Caitlyn gasped at Rose's assertion. "Not your name? Oh no! You are delirious! I will call the healers. Guards!"
The princess forced her eyes back shut. She was laying on the stone floor, but she did not care. Like the book in her vision, her world had been turned upside down. The last thing she remembered before her eyesight dimmed was matching the scrap of paper to a name.
Sean. The very word had taken her consciousness. That was when she had witnessed something extraordinary. It was more than a dream. It was a memory. However the memory did not seem to be hers as she sat watching from the outside, unable to interact.
Even though the little cottage felt real, Rose had tried to touch the woman in the beginning, but her hand had passed right through as if she were a ghost.
Confused and frustrated, the princess had decided to study the scene as it played out before her.
The woman seemed familiar. Her mannerisms and voice were like a warm blanket or a lullaby. As for the boy, she certainly recognized him. At their most recent meeting, he'd addressed himself differently. Silver was the moniker that he had given her, yet it was not his true name. He was Sean.
But why should she care? This past event should not be affecting her so much. Yet every fiber of her being had pulsed with strange anticipation. What did it all mean?
That was when her eyes locked on the child in the corner of the room. She was tiny. Her blonde hair was the color of fresh straw, and her blue eyes were more pure than sapphires. Unlike the other two, the child's eyes seemed to connect with hers, seeing her for who she really was. It was as if she were looking at her own reflection, like a looking glass that had turned back time.
That was when the mother had said the child's name, "Haven."
The word hit Rose like a stone. Gasping, she had stumbled backwards toward Sean. The baby reached out for her, unable to stop the princess's fall. Rose stayed on the floor watching the rest of the scene without moving a muscle, transfixed on every word being passed between them.
Even when a burly man came into the cabin and joined the family, Rose could not find it in her to get out of the way when he went to lay down the wood. The man passed through her twice without knowing she was there. Her eyes welled with tears of sadness and joy. There was so much love in this tiny place. It was a wonder that the walls could contain it.
Sean's final words were what brought her from the trance. "The Maker is truly Gracious."
'The Note!' she screamed silently.
An invisible rope tugged her violently backwards, through time and back to reality. She had woken to find Caitlyn standing over her, screaming a name that was now foreign to her. And now the lady-in-waiting had called in the guards. Many of them were already filing into the room even as the princess lay still on the ground. 'Go away.'
"I am fine, everyone," the blonde still did not open her eyes. "Please leave before Father finds out you saw me in my nightdress..."
She could feel the air being sucked out of the room as the men realized the gravity of the accusation. Much quieter footsteps retreated from the princess's bedchamber than had entered.
"I'm not delirious" she said, knowing the lady-in-waiting was still watching her. She felt the brunette's arms lift her head to help her sit up. Begrudgingly, she obliged.
"Then why did you say you did not know your name," Caitlyn queried. When the princess finally looked at her friend, Rose could see that the other woman's face was wet with tears of concern.
Realizing the trouble she caused, the blonde hugged her friend tightly. Together they went and sat on the bed. "I did not say that I did not know my name. Simply that Rose is not my name. Not my birth name at least."
"What do you mean? Does it have something to do with this?" Leaning forward, Caitlyn picked up the paper and book, which had been scattered on the floor. The brunette sat back down and handed the objects to her mistress.
"Yes, I discovered the meaning of the message from the stranger. He was telling me his real name, but more importantly, he was telling me mine: Haven." the princess pointed to the note where the word Haven was capitalized.
Even as she touched the note and said the word, a new surge of energy went through her. The dam of memories, which had been locked up for as long as Rose had been locked up in the castle, finally dislodged and broke free.
Rose grabbed her head, a flood of thoughts and emotions that had not been experienced in ages hit her all at once. She was drowning in a myriad joy and sorrow, tranquility and fear. She remembered so many things that she had hidden from herself. Things she thought at one point she really had forgotten.
Caitlyn paled as she saw the princess's inner turmoil. "Please let me call the healers, Princess Rose."
"Haven. My name is Haven. It always has been." the blonde lifted her head as the storm in her eyes began to clear.
Unable to do anything else, the lady-in-waiting decided to play along. "Let's say your name is Haven, why would Silver know that?"
'Sean,' she corrected her silently. To her, he would never be Silver again. "He is my brother..." the princess answered.
Caitlyn choked. "Now I know you have lost your mind. You are the daughter of the king. He has no sons."
"Adoptive daughter. Haven't you ever wondered what my family was like before I came to the palace? I have."
"And now, miraculously, you remember?" It was Caitlyn's turn to shut her eyes. She had hoped to have a peaceful evening after the disasters of the night before, but that idea was quickly turning to ash. Her mistress had lost her mind, and she would have to be the one to break it to the king.
"Yes," the princess said confidently. "I suddenly remember. I remember walking by the river with my brother. I remember him taking me fishing. I remember a lovely woman at an inn and a boy only a little older than myself who was her son."
"Are you serious?" The lady-in-waiting secretly hoped this was one of the princess's pranks. Though Rose had never pulled one quite this elaborate, it was well within the blonde's capabilities.
The blue-eyed woman sighed. "Do you remember one night when we were being silly and I told you jokingly that my imaginary friend as a child wore a black cape? Well, as it turns out, I wasn't joking and he wasn't imaginary. The things I thought must be pretend are in fact quite real. I can feel them as if they just happened. I suppose, in a sense, they just did."
The expression on the princess's face was serene. There was no hint of trickery of deceit in her words. In fact, she looked more at ease than the lady-in-waiting had ever seen. However, the peace of the princess had the opposite effect on the brunette.
Cailyn suddenly felt sick. Her knees went weak even though she was seated. "You aren't kidding, are you? No, I do think you are quite serious. This is not good. Please, for the love of the Fates, tell me this is not true."
The princess's lips curved upward. "I am sorry to disappoint you; I am not kidding. The Guardian is my brother. And I am going to find him."