2 November 2022
I realized the next day I never showed how or why Aurora was taken by Gothel. So I wrote that scene, and used it as a chance to get to know the rest of the family better by making King Frederick, her father, the POV character. Once I get it all down, that’s something I’ll have to mess with; how many POV’s will I have, and how to tighten that up. But not right now.
Phillip… kind of came out of nowhere. I figured Isaac would probably travel with a friend, and I named that friend Phillip as a reference to Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, but I didn’t really expect much from him. He’s still not a main character, but he’s a lot more important than I’d expected. No romance, though, at least not during the events of the story. They’re teenagers. I’m not going to mess with that.
When Maleficent had arrived, King Frederick could tell there would be trouble. He’d heard the rumors from Venwald; the way their king had suddenly become ill and passed away, right as Queen Maleficent had increased in vigor and beauty. Other rumors floated around, as well, enough that he would have preferred if the two nations left each other well enough alone.
He also noticed the way her face darkened when she saw the trio of fairies. And when Maleficent spoke to them later in the language of magic, Frederick was certain they knew each other, or at least knew of each other, and his suspicions spread to the fairies, too.
He and Hannah had heard the stories of the great powers fairies wielded and the boons they granted to those who aided them. So when these three had arrived and offered their blessings, Hannah had been ecstatic, and even he’d been pleasantly surprised. But even then, and more so now, Frederick had to wonder, why their child? What had they done to warrant such a courtesy?
So when Maleficent cast her curse and left the palace, Frederick immediately wheeled on the fairies. “What was that? Who was that woman?”
Gothel, the blue fairy, stood off to the side and just stared at little Aurora. She didn’t seem to hear him. Lena and Frieda, meanwhile, froze for a moment before Frieda answered, “That… that was a witch. A powerful one.”
“One of the darkest and most dangerous creatures of all,” Lena added.
Hannah caught her breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. “She spoke magic like you. Can you undo what she did? Break the curse?”
At the word “curse”, Lena and Frieda flinched, and Frederick’s eyes narrowed. They explained, “Alas, we’ve already offered the babe our blessings, and can do nothing more.” Lena turned and offered Gothel a smile that was much too large to be believed. “What about you, Gothel dearest?”
Frederick wasn’t certain he believed they could do nothing, but he, too, turned to the blue fairy. For her part, Gothel still seemed unaware of any of them; her focus was solely on Aurora. “She is such a beautiful baby, isn’t she? Too beautiful for this cruel world. Cruel people, cruel destinies. No, we must keep her safe.” She snapped out of her reverie, and looked defiantly at Frederick and Hannah. “I will keep her safe!”
And with that, she scooped the baby in her arms, snapped her fingers, and disappeared. Silence enveloped the ballroom.
Queen Hannah stared in shock at the empty crib and sank to her knees. The remaining two fairies looked in horror from her to Frederick, and their faces turned pale white once they saw his expression. He unsheathed the first couple inches of his sword, and with steel in his voice, he said, “No more lies. You had best start explaining. And quickly.”
Isaac circled the base of the withered apple tree, looking for any other signs of what might have caused it to die. “And it was just fine yesterday?” he confirmed with the farmer. “No signs of beetles or rot or whatever else?”
“Healthiest tree in the whole damn orchard,” the farmer replied with a nod.
“Come on, Isaac. No matter how many times you look, you won’t find anything new. Let’s go already.” Phillip, Isaac’s best friend and traveling companion, lounged against the farmer’s garden fence. He made no effort to hide the boredom in his expression. He wore his brown hair almost shoulder-length, arranged in a way that might have worked if he were more than fourteen years old; as it was, he still had too round a face to pull it off.
Isaac ignored his friend and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. “Has anything else unusual happened? Missing needles? Broken spinning wheels?”
The farmer thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it, yes. There was something. When I got up this morning, the spindle on my late wife’s old spinning wheel had broken off. With all the commotion about the tree, I’d completely forgotten.”
Isaac thanked him, collected Phillip, and the two were off. Phillip snarked, “what business does a prince have with apple trees and spinning wheels, anyway?”
“You’d be surprised. A fair amount of the kingdom’s food and income come from orchards. And the number of spinning wheels that have broken in recent years has been enough to have a significant effect on-”
“Enough, enough, geez! Man, have I ever told you how utterly boring a person you are?”
With a smile, Isaac gave him a playful shove. “Yet you keep hanging around me anyway.”
“‘Course! Someone’s gotta keep things interesting around you.” Phillip dropped the grin. “But seriously, this is all about that search for your sister, isn’t it?”
Isaac shrugged, but he didn’t fool either of them.
“Dude, it’s already been, what, fifteen years? Sixteen? We weren’t even born yet. What’s with this?”
Isaac shrugged again. “I guess it’s just… She’s family. And Mom and Dad haven’t given up yet; why should I?” He grinned and bumped his shoulder into Phillip’s. “Besides, if you don’t like it, you could always leave.”
“Like I said before, someone’s gotta keep your life interesting.” Phillip grew thoughtful. “Say, d’you think she’s hot?”
The only thing Isaac could do was stare incredulously at his friend. “That’s my sister you’re talking about!”
“I know, I’m just sayin’...”
Isaac shook his head, and the two headed on into town.
Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)