“It looks like an engagement ring box,” someone responded.
Sophia tried to pull the velvet box to her, but her limbs didn’t respond to her brain’s commands.
“I think all we can do is wait until she wakes up,” Willow, the headmistress for Happily Ever After College, advised.
Mae Ling sighed. “Yes, and I daresay that we have enough to occupy our attention. Girls, please take Ms. Sophia Beaufont to someplace more comfortable than the front steps and ensure that she has everything she’ll need when she wakes up.”
“Does that mean…” one of the girls asked, her voice trailing away.
“I think you know it does,” Mae Ling responded.
Chapter One Hundred
The smell of confections was heavy in the air when Sophia stirred. She felt like she was waking from sleeping on a cloud made of cotton candy. Her head jerked from side to side as she wrestled with coming out of sleep, which seemed to be holding her hostage.
Diffused light kissed Sophia’s eyes and greeted her when she was finally successful at opening her lids. For a moment, she thought that Don Ectoplasm had succeeded in killing her and she was in heaven.
Above her was a soft pink paisley canopy-top to a bed that hung over like a puffy cloud. The matching blanket around her made her feel like she was lying in a bed of pink frosting. The pillow under Sophia’s head felt like a giant marshmallow and smelled like it too.
However, when Sophia pushed herself up with her hands behind her, she realized that if she had died and this was heaven, she was okay with it.
Trays of every possible amazing dessert she could have ever imagined sat alongside her bed. A mound of vanilla bean ice cream covered in thick hot chocolate fudge syrup rested next to the right side of her pillow as though waiting for her to open her mouth and let the desert fall in.
Beside the mountain of ice cream was a chocolate cake covered in sprinkles that smelled like angels. Next to that was a pile of cake donuts dipped in chocolate.
On the other side and starting at the headboard was an Oreo cheesecake that was the size of a car tire. Next to it was a bowl of chocolate mousse streaked with white chocolate mousse to make an elegant design. Beside that was a plate of chocolate chip cookies that Sophia instinctively knew were still hot.
As if that wasn’t enough, lining the foot of the bed were fudge truffles that weren’t only elegant in design, all made by hand and decorated to perfection, but smelled like what little giggles and smiles would be if packed into a piece of chocolate.
Sophia stared around wide-eyed. She only saw the desserts for a moment before she realized that there were other amazing things in the room. The entire bedroom was elegantly appointed with the finest furnishings. In the corner was a Tiffany lamp with a glass shade of every color Sophia could think of.
Beside the wall was a regal chaise lounge that was pink with gold fringe hanging off it. There was an ornate chest of drawers on the back wall, an armoire, a full-length mirror, and curled up in the far corner was the most beautiful creature Sophia had ever seen.
“Lunis!” Sophia exclaimed as her eyes finally adjusted and took in the blue dragon lying next to the roaring fireplace.
Chapter One Hundred One
“Lunis!” Sophia exclaimed again while trying to untangle herself from the bed, but was too weak for the arduous task.
To her relief, the dragon lifted his head and extended his neck to meet her at her bed. “Hey, bum. I see you’ve decided to join the world of the waking. It’s about time.”
Sophia rubbed her eyes and felt the sleep edging from her mind as she came to and remembered everything that had happened. She wore a pink silk nightgown that felt like butter. “How long was I asleep?”
“Ten long years,” Lunis answered quite seriously.
Sophia glanced at the bedside table where her phone was lying and tapped it. The date showed that she’d been out for roughly twelve hours. “Haha, does it make you feel better to tease me after a near-death experience?”
“It does,” Lunis stated. “Next time, bring me along and I’ll tease you less.”
“Less?” Sophia felt the lightheadedness from before returning, which made her think she’d pass out again.
“Well, the same amount, but I’ll feel better since I can more directly keep an eye on you.” He nodded at the ice cream sundae, which surprisingly wasn’t melting. “Go on and eat before I have to give you mouth-to-mouth to resuscitate you.”
Sophia grimaced. “Please tell me that won’t ever happen. I love you, but not like that.”
“You’d thank me if I brought you back from the dead,” Lunis teased.
“Doesn’t mean I want scaly lips on mine.” She pulled the ice cream to her. “What is all this?”
“It’s the fairy godmother infirmary,” Lunis explained. “Mae Ling brought me here after you were put into your room, knowing that you’d recover faster if I were close by.”
“Wow, I thought at most hospitals you had to share a room with a guy named Eddie, they gave you orange Jell-O, and the nurse smirked at you when she couldn’t find a vein.”
“That’s probably accurate, but Happily Ever After College is different, and I daresay they’ll probably rename the school after you.”
Sophia took a bite and instantly melted back into her pillow from pure bliss. “Oh my, that’s the best ice cream in the world. Did they grind up angel wings to make it?”
“And melted fairies for the chocolate syrup shell,” Lunis offered with a laugh.
The shell he referred to was hard and soft at the same time. It cracked from a slight tap of Sophia’s spoon, then melted as soon as it hit her tongue. She felt more of her energy return with each bite.
“I’m not sure I could eat through all these sweet treats in a year if I tried.” Sophia looked at the giant Oreo cheesecake.
“They aren’t all for you, Chunkster,” Lunis teased. “The fairy godmothers knew I had to keep up my strength too. That cake pretty much has my name on it.”
Sophia leaned over and got a whiff of Oreos and cream cheese, and thought that was what heaven had to smell like. “Sorry, but unless your name is invisible, I don’t see it.”
Lunis gobbled up a donut while Sophia studied the cheesecake and looked nonchalant when she glanced back at him. His eyes slid to the right as though there was nothing strange about him having chocolate frosting all over his snout.
“You have something on your horn,” she offered.
He turned and looked at his appearance in the full-length mirror. “Probably the blood of my enemies.”
“Oh, were those donuts your enemies?” She giggled.
“Yes, and I slew them,” Lunis said triumphantly. “I say all these desserts are our enemies and we can leave no man standing.”
Sophia’s stomach rumbled right on cue, and she sat up more with the ice cream sundae still in her lap. “Well, I am hungry.”
“Plus, you don’t want to disappoint your fairy godmother,” Lunis added. “She wants you to recover and will worry if you don’t refill your reserves.”
Sophia noticed a table in the corner where there were a few more dishes. She recognized a carton of strawberry ice cream, a carrot cake, and a loaf of banana bread. Around the table was yellow caution tape. “What’s that about?”