Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story (Passion-Filled FairyTales Book 4) by Rosetta Bloom Read Free Book Online Page A

way she understood the words of people, Rose always felt she had a kinship with the animals.
    The three of them walked away from the house, toward the edge of the wood that surrounded them. Trees at least eighty feet tall towered above them, with the plush branches offering shade from the summer sun.
    “Alright then,” said Dwennon, who stood across from Rose, slightly hunched and leaning on his cane. “The key to using your magic, the magic that is within you, is to first feel it.”
    “Feel it?” Rose asked. She wasn’t sure what he meant.
    “Yes,” he said. “Just like new babes don’t just start walking or crawling. First they figure out they have arms and legs and fingers and toes. They stretch ‘em and look at ‘em and see what they are, and then they realize they can use ‘em. Like a babe, you’ve been using your fingers in your sleep, but now you’ve got to feel ‘em out in the waking hours and have a try at it.”
    It seemed a decent enough explanation, though the context was lost on Rose. She’d never actually seen a baby. Not a human one. Of course, they’d told her stories about her when she was little, and she’d even seen a portrait of herself as a babe. But she hadn’t seen a babe explore his tiny hands and feet and find his footing in the world. Still, she had the gist of what he meant.
    “Close your eyes,” Dwennon said. Rose complied. “Now, just feel the wind. On your face, on your fingers, feel it as it gently licks your skin. Feel how it connects with you, on the inside. For a lot of us, we connect with our magic from our center, from our core. See if you feel a connection to the wind.”
    Rose did as he said, feeling the wind. There wasn’t much of it today. A gentle breeze that barely kissed her skin. It felt almost like nothing. To feel a connection, she wanted more, expected more. Something more like a gale, a huge gust, something that would pummel her outside but awaken this core that Dwennon had described.
    And then she felt it. A stirring in her middle, right in her center. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever felt before. It was a warmth radiating from her midsection, but it seemed to shoot through every part of her body. It seemed to connect every inch of her skin with the air outside, almost as if she were dissolving in it.
    And then she heard their cries. “Rose! Rose!”
    She opened her eyes to see that Dwennon and Hilly nearly forty yards away, their backs pressed against the house, shielding their faces with their hands. Shielding their faces from the wind, she realized. Stop , she thought and the gale that had been punishing them ceased. A final gasp of “Rose” escaped their lips as they realized the wind had died down and they lowered their hands. Rose ran to them, frightened.
    “Auntie, Uncle, are you alright?”
    Hilly nodded, but stared wearily at Rose. Dwennon said nothing.
    “Did I do that? Did I create the wind that pushed you here?”
    Hilly nodded.
    “But how?”
    “You’re a powerful Halfling,” Dwennon said softly. “Only I didn’t see it. Not at all.”
    Rose stared at him and shook his head. “I thought you were the best seer of all the fairies.”
    “I was,” Dwennon said. “I am. Change in a fairy’s powers sometimes negate a seer’s abilities, temporarily. I saw … I’ve seen for the past few days that all will be well. I don’t think your powers should change that. But, given that you said you were tired, you should probably rest as you wanted to. It’s close to four o’clock. Have a rest, and we’ll prepare for our journey tonight.”
    Rose wasn’t sure she could rest after what just happened. “But what about my magic?” she said. “I did something powerful without even realizing it.”
    “But you felt it at the end?” Dwennon asked.
    Rose nodded.
    “Then you’ll feel it next time,” he assured her. “You’ve got a slight feel for it, and once you return to your parents, we’ll be able to help teach you better.