✔️| Becoming Lady Washington

Chapter Eleven: The Dream, Part I

Alice's POV

Once we arrived in camp after the ball, with the moon already high in the sky, me and Mandy raced each other to our tents after saying goodnight to our dates. We flopped onto our beds, still in our gowns, and I could tell the serious stuff was about to happen. Namely, gossip.

"Oh my god, Alice! That ball was totally amazing!" gushed Mandy, bouncing on my bed as she began to undo the laces on her corset. 

"I know, right! George was such a smooth gentleman today! If only you had seen him... and he was so big, and strong, and powerful..." I trailed off, thinking about the man who had come into my life recently.

Mandy nudged me, and went on to rant about the awesomeness of Benjamin Tallmadge. 

Soon, it was time for bed, and we had finally gotten out of our prisons... AKA our dresses.

"G'night, Mands," I mumbled as I  turned over in my cot.

"Goodnight, Alice." I heard, but that is all I remembered before I fell asleep.

I awoke in a flower field, the breeze blowing my already windswept black hair and causing the navy blue cape I was wearing to billow in the wind. The grass and leaves whispered, and I felt at peace with the world. There was nary a cloud in the sky.

As I gazed around, I slowly realized that I was not alone. There was a woman in front of me, maybe twenty years or so old, with flowing long blonde hair, and a beautiful pink dress that I was dying to steal. On her head she wore a crown with red gemstones, topped with a ruby rose, and a dove rested on her shoulder. Gasping, I realized who it was.

This was Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.

She turned around, and smiled when she saw me.

"Hello, Alice. I see you have already figured out who I am, smart girl that you are," She chuckled.

"Lady Aphrodite," I curtsied; I seemed to be doing a lot of that tonight. "Forgive me for being so bold, but why have you, a goddess, graced me with your presence? I'm confused.

"Oh, my child, no need to be confused. I am here for one reason: your relationship with George Washington."

Blushing, I looked up at her, my cheeks red. I don't know why, to this day, I was so embarrassed. 

"No need to be embarrassed, my child. I am simply here to tell you a couple... guidelines... pertaining to this relationship, for it is between two people from completely different centuries. I also have some confessions to make."

"Oh, really?" I raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Nothing too major... just that I was the one who sent you, Mr. Miranda, and Amanda back in time... and last but not least, George Washington is your true soulmate." Aphrodite chirped, smiling warmly at me. I felt faint. Was she kidding me? How could George freaking Washington, of all people, be my Soulmate? And Aphrodite was the one who sent us back in time? I was very confused, more so than before. It didn't help that she dropped this major bomb on me.

"What?" I whispered, jaw dropping. "How? How could the General be my soulmate? I'm just a plain theater nerd from 21st century New York! Nobody special! And he is a 30 year old model of a modern major general!  Why is he my soulmate?"

"I can answer all of the questions except the last one, my dear. You see, it all started a few years ago, when I was talking with one of the three Fates, Clotho. Clotho told me that there were two certain special girls, one with hair as dark as night and a tongue as sharp as the sharpest sword, the other with hair the color of the trees in the forest, that would go to change the history of America in ways ordinary people could not begin to imagine. She asked me to endeavor to get King Zeus to agree to a plan to send you, Miss Paine, and Mr. Miranda back in time to the 17th century, forever altering the timeline. He agreed, luckily, and blessed the very sapphire you are wearing around your neck right now. Being the generous King that he is, he also agreed to let me create two new soulmate bonds. One between you and General Washington, and the other between your friend Amanda and Benjamin Tallmadge. And three years later, you are here in the camp of the continental army!"

"Um..." I could not find words to express the way I felt. "Thank you, I guess?"

"Anytime, my child! Oh, and before I go, Lord Zeus has taken the liberty to bless you with the power of  the wind element, and I have blessed your friend Amanda with the ability to charmspeak. Good luck!" And in true King George the Third fashion, she left in a swirl of pink stars and sparkles.

Suddenly, I woke up.

"Awesome! Wow!" I muttered to myself, as I looked at my hidden watch, which somehow still worked, even in the 17th century. It was 3:00 am. "Darn," I muttered. "Oh well, back to sleep."

Washington's POV

I turned over in my covers after closing the door to my tent, slowly falling asleep. Sadly, I had no idea what I was in for tonight in the Dream World. Slowly but surely, I fell into the clutches of Morpheus.

Like Alice had done  a while ago, unbeknownst to me, I awoke in the very same field of flowers, under the very same sky, with the very same woman standing in front of me, a cheesy grin plastered on her face. In confusion, I blinked up at her.

"Excuse me, madam, but who might you be?"

"I am Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty." 

Nobody's POV

As it turns out, Washington had nearly the exact same dream as the one his soulmate had a while ago, except for he found out a few other things that Aphrodite had decided to keep quiet when she spoke to Alice. First of all, he had found out that Alice was his soulmate, and that Martha merely was a woman he had loved, but Alice was his true wife. The one all the gods and goddesses of Olympus had decided upon millennia ago. Secondly, he had learned that Aphrodite herself had influenced him when he decided to let Alice serve in the Continental Army a few days ago, so that the small act would bring them closer together than they already were. 

All in all, it had been a pretty interesting night.

And a couple tents away, Benjamin Tallmadge and Amanda Paine were having the exact same dream.

End of chapter