Sleeping Beauty (Not Quite the Fairy Tale Book 7)(2)
Ten years after the royal family had been frozen, there had been an attempt to revive them; the scientist started with Queen Marina. Suffice it to say that it ended up being unfruitful – the fact that there were now only two capsules, rather than three, attested to that. They’d lost their Queen. From the reports, the process had been too lengthy and her heart hadn’t survived the thermal shock. That was the reason no one had dared try again, although three generations later, science was at another level altogether.
They’d run through every option and calculated alternatives, probabilities. Then, some people had actually volunteered to try the whole process; no child had been allowed to serve as a lab rat, but the five men who had opted to get frozen and brought back to life had survived without any damage. The results were conclusive. They could revive their King.
Just as soon as the Council allowed it.
Aurora’s heart ached at the idea of having to inform him that his beloved wife had passed, but first and foremost, he was King. There was no doubt in her mind that after an appropriate mourning period, he would resume his duties. Those raised to bear a crown never lost sight of what’s important.
“Ms. Stephenson? It’s time.”
Aurora sighed, before gathering her files and getting up. She hung up her long white coat, revealing an attire very different from the comfortable cargo pants she usually wore at the lab. Today, she was wrapped in red and gold, her family colors. The long dress was simple, understated; long sleeves, high neckline. She’d never been one to show too much skin, and even if she had been, she wouldn’t have in front of the crowd she had to address today.
It wasn’t the first time the Council had asked to get a report on the progress of the King’s case, but if Aurora had anything to say about it, it would be the last.
She’d been present at the previous discussions, but at the time Dr. Joanesson had been in charge. There was nothing remotely wrong with the now retired professor, but he hadn’t known how to talk to the band of vultures who decided everything in the kingdom. He’d been a scientist, first and foremost, and while Aurora was as versed in genetics as the old man, she was a different animal. With the Regent of Ferren as her father, she had grown up amongst vipers and she could play the political games with the best of them.
She would get them to authorize the process, or she would get them to admit the truth: the one reason why they denied it was because, as things stood now, they were in power and they had no inclination to relinquish it.
Chapter 2
Captain Hook
Then
Rupert hadn’t thought much of the girl when they’d met in Alenia; a brief encounter had ensured that she was pleasing enough to look at and had all her teeth. Nothing else mattered, really. He didn’t expect anything as convenient as love at first sight, and he certainly didn’t get it.
Marina de Luz wasn’t very impressed with him. He didn’t care, knowing that as a princess, she’d been raised to understand her duties. As long as she played her role and kept the peace, he was happy to ignore and be ignored in return until death did they part.
Of course, there was the matter of producing an heir. Rupert was an only son, and thanks to the wars, he was also the last of the Evermore, save for a distant cousin no one thought of…
But Rupert put that problem out of his mind. He was young yet, and healthier than most. As nothing indicated that he had to lead his armies to any battles, he had another good forty years before him. He’d think of it in a decade or so.
“Well, well. If this isn’t a delightful sight.”
Rupert smirked, delighted to have back-up. For three days, he’d ridden alongside his men – soldiers too professional to show anything other than respect for their future Queen – and Marina’s entourage.
His oldest friend was casually lying on the back of a black horse adorned with long wings; much could be said about her, but damn, the woman excelled at making an entrance.
“Maleficent,” he greeted her with a reverent bow of his head.
They were close to her lands, stretched behind a thick wall of thorns and poisonous ivy to ensure that she never received any visitors. Quite obviously, Mal hated to entertain. And she also protected hundreds of endangered creatures such as the magnificent beast she now rode.
“Indeed. Where are your manners Rupert? Shouldn’t you at the very least point out which of these lovely ladies you intend to saddle yourself with?”
He turned to four scowling, visibly aggravated faces. None was as petulant as that of his betrothed. It hit him that while she could have been quite pretty with her long silken golden hair falling in waves and her big brown eyes, she wasn’t because she constantly grimaced, like someone was holding a pile of turds under her nose.
He sighed audibly; peace had come at a high cost.
“The fairest,” he said generously, rather than voicing his thought.
“Oh. In that case, don’t expect me for a few days, dear. I’d better stock up on pixy dust.”
Now
“I’m not about to insult you as to doubt that you are all up to date with the progress that we’d accomplished up to your last meeting with my department two years ago,” Aurora said smilingly.
The last time, they’d gotten Dr. Joanesson to recap every single calculation and experiment accomplished over the last hundred years, spending most of the meeting revisiting history and pointing out how dangerous it had been to jump into reviving the Queen without the appropriate knowledge and tools.