The Kingdom that Stopped Time

A baby. I’m going to have a baby!

This news is more meaningful to me than others may imagine. I was born as a sorceress, but had my magic stolen from me when an evil witch cursed me. My family had always been magical, and we always used our powers for the good of others. We had a community of what some called wise ones, those who, like us, use magic for good.

Sadly, there were others with powers who did not like the good we did and attacked my family. They killed my parents and tried to kill me, but the wise ones countered the curse so that only my powers would die. The one thing that could break the spell and regain my powers was if I were to have a baby.

My husband, the king, who of course had no idea of the true nature of my past, and I had been trying for years and our dream was finally coming true!

The day our daughter, Briar Rose, was presented to the kingdom was so special. Many from all over the land came to meet her, including twelve of the wise ones who had known my parents and protected me from harm all those years ago. Eleven of them had just finished bestowing wonderful gifts on Briar Rose: beauty, kindness, patience, and every other good thing one could desire in life.

Suddenly, a dark cloud appeared. One of the evil witches, Lilith, angry she had not been invited, appeared in the banquet hall. She howled through the room, “When the princess turns fifteen, she will prick herself on a spindle and die!” She cackled as she left the room.

Utter silence.

My family cursed again and nothing I could do.

Then the twelfth wise one, Frieda, stood gently. She knew none of us had the power to break that curse and that my powers had not fully been restored. She whispered, so only my husband and I could hear, “The princess shall not die, but shall fall into a deep sleep that lasts one hundred years.”

My husband, in a valiant effort to protect our young Briar Rose, had all spindles in the kingdom burned.

The wise ones and I knew this would only anger Lilith even more, so we crafted a plan. Over the next fifteen years, as my powers slowly returned, we established protections around the castle. When Briar Rose’s curse began, she would not be alone.

It was finally Briar Rose’s fifteenth birthday. We were so elated, but also very nervous. The king and I had been called away to attend a funeral in a neighboring kingdom and would not return until evening, just in time for the birthday dinner.

As we returned, I could sense the subtle magical shift in the air. Unsure if the curse had begun or not, the king and I approached the family corridor carefully.

We noticed the door to the ancient tower was ajar, and I could feel the magic coming through. We ran up into the tower to find that indeed our lovely Briar Rose was asleep in the bed next to an old spinning wheel. The ancient tower had been sealed for so long, we hadn’t even realized the spindle was here. We made sure our daughter had blankets and was comfortable, then went back to our chambers.

Frieda was the first to arrive. We set our plan in motion. The king was first to fall asleep, then the courtiers, then our servants, then the animals. I was the last. Frieda spoke the final words to create a protection of thorny vines that would tangle anyone who tried to approach during the one-hundred-year curse.

All would be well.

Light. The smell of flowers.

It felt as if it was any other morning, but it wasn’t. The curse had been lifted! I looked over and my husband was slowly starting to awaken. I rapidly gathered my clothes and adjusted my hair.

As my husband became more alert, I explained to him what had happened. I told him of my family’s magical powers and the true story of their deaths. When Briar Rose had been cursed, I had not yet regained my powers enough to counter it. Frieda’s spell had been enough to protect Briar Rose from death, but we had spent fifteen years establishing other spells and protections so that the entire castle also froze in time for one hundred years. My powers had been fully restored by the time Briar Rose turned fifteen.

He sat with all of this for a while.

Soon, we went to find Briar Rose. It was such a joy to see the castle coming back to life as we went along the corridors. The courtiers were dancing, the horses were munching the oats we had carefully preserved, and the dogs were wagging their tails. The servants were quickly getting everything back into order.

When we arrived at the ancient tower, we were surprised to see a young man walking down the stairs with Briar Rose. My husband approached first, demanding answers. The young prince explained our family had become quite the legend, and he believed his kiss on her hand woke Briar Rose from her curse.

Later that day, we had a huge banquet and celebrated the end of the curse.

A dark cloud appeared again and Lilith began walking through the room, angry her curse had not killed us all as she had believed. Before she could speak, though, I rose, “Lilith, your curse has done enough damage to this family and kingdom. You are hereby banished to a cottage in the Forest of Darkness where you will live your days alone and with no magical power.”

With that, Lilith disappeared into thin air and our celebrations continued.

Never was there a happier day in all the land.