I dreamed a dream.

“Oh… you’re awake?” I heard Regina say. I wasn’t awake. This was a dream, but I didn’t know it yet. I did know Regina was in it and looking at me. She had a strange expression on her face and the rest of the room seemed unclear… or there was no rest of the room. In the dream I felt a pulsing… sort of like a heartbeat but much slower. So slow it was only the one beat. It could thrum over a lifetime...

I heard a voice… it seemed like my own.

“No... sex,” I said… or I heard me say. Regina’s brow creased, almost mirroring the puzzlement I felt right now.

“No sex before,” she said. Before. Before the Ring. I knew what she meant.

“Want... sex,” I said. I wanted to nod, but it didn’t seem like I had a head to nod with. No body in this dream. Nobody. Regina looked at me with a warm, almost pitying smile.

“I know,” she said.

“No ...sex… want…” I said. “No … sex… want… no… sex…” I didn’t sound confused, even though I rather felt it.

“Don’t worry,” the Goddess of my dreams said softly. “I’ll take care of you.” Her promise was genuine and made us very happy. Brightness flooded in from the corner of my vision and then…