" i'd give up half of forever, just to be with you "
in which gardenia and christopher enter an arranged marriage for the sake of their kingdoms, but end up falling in love along the way.
-- oc x oc
(onc 2024 entry)
(prompt 88: You...
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Once upon a time, there was a lonely princess named Gardenia. As beautiful as the setting sun, she had everything that she could ever want. She has a sister, Rosamond, to play with, and a castle full of servants who waited on her hand and foot.
And yet, she still felt alone.
She spent her days wandering the large castle she called home, waiting for the day when someone would rescue her and her sister, breaking their curses.
Because the princesses in Tagetes were not normal princesses. No, they were cursed princesses.
It all happened when they were born, and their parents held a christening party for their miracle babies. They had prayed to the gods for years for children, and they had luckily been blessed with two.
But in the planning and preparations for the party, the King and Queen forgot to invite a fairy by the name of Carabosse.
Carabosse was a wicked fairy who lived in the darkest part of the Enchanted Woods that surrounded the kingdom of Tagetes. When she learned that she was not invited to the party, she grew furious with rage.
Carabosse stormed the palace, sending the good fairies and citizens of the kingdom scrambling as her focus turned to the two babies, peacefully sleeping in their cradles.
As was the tradition, the three most powerful fairies in Tagetes were to present the princesses with blessings, but only two of the fairies were able to present their gifts. To Rosamond, the eldest twin, the gifts of beauty and song. To Gardenia, the second child, the gifts of cheerfulness and dance.
Carabosse, slinking towards the babies, offered the King and Queen a gift for the children as well. To appease the fairy, the monarchs agreed to her gifts.
To Rosamond, Carabosse decreed, that on her eighteenth birthday, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. To Gardenia, cursed to kill everything she touched.
The King and Queen wept as the wicked fairy cast her curse, and left the castle gleefully.
Luckily, the third fairy had yet to give her gift to the two children. As she stepped forward towards the princesses, the entire kingdom held their breath.
To Rosamond, the gift of a dreamless, 100-year sleep when she pricked her finger on the spinning wheel, and true love's kiss to break the curse. And a kingdom of people sleeping with her, so that she was not alone when she woke from her sleep.
To Gardenia, the gift of sleep whenever she touches things around her, and gloves to protect the people around her. But the good fairy did not tell them how to fix Gardenia's curse.
From that day forward, the princesses had been locked in the castle. Every spinning wheel in the kingdom had been burned, and the princesses had been sheltered from everything and everyone.
And so, Gardenia and Rosamond grew up as each other's best friends. The one person who was with them through thick and thin.
And, just as it was foretold, Rosamond discovered an old woman in the palace on their eighteenth birthday, and pricked her finger on a spinning wheel, sending herself into a dreamless sleep.
And Gardenia, along with the rest of the kingdom of Tagetes, fell asleep with her.
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AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS:
welcome to half of forever! this is the prologue that introduces you to the tale of sleeping beauty in my new world, Solstice! there are five kingdoms in the world, and each of them are the settings of a classic fairytale we know and love! I'm looking forward to driving deeper into this world, and i hope you guys are too!
