Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Revenge
Anaisa knew she was dreaming almost the moment it began. The scene had that sort of blurry quality that she’d come to recognize much more quickly after Trace had pointed it out.

He’d told her that it was his turn tonight. She supposed she’d been rather mean, in a playful way, to Trace, and wondered what surprises he had in store for her.

The main difference was that in her dreams, he still had powers. In his dream world, she had none. He’d best go easy on her!

Not that she deserved it, she admitted to herself with a smile. Still, she knew from his laughter and smiles that he enjoyed the games almost as much as she did. After all, he could have banished any one of them if he’d wished.

It was sweet of him to humor her.

Night after night, he’d endured and conquered the various challenges she’d thrown at him. It was like having a new childhood, free from the overbearing and cruel constraints of her father’s household. She could play, and dance, and run, and be free with boundless energy and a good-humored playmate.

Though Trace was far more than that. She knew it, and so did he. When the laughter died down, the way he looked at her… it curled her insides into pleasant knots and made her look away for fear of being overwhelmed.

She could tell whenever their conversations got too close to something he couldn’t tell her. The corners of his mouth and eyes tightened as if he were hiding pain. Whether that was emotional or physical, she could not tell.

Maybe both were the same in a dream?

Conjuring a field of flowers for herself, much like the place the princess had once taken her outside the city, she wondered what was keeping Trace. Did he have trouble falling asleep at night? She frowned.

He may have some assignment to take care of. She shuddered. Perhaps he was just visiting Sanders’ dream. Over dinner she mentioned in passing that the man wanted to see Trace.

A shadow had passed over her husband’s expression, but he’d nodded and the conversation had moved on.

Anaisa picked a flower and idly pulled the petals one by one, allowing them to drift up and away towards the horizon, carried by a breeze. Trace had told her that time flowed differently here, and she wondered whether he could control it the same way he controlled a dream’s contents.

Maybe Trace was preparing his dream world before he came to get her.

She wondered again what kind of adventure he had planned for them as she picked another flower and repeated the process of taking its petals one by one. It was four flowers later when Trace finally stepped through the sky and into her world.

She brushed off her dress and stood slowly, not wanting to appear over eager.

“Ready?” He asked with a lopsided smile.

“I’ve been ready for ages. It’s not polite to keep a lady waiting,” She frowned with mock censure, and he bowed.

“My sincere apologies. I had business to attend to.” He said vaguely.

“Did you go see Sanders?” She wondered if he could talk about it, or if the two of them had conversations she wouldn’t be able to learn of.

“I did. He had… interesting advice. But I think you’re stalling now,” He raised one eyebrow. “Are you coming or not?”

He held out his hand, and she placed hers in it after only a moment’s hesitation. It felt warm, and strong, and sent a shiver up her arm.

Trace pulled her through an invisible wall, and suddenly she was outside her dream. Looking back was a disorienting experience. The world that she’d thought was endless and vast was contained inside an orb about the size of a small house.

“How is so much contained in something so small?” She wondered aloud, and Trace smiled at her.

“How is so much imagination contained in so small a woman?” He countered.

“None of that is real,” Anaisa shrugged.

“Technically, none of this is real, either,” He gestured around them.

She cast her eyes in all directions. Endless black, dotted with bright orbs that looked identical to hers.

“How do you tell them apart? Do you wind up going to random ones?” She counted several dozen within her view.

“Yours is closest to mine, since you’re sleeping closest. Sapphira’s is just there,” He pointed, “and the others are arranged roughly by where they are physically in the world.”

“And your world is different,” She looked over. His was much larger than any of the others, and tranparent instead of clouded.

“I made the edges of mine clear so that I can look out, if I wish,” Trace shrugged. “Now if you’re done delaying the inevitable, we can go see what I’ve prepared as my revenge for all you’ve put me through.”

“You didn’t say anything about revenge–” She protested as he pulled her towards the large, clear orb. Anaisa closed her eyes as he pulled her inside.

“Don’t be frightened,” He squeezed her hand. “Would I ever do anything to hurt you?”

“Not intentionally,” Anaisa remembered the implications of Sanders’ words. Was Trace truly in control of all his actions?

“Then trust me a moment. Open your eyes.”

She hesitated, feeling cool, crystalline air brushing her face. Peeking just a little, Anaisa saw… white. And blue.

Looking up, she saw sky, pure and clean and bright. Turning her eyes forward, there was… white. Clouds? Then that meant…

A yelp of fright escaped her lips when she looked down. She was standing on a piece of cloud barely as wide as herself. Far, far below was ground. Anaisa clasped both her hands tightly around Trace’s, and noticed he was floating in the air beside her.

“Can I fly?” She asked timidly.

“Not today,” He grinned, gesturing forward. Little clouds, about the size of stepping stones, made a path forward through the sky. “Today, you get to run.”