“That’s when I had my great idea. I couldn’t change the curse, but I could soften it. Aurora didn’t have to die; she would just sleep for as long a life as she would have had, and then wake up and lead a new life. Clever, wasn’t it? Not everyone agreed with me. Some of the others thought if they had the chance they would have come up with something better, but I doubt it. You’ll find that a lot of the fairies are too proud for their own good.”
Fanny took the empty cup from Briar. “Good girl. It won’t make you feel better, but you won’t get worse for a while yet. I’m good at delaying things. Your Nanny is good at tracking things. I suppose that’s what I started to tell you. When Isodora got away from me, I came straight to Prudence. Now you can understand why she had to leave so suddenly.”
“What do you mean ‘got away from you’?” The words sounded dry to Briar’s ears.
“Well, when Aurora—the silly girl—even after we told her and told her, still pricked her finger, she fell asleep instead of dying. As you may already know, she slept for almost one hundred years. She awoke after a brave and handsome prince—through my prompting, by the way—found her and kissed her. Everything would have been fine after that except for one small problem.” Fanny suddenly looked deeply interested in the china pattern on the cup.
“What?”
“I didn’t realize that by stopping Isodora’s curse, I was tying up her magic in the spindle. It took her a while to figure out why she could only do little bits of magic, but was so limited when it came to the big things. Poor thing couldn’t kill anyone, what was she to do? But after she figured it out, oh was she livid. And, unfortunately for me, because it was my blessing that stopped her curse, well, we have an unusual connection. I always know where she is. At least, I did until she got away from me.
“She has always been very good at hiding. That’s why we all forgot about her that one time. If a person doesn’t want to be found, she shouldn’t be so upset when she doesn’t get invited to a party, don’t you think?” Fanny shook her head, clearly irritated by Isodora’s lack of manners.
“How do you keep track of her?”
“Until a few weeks ago she and I could sense each other. I could tell it irritated her, but one day—nothing. I came to Prudence.”
“And how is Prudence to find her?”
“Our fairy magic has a scent. Isodora’s is quite strong, especially since she likes the stronger magic. And there is a faint color given off. Again, more so when the magic is big. You probably haven’t noticed mine as it matches the smell and color of the primrose. Isodora’s magic usually leaves behind a nasty sour apple smell.” Fanny wrinkled her nose.
“What if Isodora can change the scent the way she changes her look?”
Fanny frowned and snapped her fingers. “That would be just like her to figure out something like that. Prudence wouldn’t know what to track if it was different.”
Briar’s head hurt with trying to think about it. The pulsing behind her ear was like the pounding of the looms located above the spinning room. Relentless.
“I don’t know why Prudence was the one who ended up with you children,” Fanny said. “I was surprised to find her here in a house filled with young ones. Not her usual activity, if you know what I mean. She’s not a bit motherly. It should have been someone else.” She felt Briar’s forehead.
“Poor dearie. These cloths are as fevered as you are. Let me cool them off with fresh water from the well. I’ll be right back.”
Fanny flittered out the door, leaving Briar fading in and out of consciousness. What was dream and what was reality? Fairies. Sleeping Beauty. Curses. Spindles. Tired, so tired. Rest. It was time to rest.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Briar began to stir back to consciousness again. A warm light. A new smell, one of fresh air and freshly cut wood. She blinked her eyes open and felt like she was still dreaming. There was a handsome stranger leaning over her. He had tanned skin and rich brown eyes framed in shaggy hair falling against his cheeks. She blinked again in time to see the boy grin.
A recognizable grin.
“Henry Prince, is that you?” Her mouth was dry and she didn’t know if the words were formed correctly. At least her throat wasn’t on fire today. She struggled to make her limbs obey and push herself up, but she hadn’t the strength.
“Sorry, I knocked on the cottage door, but no one answered,” he said. He stood tall, blocking the bright light streaming in from the front door. The curtains dividing the room had been held back and Briar could see the entire cottage from her bed.
“I let myself in to surprise you all, and here you are surprising me. What are you doing sleeping in the middle of the day?”
Briar smiled, or at least tried to. She couldn’t tell if her body was obeying her commands or not. Henry Prince was home. There was so much to tell him. He was obviously freshly returned and hadn’t heard what had gone on in town.