval. I grinned so hard during the whole event that by the time it was over, my cheeks hurt.
Sighing in content, Naiya waved her arms again, and we were back in the woods where I first "woke" up. I looked at her curiously when she did that.
"Can I do that?" I asked her, tilting my head to the side curiously.
Naiya beamed happily, "Of course you can! All right, basically, the rules are this: You are sleeping, but I gave you the power to control your dreams, so you can use your pretty little imagination to dream up of any type of place, situation, or story. Let's see.. I'll be visiting you a lot to check up on you and to play," here, her blue orbs twinkled merrily, "You won't have to worry about your physical condition as I spelled the room to freeze in time, which is a handy little spell since you won't age and won't need any food or drink while in there. Besides booby traps as I have mentioned before, I have casts illusions to hide the room. You'll also be able to talk to the Sowaroc in your dreams if you get bored, and he'll also be able to inform you of the visitors you're sure to get throughout the years. Oh! And you also get to talk to your friends in their dreams if you miss them. You'll know when they're sleeping, and you'll be able to contact them then."
Chewing on her lip thoughtfully, Naiya said, "I'm sure I didn't leave anything out, but if you need me to answer any questions, just summon me by swirling your hand in any water surface and say my name aloud."
I grinned brightly and tearfully, as I engulfed my.. err.. Fae.. person in a big hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I cried gratefully. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"
Chuckling softly, Naiya hugged back and patted my golden tresses softly, "Don't mention it! Besides the fact that I was in your debt, you're also my descendent, and I can't let my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-"
I blinked and stepped back, "Whoa, you are old,"
Naiya scowled and gave me a mock stern look, "Never say the cursed O-word,"
I giggled softly and nodded in agreement.
Naiya sighed regretfully before ruffling my hair, "Well, it's been fun, but I have to wake up myself now. You understand, places to go, things to see, mayhem to cause," she smirked mischievously. "And I believe you have some experimenting to do!"
I grinned in agreement and bounced slightly in excitement. I gave her one last hug before saying goodbye.
"Bye, Rory! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Naiya smirked before she faded away.
Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Shaking my head, I rolled up my sleeves before concentrating hard.
I smiled in satisfaction when the scenery of the woods blurred and faded into a field where grass and the occasional flower is everywhere as far as the eye can see. I turned around to the sound of a small whinny and grinned when I spotted Winton.
"Well, Winton, old boy," I came up to him, patting his mane, "Up for a ride?"
Winton tossed his beautiful black mane and snorted, pawing the ground. I laughed and jumped up to his back with a swiftness that came out of years of practice.
"Hyah!" I urged Winton to a full-out run on the field.
This is going to be wonderful.
AN. Hey, y'all! Did you guys like it? I know Rory changed in this chapter, but come on.. She has to grow up some time! Hopefully, she seems more mature in this one. She still whines a little as you can see at the beginning of the chapter, but now, she's (I repeat) more mature. Do you guys like Naiya? I love her.. Buahahhaa..
So anyway, let me warn you guys, Rory is NOT getting together with Prince Edward, Ken, or Asher, I repeat, she's NOT getting together with Prince Edward, Ken, or Asher. First of all, Prince Edward is a bastard, so no way in hell is she going to end up with him in the end. And as for Ken and Asher?? Heh.. they're taken.
Let's see.. what else?? Oh yes.. The Sowaroc dragons do NOT belong to me!!! They belong to the wonderfully talented Naia, who's the wonderful author of the HP AU fic, "The Dragonmasters", which I strongly recommend.
Speaking of recommendations, for all you people who likes Inuyasha fics, go read Silver Rae's stories!! Let's see, she has two. She has "Dancing in the Moonlight" that has only one chapter, but you can so totally tell that it's going to end up being so friggin awesome. The second one, "Training Day: Heart to Soul", is an answer to a challenge that I put up in "A Single Spark" (A kag/sess site), and she's doing a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL job so far.. So.. go on!! Go read it!!! I promise you'll like it if you guys like Kag/Sess pairings.. Buahahhahaha..
Oh.. and on a little note, in the next chapter, I think I'm going to put it in Prince Adrian's perspective, and not her POV, since I can't just write about her dreams. Oh, and who's Prince Adrian, you ask?
Oh, ho, ho, that is for Chapter Six. Buahahhahaha.. But anyway.. yeah, you'll see.
So you guys!! Review and tell me what you guys think!!! And thank you SO much for the support in my previous chapters!! I love you people so much!!! (And please forgive me for not updating so soon.. . )