I don't own the original story, or anything you might recognize from its many renditions. This is merely my own retelling of the story with a new twist.
Once upon a time, a princess vanished from her home. The kingdom was a very small one, and it is long forgotten by history, but in its time, the kingdom was pleasant and prosperous. There were several small villages spread throughout the lush countryside, and a single castle near the center of the territory. The castle was not so large as some, but it was still beautiful. The kingdom had many skilled artisans, and they had come from miles around to put their best work into the turrets and walls, carving beautiful details into silver-white stone, so that the palace glowed like the moon both day and night. The King and Queen were good, wise people and they were always throwing parties for nobles and peasants alike.
Now, after ruling for some years, the King and Queen had two children. The elder of the two was a boy, the Crown Prince, whose name was Nicholas. The younger was girl named Emilia. Both children were beautiful and good, though they often got into mischief as children will. Both had dark hair like their father, but while Nicholas' eyes were the deep blue-green of forest shadows, Emilia had eyes of clear, crystalline grey with dark rings about them, so that they seemed as luminous as the palace they lived in. The children would often play in the gardens and shared their things freely with children from the surrounding villages who came to visit the palace with their parents. When their parents would host parties, they would also have their own small parties with plenty of sweets and laughter for everyone. Nicholas and Emilia loved one another dearly, and each called the other their best friend.
One day, the Queen became very ill with a disease no one knew. The King frantically sent for one healer after another, but nothing anyone did had any effect. Within a few weeks, the Queen had died. The King fell into despair, and the light seemed to go out of the kingdom. Even the sun seemed cold and far away to everyone. Nicholas and Emilia clung to one another desperately, as the King seemed to have forgotten that he had children at all.
As the weeks turned to months, a terrible change came over the King. His heart grew hard and cold, and he began making harsh laws for his people. He outlawed music and dancing, and he forbid anyone but the nobles and servants from coming to the palace. Soon, he was harsh even to his children. One day, he found Nicholas and Emilia playing in the gardens in front of the castle. Emilia was lisping a lullaby their mother used to sing to them in her clear, childish voice. For reasons even he did not fully understand, the sound of his small daughter's voice enraged the King. He all but ran toward the two children, roaring for Emilia to stop singing.
Little Emilia had never seen her father behave in such a manner, and at that moment, he looked nothing at all like her father. In fact, he looked like a terrible beast. She was so frightened that she leapt to her feet and dashed toward the castle gates with the enraged King behind her and Nicholas sitting frozen in shock where he had been listening to his sister. Emilia ran so quickly that it seemed her small bare feet did not touch the ground. She hardly broke her stride as she slipped through the bars of the gate. One of the guards tried to catch hold of the little princess as she passed, thinking perhaps to calm her, but he only succeeded in snatching the small crown from her dark hair.
The King stood at the gates and shouted after his daughter, "You wish to leave?! So be it! Don't ever let me see you here again!" These words began his undoing.
Emilia did not return, though her brother waited beside the gate and paced the grounds until after darkness fell. The King, seeming to wake from some awful dream, found himself filled with remorse for his cruelty and hasty words. He sent out a message throughout the kingdom for everyone to search for the princess. When no one found her, he sent messages to other kingdoms for a hundred miles around. No one succeeded, however, and it was as though Emilia had vanished into thin air.
The years passed, and the King's guilt only added to the darkness growing in his heart. Soon, it spread to his son as well. Nicholas had grieved for his sister and friend at first, but the King spoke terrible words to him and convinced him that Emilia had abandoned them. Under his father's influence, Emilia's mischief and shortcomings seemed to grow while the sweetness of her nature faded. He came to remember his sister as a wicked, spiteful child, whom he had always hated. Soon, he forgot her altogether. Instead, he became absorbed in money and power, just as his father did. The kingdom grew larger and the royal family grew richer. They expanded their castle until it was one of the finest for miles around, but there was no beauty in all its magnificence.
Eventually, when Nicholas was nineteen, his father died, and Nicholas himself became King. He threw lavish parties for days, inviting only the wealthiest and most well-known of the royals and nobles. One night, during the feasting and balls, a knock came at the castle doors. The head servant, Cogsworth, came to fetch the King from the ball, claiming that he had a most unusual visitor who insisted she needed to speak to him immediately. The King angrily strode into the entrance hall and was enraged to see nothing more than a bent old woman dressed in rags.
"What do you mean, hag? You have interrupted my coronation ball," Nicholas shouted, stopping several feet from the woman and wrinkling his nose at her, though the only smell in the room was an earthy one a little like lavender. The woman raised her head as he approached, revealing a face deeply lined with age and wild silver hair.
"Many apologies, Your Majesty," came a voice like the cracking of ice, "I am merely a humble traveler, but I came here long ago and I remembered the kindness of your parents. I hoped that I might seek shelter here for a night. It is very cold outside for one as old as I. I would gladly offer His Majesty my most prized possession in return for any kindness he might show a poor old woman." She moved and extended a hand from her ragged cloak. In it was a single, blossoming red rose. Anyone else would have been astonished by the beauty of the flower. Its petals were a deep, rich red that seemed to dance in the light, and there was such an air of life and power about it that some might have even claimed that it was glowing.
Nicholas, blinded by the ugly things in his heart and mind, sneered at the gift, "Away, crone! What use have I for a single flower? Are you blind as well as ugly? Look around you! I have many flowers here far finer than that pitiful rose."
Suddenly, the old woman's eyes seemed to glow a brilliant gold. She began to straighten her stooped figure, and as she did so, her rags fell away and the wrinkles on her face became smooth. Within seconds, she stood a head taller than the now horrified Nicholas. Her silver hair flowed down her back and she wore a long robe of rich, dark blue cloth that was set with what appeared to be tiny stars. Her lovely face looked hard and cold as she gazed on the King. "You are a hard man, Nicholas. You have no kindness or love in your heart. You shall now pay for all your greed and arrogance, lest you do more harm than your father."
Nicholas, forgetting his status for once, fell to his knees and clasped his hands before him, "Please, my lady! I see now that you are a person of great influence. Have mercy upon my lowly self. I would be honored to host one so powerful as you."
The enchantress shook her head almost sadly and once more extended the hand with the rose, "You have already revealed the man you are. It is time that the ugliness of your heart was reflected for all to see, so that none might be deceived by you."
Nicholas found himself rising into the air, and though he cried out for mercy, the Enchantress did not relent. His body twisted and shifted in midair, and he sprouted curving horns, sharp fangs, and thick fur. Within moments, he collapsed on the floor, growling and gasping for air. At that moment, the doors to the ballroom burst open. The guests at the ball had heard the commotion and the castle guards were called to arms. When they saw the terrible creature crouched on the floor, people began to scream and shout.
"Oh! Look at it!"
"How awful!"
"Where is the King?"
"That thing must have eaten him! See the tattered robes?!"
"Capture it!" the guards rushed toward the King, who was struggling to stand, their swords raised.
Nicholas roared in terror and staggered a few steps before collapsing once more and burying his face in his new paws. He expected to feel the bite of steel, but suddenly all was silent. He slowly raised his head and found the strangest sight yet before him. The guests and guards had all vanished. Instead, the hall was filled with his other servants, who appeared to be asleep, though they stood on their feet.
"Boy, look to me!" ordered the Enchantress.
Nicholas cringed away from the tall woman, who now stood beside him. "Please, if you're going to kill me, just do it. Only…" he hesitated and glanced at the servants, "Perhaps you should leave them be. They're only servants after all."
The Enchantress raised one eyebrow at him and nodded slowly, "I shall spare you all. I have seen the hearts of these simple people. They remember you as you once were, and for their sake and the sake of that boy from long ago, I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself." Nicholas stared, his mouth hanging open. The Enchantress continued, "I shall leave this rose with you. You have until the last petal falls to complete the conditions of your redemption. First, you must right the wrong that which was done long ago and call back the moonchild who once filled this place with light. Second, learn to love another and earn their love in return. Only then will you and all you see here be free. Fail and you shall remain as you are until the end of your life." With these words, she let the flower go, and now it truly did glow. The light grew brighter and brighter, so that Nicholas had to hide his eyes.
When he looked up again, he saw that the servants had changed. They had all become like household objects, though they were moving about and crying out fearfully to one another. Then he noticed that the Enchantress was gone. Instead, only the rose remained, hovering several feet above the floor and glowing softly.