Lucid Waking

The Prince: Time Has Passed

            King Aidan stood up and walked across the room to the windows. He looked outside at his kingdom between the trees. The merchants were busy selling their wares in the open market and beyond that, the farmers in the countryside were having a usual day at work. Birds flew by the window and perched on a nearby branch, chirping wildly at the topaz blue sky. It was a beautiful rain-free day, the first they had had in months and Aidan hadn’t believed until then that it could get any worse.
            “When was the last time anyone saw her?” he said turning to the messenger.
            “Last night,” the boy said bowing again. “She wasn’t present to perform tarot readings this morning and several of the people were worried.”
            “It was completely dark?”
            “Yes, sire.”
            Aidan sighed. “We’ll wait until morning. Perhaps she’s just gone on a small pilgrimage. I’m not one to bother a priestess of Goddess Fate. If she is not back by morning, send a small search party. But do not continue searching for her; if you haven’t found her after two weeks, she’s gone.”
            The boy nodded and exited the throne room. Aidan sighed and sat down again thinking. It had been years since Teagan had been raised from the dead and started making her livelihood with the fae. After she arrived, she made home with an old priestess of Lady Fate. Teagan learned the trade and became an avid follower of the Goddess. Beyond this and the occasional visits from Aidan, she tried to block out the world entirely. But much to her dismay, the coachman who had brought her there was not going to keep his mouth shut. Soon the entire fairy county was bubbling with news that the Prince’s cousin was staying right under their noses. Any problems they had that she was dead, no one made any objection, most likely because they had the imperial army breathing down their necks waiting for something to go wrong.
            Teagan had decided to live in the palace after all and watch over things in the kingdom when Aidan wasn’t there. Although she was the advisor, she would often visit the woods where she had previously lived. She remained out of the official nunnery of Goddess Fate, but every week, she would do a morning tarot reading for the few close friends and family of the King.
            Today, she was found completely gone from her chambers in the castle and those who had dared check the cottage, reported she wasn’t there either. Aidan stood up and walked over to the small servants door next to the throne.
            “Talia, what am I going to do?” he asked. A tall redheaded woman handed the spoon she was stirring with to another servant and walked over to him. She hadn’t seemed to age a day and she still looked like a child when she sighed and tilted her head to look at him.
            “She finally left did she?” Talia said disregarding his start of an explanation.
            “So its not another one of those visits she takes to visit Fate from time to time.”
            “I don’t think so.”
            Talia went back to the kitchen and grabbed a knife to start peeling carrots. Aidan followed her, ignoring the servants rushing away from him and trying not to stare. “She said she would,” Talia said engrossed in her peeling, “‘Peace has come,’ she told me last night. What a bunch of rubbish. She also said that Fate called her back to her soul. You might not want to start a search party.”
            “It seems a little late for that. Might as well give them something to do, though, the troops are getting bored. Word will get out anyway that she’s gone, so I might as well just let them find that out on their own.”
            “Maybe she’ll be back,” Talia said. She was uncomfortable at his despair and even though she didn’t believe what she was saying, she didn’t want to be the bringer of bad news for the rest of the kingdom.
            Aidan laughed. “If she told you she was leaving, then she’s gone. If I know Teagan, she isn’t coming back.”

            Teagan brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked down at the tombstone. Ironically, the words still stayed the same and she wondered if he was going to be buried there when he died again. Why would they have changed, she thought pressing the seal of the king and waiting for the elevator to rise, who wants to visit the grave of a live man, even if you are just changing the stone. She walked into the elevator like an actress in a well-rehearsed play and got off the elevator like she was going home to a place she knew quite well. Expertly, she walked down the passages towards the large meeting hall and entered.
            “You shouldn’t be allowed in here,” an older God said standing up quickly.
            “Where’s Lady Fate?”
            “This is only for the Gods and Goddesses. Get out!”
            “I am a Goddess. Any one who is dead, but lives is most certainly not a Child. Tell me where Lady Fate is.”
            The God made motion to speak, but was cut off by a golden voice. “Ah, my disciple is here again. I’m proud that you’ve answered my calls. Tonight you’re going to sleep; I’m done with you.”
            Teagan nodded. “I thought it was that.”
            “You’re taking this lightly,” Fate said pulling alongside Teagan and leading her down the corridor to the familiar room with the green light.
            Teagan shrugged. “My life was empty. I had no purpose for myself and I had no future that I could control. I came here to help a cousin I didn’t even know; I sacrificed myself for a stranger. Yet, I came back a lesser human in order to fulfill the tasks the Gods and Goddesses had in mind for me. A marionette has nothing to look forward to but the smiles on people’s faces at its performance. I had nothing to hold onto except the reassurance that I was really helping people and even then, I was not so sure. It’s time to end this and to bring things back to the way they should be.”
            Fate stopped her and opened a glass door set in the stone. Sleeping soundly was a glowing purple woman exactly like Teagan now. Her hair was longer and lay like a halo around her head. Her chest moved up and down lightly in the satin bed.
            “Please,” Teagan moved forward just as Fate was about to wake up her soul. “Could you at least give me my own grave?”
            Fate smiled and reached over to wake up Teagan’s soul. Teagan turned and watched her body fall to the floor. Fate pulled Teagan from her bed and led her out of the glass case, closing the door at her exit.

Aidan went down to Teagan’s room as the sun went down to look for a clue of her leaving. Everything was as she left it: the bed was made and all her clothes were in the chest at the foot of the bed. Her tarot cards were in the top drawer of the armoire and some of her better dresses were hung up. He sighed and turned towards the door. A rustling sound behind him caused him to turn around and spot a dove in the window. It cocked its head before flying off to wherever it wanted to go. It was getting dark, but in his peripheral vision, the bed was no longer empty. He lit a candle and moved it over to illuminate the intruder, but only saw Teagan sleeping in her own bed. He held her hand and tried to wake her, but she didn’t move. Ah well, he thought sadly, she really has gone and left us.

Three years afterwards, Duchess Talia went to the graveyard near the Devlin mansion with her husband. They said nothing to each other even when they split up, but while Talia chose the roundabout way around the cemetery, Aidan walked straight towards the grave. When she caught up, Talia put her hand on his shoulder, but remained silent. They both stared at the small gray gravestone in silence: “Here sleeps the body of Teagan Devlin, daughter of Count Liam and Countess Aingeal. May her body rest in peace forevermore.”

“Not much between despair and ecstasy”

The Prince: Time Has Passed