sleeping beauty - revisited

CHAPTER TWO

Far away from there, the girl ran without allowing herself to stop.

She couldn't even tell for how long she kept running. Her feet seemed to almost decide the way for her, and the forest was dark enough so she had no idea to where she was going. But she didn't stop for one second, not even to look back, until her feet tripped over something on the floor.

She wasn't a simple girl, either. Her name was Artemis, and even though Prince Philip didn't know that, she was also the daughter of a King. She was aware that that, right there, running alone in the dark forest, she didn't look like she was part of the royal family, and especially she didn't look like a Princess - which was a great advantage right now, she thought.

Artemis stood up in her feet, looking around, the two swords still on her hands. Her heartbeat was the only thing she could hear in the dead silence of that forest. For a moment, she allowed herself to feel relieved about the fact that she couldn't hear any steps or signs of troops after her. She didn't understand how she had managed to mislead them so easily, but she didn't feel like questioning it either.

The silence didn't last long, however. As soon as she sheathed one of the words, a sharp, loud noise caught her attention. She turned to were the noise seemed to come from, scanning every centimeter of that darkness with her alert eyes. It seemed like a bird's singing, repeating itself over and over - something rather uncommon to hear in such a dark night. It was different than any melody she had already heard.

She hesitated for a moment before she walked towards the signing, stopping as she noticed a distant red glow between the branches; it looked like an animal's eye lurking out through the woods.

"Who's there?"

The melody stopped. A warm voice said, then:

"What happened to you? What a lone knight does in this forest?"

"Who's there?" Artemis asked again.

There was a silent pause before the warm voice spoke again.

"Oh! Hello, my dear. Don't fear me! I'm a simple Fairy."

Artemis frowned. The red glow approached, and soon she realized it was the fire of a torch held by someone. She found herself looking to a very short old woman. Her hair was grey as it could be, and there were wrinkles all over her face.

Although her eyes looked kind, she didn't look like she held any of the powers typical of the fairies from the ancient stories - she had no wings, and her clothes looked ragged and shabby. It seemed like she was just an old woman with tons of imagination than a real fairy, but Artemis didn't say anything.

"Who exactly are you?"

"My name is...", she thought about it for a moment. "Well. It's been so many years! I must have written it somewhere.", she chuckled. "In the meantime, you can just call me Fairy! And you, child? How should I call you, and where do you come from?"

"My name is Artemis", the young girl replied. "I... I was in a mission for the King when I was intercepted by a Prince and his servants."

The Fairy nodded, understanding. Artemis looked at her hesitantly for a moment before she looked away, agitated. She walked among the woods as she spoke.

"Well, he seemed to be a Prince, anyway. He had all the attitude. They took my horse, but I kept his sword. Not exactly a fair trade."

The Fairy observed curiously as the young girl moved some branches away, scanning the area with her eyes like she was looking for something. There was a river nearby, whose waters reflected the peaceful moonlight. The vegetation around its border seemed to get less dense. She walked towards it with long steps, seeming satisfied as she looked around.