The Law of the Prince Charming

Chapter 17.2

Wildrose moves immediately to his workstation as everyone files into his room in the Huntsman's castle. The Lioness carries the Huntsman in before lying down. Wildrose pulls down a large jar and opens it. He heaps a glop of the olive colored paste onto the huntsman's back before smearing it over the blackened and blistered skin. The intense smell invades the room and Tabitha backs away quickly. The distance doesn't help.

"Oh, Fae, what is that?" the Sleeping Beauty gags.

"Troll blood." The Archer had already pinched her nose closed. "Breathe through your mouth."

The Sleeping Beauty retreats to the door of the room, clutching her nose. Wildrose smears more paste on.

"So, does this mean you forgive me?" the Lioness asks.

Wildrose caps the jar. He looks over at Tabitha before returning his gaze to the Lioness. "Yes, I do. Thank you."

The Lioness fluffs proudly and begins to purr. Wildrose puts the jar back on a shelf. "Prince, pull out our Storybook, please." Wildrose wipes his hands clean. Tabitha pulls out the Storybook. "Cast Call: Secretary."

Tabitha opens the book. "It says the spell has failed."

"The wild magic must be blocking the spell. So we can't call for help then." Wildrose sighs. "Cast: Cartography Large." The map outline sketches onto the page, though there is no kingdom name at the top. The wagon is drawn in, then the castle, and the rest of the topography.

"Why is everything purple?" Tabitha asks.

"That would be all the magic." Wildrose leans over to look at the spread Storybook. "So much that we can't see the dragon."

"Add the options to remove magic overlay and focus on concentrations of magic," the Archer says.

Wildrose repeats the spell and the map redraws itself without the purple. Now there is simply a large blue-purple dot in the middle of the castle. And scattered across the rest of the map are red dots, moving toward the castle.

"Well the castle's still standing, so that's something," Wildrose says.

The Huntsman shifts carefully off the Lioness' back, wincing as he moves. The paste has absorbed into his back, and now the burnt skin is beginning to slough off, though the stench of the troll blood still lingers. The Lioness moves back toward the door to lie down out of the way.

"Hold on, what are all of these red dots? Are there more mythics outside?" the Summoner asks. He and the Archer are bent over his Storybook.

"I think ...those might be the Sleepwalkers," Wildrose says.

"You mean those people wandering around with their eyes closed?" the Summoner asks.

"They're my subjects," the Sleeping Beauty says.

"Even main characters aren't so completely controlled by the Laws that they'd show up as a mythic," the Archer says. "Did something happen to them because the tale broke?"

The Summoner looks pointedly at Wildrose. "Why did that happen again; may I ask?"

"I'm pretty sure the Sleepwalkers are looking for the Sleeping Beauty," Wildrose continues. "They were quick to follow her when we were trying to escape the castle. My bet is they're coming from all over the kingdom."

"It's because I failed them," the Sleeping Beauty says.

"Your subjects are caught in the curse gone wrong," Wildrose says. "Since you weren't woken up properly, it's possible they will never wake up at all."