A PRINCESS SLEEPS TONIGHT

29 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, CONTINUED

It turned out that the content of the box wasn't anything like in the movies - at least it wasn't anything that I hoped. Dad lifted the lid of the box to reveal a golden circle, carefully rested between the folds of red satin covered sponge. Nothing like that sci-fi gear in black dense custom fitted foam that I had imagined.

I could sense the magic the moment the box was opened, but what was I looking at?

The gold circle came with a row of gold ornaments lined up on the right hand side of the box, each neatly fitted into its own slot. Foil gold flowers, filigreed leaves, pearl drops, and a string of tiny diamonds on a chain.

What was this thing? Oh! Could it be?

"Is that an angel's halo?" I asked, marveling had how my Dad got his hands on something so amazing.

Dad paused as if surprised and then he laughed, his low rumbly laughter, "Why would you think that, puppy?"

So not an angel's halo. I looked at the golden circlet and couldn't think of anything else it might be.

"It's a gift from Alpha Gunter." Dad told me, "It is tradition for mentor to bestow a first gift to his student. Alpha Gunter said he thought it would help protect you."

"What is it?" I asked finally. Even though I was now looking at it, I honestly had no idea. A necklace, a head band... or perhaps it wasn't something to wear at all?

"It's a diadem." Dad said. Which didn't help me understand it in the slightest. He took it out of the box and handed it to me.

I turned it over in my hand. Now that it was out of the box, I could tell that it wasn't a full circle. The metal was strangely warm - another sign of magic, and it didn't join at the ends, instead each end was a little loop, with a golden ribbon threaded through and tied together. Also, on the inside of the band, there was a slot lined with tiny magic stones - the spirit binding type like the kind that was being produced by the white roses in my secret treasure room.

"The magic stones power the diadem." Dad told me, "Alpha Gunter tells me that in the Colored Mountains, this is commonly worn by young alphas and powerful wolves in their first year of shift until they mastered their bloodline abilities. When worn on their heads, it limits the amount of power the wolf could manifest at a given moment."

Oh, like the tiara Heller's mate, Meredith wore to curb her enchantment magic!

"We think if you were to wear it, it would prevent you from dream traveling when you sleep." Dad told me, "Of course, this is only to prevent you from dream traveling by accident. You can always take it off... but your mum and I would prefer if you didn't travel alone, and until you are old enough to have your Mate beside you, it would be best if you kept your diadem on at all times as a precaution."

"Wait, you mean I have to wear this till I get mated?" I don't know if gold is my color...

"No, Sam." Dad shook his head, "You may still dream travel - but only with our permission, and with a team of trusted wolves, and all the necessary preparations. The diadem is only meant to prevent you from accidentally dream traveling alone to somewhere dangerous with nothing but your pajamas."

Which, I admit, had happened more times than I could count.

"In the same vein, since it limits your power, you should immediately remove it should you find yourself in danger." Dad said firmly, "In fact, you should remove the diadem the moment you feel you are in danger so that it doesn't hinder you."

Ah, okay. That made sense.

"It shouldn't affect your wolf or normal wolf abilities like mindlinks." Dad continued. I was beginning to get the feeling that this golden metal circle was more complicated than it looked. Magic things often were - particularly in lycan legends.

Sigh, I hated dealing with complicated things.

"I'm not entirely sure of the science behind it, but the diadem performs two functions. The first is a resistor that limits the output of your supernatural powers. The second is a circuit breaker - should you lose control, for example, if you... ah... chi-ka-boomed. The circuit breaker would kick in." Dad tried to explain, but this was magic, not science.

And then what would happen? What exactly did Dad mean by "kick in"?

"There are two more things you should note." Dad was seriously doing an info dump on me here, "You need to take it off to shift into your wolf form because unlike the mating band, it is unable to transform with you. And you should not allow anyone else to put it on for you. The diadem comes with an inbuilt lock. It can only be taken off by the person who puts it on."

Wait a minute...

"And you're going to allow me to put it on and take it off by myself?" I asked. Didn't such a function mean that Dad could've just plunked one on me and trap me forever?

Dad nodded, "I trust you, Sam."

And then he added, "And in the light of what happened this morning, its far safer if you could remove it should you ever need to protect yourself."

Okay... so Dad was leaving it to me. I turned the diadem over in my hand and traced the outline of it with my finger... It felt like a big responsibility.

Oh well, here goes nothing.

I put it on. It fitted like a glove, mostly because the gold ribbon was elastic. Quite a genius design.

"How is it?" Dad asked.

"Okay, I guess." Come to think of it, the simple circlet was good - I wouldn't want to have to wear a full tiara to bed!

"How do I know it's working?" I asked after a moment's pause, "I don't feel any different."

"That's good." Dad decided.

Okay, if he said so.

"Let's try it out tonight. You go to sleep. And if you sleep through without dream traveling, then it's working." Dad suggested.

"I don't dream travel every night, you know." I narrowed my eyes at Dad. Wasn't there another way to test this thing?

"You could try exerting your full power." Dad said, and then he thought better of it, "But probably not while we're in the house. Wouldn't want to break anything."

Why did I suddenly feel like a guinea pig? Shouldn't we be testing this on something else first?

"Alright. Good." Dad nodded, quite satisfied, "Then it's settled."

In what way was it settled?

"Your mum is telling me I should let you go to bed. It's late." Dad stood up.

I guess it was. I stood up too.

Dad put the metal box on my dresser on his way out, "The accessories can be worn with the diadem to match your clothes."

That was very considerate of Alpha Gunter, but I'm not sure I had flowery or leafy or pearly or diamondy pajamas.

I walked Dad to my door.

"Goodnight, Sam." Dad said before stepping out.

"Goodnight, Dad." And just before Dad turned to go, I quickly slipped the words, "I love you too."

And then I slammed the door shut.

Okay, hahaha. I guess I'm not very good with I love yous.

Anyway, Mum was right. It was pretty late. I picked out my pajamas from the golden clamshell and trooped over to the bathroom.

It was weird seeing my reflection in the mirror. I was still in my uniform, my blue hair a messy tangle of loose curls, my face looked paler than usual, but what struck me was the amount of magical "bling" I now wore on my person. A shiny silver mating bangle on my arm, the dark gun metal chain with Mate's heartstone that gleamed with a cold dark aura whenever I looked at it.

And now a gold circlet - I mean diadem around my head. I'm not sure how I was supposed to wear this in school without breaking the school rules.

As I studied my reflection, it became quite obvious to me that not only was I over accessorized with magical items, none of them matched. Not even the color of the metal matched!

This was an unexpected development. Like in Lycan legends, when the hero collected treasures, no one ever pointed out that they didn't match, so it never crossed my mind. But this was real life, and not only did my new and compulsory accessories not match with most of my everyday clothes, they didn't even match with each other.

Which was dumb since the mating bangle was also a circular band - how did you mismatch two undecorated circular metal rings? Make them in different colours, that's how!

I sighed. I guess magical items weren't usually made with modern highschool fashion in mind. So far, I've just hidden them under my clothes. Maybe I should wear a beanie to school, although I couldn't think of an excuse to keep it on while in class.

Real life was so troublesome.

Besides the fact that I was now saddled with three magical items which didn't match, nothing else happened last night. I took a shower, changed into cotton candy colored oversized pajamas and climbed into bed. Now with this diadem on, and even though I didn't feel anything different - I barely felt it on my head anymore, I probably wouldn't wake up in the middle of a forest or war or whatever tonight, right?

And you know what? The diadem worked exactly as it should, because NOTHING HAPPENED.

Okay, I did dream I was eating ice-cream and someone asked me what flavor it was, but the flavor kept changing every scoop I ate, so no matter what I said it would become a different flavor...but that was just a dream.

The alarm rang and I woke up.

I also realized I should stop saying the flavor in my mouth and say some other flavor. With my usual luck, I'd probably guess which flavor it would change to next.

So there! I beat my dream!

Anyway, back to the usual day in a life of Sam. Or at least what I had always felt the usual day in my life should be like. I got out of bed, washed up, got dressed for school and went downstairs for breakfast.

It felt... amazing, this ordinary morning.

"Good morning, goddess." Ki smiled the moment I stepped into the dining room. And what a sight!

Dad on his screen with his usual coffee. Mum looked up and smiled, "Morning, Sam. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah." I said and Mum returned to fussing over Sabre who had spilled cereal on the front of the PJs.

It was like an absolutely NORMAL day! I sat down and had pancakes. So now it wasn't just a normal day - it was a really good normal day.

Sabre looked up from her own plate of pancakes, she was already dressed for school - today in tight black jeans and a maroon off shoulder sweater, "Why are you wearing that?"

She was referring to the golden circlet around my head.

I shrugged, wishing I could wear cool clothes and go to school too, "It's supposed to help me limit my power."

"Don't people usually wear magic items to boost their power?" Savy asked.

Well... Yeah, I guess that would make more sense.

I gingerly took it off, "I guess I wouldn't really need it in the day time."

Dad looked up from his screen.

"It's kind of against school rules too." I tried to reason with Dad before he said anything.

He looked like he was considering it.

"And I won't sleep in school." I said. I felt like I was making good points here, and Dad was the kind of Alpha who listened to reason.

But Mum said, "Oh, but I thought it looked very pretty, Sam."

Please Mum! Pretty wasn't even a real reason.

"It's true." Dad nodded, "You look like a real princess."

I'm sure I did not!

"Taylor says a princess must always wear her crown no matter how heavy it is." Sabre informed me.

Savy cackled, "Yes, Taylor knows everything Sam."

I glared at her for being so unhelpful.

In the end, Ki came to the rescue and wrapped the golden band in black ribbon. He even figured out how to loop the ends of the ribbon through the back.

Savy suggested wearing the back under my hair so it sat more like a headband than a tiara. She sniggered when she said tiara.

This coming from the future princess of the Snow Moon Kingdom.

And so I put the diadem back on, like a headband. Ki helped me with the ribbon - because that didn't count as putting it on for me. (We tested. I could still take off the diadem myself. Magic was very particular like that.)

After that, the lambo blasted out of our garage and Savy waved goodbye to the "fam" and joined Ben and Lizzy for a ride to school.

The sure didn't make middle schoolers like they used to.

But this was also part of a normal day... At least for me.

I had to say, normal days were AWESOME!