Page 74 of Once Upon an Enchanted Kiss

“I do. You must find me, Phillip.”

“Your father…he said he was taking you to your bedchamber.”

He was starting to fade from her. Somewhere in the distance, she heard another voice. A man. It sounded as though it were Jeffrey. He must be trying to wake Phillip. Panic swept through her.

“Go there! Go to my bedchamber at once.”

A dense dark fog rolled in between them. She was only able to make out a silhouette of him and nothing more. His face faded from her sight.

“No, not yet,” she said, her voice a roughened whispered. “Not yet.”

“Then what? Rose! Where are you? I can’t see you anymore.”

More shadows as the gloom pressed in between them, blotting him out. She blurted out the only words that came to mind.

“True love’s kiss!”

And then he was gone. Her shoulders slumped as she collapsed to the ground. Hot tears stung her eyes. She had no idea if her message got through to him. She hoped it had.

Phillip awoke with a start to see Jeffrey standing over him, a worried look on his face.

“Are you all right, mate? You were thrashing in your sleep.”

“Jeffrey? How did you get here?”

“Your mother brought me and Charles here,” he said.

But he really didn’t hear his answer as the dream crashed into him with a fury. He shoved Jeffrey out his way as he shot to his feet. He raked his hand through his hair, his heart beating at a rapid pace.

She’d told him to go to her bedchamber at once. The last thing he recalled before the dream faded was her voice shoutingtrue love’s kiss.

Had he heard that right? She wanted him to kiss her to break the curse? There was only one way to find out.

“I need to find Rose.”

“I don’t think her father will allow you to see her,” Jeffrey said.

He spied Charles lounging in the chair opposite him, his ankle propped on his knee as he munched on a lemon cake.

“The king was fairly unhappy with you,” Charles pointed out.

“I don’t care about that,” Phillip snapped, impatience lancing through him. He turned to Jeffrey, grasped him by the upper arms and squeezed. “I know how to break the curse.”

His friend blinked surprise as his face went devoid of all emotion. “You do?”

“Yes! I have to get to her. I have to find her.”

He shoved him away and darted for the door.

“Wait, Phillip.” Jeffrey hurried after him and grabbed his arm to pull him to a stop. “You can just go charging through the castle.”

He focused on his friend, his mind still racing with thoughts of Rose. His Rose. “Why not?”

“Because the king has posted guards outside your door,” he said. “That’s why.”

“That does pose a problem,” Charles said from his chair.

Before Phillip was able to reply, his mother burst through the door of their chambers. Her face was flushed as though she’d made a mad dash through the hallways. Before she closed the door behind her, he got a glimpse of the two guards standing on either side of the door. Jeffrey was right.

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