Aurora sank on the flagstone floor, her head in her hands. The enormity of her situation was starting to dawn on her.

Years of frustration and rebellion against her parent's overprotectiveness began to take on new meaning. Was this why they had refused to train her adequately in statesmanship? Aurora had eventually resorted to sneaking books on the subject from the library and listening through the keyhole at the throne-room door.

They had never believed that she would rule.

''What about you, Will?'' she asked quietly. ''If everyone else is asleep, why are you not? Did you wake up like me?''

''Afraid not Princess, I mean, my lady. I was running an errand for the mage when it all happened. It was immediate, you see, and I was just... out. I only saw it in my master's scrying ball when I returned.'' He shrugged. ''In fact, it was lucky I could get back into the palace at all. At the same time the spell took action, a forest of thorny rose bushes grew up around the palace in an instant. It's thick as a river out there. I had to blast my way in using magic.''

Aurora looked up at him, startled. ''Are you saying I can just walk right out then, through the tunnel you have created?''

''Well, not exactly.'' He looked dubious. "The bushes grew straight back behind me, but I could blast you out again any time you want to go. Not sure what you would go out to though. Everything and everyone is in here. Even the horses are sleeping. I don't know about you, but I don't even have any family to go to. They gave me up as a baby. This is the only home I have ever known.''

They stared at each other for a moment: two orphans without a plan.

''On the other hand,'' Will muttered, taking another bite of his dinner, ''Catching sleeping chickens in the henhouse has proved reliably simple, and there are still carrots and onions in the garden beds. What I suggest we do is this: tomorrow, we set out through the briars. There is a small village about a day's walk away. That's where I was when it all happened. If we go there, we could buy a horse and travel on to one of the neighboring kingdoms. Maybe they would take pity on you.''

His skittish eyes showed that he wasn't at all convinced about the last part. Aurora's father may have been a doting parent, but he was not renowned for his diplomacy and had made many enemies. Safe harbor, or even assistance, for Aurora was far from guaranteed.

She sighed and stood up. She was tall for her age, and broad-shouldered, and in her crimson ballgown, with her long hair hanging loose, she looked every bit as regal as her lineage proved.

''No, Will,'' she told him. ''I am not going to leave all these people here to sleep for a hundred years. They are my subjects now, and this is my home. We are going to find some way of waking them, and you are going to help me. Now please give me some of that chicken-stew before I completely faint from hunger.''