Chapter 62: Princess Dorn

So yes. We managed to wake up Sleeping Beauty. A Witcher, a Dragon and a Scholar managed to get the job done. In any other ballad or story then the tale would have stopped there. The Princess would have woken up, blinked her eyes, stretched sleepily before gazing at her rescuers and being unspeakably grateful. The only problem was that none of us were Princes. Nor was it a Prince who's kiss had woken her up.

That is where the tale should end. With a nice and formulaic “and they all lived happily ever after.” But that's not how things works in the really real world do they.

But I am not a tale teller. I am a historian and I record what I see.

The Princess screamed. She screamed and screamed and didn't stop. Hands tightly clamped to the side of her head, palms covering her ears, knees drawn up until they were under her chin, eyes scrunched shut and she just screamed.

Kerrass, Malevolence and I just looked at each other.

“That's what I'm afraid of,” said the Dragon. “That she has lost her mind being asleep that long. Dreaming for that long.” That she said it so matter of factly was what got to me.

I stared at her in horror for a moment before I fell to my knees next to the screaming Princess.

“Blanket,” I said to Kerrass who was dithering. “Get me a blanket Kerrass. Then some more tea. Lots more tea, we're going to need it strong, milky and sweet.”

“What are you doing?” Malevolence asked.

“I don't fucking know,” I muttered as I unfolded the blanket. “I'm assuming that she's going into shock given that this is the first time she's felt real air in over a hundred years. It's a guess and an assumption but I've been doing a lot of both recently.”

The woman backed away. She was watching me carefully as though concerned that I might do anything to hurt her daughter but at the same time she had an air of “You seem to know what you're doing so I'm going to leave you to it.”

I ignored her. The Princess had shaken off my blanket.

Damn, not a good sign.

“Princess. Princess I need you to listen to me.” I spun back to Malevolence. “Dammit what's her name?”

“Dorn,” she said. “Like “dawn” only with the added “r” sound.”

“Princess?” I tried again. “Princess Dorn. I need you to listen to me Princess. You're awake now. I know it hurts and I know it's awful but I need you to listen to me.”

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The Princess screamed a short phrase.

“What the hell was that?” I asked aloud.

“I don't know.” Kerrass had stacked more blankets and was building up the fire. “Try talking to her in elven.”

“Is this what you do the two of you? Divide the labour in this way?” Malevolence asked Kerrass.

“He's better at this than me. If she was awake enough I could ask her questions about the monsters she'd faced but to his credit, Freddie is better at calming hysteria and has some medical training which is more than I have. I just pour potions on the problem until it goes away.”

I ignored them. Instead I tried talking to her in Elven as suggested.

“Princess Dorn?” I tried. “Can you hear me? Princess It's alright. You don't need to be afraid.

“Then why are you shouting?” She screamed at me. It was in elven and I felt myself nod. She was capable of reasoning which was a good sign.

“Because you have your hands over your ears and are screaming at me.” I said. “I'll make you a deal. I'll stop shouting if you can take stop screaming.”

She did so abruptly. She was shivering. Hard. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“That's good Princess, That's really good. Can you hear me now, you don't have to say anything, just nod if you can hear me.”

She nodded. A short sharp nod that might have been a shiver.

“Good Princess, you're doing so well.”

Kerrass and Malevolence were arguing. He was explaining to her why I didn't just slap her across the face. I glared at them and hissed that they should be quiet.

Draconic methods of parenting leave something to be desired.

“Right then Princess. You're shivering, are you cold?”

Another one of those short, staccato nods.

“Right then, the next thing you're going to feel is me wrapping a blanket round you. I just want to get you warm, is that alright?”

I was speaking calmly and clearly. She wasn't quite in shock. She was reacting to her environment. I managed to get the blanket round her.

“The next thing we need to do Princess is to get your breathing under control alright? Otherwise you might hurt yourself.”

“Throat hurts,” She managed to croak out.

“You've been screaming Princess. I get that you're in pain right now.” I made eye contact with Kerrass who nodded and added some extra herbs to the kettle. “We can give you something to soothe your throat when you're a bit calmer do you understand?”

She nodded again.

“That's good. That's really good.”

It took a long time to get her calmed down. When her breathing was under control she started to relax her body. I told her not to worry about opening her eyes yet but to just focus on relaxing her muscles. Her hands came down from her ears almost reflexively and she hissed in pain.

“Cold?” I asked her.

She nodded again. “Everything seems so loud and jarring.”

Kerrass was already tearing up a spare blanket as we made some noise mufflers. We wrapped her hands as well to keep them warm. We were then able to reason that the lights would be bright as well so we fashioned her a gauzy blindfold to rest over her eyes as well as a hood to provide some shade.

“Her hands,” Kerrass muttered to himself over and over again. “I never thought to cover her hands but they've been exposed for so long.”

“You covered everything else though. I'll give you that at least.” Commented the Dragon who was watching everything with interested curiosity. She had decided that we were taking proper care of her daughter and was staying out of the way.

“We got the Princess calmed down enough to the point where she could sit up without aid.

“Stiff,” she said. Abruptly. It obviously hurt her to talk.”

“We can massage your muscles in a bit. You ready for a drink?”

She nodded and Kerrass passed me a cup.

“Now gently, try and open your eyes a little. If it hurts then close them again, we're in no rush.”

She nodded and cracked one eye, then the other.

“Why...?” She coughed.

“Don't try to talk. Here's your drink, it will help.”

She took a few sips. She seemed shrunken, like an old woman wrapped in blankets and cloths.

“Why does everything hurt?” She asked me.

“I don't know.” I answered. “I'm not really a doctor, but I would guess it's because you haven't used them for some time.”

She nodded and took a few more sips.

“The curse?”

I looked over at Kerrass and Malevolence. Kerrass shrugged.

“Yes.” I said.

“How long have I been asleep?”

It was not lost on me that she had taken a deep breath to calm herself before asking the question.

“It's not a nice answer. Are you ready for it?” I asked.

She considered for a moment.

“That's a long time then.”

“It's not short.”

“The full hundred years?”

“More. A hundred and twenty, give or take.”

She took it rather well considering everything that she had been through.

She sat and drank her drink.

“Can I have some more please?”

Kerrass came over and refilled her cup.

“Is one of you my Prince?” She asked hopefully with what I thought might have been some amusement.

“None of us are Princes Your Highness.”

She nodded again. “I always thought that that part was invented in an effort to make me feel better.”

I could see that she grimaced at the pain in her throat. She gave me the impression of someone who has woken up with a hangover and is waiting for their brain to start working properly.

She still wouldn't meet my gaze though. Her eyes shifting backwards and forwards as new thoughts and questions occurred but were then dismissed just as quickly. I watched her carefully, ready to catch her or to take the cup away if she started to shake. She clutched the cup in both hands, holding on to it as if for dear life. All the while taking slow careful sips. I was dimly aware that I needed to be careful in case she had some kind of fit or sudden pain. I was also aware that she had been assaulted so many times that there was the possibility of other injuries, Physical ones that I couldn't see as well as the obvious mental strain.

I saw her reach over and pinch the back of her hand. Hard.

“I'm sorry Highness.” I said quietly, “But this is not a dream. You are awake.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “Dreams, even nightmares are never this painful. And I have had a lot of nightmares.” Just an edge to her voice suggested that she was on the edge of tears. I didn't blame her, but at the same time, how does someone console a grieving Princess?

She took a deep shuddering breath.

“Your name is Frederick?”

“Yes Your Highness.” I manfully resisted the urge to ask her how she knew my name.

I saw her mouth quirk a little in what I hoped was the beginnings of a sense of humour. “Lord Frederick, I think, given the fact that my home is in ruins and my status is in question, that we can dispense with formalities for now.”

I nodded a response.

“You are a Lord are you not? Forgive my assumption but to know our noble's tongue you would need to be educated and I cannot believe that the world has moved on enough for such things to be the province of farmers and villagers.”

“It has not and yes I am a Lord although I am a Younger son at best.”

“Then I charge you, Lord Frederick to answer me truthfully. I have a number of questions that I suspect I know the answer to but I must ask them anyway.”

I nodded. She looked strained. Drawn. As though she was ageing before my eyes. I guessed that she was hiding some deep feelings behind the more formal turn of phrase.

“My parents?”

I shook my head.

“Dead?”

“Yes.”

I heard Malevolence hiss from behind me. Something hard flashed through the Princesses eyes then but I might have imagined it.

“My Kingdom?”

“The lands are choked with a magical plant that has been named “Blade-vine” so called because of the thorns that grow across those lengths.”

“They will have stopped growing now that the curse has been broken.” Malevolence put in behind me.

The Princesses rage was sudden and terrifying in it's power.

“Be silent. I will come to you soon, worm.” She spoke quietly but the words were no less powerful for all of that. Just as quickly, the rage left her as she turned back to me.

“My people?” she asked.

“There are around seventy people living on the edge of the kingdom. Making a living from selling the vine wood and off the side-effects of the curse.”

The Princess bowed her head. I thought I saw a tear fall and I looked away from it.

Kerrass was cooking, some kind of broth I guessed from the smell. Malevolence had stalked off somewhere in the face of the Princesses rage.

“Will you help me stand Lord Frederick?” The Princesses voice shuddered, as if she bought that calm question with great pain. “I have lain too long in this coffin.”

I crouched next to her and using one hand she pulled herself to her feet. She leant on me to step out of the coffin that had been her bed for many years and stood unsteadily. Gradually she let go of me to stand on her own two feet. She raised one leg and shook it, presumably to restore feeling and then the other. Slowly though she tottered towards a chair that Kerrass hurriedly lay a thick blanket over the top of before she sat again. He brought her a bowl of broth, a wooden spoon and a hung of bread which she devoured like a starving person.

I caught Kerrass' eye and he nodded further down the hall to where Malevolence was pacing up and down in what looked like a fury.

“Thank you.” Said the Princess quietly. “My mother would be furious with me, not using proper table manners or proper speech to thank my rescuers.”

“I think that on balance she might have let this one slide,” Kerrass said with a slight smile. I was pleased that I saw the beginnings of an answering smile on the lips of the Princess.

“So,” she said after smoothing her skirts down. “Lord Frederick. May I have your full name please?”

There was no ordering in her voice. No command, she was simply asking the question as simply and as carefully as she could.

“Lord Frederick von Coulthard of Redania Your highness.” I said bowing deeply before her in her impromptu throne, “and may I say that it is an honour to finally make your acquaintance. “I tried to make the tone light. There was an atmosphere gathering in the room. The Princess was speaking slowly and carefully. Malevolence was pacing relentlessly and Kerrass said nothing. I felt that there was a storm brewing.

“The honour is mine, Lord Frederick. Although I believe that you are rather more acquainted with me than I am with you?”

“Highness?”

“I was not wearing this dress when I went to sleep Lord Frederick.”

I coughed. “I think that is a matter for later discussion your Highness, when you are feeling stronger perhaps?”

“Perhaps,” she said with a slightly knowing smile. I reminded myself that this 16 year old girl was a young woman, not a young girl and that she had been gifted with Wit as well as Goodness. “Will you introduce me to your companion?”

“Your royal Highness,” I began, “It is my honour and pleasure to present Witcher Kerrass.”

Kerrass bowed deeply, his expression grave and stony.

“A Witcher no less? I have heard of your people Master Kerrass but I have not had the fortune to meet one.”

There was a snort from the other end of the room. I saw Kerrass' eyes slide sideways to where Malevolence was still stalking.

The Princess did not react.

“I must thank you both.” The Princess said. “Rewards are outside of my capability at present but rest assured that my gratitude is boundless.”

Careful words and careful phrasing. Again I sensed that she was using those words to cover herself.

“It was our honour Your Highness.” I said bowing low.

“Our honour, certainly.” Kerrass said. “But I owed you, and still owe you a great debt.”

I had forgotten the oath that Kerrass had made to himself. About what he would do when he stood before the newly wakened Princess. It was like that moment when you see something, pottery or glass slide towards the edge of a table and begin to fall off. You know that there's nothing you can do to stop it but you have just enough time to see it going and wince, or shut your eyes in anticipation of the coming calamity.

“I did you great wrong Highness.” Kerrass went on,

“Kerrass,” I tried but Kerrass' words overran mine, drowning me out.

“A great wrong and I promised myself I would put it right if I could.”

I turned my eyes to the Princess and I pleaded with the universe and to whatever Gods were listening that she not ask the next question.

But no-one was listening.

“What wrong Master Witcher?”

“He *** you.” Malevolence had had enough it would seem. “He took a contract from a foreign Prince, brought them here and then they took turns raping you.”

“I...” Kerrass began.

“That's what you did isn't it Witcher?” The Dragon spat her own rage at him. “Then when they were done with you, they came back nine months later and took your children away with them.”

“Stop it,” I snarled but I was ignored.

“Then he came back.” Malevolence went on, “Time and time again. He watched you while you slept. Feasting his eyes on you over and over again when he wasn't taking his pleasure on you. Do not tolerate his presence, there is not a punishment large enough in the world for one such as him.”

The Princess' eyes were round and shining as they darted between Witcher and Woman. One hand had risen to cover her mouth.

“I never touched her.” Kerrass began.

“Lies.”

“I dressed her when I found her naked. I avenged her wrongs when I found out about them.” Kerrass snapped, his rage lashing out. He had been in control for a long time now and I had forgotten his rage but it lashed at the Dragon now with the full force of his fury. “Where were you? You who called yourself her mother. Where were you when plunderers and rapists and abusers came for her. A great and mighty Dragon Sorceress who couldn't even be bothered to care for her own child. Which child, by the way, was only in danger because of her petty vengeance.”

“Have a care Witcher?”

“Or what. Hmm?” You'll turn into a Dragon and eat me. What kind of example does that set before your child.”

“An example to not stand for self-righteous idiots who think there's an excuse for actions taken while satisfying their own lusts and thirsts...What more could you do...Do you think that you could be forgiven. That you can be forgiven for what you did, what you allowed to happen? I should kill you wear you stand for what you did to her.”

“And I you. What I did I did in ignorance but I tried to set it right.”

“And I did not?”

“You set out to curse them?”

“I set out to curse her father, the wretched excuse for a man.”

“And look what it did. I came here to offer her my life if she wants it in restitution what did you come here to offer? Your scorn? What did you think she would do, run into your arms and tell you that all was forgiven?”

“ENOUGH,” I bellowed. I had once been taught how to properly support your lungs for a proper shout. I put everything into that bellow. Both of them turned at me, anger and pain warred in both sets of eyes. They might have killed me then in their shapeless anger but the Princess saved me.

She fled.

Tottering and bouncing off furniture as she commanded her legs to move through willpower rather than reflex. She fled through the door, sounds of her sobbing coming back to us.

I sighed and moved down to the steaming pot that still hung over the small fire that Kerrass had been tending. I poured myself a small cup of the herbal drink that had soothed the Princesses throat and drank it off before looking at the other two of them.

They were staring at me.

“You fucking idiots.” I said simply.

“How dare y...” Malevolence began.”

“Just shut up.” I said. “You've been a dragon for too long and you've forgotten how people work, if you ever knew that. And as for you,” I turned on Kerrass whose face was dark with emotion. “You're just as bad. The poor girls just woken up from a nightmare fuelled slumber of over a century and you were about to try and get her to sit in judgement over you in an effort to find absolution for all of your sins.”

I shook my head in wonderment.

“Malevolence is right. It's a wonder that she isn't, howling at the moon, mad. Apart from whatever she experienced while she slept, which I think is more than any of us know, she's lost her parents and yes,” I said to the dragon who was gathering herself up for another yell. “I do mean her parents. You might have been a mother of body but you were against everything that she knew. She only knew you as the woman that hated her and given how you behaved towards her today, can you blame her?”

Malevolence's mouth hung open as if she wanted to say something.

“So she's lost her parents.” I went on, “her home is in ruins, all of her friends are dead and the two of you tell her, between you that her mother isn't her mother, that she's given birth on several occasions and that she has been being **** for all the time she was asleep. But there's one thing that you both forget.”

“Enlighten us,” Malevolence spat. Kerrass had turned away, his hand over his eyes.

“She's sixteen. Neither of you remember what it was like being sixteen. I'm twenty and I remember only being angry at everything and when I wasn't angry I wanted to shag everything in sight and drink myself into insensibility. And I'm just a boy.”

Kerrass turned back to us.

“Freddie's right.” He had mastered himself again but his eyes were hollow with a lot of pain. “What should we do now?”

“Well, if she's like Frannie was when she was sixteen...”

“Frannie?” asked the dragon.

“Freddie's younger sister.” Kerrass answered.

“Then she'll have gone off somewhere to cool off. Pass me that bottle of Rye and I'll go and talk to her.”

“Vodka?” Kerrass' eyebrow rose as he passed the bottle over.

“Just a little bit. It used to make Frannie feel grown up so... Unless I miss my guess she won't have the stomach for much anyway.”

“What do we do then?”

“I think that depends on her now, don't you?”

Neither of them answered me.

I went in search of a Princess.

I found her in her Parent's bedroom. She was knelt next to the body of the woman that I had assumed was once her mother. Her shoulders were shaking gently and I guessed that there were more tears. I found a floor board that creaked and stepped on it a few times before being discreet and waiting out of sight just outside the door.

“You can come in,” she called after some time.

I approached slowly as she was still kneeling down. She had taken her impromptu veil off and knelt their now with her head uncovered. She had pulled her hair into a rough knot to keep it out of the way. She was beautiful to look at. To the point that I had to make a point of shutting that part of my brain down. More so than when she was just lying there. The life in her. The thoughts and the intelligence that I could see in her eyes and the animation in her face ran the danger of being intoxicating.

I wanted to protect her. I wanted to wrap a blanket round her and hold her close until all of her worries had gone away. It wasn't a physical desire but there was something there.

I also knew all the reasons that I couldn't do any of those things. It would be an intrusion, an assault and an unwanted one at that.

Instead I sat on the floor next to her and crossed my legs.

“You found me quickly.” She said after a while.

“In truth I found you on my second attempt. I tried your bedroom first.”

“Where would you have gone if I wasn't here?”

“Library next, followed by the chapel. Then I would have started on the servants quarters. I don't know which one was your maid's but it would have been my next guess.”

“You seem to know a lot about me.”

“I know a bit. But if I'm honest it's less about knowing you than it is about knowing my little sister.”

“Is that what I am to you? A little sister to be protected?”

I looked into her eyes. There was a deep hurt in there somewhere although I couldn't identify it.

“No.” I said. “No you're not. You are the Princess Dorn and My friend and I came to wake you up. Now that you are awake I feel a certain measurement of responsibility to you.”

She nodded unhappily.

“I would like,” I went on carefully. “To offer my services as a friend. Your position is a little lofty for such as myself but...”

“I don't have many choices.” She finished for me.

“I was going to say that even a poor man such as myself can dream.”

“Your answer is more charming.” She found a smile from somewhere.

I uncorked the bottle and offered it over. “This is Temerian Rye.” I said. “Strong stuff.”

She took a sniff and jerked her head back. “I'm not sure that my throat could handle that.” She commented before taking a small swig and choking. “I see what you mean about “Strong stuff”.” She passed the bottle back and I wiped it before taking a swig for myself.

“What do I do Frederick?”

I held up my hand.

“Much to my horror, my friends call me Freddie. You can use that if it makes you feel better.”

She nodded.

“What should I do Freddie?”

“Are you asking for advice?”

“Not yet although that will come I suspect.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to go back to bed. I want to return to sleep. I wish that I had never woken up to this awful place. I know that that is petty and ungrateful and petulant and childish but it's true nevertheless. I hate this world that I find myself in.”

“It's not so bad.” I heard myself say as I passed the bottle back, taking care to wipe it again. “But would you really go back.”

She took a swig. The coughing was much less this time. “No. No I wouldn't. But I want to. I'm afraid.” But I wouldn't go back. It was horrible there.”

“DO you want to talk about it?”

She took another swig and passed the bottle back.

“Yes and no. The dreams and the nightmares are all too real.”

“There were a centuries worth after all.”

“A century. Yes. Sometimes I dreamt of a great sea with an island in the middle. I was the island. Sometimes I would dream about flying.”

“A friend of mine at the university once told me that dreams of flying are actually dreams about having sex.”

“Really?” She took the bottle off me again. “What was I dreaming about when I was dreaming about having sex then?”

My face must have reddened then and she laughed.

“I'm sixteen, I'm not a nun.” She said but then she saddened. “Nor am I virgin anymore I suppose.”

We sat in silence for a while as she let that thought sink in.

“Did you know what was happening?”

“Oh yes. On some level at the very least. I knew your full name and who you were. Your Witcher companion is familiar to me and I am aware that I have him to thank for the fact that I woke up in a dress to hide my modesty rather than just covered by a blanket or out on display for anyone to come and look at which is what some of my other visitors would have done. One some level or another I can remember the many attacks, molestations and the terrible rage that I felt. I can even remember, I think, giving birth. I had a look earlier and I can't find any stretch marks or scarring though.”

I didn't have anything to say to that and hid my embarrassment behind taking another drink.

“So yes I knew. Or rather I think I knew. It was awful but at the same time it was....I knew that I was asleep. I was warm, safe and unhurt in my little bubble of sleepy warmth. I was...aware that... Oh I don't know what I'm talking about. But it hurt waking up. The sheer physical sensation of it.”

“It's ok.” I said quietly. “You don't need to talk it all through now.”

She nodded gratefully.

“So I have children?” she asked after another pause.

“You do, or rather I should say you did. Would you like to know?”

“Yes please.” A simple comment. Others might have nodded but she seemed to want to articulate things. I was prepared and got out my notebook.

“The factor that brought Kerrass into your life produced a pair of twins. A boy and a girl. They were briefly used as pawns in an internal power struggle in a neighbouring Kingdom. Kerrass can tell you more about that when you feel up to it. I have notes and will write them up eventually but in the meantime...The side that had ...used your children, failed and the children were taken north and given into the protection of the Northern Emperor of Nilfgaard. A man named Torres. Torres was an ambitious man and was bringing his empire south. The boy died of an illness when he was six. I intend to look into that when I get out of here and have more access to some other sources but in the meantime...”

I shrugged. I couldn't tell if she was listening or not. She just knelt there.

“Your daughter was married off to one of the Emperors nephews. Which was used as a claim over the Neighbouring Kingdom and the nobles there that had ordered your assault. She was named Queen of that territory when she was twelve. Four years later she gave birth to a son but was badly weakened by the experience. She had two more children before the local doctors told her that any more would kill her. She eventually died of a chill in her forty second year after several long years of weakness in the winter months.”

“So I have Grandchildren.”

“Oh yes. They keep extensive records in the village amongst your people...”

I said the line deliberately as I thought it was time to remind her that she was a Princess. She stiffened.

“But those Grand children have now also died. You have, by my count, about half a dozen Great Grandchildren and four Great Great Grandchildren. From that line.”

I saw her rub at her temples, “From that line? There are more.”

“I'm afraid so. Once someone has had an idea, all it does is prove that someone else will have a similar idea again. On two more occasions have people come to you and sired children by you. You produced another son who is now an ageing, four or five times your age, Duke to the Southwest with children and Grandchildren of his own. I understand he was a warlord when he was younger and fought many battles for Nilfgaard and now rules a part of it in the local client Kings name. He is generally regarded as a good man although I doubt he even knows your name or that he is even your son.

“You also had two daughters. Both were prized for their beauty and their intelligence but the feeling I get from these notes is that the people who....sired them on you were hoping for sons. They were used in political marriages and notes on them are few. Both are known to be dead however.”

She nodded. “I don't know how to feel about that.”

I nodded and offered her the bottle back which she declined.

“If I were a more qualified advisor, Highness, I would advise you to put these men and women from your mind. I very much doubt that any of them think of you and now that you are awake, they might even become enemies of yours.”

“I had thoughts on that matter myself.” She sighed. “I wish I could believe that the world was kinder than that but if it was then I very probably wouldn't be alive.”

“I cannot answer to that.” I saw her purse her lips in thought.

I waited for a bit longer. If she was anyone else, I would have expected an explosion of tears and hysterics by now. I was honestly surprised that that hadn't happened and if anyone deserved to feel like that then it was this person here.

“Is this my mother?” she asked me. “Yes I am aware of that woman downstairs but was this person my mother?”

“I think so.” she was looking at the body that was lying in a corner.

“It's all so overwhelming. I should scream and shout. I want to but I can't seem to.... Talk to me a little more. I take it that it was you that figured out how to break the curse?”

“It was.”

“From what I've been told, Witchers are experts in that kind of thing. Why did he not manage it before?”

“I think that he was too close to the problem. Like everyone else who has ever tried to lift the curse they think that it was you that was cursed. They thought that all the hatred was aimed at you. So when they tried to lift the curse on you, they failed. For what it's worth, Your Biological mother was trying to undo the curse in the same way.”

“So it was my Father that she cursed?”

“Yes.”

“I remember. There's so much that I remember that I wasn't part of. I remember your conversation and so I know that she's my mother and I know what happened and why but...” I thought I saw the beginnings of tears then but then they were swallowed with what looked like a gulp made completely out of willpower. “I won't say that she wasn't hard done to. She was.”

She laughed suddenly, a bright and brittle laugh. “It is strange to realise that my father was an idiot.”

I chuckled as well. “One day, I will tell you about my family and what a colossal fuck up that was.”

She smiled at me again before her eyes went back into the middle distance.

“I am angry at her,” she seemed to decide. “My biological mother I mean. She could have told them what the original answer was, she could have let go of her hate. There were so many other things that she could have done but she chose to curse us all for it. The blame is not solely hers. A good chunk of it, but not all of it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“With her? I'm going to need to figure out what I'm going to call her for a start. Queen Leah was my mother. She bandaged my hurts and taught me how to be. I cannot take that away from her and I also cannot deny that she was my mother. I loved her dearly. But I also need to know more about my heritage though. I will talk to her. I am too angry at the moment but I will talk to her.”

“May I speak honestly?”

“Please.”

“If I were in your position I would be screaming, shouting and throwing things.”

She smiled slightly, that small little sad smile that threatened to bring me to tears, let alone her. This woman was spellbinding. If she is allowed to mature and gain a bit of confidence then poets will be writing about her for centuries to come.

“Would it help?” She asked. “I know that the world has moved on. The political and royal landscape has changed so much. I have people that will rely on me. More people will seek to use me when they realise that I am awake. It is all so overwhelming and at the same time... Everything hurts. My skin feels like it's on fire, my throat is sore, my head is throbbing and little sounds come to me like huge crashes of metal. Everything in my body and mind is screaming at me to just shut down but I know that I can't. I worry that if I did that, I might go mad.”

She had started to head towards the hysterics that I had expected towards the end but again, with another supreme act of self-control she brought herself back from the brink.

“We should also talk about Kerrass.” She said after a while. “Is he really going to offer me his head?”

“Yes,” I said. “I think there is even a significant part of him that wants you to take it.”

She shook her head in disbelief.

“What a world to wake up to.” I don't know if she meant me to hear that or not as it was said quietly.

“Should I take it?” She asked.

“It's not for me to say. I would say that I don't want you to take it but I am too close to the matter. Kerrass is my friend. One of the best I've had in my memory.

“Is he a good man?”

“Again that's not for me to say. I think that if you asked him that question he would say that he is not a good man. He would say that he has done too much, seen too much to be a good man. Not least of which is those events that brought him into your sphere of influence.”

“Did he... Did he *** me?”

“No. He hates himself because he did nothing to stop those men that did. He is aware of the other factors. He knows that if he had drawn his sword in an effort to do something then he would have died and you would still have been *** but that is no real consolation to him. He blames himself.”

She sighed and nodded.

“I don't know what to do Freddie,” She looked at me then. I saw tears standing in her eyes ready to fall and again, the look of the woman. I wanted to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright but sitting there and then, nothing would have helped and I had no right to do any of that. “I've been trained to be the heir to my Father's throne since before I could walk. I know about politics and war, economics, trade and bargaining. I know heraldry etiquette and how to properly gather a persons loyalty to myself but now that I'm here, I don't know what to do. I don't even know if I'm really a Princess any more, let alone a Queen. I know enough, I've heard enough that I know that there is another Empire, a nation that rules over my lands. I know that my people, such as they are, owe their fealty to that crown as well as to me. What do I do with that? What can I do with that?”

She did weep then, but only a little and she soon managed to swallow that feeling back down her throat.

“Goddess but I hate this. I feel so weak. What do I do Frederick?”

“This is going back into the direction of me advising you again Highness.”

“The advise me.”

I nodded and did my best to martial my thoughts, the same as I would have done when standing before my tutors.

“Sooner or later you are going to have to leave this place.” I said after a while. The curse is lifted, so by now the people on the outskirts will know that the curse is broken and that you are awake. That change is going to be profound to them.”

“You know of those effects?”

“I do. So then it is the branching set of decisions. Do you stay with them and do your best to help them and help yourself to rebuild your Kingdom. You are not poor although it might seem that way. We have recovered trade agreements in your name and you are not poor. That's disregarding the mines and quarries that are presumably still workable on your lands. So you do have money. That is the first choice.”

She nodded.

“Or you could vanish. Disappear. Either your birth mother or Kerrass would happily help you with that option. Life might be hard and I dare-say that life would be much different from the one you are used to, a hundred years of sleep not withstanding. But it could be done. Find a nice cottage somewhere and live out the rest of your life away from anything and away from history. That is the second choice.”

She nodded and gestured for the bottle.

“Would you help me Frederick?”

“I will do my best to help you no matter what you choose to do. As I said, I helped wake you up. It would be... disgraceful and disrespectful of me to do all of that and then just wash my hands of the entire affair.”

She nodded and took a small sip from the bottle. No longer swigging I noticed.

“The second choice is attractive, it really is. Running out on everything is something that I would like. I am not ready to take control of my country, even though the number of people that live here are less than a hundred people. I'm not ready for that.”

“Is anyone. Is anyone ever ready for that?”

“You are not wrong and your point is well made. The second choice is attractive to me but at the same time, I fear that there would be a lot of guilt tied up in that choice. I would hunt for the news of my people and my country. I would look at whatever and whoever chose or was chosen to govern these lands and think “Could I have done better?” I think that I'm going to take Option one.”

I felt myself relax a little.

“I can help you in more directions in this way. Your problems are that you need wealth and friends at court. Yes, in theory you and your realm are very rich but that is going to make you a tempting target to many noblemen and the like. They will want to swoop in, seduce and charm you into marriage and then take you and your Kingdom for everything it's worth.”

“How do I get round that?”

She looked so fragile. I don't know what it cost her to keep herself rigidly still and calm like that but found that I didn't want to be there when the dam did eventually burst.

“Well, in many ways you are lucky. If you had woken up five years ago then the Empire whose borders you fall within were at war with the north. You would have woken up and the Emperor would have you married off to someone, possibly even himself. Then your country would have been stripped of wealth and those funds would have gone over to the war effort. As it is though, the war is over. The Emperor is stepping down from the throne for, and I quote, “Reasons of state” in favour of his daughter.

“The very fact that there is going to be an Empress on the throne rather than an Emperor is going to count in your favour.”

“Unless she chooses to be harsh towards me in order to demonstrate her even handedness.”

“That is a risk but one way or another, to be recognised as the head of this state, on any kind of level, you are going to need to go to court and speak to the Empress. Your country has been a small fraction of a small percentage of imperial revenue for so long that the prospects of having a country to tax again, might upset the apple-cart but it might upset things in your favour.”

The Princess nodded. “It does seem that I rather have no choice.

“So we need to do two things. We need to get things moving on calling up all of your old mercantile efforts. Some of which will have gone under, some of which might refuse to recognise your claim, some you might need to take to court but some might end up paying out. The other thing that we need to do is to have you introduced to the Empress.”

“How do we do those things?”

“Well. As it turns out, you see I have this sister.” I grinned at her. “You'll like her.”

I explained about Emma's mercantile prowess and about how much influence she had on the flow of trade.

“My sister can stretch a copper further than anyone else I know.” I finished up.

“And how will this help me with getting introduced at court.”

“Well, I also have this friend.”

A small light went off behind my eyes and I caught my mouth smiling. “In fact, all things being considered I should have asked for her help some time ago.”

“Who's that?”

“Madame Ariadne, Comtesse de Angral.”

“Should I know the name?”

“I doubt it. Although you and she have a lot in common. She was also woken up to a world that she didn't recognise. But she is a Countess now. Her rank has been ratified by the Imperial throne and I have no doubt that she can get you some time with the Empress and impress upon her the benefits of helping you out. She is also a Sorceress, is known to be a Sorceress and can therefore teleport you around so that we can get a head start on any potential enemies that might want to get the drop on you.”

“What is this woman to you?”

“She's my...” How to explain this. “In all likelihood, the two of us are going to be married.”

The Princess looked at me with far too searching an expression. “I see.” She said. “Not that I'm complaining or anything but this does put me in a position of depending on you and yours a little more than I probably should.”

“It does Your Highness. Indeed it does. But at the same time, the offer of help is there. Ariadne can also do that thing which I cannot.”

“Which is?”

“She can be your friend.”

The Princess nodded.

“You also need to think about what you're going to do about the two people downstairs.”

The Princess nodded.

“How long is it going to take you to set this up?”

“I think Ariadne will take great delight in showing up sooner than either of us expect.”

I took out my pendant, the one that I had kept round my neck for so long that Ariadne had given me when we had last seen each other. The one that I was so used to now that I barely noticed it. I held it in both hands and called out her name. The Amulet that I should have remembered about a long time ago.

I felt her presence in the back of my mind almost immediately. I don't know why but I feel sure that she was smiling.

“Can I help?” She asked.

“I think you can.”

“Then I shall be there directly.”

Five minutes later and there was a flash. There she was, dressed in the same, off white travelling dress, trousers and boots underneath a skirt. She also had a travelling satchel over her shoulder. Her hair was tied back in a long plait. I will not deny that I felt my heart give a little flutter when I saw her. As always, she looked beautiful.

I stood to greet her while the Princess didn't move and gave Ariadne an opportunity to examine me from head to toe with an unblinking, slightly off-putting gaze.

“You haven't been taking proper care of yourself again,” she accused with just the slightest hint of a smile.

“It's what happens when you get attacked by a dragon.”

“I should have known that the pair of you would get into trouble. Also, why didn't you call me sooner?”

“Would you believe me if I said that it honestly never occurred to me?”

She gazed at me for a long time. “I would I think, although I am a little saddened by it.”

A thought occurred to me. “Did you know what this place was when Kerrass told you where we were going?”

“I knew a little. I must admit to a little worry when I found out that there was a Dragon here though. You have done well between you, for better or worse.”

“That wasn't what I was talking about.”

“I know. Don't worry about it Freddie. We can talk about it later if you like but there is nothing to worry about from your end, or anyone else's end for that matter. You have done well here and I can see, just by looking at you that the problem, plus the excursion and the other aspects of things has done you an incredible amount of good. Now, what can I do?

“I need your help.”

“You as the singular?” Her eyes went over my shoulder to look at the still kneeling Princess. “Or you as the plural?”

“Probably the plural but it is me that is asking.”

“I see. Then I shall certainly endeavour to give what aid I can.”

“I owe you one.”

She cocked her head onto one side. “No, I still think that this would leave me in your debt. Maybe a little less but in this, I take no charges. That's how the world improves is it not? We help each other out of tricky situations?”

“That is a nice thought.”

“Then why don't you tell me how I can help.”

I briefly explained the situation and laid out my concerns.

She listened, unmoving.

“I see. Yes, we need to get her in to see the Empress as soon as possible. We also need to help and support her through the coming weeks and months. Believe me when I say, waking up to a world that is not your own is a.... heart rending experience.”

“You seem to be Ok.”

“I had some very good friends who supported me through those early days. And then I made some more good friends. She will need friends and people who she can be close to. It is made more difficult by the fact that she is now a Queen and her circle of friendship will need to be... select.”

“Can you help?”

“I think so.”

I stared at her for a long moment.

“It is good to see you Ariadne.”

Her eyes searched my face for a moment. Although I still couldn't tell what she was thinking.

“It is good to see you too Freddie. Now why don't you introduce us.”

I nodded and led her towards where the Princess was still kneeling. I heard Ariadne deposit her bag on the floor.

“Princess Dorn?” I enquired.

The Princess levered herself to her feet and turned around. She moved stiffly, the way I imagined that I moved after a hard bout of practice with Kerrass.

“Princess Dorn it is my honour and privilege to present Madame Ariadne, Comtesse de Angral. Madame Comtesse, this is the Princess Dorn.”

I bowed and took a step back to clear the room between the two women.

Ariadne curtsied as formally as you could imagine and sank much lower than I had previously thought possible to do in skirts and with, you know, legs.

The Princess mirrored the curtsey, but only to a slight degree.