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Sleeping Beauty,Waking Nightmare
In times long gone, when faeries were not just the inhabitants of stories, when any girl might become a princess, and when nothing was as it seemed, a baby was born.
This baby was no mere girl, but a princess, princess to the King and Queen of the Realm. She was their only child and, as such, precious to them. In his youth, the King had done a great favor to the Queen of the Seelie Court, and now he asked that this favor be repaid. A grand event would be held to introduce the new baby and bless her with her name, along with several faerie gifts.
I'm sure you know the story up to this point, but wait. I'll tell you what really happened.
The day before the ceremony, a threat was made upon the kingdom by enemies of the Realm. Specifically, the threat was made on the life of the princess. Knowing that they could not be cowed by threats, the Royals did what was prudent. One of the princess's would be maids had also given birth, just two nights after the queen. This was the baby that would be presented, the real princess kept safe and guarded for the night.
It seemed as though things were going to go well. The fae had transferred their actual blessings to scrolls which would be read over the princess when it was safe. Those they said over the maid's little girl were nothing, just fabrications with a good deal of magic thrown around to make things look good.
But then, the dark fae arrived. Insulted at not being invited by the Queen and King, they cursed the baby so that she would die upon her sixteenth birthday from being pricked on the finger by a spindle. Yes, you know that part as well, I'm sure. You also know that the bright fae banded together to put a contingency on the curse, changing the spell from death to sleep.
"Good King, we owe you no more. In fact, it is you who owe us now. Should this come to pass, should this child indeed fall under the curse, you, too, shall sleep. The entire keep shall sleep, the whole capital city, the entire central kingdom. Until you can fulfill your favor or the princess wake shall you sleep."
But the King and Queen knew now that, should their duplicity be discovered, the dark fae would take revenge and kill the princess. Boxing the scrolls in a small, plain trunk, they begged one last favor of the fae: that they take the real baby princess and keep her safe in a neighboring kingdom. The good fae agreed reluctantly.
"On one condition. That the princess, when she is old enough to understand her role, pays us back."
And so princess and scroll were spirited off, two of the bright faeries taking forms of a mortal mother and father and raising the princess, who knew nothing of who she was. The threat made against the Realm was reconciled, and things went well, though all spindles were banned from the city. However, when the false princess turned sixteen, she pricked her finger and the whole Realm fell into a dark slumber. It was also then that the dark fae realized they'd been tricked, for the girl who fell into slumber did not bear the taint of good magic when they had time to examine her.
It has been six years. The Realm slumbers, and in the Kingdom of Duskbright, the true princess-- whom the fae have named Pyra-- has become quite the young woman to be reckoned with. But now, it seems, the dark ones are closing in... Want to hear the rest? Well, just listen...
Summary: A twisted Sleeping Beauty tale, with faeries, revenge, and danger! The real princess is wide awake while her double lies in slumber. Can the true princess save the Realm from dark sleep? Will the prince rescue the false princess? Will the true princess fall prey to the whims of the dark fae?