Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 428

Chapter 428: Uselessness
Mia found a place to sit on the bed, feeling a bit at sea.

When Martin had described all the events as he did, it hadn’t occurred to her to change her perspective much on everything that had come before.

She hadn’t felt the need to reevaluate her own behavior.

Even when they’d found Trace, she hadn’t fully considered the original impact of her actions… until now. Until he’d pointed it out so plainly to her.

Mia rubbed her temples with her fingers to hide the fact that she was about to cry.

‘Your tantrum may have saved the world’ Uncle Trace had told her. That… she didn’t know how to feel about that.

“Mia?” Ford sat down next to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing more than the obvious,” She told him a little sarcastically, and he chuckled.

“I’m sure I know exactly what you mean.”

“Uncle Trace pointed out… that if I hadn’t run away, he wouldn’t have been in the cave.”

“You didn’t figure that out a long time ago?” Ford was obviously trying not to sound condescending, but Mia scoffed.

“In light of him being here saving the world, it struck me a little differently. Because if I hadn’t run away with you–”

“The Emperor would have destroyed us all,” Ford finished. “It had occurred to me.”

“I hadn’t really absorbed it,” Mia shook her head.

“How does it make you feel?”

“Bad. Good. I don’t know. I did something wrong and it turned out to be something really necessary, but not intentionally. And it was for the wrong reasons and done in the wrong way, and wound up backfiring so many times, but–”

“But you can’t go back and change it,” Ford shook his head. “Because we’d all be dead.”

“And I can’t time travel,” Mia stuck out her tongue like one of her younger cousins would.

“Because if you did… then we might not have gotten to know each other as well,” He looked away. “And I wouldn’t like that.”

Warmth curled in the middle of Mia’s chest, and she lifted her chin to look at him a little better.

“I wouldn’t like that either,” She said softly.

“You seem tired,” He observed after a time, “Do you need to rest?”

Mia wavered. She was, in fact, exhausted. At Uncle Trace’s direction, she had tried to search for a way to the Emperor’s dream version of himself.

It was a complicated matter. She’d tried several different ways, concentrating on finding his dream–which didn’t work–and finding him–which was easy to do since he was only a stone’s throw away from her on the gargantuan bed.

She’d never tried to find a path to somewhere from a different place, but she’d never had any need. So she had tried to look for the way to get closest to the Emperor… with her dreams as a starting place.

That was a strange experience.

What she saw was nebulous, a blurry vision where normally they were quite distinct… but it had stopped abruptly, like a wall that she hit. Instinctively, she knew it was the edge of her dream.

A place she couldn’t get past without magical help. Trace’s magical help.

So, she’d tried to look for the Emperor using his dream as a starting point, but… there was nothing. No images, no flashes, no pull.

Because she’d never been to his dream? Never seen it? Had no idea what it looked like?

She had a headache both from the strange, disjointed vision and from concentrating so hard.

“Perhaps I should,” She admitted. “It’s weird, with no way of knowing day and night here, not knowing when is the proper time to sleep.”

The wights kept the lamps burning all the time. It was messing with all the humans’ sleep cycles, but Mia supposed preventing the end of the world was slightly more important than her getting all the rest she needed.

She was only grateful that the Emperor did not often toss and turn in his sleep. Those moments were more terrifying than when the monsters escaped his dreams!

“I’ll watch over you,” Ford promised, holding out his hand.

Mia took it, immediately feeling the relief of the secondary pull’s disappearance.

“Thank you,” She said simply, moving to lay down. Ford scooted closer, and she tucked his hand beneath her cheek, wanting to feel his touch there.

“Sweet dreams,” He murmured, eyeing the Emperor with a hint of irony. She smiled slightly before yawning.

The next thing she knew, she was dressed in wedding clothes. A beautiful gown that cascaded to the floor. Just like one she’d seen in the Capital when she’d visited the city with her aunt and uncle.

She hoped it looked prettier on her.

Her father was with her, not looking at all disgruntled, but there was something strange in his face.

“Shouldn’t you be searching?” He asked, out of character.

“Searching for what?” Mia questioned, confused.

“You’ve forgotten already?”

“A husband, I’m looking for a husband, aren’t I?” She responded, shaking her head.

Seth’s face crumpled with emotion, and he turned away, looking off into the distance. Her mind swirled with indecision. There was something else, wasn’t there?

“If that’s what you want,” He told her, offering his arm without looking at her anymore. She took it, though her initial happiness now felt mired in anxiety.

What was it she should be doing?

“Is someone sick? Or hurt?” She wondered aloud. Perhaps Mama had sent her to the store for medicine. She was good at finding what was needed quickly!

“We all will be,” Seth responded sadly, concerning her further.

“What is it? What should I be doing??” She demanded, pulling her arm away. How could she be getting married if there was something more important to do??

“I don’t know about ‘should’,” A new voice said from behind her, “but I did want to ask if you would do me a favor and help out with something.”

“Uncle Trace?” Mia blinked, her mind clouding, then clearing. “This is… a dream?”

“One I hate to interrupt, but, if you’re looking for something to do, I’ve got a task in need of a willing volunteer.”