Sleep Jump

Chapter 2: "Princess"

Chapter 2: "Princess"

"Samantha, slow down!"

Laughing in joy, Sam ignored the command from the older woman who shared many of her features. Tightly gripping the reigns in her hands, she urged her horse to speed up. Her steed rushed down the dirt path surrounded by roses. As they moved, Sam spotted a short fence in the distance. Grinning, she steered her ride towards the barrier. With a wild neigh, the mount leapt over the fence and landed on a bed of lilies. Ordering her steed to slow down, she took in the euphoria of riding in a situation where there were no deadly situations to struggle through.

"What has gotten into you, Samantha?" the older woman caught up the Sam after a few minutes. Her golden hair was pulled up into a tight bun to reveal her slightly aging features. She wore a light blue sundress which was pulled over to the left side of the horse with her legs while side mounting the nag. Sam thought that the other woman appeared far more graceful than her, even if her own way of firmly locking her legs on either side of the saddle was far more practical for high speed racing. "I didn't know that you could ride like that."

"I was doing what came natural, Mother," Sam silently wondered how many times she rode horses. After the eight hundredth jump, she stopped trying to keep track of everything she learned.

"Well then, perhaps we should increase your lessons," her temporary mom smiled.

"Meh, let's see how I feel tomorrow," Sam looked up to the crimson sky. The day had passed far too quickly. She had spent the entire day with this version of Sam's family. Most of the activities had been incredibly mundane. Meals, lessons, and eventually the horse riding that they just finished had all been a part of the peaceful time she had spent in this life. The world jumper had enjoyed every moment of it.

"You were rather energetic today, sweetheart," the mom mentioned as they directed their horses to the stables.

"Oh? Well, it was just a beautiful day. I wanted to make the most of it," Sam explained.

"It was, wasn't it?" the older woman gazed contently into the burning horizon. "Tomorrow should be the same too."

"I wouldn't count on it," Sam muttered unhappily. "Never know what tomorrow will bring."

Her interim mother giggled, "Now that sounds like my pessimistic daughter."

Sam's lips twitched between a frown and a smile. The inside of her chest fluttered with emotions that she couldn't begin to understand. Sighing, she forced herself to ignore the stuff that she couldn't do anything about until tomorrow. Upon arriving at the stables, the two women dismounted their steeds. Allowing the servants to finish prepping the horses for the night, they walked back to the massive castle made up of white bricks.

Upon entering the enormous building, the two women separated to clean up for diner. Once in her room, Sam found that her green dress was covered in dirt from her horse ride. Upon stripping and cleaning herself, she adorned a new dress so that she could make her way to her final meal in this life. The world jumper entered the giant dining hall with all the grace of someone pretending to be a princess. There was more space in this one room than in most houses. Tall windows lined each of the side walls in between the stone pillars which helped hold up a ceiling that was painted to look like the sky. A long, crimson rug covered the marble floor to keep the table and chairs from scuffing up the shining ground. Their long dining table stretched across most of the room, but the other three members of her short-term family were seated in a cluster at the end of the table.

"Ah, Samantha!" a tall man stood from his seated. His sharp chin and long cheekbones gave him a regal appearance, or it could have been the golden crown covering his brown hair. He moved in close to her for a hug. His wide frame dwarfed her as he lifted her up to gently shake her around. "It's good to see you, love! Sorry that I was busy all day! I've heard that you've been in a chipper mood as of late!"

"It's…" Sam slowly wrapped her hands around the man, "it's good to see you too, Dadd—err, Father."

"Arthur," the temporary mom chastised the man. "The food is getting cold."

"Of course! You're right, Morgana!" Arthur immediately released the girl. "Let's eat!"

While the man took heavy strides back to his seat, Sam moved to her own chair in a daze. Upon sitting, she realized that her chair was probably softer than most of the beds that she slept on throughout her time jumping between different worlds. The smell of seasoned meat flooded into her nose. She blinked upon seeing the small feast in front of them. A large cooked turkey sat at the centerpiece of a wide variety of side dishes ranging from simple vegetables to rich caviar. Sam felt overwhelmed. This was definitely her favorite life so far.

The servants dressed in silk suits moved to fill their plates for them. This world's version of Travis watched over the other workers. Unlike the first mate variant from the pirate life, this model of the man was far more aged. The wrinkles across his face told her that he was probably in his fifties. When the family's plates were full, the servants stepped back to let the royals eat. Sam wasted no time diving into her meal.

"Samantha!" Morgana reprimanded the girl. "I taught you better table manners than that!"

Arthur swung his head back in laughter, "Oh, let the girl live for a day! It's just family here."

Morgana pursed her lips, "That isn't the point. We must be the example for others to follow."

The little boy at the table giggled at Sam's rude show of shoving food into her mouth. His short brown hair was combed back to allow everyone to see the round features of his face, "You're being silly, Sam! I thought you were worried about your filler!"

"Figure, Jonathan. She's concerned about her figure," Morgana sighed. "Well, at least you're eating again. That's a positive."

Sam mostly ignored their discussion about her. She didn't care much about the problems of the person that she inhabited besides the day she stole. If this version of herself was a moody teenager concerned about her looks, then that was the original person's problem. Right now, Sam was going to focus on her feast. If her counterpart had a problem with it, then her alternate self could deal with tomorrow.

"That duke guy is coming tomorrow, right?" Jonathan decided to change the subject. "Can I stay out of the meeting? He's really stuck up."

Morgana surprisingly didn't correct her son. Instead, she nodded her head numbly. Arthur's bright smile faltered, "Ah, yes. Duke Ferdinand. We're discussing our trade agreements…again."

Sam slowed her eating. She glanced to her temporary father. The diary had mentioned a Duke Ferdinand. While the rest of the family seemed to be annoyed by the duke, her counterpart spoke highly of the outside man. The original Samantha mentioned how handsome he was. He apparently was a dashing man full of confidence. This version of Sam felt butterflies every time that he stole glances at her, which was apparently often. He seemed to visit almost every month too, even if he didn't need to do so. It was almost like…oh, that made sense. Maybe she could do something nice for this version of herself considering that she was stuffing her counterpart's stomach.

"Do you think that I could help tomorrow?" Sam spoke up.

Arthur blinked at her in confusion, "You want to help with the meeting with the duke? You always seem to curl into yourself when he visits."

"Well, I am getting older," Sam mentioned. "I should start taking my duties seriously, right? This could be a good start. It's not like I'm going to do it on my own. I'll just shadow you."

"It would be a good experience for you," Morgana noted as she eyed her daughter in curiosity. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," Sam nodded. "But I might try to get out of it in the morning. Don't let me, okay? Force me to do it. In fact, encourage me to talk to the duke as much as possible."

"If you say so," Arthur nodded.

Jonathan snorted, "I don't know why you would want to be a part of this. It sounds super boring."

Sam smiled, "You'll understand when you're older."

From there, dinner passed far too quickly. The food swiftly disappeared. Even with dessert served, the night passed seemingly in only a few short minutes. Joy flooded her chest at being able to enjoy a family meal once again. They shared jokes, long discussions, and heartfelt moments. Like everything though, the nice evening faded into the void. The sign of its end came from a yawn by Sam's younger brother.

"I suppose that it is getting late," Morgana rose to move to her son. "Time for bed, Jonathan."

"Yes, Mother," Jonathan muttered. He took her hand to rise from his chair.

Sam frowned, "Can't we stay for a few more minutes?"

Arthur smiled, "Sorry, Sammy, but tomorrow will be busy. We all need a good night's rest."

Sam lowered her eyes, "Yeah. I guess."

Before they separated from her, her temporary family all shared hugs with her. She enjoyed the last bit of familial warmth that she could get. When they began to walk away from her, Sam weakly reached out for them. Not able to think of any excuse, she numbly let her arm drop. Tears stung at the edge of her eyes. Her lips trembled as her brow twisted in despair. Ignoring the servants cleaning up the table, she slowly exited the dining hall to make the long trip back to her room.

Right before she could pull open the door to her sleeping chamber, a voice called out to her, "Lady Samantha?"

Sam tightly clenched at the doorknob, "What is it, Sir Travis?"

The old butler moved down the hallway. Suits of armor lined the walls. Moonlight from the windows bounced off the metal to give the walkway an unnerving appearance, "I noticed how upset you were after dinner. Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," Sam hissed. "Today is over."

"Yes," Travis spoke slowly as if he was trying to figure out the point of her words. "That's necessary for tomorrow to happen."

"I don't want tomorrow to happen," Sam stated.

"Why?" Travis questioned. "Do you not want to meet with Duke Ferdinand?"

"It won't be me that meets him," Sam muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"I said that it won't be me that meets him!" Sam whipped around to glare hatefully at the butler.

"What does that mean?"

"You wouldn't believe me even I told you."

"I've never known you to be a liar, Lady Samantha. If you tell me something is bothering you, then I'll believe you."

Sam laughed lightly. Her eyes shined with the beginning stages of madness, "I guess you're right, Travis. Every version of you has always been on my side."

"Version of me?"

"Oh yeah. You wouldn't believe how many of you that I met. The last one was my first mate. Another one was my co-piolet. The weirdest one was when you were a talking dog. Every world has a Travis. Some are old. Some are young. All of them stick by my side for the whole day. Each one has the same personality, unlike my other selves. Loyal. Trusting. Full of wonder and hope. It's sickening. You're just one out of infinity."

Travis shook his head, "You're not making any sense."

"Of course I'm not. I don't even really understand it," Sam's face was laced with apathy. "Every time I go to sleep, I wake up in a different body with a different life in a different world. My gender, race, age, and even species can always be different. The only consistencies are my name and you. There is always a Sam and a Travis."

"That…is quite the story," Travis reached up to stroke his chin. "It would explain why you are acting so different today."

"You believe me?"

"Well, I believe that you believe it at the very least," Travis took a step forward to get a closer look at her. "I must admit that when I look in your eyes, I do see a different person than Lady Samantha. Your soul is different."

"Soul, huh?" Sam shrugged. "If that's how you want to put it."

"How did this all happen?"

"I don't know. One day, I went to bed and woke up in a warzone. That was my first jump. I thought that it was just a dream at first until I died," Sam lightly traced her stomach. She could still remember the sensation of being stabbed through her belly button. The feeling of cold steel pressing against her burning insides haunted her brief moments of levity between jumps. "So I knew from the beginning that there was no way out. Dying just sends me to a new life. Trying to stay awake is useless. Eventually, my body will give out on me. No matter what, I have to go to sleep and go to a new life. The worst thing is that I don't know why any of this is happening."

"Well, that sounds terrible," Travis mentioned. "I can't even begin to understand how that feel. That explains why you were so clingy to your family. Did you have a family in your original life?"

"I…" tears ran down Sam's cheeks. "I did."

"It must be hard," Travis took a deep breath. "But if there's one thing I know about Lady Samantha is that she can do anything if she sets her mind to it. If you're a version of her, then you must be the same in that regard. I'm sure that you'll figure it out."

"I haven't yet," Sam slumped slightly in depression. "I've lost count of how many jumps I've had. There's no way out. There's no hope. There's no point to it at all."

"No, I think that you're wrong," Travis argued. "There is always some point to everything. Maybe your 'jumps' are meant for you to help your other selves? You pushed for Lady Samantha to speak with Duke Ferdinand. They've been attracted to each other since they were children."

"Great. I'm a match maker," Sam grumbled. "That's great and all, but I have my own life to look out for. My own problems to deal with. Even if the memories are a bit fuzzy."

"I'm sure that it will work out for you," Travis moved in to pull her into a hug. "I believe in you, La—Sam."

"Whatever," Sam pushed him away. "Thanks for listening. I needed to tell someone or I was going to go nuts. Or more nuts. Don't worry. You'll have 'Lady Samantha' back by the morning."

Tired and conflicted, Sam yanked open the door to her room. She slammed it shut. Just as she was about to make her way to her bed, Travis's voice called out one final time, "Godspeed, Sam."

Sam paused for a moment before throwing herself onto the bed. Not bothering to change out of her dress or clean up her tear stained face, she forced her eyes shut to begin the process of moving to a new life. Right before her consciousness faded from her princess life, she muttered, "Godspeed, Travey."