Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 438

Chapter 438: Show and tell
“Show,” The wight insisted once more to Anaisa, and then its already ghostly-pale body went nearly transparent. Swiftly, it moved to leave. Was it also scared of the Emperor?

“Wait–” She urged, but it was no use. It was already beyond her sight.

The Emperor was looking around his chamber, momentarily disoriented.

Show? How was she supposed to show her power when she didn’t even know what it was? Unless–

“Show?”

Was her gift something like Daniel’s? Perhaps she was meant to show the Emperor something that would convince him not to destroy the human world?

Not exactly a small order, but she had to try, didn’t she?

The Emperor’s eyes fixed on her, and narrowed. They were more harrowing in real life than in the dream. The white pupils in enormous black eyes were like that of his subjects, boring into the humans.

“Malefactors.”

Anaisa’s mouth twisted. His opinions and vocabulary were perfectly in line with the dream version of himself.

What would she need to show him in order to change his mind about humanity? How did she even begin to try?

He looked about to raise a fist to crush her and Ben, the only two visible humans now that Ford was shielding the others…

If the shielding could even hide them from a powerful being like the Emperor. If the wights themselves could negate magic for a time, what could he do??

“Wait!” She called up to him, and his enormous eyes narrowed at her.

“No.”

The fist continued to rise, and knowing she couldn’t outrun him, nor hide from him, she threw all her heart into showing him something dear to her. Something that could make him believe humans were not entirely deserving of extinction.

The memory was the first that surged to mind, the first real and true kindness she’d had from anyone besides her sister.

Trace.

The memory overwhelmed her in a way it never had before, taking on a quality that made it fully immersive. It was as if she were back there, back inside her memories.

And she wasn’t alone.

The Emperor was with her.

Her mind stuttered with shock to see a miniaturized version of the Emperor standing at the inn where she and Trace had first met. The crazed monarch was almost human-sized.

His eyes were wild with rage, looking ready to wreck everything in his path, but when he went to strike a wooden table, his hand passed through.

They could only watch as the memory played out from Anaisa’s point of view. The handsome stranger giving up his room in the inn so that the redheaded outcast and her sister could have a safe place to sleep.

There was nothing Anaisa could change about what she saw, what she showed. It all played out perfectly factually, without any ability on her part to influence the memory or how the Emperor perceived it.

Her life continued, from the treatment she received at the matchmakers’ hands to the way the poor bride who tried to run was beaten.

Anaisa flinched at that, not wanting to give the Emperor any more justification to obliterate humanity, but she didn’t have any real control over her power. The moment of cruelty surrounding her meeting with Trace had made his kindness all the more stark and meaningful.

And so, helplessly, Anaisa watched the Emperor’s face fill with rage.

Up until the point that she was dropped onto Trace’s doorstep.

Declared to be her husband, he immediately adopted responsibility for her well-being without asserting any of the rights he legally had.

Feeding her, making sure she had enough clothing, caring for her emotions even while she had tried to see him as a pawn to help her with her revenge on Barnabas.

Treating her as a teammate, and slowly, as a beloved.

The nights spent with him sleeping on the floor, giving up the only bed for her. The days he spent keeping her as safe as he could from the dangers that lurked.

And the dreams. Even before she knew what he could do, he was guarding her dreams from nightmares so that she could have restful sleep.

Those parts of her memories were hazy, but they played out with perfect clarity here, and she became more enthralled with watching them than gauging the Emperor’s reaction.

Enigmatic, the Emperor watched without comment.

Her face heated as she experienced over again the memory of being pulled into Trace’s dreams for the first time. How it felt to be in his arms, and the way that, with abandon, she had demanded he kiss her.

When she broke his world.

A little smile of pride tugged at her lips as she looked back on that time. Trace was better at keeping his world together now, and she also tried to resist breaking the beautiful place that they built together.

The story, her story, glided forward, through the times of misunderstanding, of feeling betrayed, and of slowly mending fences.

Of the beautiful ballgown Deborah made, and of the night she’d danced in Trace’s arms.

And Denholm’s.

That sent a shudder down her spine, renewed because of the recent contact with the man. She hated him.

The adventure continued, when Trace showed her the tree within his dream.

“Stolen.” The Emperor’s first word since entering her memories rang through them, shaking Anaisa to her core.

She could feel the magic coursing through her, unsure whether to stop showing him things or continue.

“More.” He snapped, and Anaisa flinched. He was so stern that the choice was taken from her.

It seemed like she had to continue or face his wrath. And he already had an excess of wrath available.

So, nearly beyond her control, the memories continued. Apparently showing him her memories of Trace was going to show him the entire early history of their relationship, and falling in love.

Including all the events surrounding their finding of the tree.

She didn’t know how he would take it. Any of it.

But at least he wasn’t destroying the world right now… was he?

The question plucked at her. Because she didn’t imagine they were magically transported back in time to her memories. Everything was too elusive for that. They must be… in his mind? Or her own?

Well, if she was in either his mind or her own, showing him her memories… what exactly was happening out in the real world?