Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 72

Watery antics
Anaisa jumped through the fountain in her manor’s garden, tossing water at Katia.

“Annie!” The elder cried, laughing, “Stop it, Annie! You’ll get us in trouble!”

“Come on, Kat, Father’s away and the servants won’t stop us,” Anaisa kicked up her bare foot and brought it down in a decisive stomp, splashing Katia thoroughly.

“YOU–” The elder sister raised her voice in rebuke, but mischief entered her eyes. As Anaisa danced closer, Katia quickly reached a hand out and grabbed the sodden hem of the younger’s dress. She yanked, causing Anaisa to slip and fall on her rear end in the water.

Sitting, soaked and shocked, up to her shoulders in the fountain, Anaisa glared at her sister with glee.

“I’ll get you for that!” She screamed, lurching forward to grab Katia’s arms and try to pull her into the fountain with her.

“No! No! This dress is too fine for that!” Katia protested halfheartedly, but the struggle was on.

Propping her feet against the lip of the fountain, Anaisa pulled with all her might and dragged her sister into the water, splashing cold liquid on her head for good measure.

“Ha! Doesn’t that feel better?” She demanded triumphantly.

Katia shivered in the cool fountain, and flicked her wet fingers at Anaisa to send droplets flying at her.

“Well, I’m certainly not hot anymore,” Katia shook her head, sobering a little, “but I’m not sure this is a vast improvement on my prior state. Besides, the servants are staring. They’ll tell Father when he gets home.”

“He’s… he’s not coming home,” Anaisa lifted a hand to her head as her thoughts became muddled. “He’s… isn’t he dead?”

“Annie?” Katia leaned closer.

“He’s dead, and our servants threw us into the street,” Anaisa lifted her other hand to her head. “Why didn’t we know that already?”

She looked at her sister, who frowned and faded away.

“Katia?” Anaisa blinked, hard. Her head was so scrambled. It was like she was trying to complete a puzzle with pieces from the wrong set.

“This isn’t right,” She whispered. “I’m not home anymore.”

The fountain disappeared, and she was sitting on the ground, still dripping wet.

“I think I’m dreaming,” She pushed through the confusion and tried to reach a conclusion that made sense of the strange circumstances. Anaisa raised her head and looked around. She still seemed to be in the courtyard of her manor, but there was something strange about it.

“I’m definitely dreaming,” She decided, unsure what to do about it. A rustle sounded behind her. “Who’s there?” She called. “Hello?”

She stood and moved towards the noise. “Hello?”

This was her dream, wasn’t it? Wasn’t she in control here? So it must be something or someone she wanted to see. “Come out,” She commanded with authority, willing it to happen.

An orange tabby cat sidled out of one of the hedges, purring, and wound her way around Anaisa’s feet.

“Scruffles!” The woman smiled and picked up the cat, snuggling her close. “What are you doing here?”

The warm fur was a balm to Anaisa’s soul. Scruffles pressed the top of her head against Anaisa’s chin, and the woman giggled.

“You’re very sweet. But you’re not alone, are you?” There seemed to be another presence in her dream. Did dreams have meaning? Why didn’t she feel in control of what was happening?

Her mind grappled with the tenuous non-reality of the dream. Katia had spoken of dreams where she’d become aware of what was happening and took control, but Anaisa was having trouble grasping the world around her.

All she knew was she could feel that the dream held something she couldn’t see.

“I… I know you’re there,” She swallowed and spoke more firmly than she believed the words. “You may as well come out.”

Anaisa waited for a moment, holding her breath. Did it work?

A pause, and then another rustle. Trace stepped out from behind the hedge, and she smiled.

“Of course it’s you,” She flushed slightly. Of all the people in the world to dream about, her mind had brought her the man most often in her thoughts. Well, the most pleasant thoughts, anyway.

Barnabas often featured in her darker ones. She was glad it wasn’t him that arrived.

“Of course?” He tilted his head, confused.

She suddenly had a vague memory of a previous dream. Of him holding her close in a snowstorm. It had been beautiful. Anaisa stared at him for a moment. His eyes softened.

Wanting that feeling back, she stepped towards him, then put Scruffles down on the ground, giving her a final pet.

“Go on, now,” She told the cat. “You don’t need to be here for this.”

“For what?” Trace whispered, looking down at her with emotion thick in his eyes. Her heart fluttered. Goodness, her imagination was detailed!

Suddenly timid in the face of his serious gaze, she bit her lip and took one of his hands in hers. Searching his eyes, she felt a seed of something growing in her heart.

“For this,” She leaned toward him, and then suddenly pulled back, yanking on his arm with all her might.

“Wha–” He fell with her, and they both landed with a splash in the fountain she’d called back into being.

He sat up, sputtering and shocked, and Anaisa laughed with delight, scooping her hands to splash him enthusiastically.

Trace shook his head like a wet dog, scattering water droplets like diamonds through the air, and she held her hands up in defense.

“Are you very happy with yourself?” He challenged, raising an eyebrow.

“Extremely so,” She giggled. While being held by him was her favorite dream she could remember, as long as she was in control of this one, she could give him a good dunking.

A bucket materialized in her hands and she scooped it, giving him a thorough splash.

“You little minx–” He roared with laughter and stood up, knee deep in the water. “You think you’ll get away with that so easily?”