The Dream Trials by J. Houser

Author:J. Houser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: princess and the pea, fairy tale retelling, fairytale retelling, princess and the pea retelling, sweet romance
Publisher: Painted Wings Publishing
Published: 2023-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

As she tiptoed down the hallway, only a single floorboard creaked to scold her. She held her breath but made her way out the front door without waking anyone.

The night was cool and clear, the crickets softly singing their song. Maribel beamed. I’m on my way.

She didn’t trust herself on horseback in the dark, and no public coaches ran the streets at this time of night, so she traveled on foot, aiming for every shortcut she knew. She ran across a bridge, weaved through streets and back roads, and rounded a small pond.

Eventually, the park lay before her, and Maribel hesitated. This was all the mental map—the vision—had shown. It was a fairly large park, too... She surveyed the area. To one side towered a giant tree—a weeping willow—that had been framed within the image.

Her feet tired, she strode for the tree. The trunk was dark under the dense curtain of leaves blocking out the moonlight. As she approached the tree, rustling startled her, and she halted. “Hello?” She cautiously slid a hand to her concealed dagger.

“Maribel,” he said. “You came.” The voice matched that of Prince Jonas, at least the version she’d just met in her dream.

“Is this ... still a dream?” she asked as a warm rain began to mist above her. She’d never had a dream within a dream, but perhaps that was what this was. She glanced toward the skies as the rain picked up. Hadn’t it been a clear night?

“Come in from the rain,” he beckoned.

She did not want to test the thickness of her dress’s cream fabric when wet—dream or not. She ducked beneath the willow’s branches, and beheld the prince. “Is it really you?”

His smile was swoonworthy. “Yes. Is it really you?”

“Well... Yes.” She forgot her manners but quickly recovered, curtsying. “Your Highness.”

He folded his arms, leaning against the tree’s sturdy trunk. “You don’t have to curtsy to me. And you can call me Jonas.”

Nervous, she fidgeted with her hands. “I’m not so sure about that. You’re the prince. You’ll soon be my king.” She still wasn’t completely sure this was real.

“I’ll be offended if you call me by my title.”

“Okay... Jonas...” It didn’t feel unnatural to utter it.

He grinned. “My name sounds good on your lips.”

Her stomach flipped. Everything sounded good so far on his lips. She dared to take a step forward. “Did you have a dream that brought you here?” If this was somehow real, how had he known to meet here, in the middle of the night, if he hadn’t shared the dream? How had he known her name?

“In a way. I was in your dream.”

She had so many questions, because he didn’t seem fazed by any of this. “Why?”

“Because that’s how the selection process works, darling.”

Darling? Her heart skipped a beat. And then she put together what he’d said. He couldn’t be serious... “When you say ‘selection process’...”

Jonas cocked his head. “I think you know.”

What did he need to select in the next few days if not a bride? “I’m not queen material!”

He searched her eyes in silence for a moment.

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