Castle. She had no trouble finding the throne room. If nothing else, the sounds of chaos would have led her there.
For just a moment Aurora Rose caught herself, viewing the room she had destroyed just moments earlier in her mind. The real one was different in ways that made her queasy: lengths and heights of things were changed; colors and decorations were off. It was set as if for a party….
My wedding, Aurora Rose realized belatedly. She stood halfway down the grand staircase she was supposed to have descended with Phillip, her arm in his, to greet their parents. Gold and blue tapestries hung everywhere; shiny horns with pennants hanging from their bells flashed in the light.
But this was not the scene the musicians had prepared themselves for. Beautifully dressed ladies dragged their priceless gowns through pools of blood and wept. Men tried to comfort them or each other, or they themselves wept. Bodies sprawled on chairs and the floor in terrible poses.
“PEOPLE,” Aurora Rose shouted, trying to channel King Hubert’s lusty call from the dreamworld. Only a few looked at her. One, however, was a horn player. Aurora Rose impatiently gestured at him.
He complied immediately. Like the guard before, he was only too happy to have someone giving orders.
He played a loud royal flourish—and could perhaps be forgiven if it wasn’t perfect.
At that the crowd turned around. Strange noises, murmurs of recognition and astonishment, rose from them. They remembered her from their dreams. They remembered the battle, her facing off against the dragon.
“Noble ladies and honored gentlemen,” Aurora Rose said as demurely as shouting would allow. “It is a sad day for our kingdom. My heart goes out to all we have lost and those who loved them. I know that no words of mine can stem your grief.
“Even so, there is much work to do. Those who aren’t in need of immediate assistance, please return to the rooms in which you are staying. Our servants will care for your every need, and we will send for you all as soon as things are…tidied.”
There were a few mumbles of protest, but otherwise everyone who could leave seemed glad to do so. No one went alone—all were in little groups, whispering and discussing and sharing what they remembered, the strange experience they had all endured while asleep.
A man in severe black robes and a soft hat strode over to Aurora Rose. Other men in similar robes followed behind him. They all wore thick golden chains with heavy gemmed pendants on them. Ministers or secretaries or some such, Aurora Rose decided. Like the ones who had yelled at her in her dream within the dream.
It seemed that, sometimes, sleep did indeed mirror life.
“Your Highness, it is very good of you to take this under your own personal direction,” the first man began. “But as you are new to the kingdom and have had no experience with such matters…”
“And are a woman, moreover,” another man put in.
“And a woman,” the first man continued. “Your delicate constitution may not even survive the viewing of your parents, much less what else needs to be done. What I’m saying is perhaps you should leave the sorting-out of things to us, your father’s advisors…and maybe your uncle Prince Jaundry….”
Aurora Rose regarded him mildly, trying to conjure memories of the beautiful girl full of grace everyone was supposed to fall in love with so easily.
“Did I not face down a dragon, unarmed, while the rest of you fled to the protection of the woods?”
The man blanched.
“I haven’t a…”
“Oh, yes, you remember it well, please do not pretend it wasn’t real,” Aurora Rose said firmly, trying not to hiss the way Maleficent would have. “After such an ordeal, believe me, I am quite capable of taking over civic matters. If you have some disagreement with my manner of doing things, you may of course bring it up later in conference with me. Privately. Also, from here on out you will address me correctly: as Your Majesty.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the man said, nervously glancing at the men around him. None would meet his eyes.
“Excellent,” Aurora Rose said. “Thank you. I look forward to meeting with all of you later to discuss how to proceed.”
She strode forward out of the knot of men, Phillip and the fairies trailing smartly like an entourage. The prince was trying very hard not to smile.
It took her a long time to make the short journey to the thrones. Noblemen and -women, who had looked