Daniel and I stood there for a second until Philip approached us.
“I told the guards that you were the new stable hands,” he said. “You’re excused to go work now.”
“Thank you so much,” I said as Daniel and I made eye contact. “Let’s go, brother.” Philip was escorted back to the castle and I started walking towards the stables. “Brother?” Daniel hissed, catching up to me.
“What?” I said innocently, not looking at him.
“I didn’t know we were supposed to be siblings!”
“Well, we are now,” I said.
Daniel was quiet for a moment.
“You’re not actually related?” said a voice behind us.
I jumped. I had nearly forgotten Fauna was there.
“Um, not really,” I said slowly, glancing at Daniel. I decided it was better to tell the truth rather than come up with another lie. “I just said that to Philip to explain our appearance.”
“Oh. I was wondering why there was no resemblance,” said Fauna. Daniel and I smiled at each other.
“So, how did you get captured, anyway?” I asked her as we made our way towards the stable.
“Oh,” she said, shaking her head as if trying to shake off a bad memory. “About three years ago, Princess Briar had a birthday party, and all of the fairies of the Moors were invited.”
Daniel’s eyes widened under his curly hair.
“She was turning thirteen, you know, a very special age,” Fauna continued. “Prince Philip was invited, too. That’s when the marriage was arranged.
“Anyway, there was one fairy that wasn’t invited, and she got really upset about it.” Fauna sighed. “We used to be really good friends, actually, until one day…she was different.”
“What was her name?” Daniel asked.
Fauna looked around before whispering, “Maleficent.”
Daniel shot me a look. “Maleficent?”
“Don’t say her name so loudly!” Fauna scolded, looking around.
“Why? Is she like Voldemort or something?” Daniel asked.
“Voldemort? Who is—”
“Alright, back to the story,” I said quickly, shooting Daniel a look. Only Daniel. “What happened after that?”
“Well, she got really upset and after all the fairies had presented Briar with gifts, she cursed her,” Fauna continued. “She said that on her sixteenth birthday, she would prick her finger on a spindle and die.”
Daniel gasped. “No. Way.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing full well he knew the entire fairy tale front to back. Daniel was like that. Plus, he had three younger sisters, so I guess that means you’d be very familiar with all the Disney princesses.
“Another fairy, me, hadn’t given her a gift yet, though,” Fauna continued. “I changed the curse from death to sleep. Briar would fall asleep for one hundred years and the only thing that can wake her up is true love.” She took a deep breath. “Then the guards came. Stormed through the castle, tried to catch anyone they could. Everyone escaped.”
“Except for you,” I said.
“Except for me.” She frowned. “That’s why I was in the dungeon all those years.”
There was a brief pause in which we knew Fauna was recalling the years in the dungeon with dread. Then Daniel wisely switched topics. “When is Briar’s birthday?” he asked.
“The fourteenth of the twelfth month,” she replied.
“That’s tomorrow,” he said.
“Oh, is it?” Fauna gasped. “I never thought I’d actually escape the dungeon before her sixteenth birthday!”
“We have to stop her from pricking her finger,” I said.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Fauna said sadly. “The curse cannot be broken.”
“How do you know?” Daniel asked.
“Maleficent may be young, but she’s good,” she said in a low voice.
Daniel and I looked at each other. “So what’s going to happen?” I asked. “She’s going to prick her finger then fall asleep for the next century? That’s it?”
“You’re forgetting the true love remedy,” Daniel pointed out.
“Is Prince Philip going to be the best option, though?” I asked.
Daniel gave me an odd look. “Of course he is!” he said. “They’re getting married!”
“But I’m not sure if he has…romantic feelings for Briar,” I said uncomfortably. “He told me she was like a sister to him.”
Daniel looked at me. There was a look I’d never seen before. What was it? Sadness? Disappointment?
“How do you know it’s even supposed to be romantic?” I asked.
“I don’t,” Fauna replied.
“You’re the one who changed the curse!” Daniel said.
“I didn’t specify if it had to be romantic or not,” said Fauna. “But I would guess yes.”
I sighed. “What’s going to happen if he doesn’t love her that way? What then? She’ll wake up at one hundred and sixteen?”
“I’m not sure,” said Fauna. “I guess we’ll just have to find out.”
Author Notes: Stay tuned for part 7! (there are ten parts in total)
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Virgin Islands, British • 17 years old