Chapter 2 - Dreams

While I slept deeply, I had a strange dream. Scary indeed. I dreamed that the cottage floor had a trapdoor, which descended a ladder. Below the cottage, the ladder led to a dark crypt whose air was dense, and there was sparse lighting made only by candles placed around an altar. Everything there seemed better organized within the crypt than in the cottage above. Even the candles were in silver polished candlesticks. All was loud and tidy. Someone had recently been there, just to do the cleaning.

Approaching the altar, which was made of polished dark granite, I could see that there was nothing on it, but something was hidden under the lid. I got closer slowly and pushed the heavy lid. Inside, I could see a coffin. Hidden within what seemed an altar was a coffin beautifully adorned. If a coffin can be beautiful! My courage and my curiosity in the dream were bigger than I would have if I had been awake. I opened the coffin to see if someone was there. I saw a handsome man, approximately 20 years old. He looked dead, his eyes were black, his skin too pale, but he was so beautiful. I touched his forehead, getting closer to see if it was cold, like people say the dead are. Yes! It was very cold.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, staring at me sharply, like he was waiting for me. I woke up scared and sweaty because of that scary look. The sun had invaded the little cottage through the torn curtains. When I woke up, I felt so hungry that I decided not to check the cottage's floor. I would check later whether there was a trapdoor on the floor. Now I had to return to the castle so no one would notice my absence.

When I arrived, everyone was still asleep. Even the king, who had the habit of waking up early, was still in his chambers. I climbed the stairs, avoiding making any noise. Only Anna was awake and waiting for me at my chamber door. "I thought that Your Highness would never return. Where did you sleep last night?" she whispered sleepily. As a maid, she was very curious about my life, but as she helped, I told her about the race and the little cottage, but I didn't mention anything about the dream.

She looked like a curious teenager, asking me to tell her every detail, and I said that nothing exciting happened. I just watched the sunset in the woods. She prepared my bath. After bathing, I tried to sleep, but pictures of that vivid dream from last night could not leave my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened. Who was that creature? Why a crypt hidden inside the woods?