Unmasked || Dreamwastaken (On Hold)

X • Things Go South

  I was once again staring at my reflection in the river while I waited for Dream. I gently reached up to touch the very antlers that had caused George to leave. I didn't want to marry George. Of course I didn't want to marry George. He was just the only option left. I was running out of time to come up with some way to get out of it.

  Once Edmund made his choice, I expected to have a month at most until the wedding. I could see how badly he wanted me out of his hair. He wanted me gone and I was starting to think Charity did as well.

  I heard the approach of hooves and waited for Dream to speak. "Guess I probably should've got on one knee first, yeah?"

  I laughed and turned to look at him. "Yeah. That's exactly what went wrong with that plan."

  He got off of Spirit's back and looked over at me with a smile. "Hear me out, I say we just convince Edmund that I'm incredible and you need to marry me."

  I chuckled at his joke and shook my head. "Ah yes, just convince Edmund to do something positive. That sounds really probable."

  Dream approached me and continued to make light of the situation in an attempt to cheer me up. "How about that George guy? Personally, I think that he's a total arsehole who you definitely shouldn't marry."

  "Good news for you, then." I'd lost my smile.

  "Wait, what happened?" He noticed my change in tone and sat down next to me.

  I sighed and looked at the grass beneath me. "George said he couldn't marry me because I'm a 'cursed one' and left the palace."

"He what?" Dream's demeanor had completely changed.

  I chuckled humorlessly and gestured towards my antlers. "He's afraid of people like me, apparently. He said he'd be a laughingstock and that I'd be a 'curse to the bloodline' or something. I mean..." I let out another chuckle. "He's right."

  "He is absolutely not right, Aly." He got defensive and wrapped his arms around me. "A goddamn curse to the bloodline? What's wrong with him?"

  I sighed. "No. He's right about that. My kids might end up like me, you know? They could be lucky like Charity, but they could also get stuck with some effect of the curse."

Dream kept his arms tightly held around me. "There's nothing wrong with them ending up like you. You're pretty great, you know?"

I laughed and leaned my head against his shoulder. "I think there are a lot of people who would disagree with you on that. Ask all of the people who I've threatened to stab, punch, or shoot just today."

"Wait, I want a count." He held his hand in front of me and started to put a finger up as he counted. "One, Edmund when he took your knife. Two, Lawrence when you heard him talking down about you. Three, Schlatt when he was being an arsehole. Am I missing any?"

  I chuckled and pulled one of his fingers up with the rest. "Four, Eret when he interrupted my shooting practice and I held a bow to his head." I pulled up his last finger. "Five, George when he told me he was leaving the palace and I threatened to punch him."

He nodded with a smile. "Nice one. I have to say, my favorite might've been you pulling a spare knife out of your boot to threaten Edmund for taking your first. The Schlatt one was probably the weakest."

I turned to look at him, unimpressed. "Watch yourself. I still have that knife, you know."

Dream took one of my hands and put one of my fingers up for me. "Six, me for being dumb and provoking you."