Sleeping Beauty (Not Quite the Fairy Tale Book 7)(22)

“It’s an exosuit,” Rumpelstiltskin explained. “It’ll protect you, and make each of your steps ten times faster. Each of your movements, stronger. You’ve done some fencing.”

“Back in high school!” she protested.

He just shrugged. “You’ll do just fine. Now if you excuse me, I need to go.”

The next instant, the man disappeared. Aurora felt some cool air brush her face, and heard movement behind her. She was back in the real world - in shining armor, and holding a sword.

Here goes nothing.

She forced her tired muscles to move and yelled as she leaped into the air, landing a good ten feet away.

Her eyes widened when she was back on the ground. Then a smile spread on her face. Okay, so the Fay hadn’t been completely out of it.

She ran - or jumped - and less than a minute later, she’d arrived at the border of the imposing thorn woods. The land no one - no one sane and not suicidal - ever entered.

“Are we really doing this?” she asked the machine next to her.

“The odds of success have dramatically improved, Miss Stephenson.”

She chose to take that as a yes.

Breathing in and out, Aurora walked into the frightening woods she now knew to be the entrance of the Seelie court.





Chapter 18





The Land of Fay





“Sign.”

Rupert smiled. His captor was growing frustrated.

“That’s never going to happen, Stephenson.”

He expected the next blow, hitting him right in the stomach. But their beatings were of little consequence: they knew as well as he that he couldn’t die. Not unless they wanted the whole of Ferren to be destroyed. Only his signature, and his verbal authorization to transfer the leadership of Ferren to their care, would do the trick. Even then, he - or someone of his blood - still had to be alive.

Rupert knew his own weaknesses. He knew that if they’d managed to get their hands on Aurora - either of them - he might have relented. So he’d taken precautions days ago, transferring the commands of the Kingdom to Rory, in case he was ever captured. If they’d taken him out of these walls, he might have been a little more nervous, because there was no telling if the security system would have come to the right conclusion. But they’d chained him in his palace - from the corner of his eye, he’d seen dozens of security cameras taking in the situation. They’d done what he’d instructed, he was sure of it.

Aurora was Queen of Ferren now - legally. If they got his signature, it would mean nothing. In a kingdom so heavily reliant on technology, there was no fooling anyone.

He smiled, knowing that if they’d managed to get their hands on her by now, they would have brought her to him. She was out of here - the security system would have prioritized her safety. Now it was just a matter of waiting until these idiots realized they’d played their cards and lost.



Like her suit, the sword and shield she wielded were made of something she couldn’t recognize; not quite magic, perhaps some science. Whatever it was, it certainly did the job, and good thing too, as those thorns were seriously attempting to kick her ass.

Her armor deflected or softened the blows she took; her sword cut through every branch in her way.

But it had been a long time and she still didn’t see an end to the forest at all. There was no light ahead, although she could tell it was dawn now.

Aurora sighed, and took a second to breathe, lowering her shield and sword. She frowned as the woods grew still around her.

Oh.

Slowly and carefully, she sheathed the sword in the guard on her belt, and locked her shield on the hook she’d felt on her shoulder.

She held her arms up.

“No weapons,” said she. “I come in peace. Sorry I cut through so much wood.”

Nothing happened at first - she felt quite silly for a beat. Then, the thick woods before her parted, branches and trunks moving to leave a clear path out of the enchanted forest.

She breathed out, before jogging ahead. Damn, everything hurt. Without the suit, she would have been dragging her heels.

She was out of the woods in no time, entering a land so beautiful it didn’t seem real. The sky had never seemed quite so colorful anywhere else. There were little lights floating around fountains, fluffy, adorable creatures bathing, others snoring softly. A freaking unicorn drank nearby and there was a bear. Aurora’s eyes widened, and she whispered, “Oh, shit.”

The bear looked at her with no interest whatsoever.

She relaxed but moved along quickly.

It occurred to her that Rumpelstiltskin might have given her weapons to pull one on her; without them, she might have made it out of the woods much quicker. The idea had just crossed her mind when the evidence before her eyes made her dismiss it.

She’d arrived at a corner and now she could see a magnificent castle made of dark, shimmering crystals. The single most imposing and gorgeous edifice her eyes had ever beheld.

She pulled her sword and took her shield, hiding her face behind it because there was a black dragon aiming right at her, spitting fire in her direction.

The fire hit her shield, her armor, and was parted, leaving her hot, scared out of her mind, but unscratched.

The dragon roared in protest and came down towards her, sharp talons outstretched menacingly.