She pulled him down to the embroidered silken blanket. Her initials, intertwined with those of her royal parents, were stitched into the fabric beneath them. The gold silken thread sparkled like sunshine in the grass.
Ben smoothed a loose curl away from the blush of her rosy cheek. “It’s lovely. And I thank you for it. But—”
“I know,” she sighed. “I didn’t bring any cream cakes. It was all I could think about when you mentioned them. I do apologize. But we can sample a good seventeen sorts of other pastries.” She held up one shaped like a swan, with chocolate wings. “This one is sweet, don’t you think?”
She all but cooed at the pastry. Ben pulled away.
He shook his head. “But don’t you ever wonder if there’s more to life than this?”
“What could be more than this?” asked Audrey with an uncharacteristic frown. She put down the swan. “What else is there?”
“I don’t know, but wouldn’t you like to find out? Explore a little. Get out on our own and see the world? At least, see our own kingdom?”
She sucked chocolate off her finger, and even that was distractingly cute. Ben wondered if she knew it. He suspected that she did.
Then she sighed. “You’re not talking about that awful island, are you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Don’t you ever think about it? How weird it would be to live trapped in one place? Under a dome?”
It was, in fact, the first time Ben could ever remember seeing his princess’s princessy feathers ruffled. She wasn’t even pouting now. She was practically almost nearly slightly irritated.
“Perhaps, darling, they should have considered that before undertaking a life of evil and villainy—which could only lead to an eternity of punishment.”
Now Ben was intrigued. He had never seen her like this, and wondered for a moment if he didn’t prefer it. At the very least, they were finally having a real conversation.
“You have to admit, an eternity is a rather long time.” He shook his head. “They’re captives, Audrey. At least here in Auradon, we can travel anywhere and everywhere we please. They can’t.”
Audrey smiled brightly. “Yes, which reminds me. I told Aziz and Lonnie we would be visiting them today. Carriage picks us up in an hour.” She leaned forward, touching his chin with her fingertip. “Time for a new topic. Almost a whole new world, you could say.”
But Ben had a stubborn streak in him that wouldn’t give it up. “Don’t try to change the subject, Audrey. Come on. Don’t you wonder about them at all?”
“The villains?”
“Yeah.”
Audrey sat back, shaking her head. “No. Good riddance. Mother says one of them tried to put her to sleep for a hundred years! After she’d already spent her entire childhood in foster care and protective custody! My own mother! And then that same horrible woman turned into a dragon who tried to kill Papa.” She shivered. Audrey must have had heard the story more times than she cared to say, Ben understood, but she’d never mentioned any of it to him before today.
He didn’t blame Audrey for not wanting to talk about it, and he softened his voice now, taking her hand.
“Her name is Maleficent,” said Ben, who had studied his fairy-tale history. His mother had read the old tales to him, before he could even read himself. “She was the Mistress of Darkness, the most evil fairy who has ever lived.”
Audrey’s frown deepened. “Don’t say her name here,” she whispered. It was practically a hiss, she was so upset. “She might hear you—and curse you! She takes away everyone and everything my family loves.”
Now it was Ben’s turn to smile. “No way—that dome will hold them forever.” He leaned forward. “And who exactly does your family love?”
Audrey smiled in return. One blink, and the storm in her eyes was gone.
“My family loves all who are good and kind and deserving of such love, Your Highness.” She held up her delicate hand, and he kissed it obligingly.
I shouldn’t give her such a hard time, Ben thought. Not after everything her family has been through.
“Dance with me, sweet prince,” she urged.
Ben stood up and bowed. “Happy to please my lady.” Dancing in the forest was her favorite thing to do, he knew.
Ben held her in his arms. She was beautiful. Perfect. A princess, who was in love with him. And he was in love with her…wasn’t he?
Audrey sang softly, I know you, I walked with you, Once upon a dream…
It was their song, but this time, it caught him off guard.
With a start, Ben realized he didn’t know her. Not really. He didn’t know her soul, her dreams, and she didn’t know his. They didn’t really know each other.
And worse, he had never dreamt about her. Not once.
For Audrey, that song might be about him. But for Ben, that song wasn’t about her.
No.
Not Audrey.
He had dreamt about another girl.
One with purple hair and green eyes glittering in the dark, a sly smile of mischief on her lips.
Who was she? Where was she? Would he ever meet her?
And would he ever get her out of his head?
Ben closed his eyes and tried to focus on the melody and the girl right in front of him, but the memory of the girl from his dream was too hard to forget.