First one out!

Honestly, I don't think I had ever listened to this song all the way through before I wrote this, so of course shuffle picked it for me. I suggest you youtube this and the songs to follow it if you don't know them, or else you won't really get how they tie into the fics. I put in a lyric to get things rolling, but don't include that in the final word count. I've never tried to squeeze anything into 500 words, and it wasn't easy, but it's done!

Enjoy!



REASON TO CELEBRATE-THE HONORARY TITLE

"broken promise on display, disconnected family

if not this would there be, would there be reason to celebrate?"

Phillip was the chosen one, that much had been instilled in me from the start and I had never thought to question its validity.

He was the eldest son, the heir to our fathers' throne, and the one who was supposed to fortify the kingdom through his betrothal to the Princess Aurora. He had been schooled in the ways of battle, negotiation, etiquette, charm and deception since he was barely able to stand, all in preparation for the day that he would become ruler of us all.

I remember chiming church bells, high in steeples, and the clatter of peasant footsteps thundering against the cobblestone. I remember my mother's tight jaw and the way my skin burned pink from hot water and vicious scrubbing. I remember the lavish yet horrible affair to christen the tiny babe who was to be my brother's wife, one where curses and fairies both flew. There was smoke and screams and I remember looking to my brother for guidance, but he was lost to me in the confusion. What I don't remember is whether or not I ever laid eyes upon the ill-fated Princess, who was never again seen after that terrible night.

Phillip and I were still boys then, though he was the older of us both by almost eight years and quickly approaching the age of marriage. After it was obvious the Aurora was gone, my parents clambered to find a replacement wife. They soon found her in a meek duchess from across the ocean, a girl who shared my brother's bed for a number of years without producing a son. The girl, still a child herself, gave birth to two sickly daughters who both died before their third birthdays. The priest was summoned, and a divorce declared. When the girl was sent back to her family in shame, her absence was hardly noticeable. Except in the panic that had begun to cloud my mother's eyes.

I tell you this not to scare you, but to warn you. Because for the first time in my life, I find myself doubting my brother. He was to be the hero, but now it seems that task has fallen to me. My sixteenth birthday arrived with the first snowfall, and along with it did the news that we are to be wed once the ground has thawed enough to allow travel between your kingdom and my own.

To be King was never something I yearned for. But now Phillip has taken to the mountains, determined to find the sorceress who cursed his betrothed and avenge our family. Never before though, has a man faced the terrible Maleficent and lived to return. My parents have been broken, and it is up to me to mend them. I am not a great man, but I will strive to be a good husband. I do not ask for you to love me, only for you to ease my family's burden. I await your reply, Briar Rose.

Sincerely, Prince Thomas.


My first fairy-tale retelling! This one was sleeping beauty...now what do ya think? Should i keep going?