A wail was released into the room, causing all that were in there to sigh with relief. It was humid and tense before, but now the air seemed to cool. A damp hand went onto Ella's shoulder to steady her. The midwife smiled as she wrapped a cotton blanket around the newborn babe. Ella loosened noticeably, slowly reviving from the labor, her forehead damp.

Everyone stared at the baby, Ella's baby, her first baby, the long-awaited heir. "It's a girl, Eleanor. She's perfect. Nothing went wrong."

The few maids and Ella's mother, Aleida, laughed softly in relief. Ella was momentarily too weak to utter a sound.

"What shall the name be, sweet?" asked the new grandmother. A new life, a life full of chances to mold the world was in this tiny body. Ella's mother was full of pride, eager to watch Ella raise her own child.

Ella hesitated, thinking as though searching far away. "Aleida!"

"Aleida? After your mother?" A maid spoke up. Ella smiled and the midwife soothed and cleansed the baby.

"Princess Aleida Eleanor of Bamarre," murmured the namesake. Another Aleida! Will you be anything like me? mused Ella's mother.

"Yes, the destined princess, daughter of King Charles and Queen Eleanor," the midwife shouted.

My daughter, you'll be a princess, my new love. I have someone to depend on me, to take care of, Ella mused, I already love my daughter...Aleida....my first and only child, I swear to take care of you.

"Call the king in so he may -" the grandmother stopped short. Heads turned to a corner in the still warm, spacious room.

In the corner was a woman, gazing with tight, thin lips drawn into a line, at Ella, then to Aleida. Her gown was long and midnight, with gold embroidery sewn into intricate designs. Pale, a slender hand set down a hood from her cloak. In her other arm, she held a small bundle, wrapped in white linen. It appeared that the woman wasn't old in appearance, but something in her face told that she knew more than most. It was not a wrinkled, dark face, but the face of a middle aged lady. Or a fairy.

"Selene! I -" started Ella.

"Every fairy in this room is ignorant," cut in Selene smoothly. "They are ignorant to the reach of their power, for they dare not use it." The pale fairy stared at every pair of eyes in the room. Ella's mother fought tears from her eyes. "The world could be a better place if fairies thought deeper and helped Earth, not humans."

Aleida, the grandmother, and the rest of the maids, indeed also fairies, then glared at this odd fairy. "We do not use our powers to their extent for a reason."

The dark fairy stepped forward. "It does not matter. I did not come here to argue." Selene's voice faltered. This baby, this baby that might have never existed. Selene glanced back at the past and then swept it away again.

A step forward. "I come to give a gift to your daughter."

The words did not register in Ella's mind.

"Selene, I'm sorry about what happened before, but I...." Ella did not find the words to finish.

"Selene! What are you thinking? Be reasonable, this is the heir of Bamarre!" Aleida, always the protective mother, shouted. The words echoed and Ella flinched.

Selene paid no attention. "Eleanor...Why was it you that is the lucky one?" Her voice tensed, and her eyes frightening. Selene was different now; she did not resist to her darker powers, but gave herself willingly into it. She was transfixed. She had time - and possibly the power - to focus on how to make the world how she saw fit. Selene's vision swirled in her eyes. She fought her weaknesses. Perhaps I should turn back now. Selene hesitated. The thought of revenge....She thought of what Ella had done to her, to her beloved ones....

Ella regained her senses enough to guard her new child. "Selene, what is this about? What have I done?" Her heart pounded in her ears.

Whispers started in the room, hurried, screeching, hushing, moaning words that were not understood by Ella. It started. A rush of mental and physical pain shot through Ella. There must be a way...Selene, please do not harm my child...she is innocent, punish me....Agony and fear coursed through Ella. Her throat ached, her eyes stung, her heartbeat raced, her mind screamed at her. It's all my fault...but why now Selene? It was so long ago....

"Your daughter will suffer." Selene's voice was surprisingly soft. Her heart pounded as fast as Ella's did – the black, sullen heart.

Ella felt as though she had ruined everything for her daughter already. "Fairies! Someone stop her! Please, do something!"

"Aleida, this innocent child will pay the price, for her dear mother is in debt. Aleida will pay her mother's fee," the mad fairy spat out. As if anyone could stop her! She hardly saw Ella in front of her. "The newborn child of Eleanor will never be heir of the Bamarrian throne. She will not be known as the princess of this country, not as the first child of the royal couple!"

"NO! I apologize! She has done nothing to you!" Ella shrieked. The baby's wails that were soft before, grew loud and Ella wept. The midwife tried to shush the baby.

"Not only that, but the child will not speak. She will not utter a word. Her future, her destiny, her perfect life has already been destroyed as she is no longer a princess. She is a commoner, and a peasant with no voice! She is now nothing, just like I had been!" Selene stumbled, almost fainting. The would not have the beautiful voice that Ella wished so much for her baby to have.

"She is cursed! She will not live long under my curse! How can a child be happy when she is nothing, and cannot even speak? When she knows someone else has taken her throne, and that she is in poverty when someone else is laughing at her jewels that should've been hers?" Selene ached slightly inside. Ella had no idea what Selene's real purpose was. Selene truly did not care whether the child was a princess at all.

Ella wept openly, as the other fairies in the candlelit room now did. "Selene! Undo it, please do not curse her! Take it away!" Selene herself looked frightened, but continued.

"The child will die before she reaches adulthood." Her eyes watered at the words, yet again hesitating. Yes, she had done enough. Before her conscience could settle, she glared one last time at Ella.

Selene murmured, "This child that I hold in my arms will be known as the princess as Bamarre. She is someone else's child. She is from the orphanage. You will raise her as if she were Aleida. But this child...." Selene at last lifted the layers of the white bundle in her arms to reveal another sleeping baby, "Her name is Aurora, and she will be a far better queen that Aleida would've been." She left the baby onto the bed and vanished.

A few hours later, Ella had at last stopped crying, and so had the other fairies. Before dawn came, they formed an idea.

"Can't we tell Charles?"

"No! We cannot, ever! He mustn't know a fairy has cursed his true daughter! He'll tell the whole kingdom, and then what will Selene do? It is impossible."

"And what will happen to Aleida, my baby?" Ella winced.

Silence followed. Then Ella's mother said, "Let me take care of her. I will raise her away from the palace...Perhaps Selene will not find her."

Ella nodded slowly. "What else...can I do? I can do nothing! My child, I did this to her!"

"Hush! No, you haven't. M'am, are you sure of this?" Another fairy spoke.

"Yes, I can and will do it. The child should at least live. Perhaps life would be safer for her this way anyways. I can protect her. The child may not live long, but -" The grandmother was interrupted.

"Mother! We can alter the spell!"

"Oh? How so?"

More fairies spoke up, gathering around the sleeping baby. "Yes, we can! If we all just combine a little of our power, we can at least tweak the spell."

A cold breeze wafted into the room. Ella rubbed her raw, red eyes. Her baby awoke with a gurgle. Aurora slept in a little crib, away from the others in the room.

"Sleep," murmured Ella.

"What?" Aleida stared at her, wondering if Ella was still sane.

"Of course! A long, long sleep!" A fairy shouted.

"Perhaps she could sleep for many years, it could be just as well as death." Mary, one of the fairies smiled.

"But then! Everyone she loves in the world, everything will be gone, be changed."

"Then it's perfect. It will, in our view of seeing the situation, be like death. But why should she not die at all?"

They fell silent again.

"I am willing to risk it," Ella whispered. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to the others. "I wish for her to have a chance to lead a fair life. If only...you could let her wake up from her sleep when her hero kisses her, if she has not awaken after a hundred years of sleep. That is all I ask. Any one who can find her, rescue her. I don't know how but..." Her voice shook and faded. She was so exhausted! How sweet would it be to sleep and forget everything.

"Ohh...perhaps we could do that. A hundred years, or less if she is waken by a kiss."

Ella's mother concentrated on the horizon for several minutes before answering. "Sometimes, there are exceptions to the rules. This may be insane, but I think this could be for the best. We can risk it. They are minor alterations. But...should we?"

Ella smoothed the few, fine hairs on her daughter's head. She looked thoughtfully in her daughter's eyes, caressed its soft, warm skin, hushed her gurgles and peeps. Ella thought of the life that could lay before her baby.

"Yes. Let it be done. Will you do it for me? For Aleida?" Ella spoke in a rush, exhilarated.

The fairies closed their eyes and sighed, "Yes."

"I'll do the blessing, and everyone shall close it in the end in agreement. Let the magic flow through you." Aleida, ever the protective mother of Ella, closed her eyes.

"Let Aleida, first child of Eleanor and Charles, be slightly freed from the curse. She will not inherit the crown of Bamarre, let that part of Selene's curse still be. Let her live her childhood with I, her grandmother. When it is time for her to die, let her instead fall into a deep sleep instead of dying. She shall sleep for a hundred years. If she is kissed by a hero before the hundred years are over, let her awaken as she was before her sleep."

"And so be it,", each fairy chorused. They felt the magic flood themselves and let it flow to the baby, who cooed and gurgled. Ella began weeping again and stroked the babe's soft, tiny fingers.

"And...so it is!" Ella's mother smiled. "Ella, your child is saved."

Ella laid the baby onto the bed and knelt down. "Thank you, thank you a thousand and one times. I am forever grateful to you all, and I owe you my life. Thank you...I -" She collapsed, despite her struggle.

Her mother shook her head. "I had to...It is still my responsibility to take care of you." Her body seemed to sigh as she reflected...

The sun rose on the horizon, its rays gracing the baby Aleida's face. And suddenly Ella had hope.

A/N: YAY! YOU MADE IT! I have the rest of the storyline figured out, so updates shouldn't take TOO long. Please leave a review, and point out all the faults you can find! I want to make sure I write a good story, so please tell me what you like and what can be improved. Is it realistic enough? Thanks...!