Disclaimer: Sleeping Beauty and all its characters belong to Disney. The only things I own are the original plot and original characters.

Once Upon A Dream

Introduction

Sleeping, dreaming, slumber true

Thus she appeared to those who viewed

To be peacefully laid at rest

But the true tale herein is the best

So here is Princess Aurora's story to tell

That while sleeping, lived she in another spell

Chaper 1

Once upon a time, as in other familiar tales, there lived a Princess. Her name was Aurora Rose, like the flower, for she was beautiful and kind. She had long, wavy hair the color of a wheat field in the sun, and beautiful blue eyes resembling the clear deep waters of a lake. She was a curious person who loved to explore and could make friends with anyone and anything. On the day of her birth, the good fairies had gifted her with charm, manners, a beautiful voice, and a lovely face. She lived with her mother and father in a monolithic stone castle beside a large forest, in the time when all fairy tales happen, and she was happy there and loved by all.

"Rose!" her mother called. "Rose, where are you?"

Rose poked her face above the garden wall and giggled.

"I'm over here Mama!" she called, waving her small hand in the air before ducking back behind the wall. Her mother smiled as she saw her daughter's shining head disappear and walked over to the spot where Rose had vanished.

"Look what I found Mama!" Rose chimed, smiling up at her mother from where she crouched on the ground. "See?" she said, holding up in her hand a long thin piece of wood. "What is this? I've never seen anything like it before. This nice old woman came and gave it to me but then she left before I could ask her what it was." Rose frowned and studied the object in her hand. Her mother smiled and leaned down to see what her curious daughter had been given, shaking her head in amusement at how everything was bright with wonder in the eyes of a child. She imagined that Rose had been given another childish treasure, something like the shining stone that the cobbler had given her last week, complete with a tale about the Ellyllon, a type of elvish goblin, that lived in the land of Lamuris. Expecting something ordinary that would inspire a child's delight, Queen Gwen was momentarily frozen by what she saw in her daughter's hand. Her face blanched with fear and she stood mute for a moment before she quickly snatched the offending item from her daughter's small palm, shoving it into the folds of her dress, away from her child.

Plastering a smile on her face, the Queen tried to regain her composure so her daughter would not suspect that anything was amiss. "Oh that is nothing dearest," she said, forcing a smile onto her face, "Only a piece of scrap." Rose looked dejected and reached for her mother's hand, trying to find the object again.

"But Mama," she began.

The queen stepped away, blocking Rose from reaching the hand she had hidden. "No, no. Rose it's time to go inside for lessons. I'm sure that woman was just playing a joke, giving you something as useless as that thing," her mother admonished her. "Quickly now!" she said with a distracted smile. "Sarah is waiting for you in the nursery!" Momentarily diverted with the thought of spending time with her favorite person, Rose squealed with glee and bounded up the garden path toward the castle, disappearing out of sight.

As her daughter disappeared from view, Queen Gwen drew out the fist she had clenched in her skirts and gazed at the spindle that lay so innocently in her shaking hand. She could not believe that it was really there. She was so sure that all the spindles in the kingdom had been destroyed years ago, on the fateful day of Rose's first birthday celebration. Not even one whisper had been heard from that evil witch Lucinda since the order to destroy all spindles in the kingdom had been sent out. Not once in the seven years since that day had a spindle shown up anywhere in the kingdom. Until now. The queen wished she knew who had given it to Rose. Someone must have smuggled one in. It was the only explanation she was willing to accept. Pushing aside the niggling doubt lurking in the back of her mind she looked again at the item in her hand. Her face hardened at the thought of what could have happened to her darling daughter. With a determined step she marched up the path and headed toward the kitchens, intent upon finding the closest fire where she could destroy the detestable object. Reaching the main stove, she threw the offending item into the flames, watching until long after it was burned into nothingness.

Meanwhile, on the same day that tiny Rose was playing in the gardens, in another land called Lamuris, a handsome prince was working hard at getting into mischief, something all little boys like to do…