Fairytale Fate: The Legend Begins

♚ C H A P T E R • T W E L V E ♚

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"One day you'll awaken to love's true kiss. Till then, Sleeping Beauty, sleep on." – SleepingBeauty
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The sun rose over the desert, illuminating the sands in vibrant shades of red and orange. The dunes began to heat up as the rays intensified over the vast sea of sand.

A falcon soared over the four as the golden sand began to transform into rocky soil.

"Where are we headed first?" Carolyn asked, her eyes weary from traveling. She had relaxed her grip around Robin's waist, and her head leaned against his back as she unwillingly drifted in and out of consciousness.

Bailey looked between their path and the map in her hand. "The genie said that one of the items is 'the slumber crown that rests upon a golden head.' The only thing that comes to mind is Sleeping Beauty's kingdom, Spindill."

Tall beech trees littered their path as they maneuvered their horses through rich green rolling hills. They stopped to rest at a cool blue lake that had come into view.

Robin dismounted the steed first, causing Carolyn's head to fall forward. She quickly recovered, jerking her head up as her eyes shot open. Yawning, Carolyn shifted her leg to leap down from the horse. Her execution lacked grace, though, as she stumbled to the ground in a heap.

"Ow" was all she muttered from the grass, Robin quick to help her up.

She shot him a tired smile before sitting down beside the water, scooping some up in her palms to wash her face.

"So," Aura began, sitting down beside her sister. "How are we gonna get this crown?"

Bailey shrugged. "When the Villains took over and changed the Stories, everyone in Spindill was placed back under the sleeping curse, so we should be able to walk right into the palace."

"How hard can that be?" Carolyn said, growing hopeful.

They continued on their journey, riding through the kingdom's mountain range and thick forests. Although the beech trees towered high above them like the oak in Sherwood, their branches drooped, and their leaves looked brittle. The forest was eerily quiet apart from the occasional robin flying from branch to branch.

The group found their way to an overlook that looked down on a valley full of bustling villages.

The friends exchanged looks of confusion as they continued down the mountain and into the dense thicket of trees towards the town filled to the brim with people.

"I thought they were all supposed to be asleep?" Aura questioned, her eyes carefully examining the approaching village.

"This is impossible," Robin said as he steered his horse towards a castle in the distance. "For sixteen years everyone has known Spindill to be the sleeping kingdom. What's changed?"

They carefully rode through the outskirts of the town, but the twins failed to go unnoticed by the villagers, receiving confused stares.

The castle stood tall and proud in the distance, positioned on a tall cliff that overlooked rolling hills and blooming cherry blossom trees. The grand walls had a pink glow about them and expanded upwards into blue-roofed towers that stood high above the village. Windowpanes were a mosaic of beautifully stained-glass depicting flowers and the kingdom's purple and pink crest.

"What do we do now?" Carolyn asked nervously, observing the guards standing in front of the entrances to the palace.

Robin turned his head to look at Bailey on her horse. "We'll have to sneak past them—there should be a servant's entrance that we can break into around the back of the castle."