Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 405

Chapter 405: Problem solving
Ford glanced amongst the humans, nervous about Trace’s initial reaction to him; a perfectly understandable one.

Mia’s eyes closed, and her brow furrowed. He stepped closer to her, worried.

“Please don’t hurt yourself. You can’t look for concepts, can you?” He asked in a low tone. She’d always needed something physical, as he recalled.

“I couldn’t before, but…” Without opening her eyes, Mia gestured towards an open window, from which the soft glow of the golden forest shone in, even from so far below. “With the trees, I want to try.”

Ford took her hand, becoming anxious. “Did it work?”

Mia frowned. “No, not really.” She sighed.

Anaisa looked up at Trace, and then towards the face of the Emperor. He was swathed in the quilt, and she knelt down to look more closely at it.

“Trace, is the Emperor’s magic his own, or does he draw it from somewhere else?” She asked, pursing her lips.

The dreamwalker blinked, scratching his head. “I haven’t a clue.”

“This blanket, is it made from the jewels of the trees?” She prodded.

“I never asked. I never saw one survive being picked, so it didn’t occur to me for that to be a possibility.”

“But your powers, they are just as strong here as next to the trees?” The redhead continued reasoning out loud.

“The magic is strong here, but I think it’s from the forest below. When I run low, the wights take me for a walk there to replenish.”

Ford watched in amazement as Anaisa began to pace.

“Ok, so that seems like a dead end. We’ll have to go at this more directly. If he’s that upset that the treaty was broken long ago, we’ll need a way to convince him to form a new treaty. How difficult has it been to control his dreams?”

“At first, I was barely keeping them in check, failing often. Now that I’m used to the feel of them, and the power of the forest, it’s still difficult, but not as bad as early on. When I take my breaks–to eat or take care of personal needs–that’s when things tend to escape. Denholm and I aren’t allowed to go out together anymore, only one at a time.”

“Can you take me to his dreams? Or bring him to mine?” Anaisa faced her husband, and he blanched.

“Absolutely not.”

“The wights think they can’t let him wake, but if we can get him calm in his dreams first–” Anaisa’s pitch rose slightly.

“Is he calmer than he was at first?” Ford asked, interrupting the redhead.

“Only when I’m controlling his dreams,” Trace responded, looking the younger man up and down warily. “But if I exert too much influence, he’s more likely to wake up.”

“So we’ll need Denholm here to help keep him asleep,” Anasia wrinkled her nose with distaste.

“Wait, what are we planning?” Mia cut in, apparently having been caught up in her own thoughts.

“Trace is going to bring me into the Emperor’s dream so I can talk to him, perhaps renew the treaty.” Anaisa explained, but Trace was already shaking his head.

“Did you miss the part where I said ‘Absolutely not’? The things that have escaped his dreams are nothing compared to what I’ve kept at bay. I have no idea whether dying in his dream means dying for real. I won’t risk it.”

“You don’t have authority to renew a treaty, do you?” Ford pointed out. “You’re a former Countess, not a current one.”

“I’m confident that the king will endorse whatever agreement I arrange to save humanity,” Anaisa rolled her eyes.

“Will he turn his army back?” Trace asked.

“Army??” The man’s wife looked truly taken aback for the first time since their arrival. Trace’s eyes cut to Ford.

“The dream came to you, didn’t it? Why didn’t you tell Anaisa about the army?”

Ford’s mouth fell open. “I couldn’t remember the whole dream! I did the best I could!”

Trace clenched his jaw, and looked away. Ford bristled. Was Trace implying he was a liar?

He tried to think back to the last things he said to Trace before running away with Mia… there may have been a lie or two amongst the half-truths he told that day.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Trace brushed past the matter and turned to his wife. “Obviously you didn’t tell the king to come with an army to rescue me, since you’re so shocked about it.”

“I sent him a letter saying I was coming after you, and telling him what went on in the cave, that the tree was taken, and that dragons and wights were to blame,” Anaisa’s eyes grew serious and sharp. “It was to keep him apprised of what was happening in the kingdom. I had no idea he would respond with military force.”

Ford wondered what Foundrel and the other nations would do in response to the mobilization of forces headed towards what was known as a wasteland. Surely there were spies enough to keep such a matter from remaining a secret for long.

“How did you find out?” He wondered aloud.

“The wights have eyes in many places,” Trace cut his gaze over to the younger man, still visibly wary.

“Where is the army now? Can we get a message to them?” Mia asked with wide eyes.

“All the wights told me is, they’re coming, and the Emperor won’t be happy when he learns of the invasion. It was one of the incentives they gave me to make sure he stays asleep and dreaming happy things.”

“The tree. Are they coming to get the tree back?” Anaisa pursed her lips. “That year without any magic in the kingdom was difficult. The king was able to bluff his way into making the surrounding nations think we were still stronger, but if it were taken permanently–Oh, why didn’t I think of this before sending the letter!”

“We still had magic, even with the tree taken,” Ford scratched his head and glanced at Mia. “Why should the king be afraid of it disappearing?”

“Because its roots would no longer be in the water–no longer be nurturing the land for future generations of magic users to be born among humans,” Anaisa shook her head. “I’m a complete fool! Of course that’s the logical conclusion for the king to draw!”

Mia took a deep breath and faced her aunt.

“Are you saying we helped start a war?”