Page 68 of Slippers and Thorns
As she rounded the stairs to the landing on the fifth level, she caught a glimpse of a boot, but she was moving much more slowly by then. “Mike!” she called desperately, but as she feared, there was no response. Rallying her strength, she forced herself up the last few steps as quickly as she could.
Just as she threw herself through the open doorway, she saw him kneel beside a bed with a sleeping form on top of it. “Mike! Stop!”
And then, for the first time while in one of the trances, he spoke. A single word, but it stole the breath from her lungs.
“Helena?”
It couldn’t be.
Everyone, from Axel to Katy to Mike himself, had told Ella that Helena had died over a decade ago!
Katy had suspected magic was at play at Reineggburg, though, since no one could remember the details surrounding the castle’s tragedy a little over a decade ago. And no one had told herhowAxel’s sister died…a little over a decade ago. Mike couldn’t even remember the name of the castle where they used to meet, but he did say Reineggburg reminded him of it. More evidence of magic?
Plus, there was clearly a young woman lying on the bed and wearing a dress that was too short for her and about a decade out of fashion. Even from this distance, Ella was positive that she had never seen the woman before, including among the servants. And even if she had snuck into the castle, how would she have obtained access to the isolated tower? Even the windows were covered in the thorny vines, ruling out the possibility of an entrance that way.
Could it really be her?
Ella realized that Mike had the mystery woman’s hand clasped in his and was raising it to his lips, still moving in that strange through-water way. Something inside her told her that she shouldn’t allow him to continue with whatever the strange magic was compelling him to do.
“Mike!” She darted into the room and grabbed his arm, hoping to bring him out of it as she had before. She couldn’t tell if it worked or not; Mike continued to lower his head to the woman’s hand, which was now only a hairsbreadth away, still staring transfixed at her face. But if it was really Helena,wouldhe stop when no longer under the magic’s influence?
Before Ella could think of something else to try, his lips brushed the woman’s hand.
And her eyes fluttered open.
“I knew it would be you,” she said in an alto voice that was slightly rusty from lack of use. “I knew you would come, Michael.”
Ella’s mouth dropped open as Mike’s eyes, no longer vacant, filled with tears. Shuffling forward, he helped the young woman sit up. “I would have come sooner if I’d known where you were,” he replied. His voice broke in the middle. “Helena. We all thought you were dead.”
“What?” Helena’s brow furrowed. “But the servants brought me up here after I pricked my finger and fell asleep. Father, Mother, and Axel all came and were in this room with me. They knew where I was.” She pouted. “Of course, then they all got up and left without saying a word, and no one came again until you showed up.”
“But…” Mike frowned. “No, Axel believed you were dead. He told us no one remembered what tragedy had led to this castle being abandoned. He and Katy brought us here back in the spring.”
“Katy?”
“Katrin. Axel’s wife,” Mike clarified.
Helena made a face. “It’s strange to think of my brother being married. He was only sixteen when I fell asleep.”
“And now he’s twenty-eight.”
Her jaw dropped. “I was asleep fortwelve years?” She bristled. “Why did it take so long? It’s been possible to wake me up since my eighteenth birthday!” Muttering, she added, “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted any strangers before I was sixteen. If I didn’t prick my finger until I was older, maybe they would have remembered.”
“I told you,” Mike soothed. “No one even knew to look for you. I didn’t even remember this was the castle where I used to visit you!” He hesitated, then added uncertainly, “ItwasReineggburg, wasn’t it?”
“How did you find me, then?” she challenged.
“You…called me,” he replied slowly.
“What?”
He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it. “I heard your voice in my head telling me to find you.”
It was silent for a few minutes until Mike shattered it with a sneeze. Sighing, Helena softened and swung her legs to the side of the bed. “Considering I just woke from a twelve-year sleep and you apparently heard my voice in your head, I suppose I can accept that magic might have made everyone think that I was dead,” she begrudgingly allowed.
Mike stood and offered his hand to help her up. She swayed for a moment before steadying herself. Glancing down at herself, she commented, “I grew a few inches while I was asleep, too. No wonder my balance is off.”
“Or because you’ve been asleep for twelve years,” Mike chided. “Come on. Are you hungry?”
