For three nights after the new moon she dreamt of the prince and the bear again and every time she woke Mavourneen found herself more joyful than she thought she could be.  When the dreams ceased, however, her worry returned and she longed for the next moon cycle. 

When it came she watched from her balcony, the bear crawling out of the wood. When he drew near she clipped a rose from the trellis and climbed down to meet him. 

“Hello again,” she greeted, face to face with her bear. She held up the rose to give it to him, “Thank you, for the roses and the poetry,” she said, reaching a hand out to the beast. 

The bear sniffed it, poked it with a wet nose, and kissed her hand with its tongue. Mavourneen cracked a smile in response and went to scratch under the bear’s chin. 

The princess sat down next to the beast, leaning against his thick coat. He was soft and warm, making her want to go to sleep at the very moment. But the bear nudged her, trying to push her up onto his back. Seeing this the princess climbed up on his back to lay down and buried her face in his coat. There was no smell of game, like she had expected, he smelled sweet like cinnamon floating in a pool of honey and the smell lulled her to sleep. 

The bear carried her off during the night, and when she woke at day break she found she was no longer at the palace. 

It was a cave, with light coming from both the entrance and a fire lit in the centre of the cavern. Though it was a cave it was furnished as chambers fit for a noble. 

Mavourneen sat in a four poster bed that had been tucked in the back of the room. To the right of the bed was a rocking chair and a mirror, while to the left there was a basin hewn into the wall that collected water.