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Aelwyn looked at the crystal in her hand, trying to find the store Rosamund had sent her. It didn't help that It was not a store she was used to in Elmville. Something about a castle. At least it wouldn't be hard to miss.
She wondered what the girl would look like. In her Profile she seemed, nice? A soft round face that reminded her of the high schoolers she would see gallivanting around Fabians boat in the brief time they were together. The time before Aelwyn came out and dumped him. Everyone in this town was so strange. Cat's that talked, a wooden boy that reminded her of a story her parents told her once, before her sister was born.
She didn't expect to see a girl with thorns wrapped around her, grinning ear to ear as she looked from her book to her, back and forth, just to make sure.
Great. She's one of those Dopey Happy go luckies.
"Hi, I'm Princess Rosamund du Prix! You can just call me Rosamund!" Rosamund exclaimed, bringing in Aelwyn for a hug.
Aelwyn begrudgingly let her hug her, trying to move out of the way of her brambles.
"I'm Aelwyn. A pleasure to meet you, I suppose."
"You suppose? That's not very nice to say. I mean, I suppose seems like your just lying."
"Listen man. I'm stuck in a place I don't know that reminds me an awful lot like a place I hate from home. All my stupid crystal says is Reverie." She held up her crystal to the princess.
"Yeah, that's my hometown, I hope you like it. We're doing a bit of renovation right now, painting the roses red, making sure the house is sturdy enough, everything we've been meaning to do for a while but put off."
"Can't you just get an unseen servant to do it?" Aelwyn had recently learned that most people actually pay someone to help in this world. As if she had the money on her teacher salary.
Rosamund reminded her of a happier, younger version of herself. A version where she had nicer parents that actually looked out for her.
"A what? And I don't call anyone a servant. They're just helpers. Cleaning people, Gardening people, you know?"
"Right… of course you don't… They're what we call a spell at my home."
Rosamund huffed in response. Rolling her eyes. It surprised Aelwyn, she had assumed the chipper attitude was from naivety, but looking at her, a girl surrounded by thorns would probably be kind "in spite of everything". A though Aelwyn never understood.
Aelwyn started to reach out to touch the vines surrounding Rosamund.
Rosamund pulled her vines back before Aelwyn could touch them. "Normally I leave that for the second date."
"Are we getting a second date?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
Rosamund looked down at the grown for a second, trying to hide her blushing face.
"Well, have you ever been in a castle before?"
Aelwyn shook her head. Most people would consider Mordred castle adjacent, and her home had been massive growing up. But for the sake of her new friend, she would say they weren't true castles. She might get offended by it. She'd rather not risk it.
Rosamund took her hand, dragging her towards the castle, while Aelwyn begrungingly walked behind her.
The castle looked lived in. Nothing like Aelwyns childhood house. Not cluttered, like her new apartment. Just right. It's a place she may want to stay in while she was stuck in this place. If Rosamund would let her.
"I mean, ever since I changed my story, The place has been so much better. You should have seen the old ones. Oh, where are my manners, do you want tea? I have a few types."
"Just a water is fine."
"I'm making myself tea, if that sways you"
"I'm fine with water."
Rosamund looked at Aelwyn for a moment, before shrugging and walking over to the kitchen.
Aelwyn looked around the room, not daring to get up from her seat. She had gotten lost enough at mordred when she first arrived, and she didn't want a reason to have Rosamund turn her away. She was supposed to be a good guest. She'd need to brush up on her manners classes from her father. Sit up straight, tilt your head down. Passing glances at people. Don't stare. Hold your utensils correctly or I'll tape them in the right spot. Speak when spoken to.
Maybe not that last one. Dates are to get to know people. She would need to talk about herself.
Rosamund walked back, with two teas and a cup of water. She set down a tea in front of Aelwyn before sitting across from her. Suprisingly, the table was quite small. they could probably reach across and hold hands.
Aelwyn grabbed the tea. Always accept what people give you. It doesn't matter if you like it. She took a sip, smiling at the Princess across from her. The tea was awful. There was some kind of bad herb. It made her want to spit it out into the cup. Instead she just grinned and bared it.
Rosamund laughed. "You can be honest. It's terrible isn't it?"
"I'd rather not comment on it." Aelwyn begrudgengly took another sip, before trying to spit it back in the cup as secretly as she could.
"I know it's terrible. I made it, I tried it. In my cup, I mean." she signed, slumping back in her chair. "Everyone wants to be royal, it's like they are just yes men. And like I get it but like… It's soooo annoying at a certain point. So I mean I like to do this as like, kind of a test."
"And?"
"You're not like, a real yes man. You aren't as good at facial expressions as you think. Plus, you didn't actually say it was good. You just said you'd rather not. Close enough for me. Also, no need for all those manners. Just act like you normally do."
Aelwyn slouched back down. It wasn't like she had bad posture, but the lack of punishment motivating her to be perfect had let her ignore it for as long as she wanted.
"Seems like a flawed system."
Rosamund chuckled. "I like you, you're funny."
"I'm being honest."
"I know. Your honesty can be funny, they aren't exclusive. That reminds me. If we got together, where do you stand on that."
"I don't know enough people to be in an open relationship if I wanted to. Which I don't. All you guys are creepy."
"You think I'm creepy?"
"In a good way. I think everyone needs to be creepy. It's mostly the vines."
Rosamund nodded. She had heard that many times with her dates. One of her other tests. Although no one said it was a good kind of creepy. Where on The Neverafter was she from. What a beautiful enigma. She wouldn't mention that she hated people touching her vines because she could feel their heartbeats. She was still upset about how she had woken up in her Once, Twice, and Thrice Upon a Time. The lack of heartbeats with the bodies. It made her shudder.
The elf raised an eybrow at her. "You ok?"
"Just fine. So, where are you from anyways? I've never seen a… It's a crystal?"
Aelwyn sharply inhaled. What a loaded question.
"I'm from Spyre. You wouldn't know it. It's like, literally a different world. Fucking Aguefort… Anyways, I'm from a bit of a, I guees you could call it like a noble family. We are very influential. Were. Anyways, yeah it's a crystal. It's a communication device. You have those right?"
"Oh yeah, I have this handheld scroll that I use like that. We aren't so different you and I. Oh you must stay the night! I'm sure my family would be alright with it. They are great. Taught me not to fear my fate. Worked like a charm!"
"I'd love to stay, if allowed. Not that I need to. Also, your fate? Like what some grand plan?"
"Basically theres these like writers and we kind of defeated them something like that, so now we get to choose instead of being bound to our written fates."
"What like, Fairy tales?" Aelwyn laughed to herself. It sounded ridiculous.
"Yes, actually. Do you have those where you are from."
Aelwyn looked away from the princess. If they did, she didn't hear about them often. Maybe other kids did. She was busy being taught how to be an adult. There was definitely no time for stories after her sister was born. Her stupid, loser, amazing sister. Her parents were stuck micromanaging her. They never took timeto be what most people would call real parents.
"Once my dad told me about a wooden boy that wasn't allowed to lie. But I don't think he meant it as a story. It was more like a lesson. If you lie to us you'll get hurt. Or something like that."
Rosamund stared at her. Sure, Rosamunds parents had been bad in previous lives, but it was out of love. Out of wanting to protect her going to long. She felt stupid for mentioning her parents now.
"Oh, Pinnochio, he's great. He's done alot for the toy island kids. He's a real boy now. Well, I think he was always a real boy, but now hes a fleshy boy. Anyways, sleepover?"
"I will crash at your place." Aelwyn felt the distinction was neccessary. Sleeping over implied sleeping in the same room. She wouldn't mind it, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.
"Oh come on, It's fine, you can sleep in my room, just. Mind the vines please."
Aelwyn nodded.
Rosamund gave a tour of the castle, letting Aelwyn meet her parents and staff. It amazed the elf, though she would never say that out loud. Everytime the princess grabbed her hand, she could feel the tips of her ears and her cheeks growing warm. Much to her dismay. She had fallen in love quicker for less. But it still didn't make her feel good.
Entering the princesses room, Aelwn noticed some rogue vines scattered across the place. Rosamunds room was massive. It could easily fit two king sized beds in it. It was bigger than any of her rooms had ever been. The vines that overtook her room seemed bizarre. why wouldn't they stay with their owner. Was Rosamund really their owner, or was she projecting things her parent views on her friend.
The princess looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry, I wasn't really expecting anyone to actually stay. I kind of thought you would leave after tea. You'd think I was moving to fast."
"I need a place to stay, figured this would be the best for me. It seems very safe." you seem very safe was what she really wanted to say.
Being stuck in the woods had made her have one of those Adaine things, a panic attack or whatever Jawbone had called it. He said that since she "was out of that abusive environment" she felt "safe enough to have problems." Whatever that meant. It was irrelevant to now.
"Should I just, sleep on the floor?"
Rosamund tapped on her bed, signaling her to sit. "I mean, we don't have to sleep yet. We can just, talk or something."
Rosamund knew that sleeping mine these vines grow out of control. It's like they missed the old stories where they protected her, so they tried to protect her every night. It's a terrible cycle. But maybe since Aelwyn wasn't a prince, it would be fine. Hopefully.
"What would we even do? I'm not doing the whole paint nails and do hair, okay? I'm 19, not 8."
"I'm 119, by the way. but 100 of those years I was sleeping. So I'm basically 19. We're so close in age, thats cool!"
"right… I'm assuming this is like a fairy tale thing that happened."
"Yeah, I got cursed to touch a thimble and then sleep for 100 years and then true loves kiss wakes me up. Or it was supposed to. Instead I got stuck with these vines when I woke up. It kind of sucked."
"Oh, like your own nightmare forest. A nightmare forest was something from Spyre. It's all fixed now but it was full of vines and it showed you your deepest nightmare. I kind of tried to keep it that way. Don't worry I'm not like, evil anymore."
"What was your nightmare?"
"Sorry, I don't say that until the second date." Aelwyn tried to joke. She could never get the tone right, unfortunatley.
"It's fine."
They sat in silence for a bit. Rosamund fiddled with her hands. She wanted to ask the elf if she could touch her ears, she had never seen anything like them. They looked so sharp and pointy. Aelwyn looked at her for a second, and moved closer to her, as if offering her to try.
They were basically what Rosamund thought, although very warm in her hands. when she looked over, she could see the faintest pink on her friends cheeks. Rosamund could feel her cheeks warming up too, and she quickly turned away from Aelwyn to shield her face.
Aelwyn didn't mind at all. She rested a hand on the princesses, as if asking her to look at her again. Rosamund obliged, looking back at Aelwyn with rosy cheeks. She chuckled nervously.
"Sorry, this is so embarrasing…"
"It's fine Rosamund. We both agreed this might be an outcome when we agreed to meet up."
Rosamund nodded before putting her head on Aelwyns shoulder. The elf tensed up for a second before relaxing. It reminded her off spring break the year before. When she had escaped the palimpsest. She would wait until Rosamund fell asleep, and then move her to her bed and sleep on the floor, far from the vines.
The two of them slept over for a few days, getting to know each other. Everything was going fine for the most part. Aelwyn had joked about waking up her sleeping beauty with a kiss. Rosamund had let Aelwyn explore her world, while Aelwyn explained how her world worked. Rosamund had mentioned that she wanted to go someday. Overall, it was going well.
On the 4th day, Rosamund had let Aelwyn touch her vines. She could physically feel Aelwyn's heartrate rise when she looked at the princess. It was nice to feel loved. She was sure if Aelwyn had this power, she would feel the same.
On the 7th day Aelwyn talked about her nightmare of being trapped in the palimpsest again. She was smart enough to create a copy of her mind. But she hadn't though about it until day 3 of her torture. She still remembered it. She knew it was worse than she remembered.
Rosamund listened as best as she could, but she was horrified of parents like Aelwyns. Once aelwyn was done talking, Rosamund hugged her, peppering her with kisses, promising not to let it happen again. It had explained why Aelwyn had freaked out that first morning when her vines surrounded her.
The vines had finally calmed down from trying to "protect" Rosamund. They realized that Aelwyn wasn't leaving. That she would persevere even if she was scared, even if she didnt admit it. She was close to the perfect Prince Charming Rosamund had once dreamed of.