It was night, and it was very dark.

I was standing on a hilltop, arms folded, gazing down on a tiny town of canvas tents. It wasn't Camelot, exactly—but it was close. The wind swirled, and the long, flowing gown I wore whipped around me. Strands of amber and garnet hung around my neck, and I was carrying a long, richly-decorated black cloak. I took a deep breath, and smelled something that made me smile. Campfires. Lots of them. I knew there were delightful gatherings happening around each of those fires, and I longed to be down there with them.

"Then go, wench."

I turned and saw a warrior, all done up in well-worn battle armor. His handsome, ruddy face was almost as scarred as that armor, and his hair and beard were red. His cloak and shield were red, too, and he had a rather "wild" look about him, like a beast that's not exactly dangerous—but not quite tame, either.

Yep. You guessed it. Mars himself, in the middle of a lovely, romantic dream about the Middle Ages. Just my luck. Since he was in Aries, he'd brought his attitude with him, too. I decided to pass on giving him a piece of my mind for referring to me as a wench, and then suddenly reversed that decision. Dream or not, I wasn't going to be intimidated by this guy.

"How audacious of you, sir, to presume my station," I said, in an elegant voice I didn't know I owned. Who was that, anyway? Then it hit me. I had become my Venus—my refined, elegant Venus in Capricorn, who certainly has her hands full keeping company with a Sun-sign Sagittarius. The Sagittarius Sun in me is prone to tripping over the hem of her gown—especially if stairs are involved.

Mars was in Aries, so he was making a square to my Venus—deliberately irritating her, in other words. Hidden as she is in the dim light of my Twelfth House, it often takes something along the lines of a challenge from Mars to rouse her. But she was up now, and in fully indignant Capricorn mode. I actually had my hands on my hips—and I was arguing with Mars. Good thing it was a dream.

He pointed down the hill with his sword—which, of course, was drawn. "You'd do better to invest your energy in climbing down to join your companions than in seeking to provoke the God of War."

Venus was totally exasperated. She had obviously been instructed by Neptune to conjure a medieval dream for me, and this ruffian was interfering. Besides, this was one of the few scenarios—either real or dreamt—that gave her a reason to come out. To my Venus, there's absolutely nothing better than going away to a make-believe place and being addressed as "My Lady." Sure beats "Hey baby" from a dude in cut-offs, in her humble opinion. Plus, it gives her an opportunity to keep that clutzy Sag Sun under control—a little.

At any rate, I could tell that Venus wanted to get back to the script, and to her number one quest—finding me a knight. Not this one, however. I turned from Mars and started carefully making my way down the slope. To my surprise, I reached the bottom in just three steps. (Aren't dreams wonderful?) I forgot about the aggressive red god, and was taken in by my surroundings.

A fire pit dug in the shape of a crescent Moon was at the center of what was obviously a royal gathering. But then, of course it was. Where else would my Venus in Capricorn take me?

Suddenly, one of the richly-dressed men approached me. "My Lady, will you join us?" He extended a hand to me. I didn't even have to ask Venus what to do. I may be a Sag, but I'm definitely a female Sag. I took his hand, curtseyed deeply, looked right up into his eyes—and couldn't believe it. It was Michael—a dear friend I hadn't seen in at least five years. He and I had both changed zip codes so often we'd finally "lost" each other, and I had long since given up hope of ever seeing him again. I was delighted. What a wonderful dream! We sat by the fire and talked for hours.

Then his cell-phone rang.

His cell-phone? Even in the dream I knew that couldn't be right. I was distracted enough by the oddness of the sound that I began to wake up—and realized that it was actually the cell-phone Mercury had given me that was ringing. As I fumbled for it, I made a mental note to ask Mercury to help me find my missing friend. "Hello?"