sleeping beauty - revisited

CHAPTER FOUR

It was late at night when it started raining. Artemis hadn't stop to sleep - she knew she wouldn't be able to, and she wouldn't risk stopping. To her surprise, the Fairy hadn't argued about it, and only stick with following her.

Before they could go much further, though, they found their path blocked by a particularly steep slope. Although steep, it wasn't that high, and they could easily climb if it wasn't for the rain, making the ground under their feet even more slippery.

The Fairy suggested for them to turn around and try another direction, but Artemis couldn't see how that would help. If you're a fairy, why don't you make a spell to put this barrier down?, she thought with herself.

There was no way to climb it by themselves. Luckily, Artemis carried a rope with her. It was always useful to have one. She tied it firmly and aimed to throw it in the direction of the protuberances in the edge of the slope. Making sure it was firm enough, she let the Fairy climb before her - "If she's a Fairy, there's no risk of her getting hurt" - before she climbed it herself.

Artemis couldn't understand how the Fairy had done it so easily. Maybe because the rain was getting stronger now that it was her turn, and she couldn't see it properly with the raindrops that kept falling over her eyes. The rope slipped off of her hands twice, and in the second time she found herself suspending upside down on the rope. One of the swords slipped off her sheath, and she cursed mentally.

She was forced to seek for a protuberance to hold on to in order to not fall off a not very good distance from the ground. It was worse than holding on to the rope, and it took her some minutes to manage to reach the top. When she did, she kept laying down on the ground for a moment, unable to sit up, feeling the raindrops fall over her face while she tried to catch her breath. Her hand moved to the sheath on her waist; she had only her own sword now. The Prince's had fallen off the slope.

"Over there, look!", she heard the Fairy's voice.

The old woman didn't seem affected after climbing. When Artemis looked at her, she was jumping and pointing to something on the other side. Artemis stood up, and she had to narrow her eyes to see the form of a castle far away in the middle of a storm.

"Maybe we can find shelter in there!", the Fairy said.

Artemis didn't know why, but that sight did fill her heart with a strange hope. Perhaps because anything with a roof would make her happy in such a cold storm. She didn't think twice before following the Fairy in its direction, not minding the storm they had to face.

When they got closer, they noticed the castle looked extremely abandoned, almost resembling a cavern. It wasn't exactly the best place to find shelter. There were no doors in the entrance, and the inside of the castle was as cold as the outside. Some of the walls seemed about to fall down. What once probably was a glossy floor was now covered by grass and dirty.

"Well, that's pretty good!", the Fairy said content as she walked around.

Artemis, however, was hesitant. It seemed too good to be true; finding an empty castle like that, with no people in it who would try to attack her.

"We should be careful", she murmured, looking around frightened.

But the Fairy didn't seem wary at all.

"Don't you realize the place we are? It's the ruins of the ancient royal castle! This is where the King used to reign, until the Princess's curse came true."

Artemis frowned, although it made sense. The place really did seem more like ruins than like a proper castle. Although, she couldn't help but feel like there was something there. Like there was a strong presence, waiting to be found.