The Bubble of a Dream

The destiny of love is well-known by the time every girl reaches puberty. The prospect of marriage, carrying on a family legacy that Briar Rose no doubt felt throughout her lifetime. Her parents would smile sadly at her musings of how one day she would be queen and the kingdom would be hers, knowing the inevitable would happen. And though her father banned every spindle in the land, the curse still came true when Briar Rose found an old woman weaving and pricked her finger on the spindle. While the good fairy, who managed to save the king and queen the brunt of the evil old fairy's curse of their daughter's premature death, managed to put all the servants into a slumber so the princess would not awake alone, her parents still locked up the castle and left her.

Being a wonderous thing, the mind weaved Briar Rose a bubble of dreams to pass the century comatose. The prince came first, as she had always dreamed. Her father had introduced her to the gentleman, a far-off prince who liked everything she liked. She took him to her chambers, and the pair talked about everything under the sun for hours. Upon finding their compatibility, they wed under a sea of stars and before all of the guests. Her father handing her off to her husband as her mother looked on tearfully was one of the happiest memories her brain concocted. From there, the kingdom grew strong, and the pair looked towards expansion in many ways.

By the time Briar Rose had their first child, a baby girl, the pair had annexed two surrounding kingdoms. The prince's excellent negotiation skills secured the other dukes in the land to join him. By the time the pair had their second child, Briar Rose's elderly father had died, putting her husband in power and giving her the role of queen she always wanted. As her third child was just learning to walk, the kingdom had almost tripled in size, her husband had successfully won his first war, and the pair were looking to grow the kingdom more, given that her father-in-law was ill, and her husband was his favourite. Then, a few days before her father-in-law died, her mother called her into her room.

The queen had been ill for a while, and the heart sickness of losing her husband had only been assuaged by seeing her grandchildren grow up. Yet, the sickness was winning. She called Briar Rose in, who could barely see her through her tears. Taking her daughter's soft hand into her own as she had so many times before, she hugged her daughter.

"You'll get along without me, darling," the queen said with a teary-eyed smile. "The good fairy made sure of it."

"What are you talking about, Mother?"

"Many years ago, you were cursed to die. A fairy came and stopped your demise. Destine to lose you, your father and I kept you from realizing until you opened your eyes."