Sleeping Beauty

The sound of the Prince’s steps echoed in the empty courtyard, nothing else disturbed the silence except his own breathing. He paused, sword drawn and glanced around warily. The stillness was complete and it worried him.

It was all just as he’d been told though. First the forest devoid of all animals, the Prince’s own horse had balked once under the cover of the trees and he had been forced to leave it behind. Then the empty village in a clearing at the forests centre, every house empty but with all the possessions still neatly stored and undisturbed. And rising up from village a tall beautiful grey stone castle. The prince had been told about it by so many, but he had never quite believed till he saw it for himself.

Sheathing his sword he pushed aside his fear and headed towards the castle doors that hung open, inviting visitors. He knew what he would find inside. In the Great Hall would rest all the residents of the castle, bar one, besides the vestieges of a great banquet. However the true reason so many came to this castle would be fouund slumbering in the largest bedroom. She was said to be the most beatiful woman in the world, and like everyone else in this cursed place she had not stirred or aged in over a hundred years.

There were a thousand tales about this wood, village and castle, in the Prince’s homeland. Each giving a different cause for the sleeping beauty and her court but each one promising that should the woman’s true love kiss her upon the lips then the spell would be broken. For over a hundred years young nobles had been coming to the castle trying to break the spell so that they might marry the Princess and rule over the wealthy lands. Men had tried in the past simply moving into the abandoned houses but life without the help of animals was hard and it was said that fear spread out from the castle and there were few who could stand it for more than a few days.

In the Prince's family it had become tradition that all the royal men on their 18th birthday would travel here and attempt to break the spell. Other noble families tried too ,of course, and on occasion a few men from other classes would save enough money to make the journey but no one had ever suceeded.

The Prince stepped inside the castle and noticed that the air was instantly chillier but he ignored his rising goose bumps. He found himself in a large entrance hall with white marble floors and dark red wall hangings. Ahead of him lay grand carpeted stairs, which he assumed would take him to the Princess, to his right was a cold stone passageway and on his left he thought he could see the end of a long wooden table peeking through a door. His desire to see both the Princess and the sleeping banqueters warred and in the end he moved towards the left door, simply because this wonder was closer at hand.

The room was massive, filled with wooden tables and as promised empty platter and nearly two hundred people who looked for the most part as if they had passed out mid action. He wandered aimlessly around the room but he could not make himself linger long. There was something disturbing about the inhabitants of the room, many of them slept with a vicious expression upon their faces and he saw several people who seemed to have fallen asleep fighting over food.

Unable to fight his irrational fear he headed out of the room but on his way pocketed a small silver knife from one of the tables, as if to prove something to himself. He knew that the reason the caslte had not been looted before was that many feared even the objects within were cursed.
As he reached for the knife he noticed massive gouges in the table from some beasts frantic struggling, he shuddered as he realised that the animals for the feast had been brought to the table alive and slaughtered there.

He moved back towards the entrance hall, where out of the way of the room's inhabitats his fear suddenly receeded and seemed foolish, and finally acended the grand stair case. On the landing he found yet another set, this time leading up to a tower and somehow knowing this was the right way to go he climbed them. The room they led to was the most extravegant he had ever seen, outdoing his own palace. It was dominated by two features, an enormous marble fireplace inlaid with gold and a massive bed with a mountain of pillows and blankets. The wall’s were covered in tapestries and on the ceiling angelic figures swooped in dramatic scenes. Expensive looking furniture and clothes littered the room but the Prince ignored these moving instead towards the bed.

The woman he saw there took his breath away. Her hair was the colour of the afternoon sun, her lips the dark red of ruby's and her skin the frail colour of porcelain. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, ever feature perfectly proportioned and symmetrical, her lips and figure full, her peaceful smile tempting. The Prince was filled with the overwhelming urge to kiss her and for once was glad that tradition exempted him from embarrassment at treating a sleeping woman so. He leaned in and kissed her with all the tenderness he could muster and then drew back and watched with anticipation.

She did not even stir. Filled with disappointment he sat on her bed and watched her, hoping against hope for a miraculous change in her condition. None occurred but he was not willing to give up yet. He looked vaguely around the room for something to amuse himself with, something to give him an excuse to stay a little longer.  In a far corner he spotted a spinning wheel, the tool of a commoner seemed so out of place to him, here in this sumptuous bedroom, that he moved closer to it to inspect the curious item. Idly, still reluctant to leave, he flicked the wheel starting it moving and raked his eyes over it and without really thinking pressed his thumb against the needle.

He let out a sharp yell, the needle was still improbably sharp after all these years and it had drawn blood. He pressed his finger to his lips, numbing the pain and then realised he had turned himself around to face the door.

Frustrated he realised that the princess was not going to waken and realised he should leave and ,like so many others before him, report his failure. However he could not leave without giving her one last look, and one last kiss. Almost embarrassed he crosse€d swiftly to the bed but then gently and slowly kissed her. Lingering a little while this time, reflecting that he would never again see anything in his life as stunning.

As he pulled away her eyelids suddenly flickered and for the first time in more than a century the Princess awoke. She licked her lips slowly and the Prince saw that he had left a trail of blood upon them, then she opened her eyes. They were a disturbing, startling red colour and unable to control himself he leaned back in fear.

"I have been dreaming for so long, without the strength to wake." Her gaze met his, blurrily at first, then growing sharper and more focused.

"What happened here?" The Princess didn't answer him, she was staring intently at his neck. Again a jolt of fear ran through the Prince and he shifted nervously on the bed.

"I suppose I should thank you" she said it as if she wasn't really talking to him but to herself as she puzzled over a problem. "But I am so hungry and my servants will need sustainance too". She smiled strangely, it looked somehow cruel upon her beatiful face. "Come then my Prince, let me give you eternity."

The Prince was really afraid now, everything was wrong. She was wrong, evil seemed to emenate from her, from the room but the fear was overpowering. He tried to move but his legs locked and as he wrestled with himself she lunged for him.

The Prince died, but  after death came a dark new life. One which he shared with his Princess happily forever after.