They exchanged long glances, and I basked in their confusion, finally feeling as if I’d finally gained the upper hand in this strange encounter. Admittedly, it wasn’t wise to confess—and so proudly—that I’d purposefully run from the imperialfamily, but I relished their delicious surprise too much to regret it.
“I’m not sure that was wise after you’ve been asleep for so long,” the queen finally said, choosing her words carefully. “Not to mention escapades aren’t befitting a princess.”
“A…princess?” That title again, but this time I couldn’t excuse it away as a mistake, not when it’d been given by the rulers of the realm.
My eyes darted about the room, noting the luxurious touches, the lack of handcuffs or any seeming precautions that would be normal for a prisoner. I couldn’t even feel any magical barriers nearby, though I had no doubt the wall still waited to repel my attempts.
A sense of foreboding prickled my skin. None of my previous carefully arranged scripts could have prepared me for a situation where the royal family doted on a common thief with such warmth rather than disdain, almost as if…I was truly their daughter.
I narrowed my eyes, studying their expressions. Over the years, I’d learned to detect deceit. Like picking a lock, lies were easy to discern once one recognized the patterns to look for. Yet their address and concern appeared genuine.
My mind whirled, scrambling to explain the impossible. Rather than the challenge thrilling me, this myriad of unsolvable riddles made me feel as if my fragile grasp over what control I had was rapidly slipping away, with no way to retain it.
As a prisoner, I’d at least maintained control over my identity, but now that I was recast as royalty, I felt like the last pieces remaining in my grip were disintegrating. The title of princess promised power, but the only power I wanted was my own name and the chance to reconvene my mission.
“There must be some misunderstanding,” I stuttered. “I can’t be the princess. What of the prince?”
Even the most skilled actor couldn’t feign the blank look of mild alarm they gave me. “Prince?” The queen’s voice was hesitant, as if wary about my sanity. “We only have one child—you, our princess and sole heir to the throne.”
I gaped in disbelief. They appeared identical to the king and queen I’d encountered in the throne room…save for the absence of the grief in their eyes that had haunted them since the prince’s mysterious disappearance, as if all memory of him had vanished while I slept in this strange, magical room.
Mingled with my horror at having my identity replaced was an unexpected twinge of longing as the queen gently squeezed my hand. I prided myself on my ability to stand on my own, to need no one. But hearing someone call me her child resonated in a way I’d never experienced before.
Besides, maybe being a princess could have its advantages. While I might be every bit as much a prisoner now as I had been in the dungeon, I carried a weapon I’d never been able to wield before: a royal name. Prisoner Mirelle hadn’t been able to scale the magic wall, but perhaps Princess Mirelle could walk straight through the gate…when the time came.
I no longer felt like running away. Without execution or other punishment looming over me, I had time. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I uncovered every last strange mystery piling up around me, until no puzzle remained unsolved.
CHAPTER 10
My bed had become a new kind of prison—this one forged not out of fear, but one that caged a restless hunger. I no longer burned with the urgency to escape. Instead, a deeper pull had taken hold: the need to uncover the secrets woven through this surreal world. I felt that if I could only solve the mystery of this dreamscape, I could learn what had happened in my waking life.
Since I couldn’t currently explore, I tried to glean what information I could from the tight-lipped servants who tended me, as well as the king and queen whenever they visited. These interactions were a mixture of stiff awkwardness and the suppressed longing they invoked within me—as if each parental gesture they exhibited towards me reopened a wound I’d thought long since healed of the loneliness I’d felt ever since I lost my entire family at a young age. Long after our forced small talk ended, I stared at the door where they’d departed, almost tempted to ask them to return.
Desperate for a distraction, I sniffed at the cup of chamomile tea that steamed on my bedside table. It would clear up quite a bit of the mystery if I discovered that my dreams were the result of particular herbs steeped in my tea or a spell woven intomy food. Perhaps it could even explain why my surroundings seemed to change each time I woke.
I couldn’t detect any trace of either an untoward plant or the swirl of magic in my cup, but to be safe I languidly carried it to the window, easily picking the lock…well, at least more successfully than I had before.
My fingers felt as though they were made of lead and it took four tries before the glass pane swung open. The royal family was clearly concerned I might wander off again and had sealed the window with a thick bolt, but apparently had forgotten my abilities because they didn’t bother to reinforce it with magic as they had previously done.
I watched as the golden liquid streamed towards the ground far below, my eyes drifting in the direction of the gardens where I’d last seen the mysterious nobleman. I frowned, pondering that unexplainable intersection of waking and sleeping worlds. For a moment I contemplated another venture outside, but I had no misplaced optimism about scaling the walls now that I’d experienced their safeguards, nor the energy to climb down from my tower room.
If I could muster the strength, I finally had the opportunity to turn my search indoors, now that I was apparently no longer a prisoner. I was curious to test whether I could wander the halls at will or whether the act that I was a beloved princess would cease the moment I stepped out of my room.
Secrets filled this castle—the very walls hummed with them, vibrating just below the surface like hidden embroidery stitched beneath a royal crest, waiting to be unearthed. Their silence issued a challenge I was determined to overcome. I needed to find them, to read the stories in the objects left behind, to trace the shifts that had occurred while I slept in order to uncover whatever truth the royal family had buried beneath careful words and poised smiles.
I bit my lip and stared at the ornate door thoughtfully, wondering how long I had before I succumbed to sleep once more. In a palace this large, there were bound to be secrets hidden within the stones to guide me in the right direction…if I could but search for them. But the invisible force that lured me into a deep sleep every night—and kept me there long into each new day—left my body weighed with exhaustion, preventing me from investigating like I normally would.
The exhaustion didn’t descend like ordinary sleep, but crept slowly through my limbs, dulling muscle and bone, until even lifting my head felt like moving through water. Each attempt to sit upright was met with unyielding resistance, as though the air itself pressed me back against the mattress. As a person whose livelihood and even life depended on being able to stay alert and wary, I found this newfound weakness horrifying.
Clenching my jaw in determination, I made my way to my door. Each step felt as though I waded through waist-deep water that flowed powerfully against me, but I forged ahead slowly. The doorknob turned with no resistance and I shuffled into the hall, determined to find a clue to what was happening to me and this entire palace.
I trailed my fingers along the wall, feeling for memories. Snippets of the past were abundant; untold numbers of people had passed this way, accompanied by their various emotions, concerns, and joys. But nothing seemed suspicious or telling yet. I reached an intersection of hallways and hesitated a moment before turning to the right, deeper into the palace.
I’d only made it a handful of steps before my sluggishness began to transform into the inexorable weariness I dreaded. I swayed on my feet. Perhaps if I sat down for a moment I could regain my strength. In a distinctly un-princess-like movement, I slid down the wall to rest on the floor, leaning my head back and willing the exhaustion to fade.
Faintly I heard voices, and felt the sensation of being lifted and carried. I forced my eyes open just long enough to glimpse the blond hair of Garrett, one of the guards I’d met my first night here, as he brought me back to my chambers and deposited me on my bed. Then my eyes closed as though a magical force pushed them shut for another restless night, to wake a dozen hours later feeling anything but refreshed after my dream wandering.
Even during my waking hours, I discovered that time blurred in strange ways. Light filtered through the windows in pale ribbons that never seemed to change; morning bled into afternoon and back again without distinction, as though the sun itself had grown uncertain.
