Sleeping Beauty's Daughters by Diane Zahler Read Free Book Online Page B

palace grounds were surrounded by a great stone wall, far taller than any man. The wall started at the cliffs on one side of the palace, made a vast semicircle around it, and ended at the cliffs on the other side. There were acres of land within it, so its presence had never bothered me. In the past, I had never wanted to go farther than the gardens or the small forest it enclosed. Now the wall was a problem, but Luna knew what to do.
    “There’s a place in the woods where some rocks have come loose,” she told me as we strolled through the gardens, our cloak hoods up in case anyone should notice us.
    “Papa didn’t have that fixed?” I asked, surprised.
    “Papa doesn’t know it needs fixing,” Luna said smugly. “When I saw the stones were loose, I pried them out until there was a hole big enough to slip through. Then I . . . slipped through.”
    I didn’t know whether to scold her or admire her. “And what was on the other side?”
    Luna scowled. “Woods, of course. The same woods that are on this side. I was quite disappointed. And then, when I came back, I made certain to replace the stones so that no one could tell they were loose.”
    I sighed, giving in to admiration. “All right, show me our escape route.”
    We walked down the hill away from the cliffs and entered the forest, the white birches with their papery bark rustling in the breeze. I thought about the words I had said— our escape route . It sounded as if we were in prison, and I saw that it was true. We were very nearly prisoners in our own home, enclosed and entrapped by guards, and high walls, and our parents’ anxious love. I had never quite realized it before.
    When we reached the wall, my sister pulled away the stones at its base, exposing a hole just big enough to crawl through. The opening appeared menacing to me, but I didn’t want Luna to see my fear, so I knelt down and wriggled through.
    On the other side, everything looked just the same; Luna was right. But it felt very strange to me, and it was not just that I had never been outside the wall without permission before. The air seemed to have thickened and darkened and grown cooler. I shivered, despite the summer warmth and my cloak, but I said nothing.
    “Oh dear,” Luna said after she had scrambled through the hole. “Look, the stones are on the other side. Anyone can see how we’ve gone through here.”
    I looked at the hole in the wall and the small pile of stones we had left on the other side. Finally I shrugged. “They’ll come after us by nightfall anyway,” I said. “Does it matter if they know how we got out?”
    “I suppose not,” Luna replied. “They won’t know which direction we’ve taken. Probably they’ll think we’ve gone to town. But I think we should get as far from the palace as we can, so we won’t be stopped.”
    I started to walk, but Luna quickly said, “Aurora, we have to get to the sea. The cliffs are this way!” She pointed in the opposite direction. I turned and moved toward her, but in a minute I found myself angling off again.
    “What on earth are you doing?” Luna demanded.
    “I—I don’t know,” I said uncertainly. “I can’t seem to stay in a straight line!”
    “Here,” Luna offered, “take my arm.”
    I linked my arm with hers and leaned on her very slightly as we walked. I felt that if I let go of her, I would again head off into the woods away from the cliffs. I kept looking around, wondering what made me feel so odd, but I saw only birds and a hedgehog, and a slow-moving turtle that pulled its limbs into its shell as we passed. Once or twice I thought I felt eyes on us, making the back of my neck prickle, and I turned swiftly. But there was nothing there.
    The way was not difficult, for the trees were thick enough to keep much underbrush from growing. We moved due north. To my surprise, Luna was able to tell the direction. “The sun is sinking, and it’s on our left, over the sea. Imagine a map. When west is on