Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived an earl and his wife. They were happily married, but their only sorrow was that they had no children. One day, the earlʼs wife was walking in her gardens when she gazed into the sky and sighed--
“Oh, that I could have a child to call my own.”
From behind her came a voice, “You will have a son, and he will be the most beautiful child in all the land.” She turned a saw a girl with soft pink hair, and knew her to be a fairy. Overjoyed, she she embraced her and thanked her.
“Sheʼs right,” agreed another fairy, this one a tall, fair-haired man. “And not only that, heʼll be the cleverest in all the land.” Laughing aloud, the earlʼs wife embraced him too. The third fairy was a child with large green eyes and a ready smile, but before he could speak another voice, soft and melodious called out--
“Wait! I too have a gift for this child of yours.” The fourth fairy was pale and beautiful, with hair like snow and gleaming purple eyes, but her smile was cruel. “The night your son turns sixteen, he shall cut his finger on a spindle and die, and nothing and no one will be there to save him!” And with a noise like the crack of a whip, she vanished. Tears welled in the poor womanʼs eyes, but the pink-haired fairy put a hand on her shoulder.
“Lady, do not cry. We may not be as strong as she, but there is still hope-- Finny hasnʼt given his gift yet.” The youngest fairy nodded in assent.
“He... he wonʼt die. Heʼll just fall asleep. Heʼll sleep until his true love arrives to wake him up.” He bit his lip. “Thatʼs the best I can do, Lady. Iʼm very sorry... but please donʼt cry.”
“Yeah,” said the second fairy, “Weʼll come up with some way to keep him safe.”
And so when the boy was born, with the blessing of the earl and his wife he was spirited off into the forest by the fairies, who had managed to disguise themselves as mortals. There, he would be safe both from courtly intrigue and, they hoped, the wicked fairyʼs curse.
As he grew older the fairiesʼ promises were made reality. He was so lovely that everyone who looked at him was enchanted by him, while his sharp mind and acid tongue kept his admirers at a safe distance. His guardians provided for him as best they could, but knew that he was sneaking about, because he could, because he was young, because not even the first fairyʼs sharp eyes could catch him and not even the third
fairyʼs strong grip could hold him. Still, they tried their best, and as the sun started to set on the day of his sixteenth birthday, they were eager to congratulate themselves on keeping the earlʼs son out of the worst trouble. That was when the boy wandered in to their home cautiously holding a spindle.
“Maylene, what is this? I found it on a tree; I know that is abnormal.” But before she could make a move to stop him, one of his pale fingers hit the sharp point on the spindle and with a little gasp he fell to the ground, sound asleep.
The three fairies gathered him up and tried to return to the earlʼs manor, but the wicked fairy caught them along the way, and they left the sleeping boy in a tall tower and fought her all the way to the next kingdom, where she finally vanished, laughing to herself. Now, it just so happened that in this kingdom lived the earlʼs sister, and that she had a young daughter who was as lovely as she was strong. When the two of them heard the fairiesʼ tale, they, unlike most proper courtly ladies, decided to rescue him rather than swooning dramatically. So the girl put on her prettiest practical dress, took her motherʼs magical sword and set out to save her cousin with the fairies at her back.
When they reached the tower, they saw that the wicked fairy was awaiting them. With a ferocious cry, the wicked fairy lunged at them, but then she stopped, somewhat confused to be facing a young girl rather than whatever she had been expecting. The girl drew her sword and said in her most serious voice,
“Return my true love to me and I wonʼt have to hurt you.” It took the wicked fairy a moment to get her voice back, but when she did she she laughed in the girlʼs face.
“You are such a pathetic little thing-- how can you hope to defeat me?”
“Like this,” said the girl, stabbing the wicked fairy in the chest and making her dissolve into feathers. It certainly wouldnʼt kill her, but piles of feathers were significantly less dangerous than fully-formed wicked fairies, so the girl scattered her for good measure and climbed up all the stairs to the top floor where the earlʼs son was draped over a bed, pale and perfect as a doll. She glanced back at the fairies.
“Wake him up?” offered the second fairy, looking rather confused. The girl glanced back at the figure on the bed.
How?” The three fairies looked at each other.
“Well... um...”
“I donʼt know...”
“I donʼt think we specified, actually.” So she shrugged and shook him by the shoulders and he woke up, big blue eyes clear as ever. He saw her and smiled.
“You were quick. I had been wondering...” But it didnʼt much matter, so she took his hand and took him back to her mother, and then the lot of them went to visit the earl and explain the good news.
It was a good five years before the wicked fairy even bothered reappearing.