"Dear," Flora said after a few moments of silence. "Marketday is going on for another few hours. Why don't you go shop? Maybe you can meet up with Jenny and Mikayla."
"Fine," said Rosie. "I'll go to their booth."
"Be back here by five!" Fauna gently reminded her.
"Okay," droned Rosie.
"Have fun!" Merryweather tittered with false cheerfulness.
"Okay," Rosie droned again.
"Don't go anywhere alone with boys!" said Flora.
"Especially not Aidan!" teased Merryweather.
Rosie rolled her eyes. "Okay, already!" she cried. "I'll be back by five. Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!" yelled her aunts in unison.
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
"Look over there!" whispered Jenny conspiratorially. "He's cute!"
"Where?" Mikayla whispered back.
Jenny and Mikayla were Rosie's best friends. They had known each other their entire lives. They were a good balance: Jenny was the artist, Mikayla was the author, and Rosie was down to earth.
And all of them loved to bake. That was why Jenny and Mikayla had started a bake stand. They baked and Rosie took care of the finances. It worked very well, and they made quite a bit of cash. Particularly when Rosie was there. Pesky suitors.
"The one with brown hair and blue eyes!" hissed Jenny, snapping Rosie out of her thoughts.
Rosie looked to the side of the booth, when she caught a glimpse of the stranger.
Jenny had been right; he was cute. He was tall, taller than Rosie, which was what she always noticed first. She hated the idea of leaning down to kiss a boy.
He had a head of shaggy brown hair, light blue eyes, and tan skin. Rosie could see that he was very fit.
"Oh, I see him!" Mikayla whispered excitedly. "He is adorable!"
Just then, the boy walked up to the booth.
"Hi there," he said, leaning on the counter. "Could I get an apple fritter please?"
There was a pause. Rosie looked over at Jenny and Mikayla. They were frozen in place, gawking at him. Rosie rolled her eyes.
"That'll be fifty cents," she said. "And it'll take a few minutes."
"That's okay," he answered, grinning. "As long as I get the pleasure of your company while I wait."
Jenny and Mikayla exchanged mischievous grins.
"Okay," said Jenny slyly. "We'll go get your fritter ready!"
"Take your time!" he said back.
Jenny and Mikayla went back to the kitchen, leaving Rosie alone with the boy. At that moment, she could have killed them.
"So," said the boy. "What's your name?"
"Rosie" she said shortly.
"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl," said the boy suavely.
"What's yours?" asked Rosie.
"Why, I'm flattered that you want to know!" he said, feigning shock.
"Well?" Rosie prompted.
"My name is Matt," he said.
"What's that short for?" she asked.
"I'll tell you if you tell me!" Matt said, annoyingly chipper. "What's Rosie short for?"
"My full name is Briar Rose. Your turn," Rosie said.
"Mathias," he answered.
"Okay," said Rosie, filing away that information. "Well, what do you do for a living?"
"I'm.. a stable hand," Matt said after a pause. "At the castle."
"The castle!" Rosie exclaimed, all annoyance forgotten. "What's that like?"
"Well," started Matt. "It's big. Huge, actually. So big that it looks as if it could swallow you! And it's made from this red stone, so at sunset it looks like it's glowing."
"Wow!" Rosie breathed. "It sounds like a castle out of a fairy tale!"
"It looks like it too!" said Matt enthusiastically.
"And the royal family?" asked Rosie. "What are they like?"
"They are wonderful," said Matt honestly. "The king comes to the stables every other day, to check on his horse. The queen and the prince come with, usually. And when the king is gone, the prince does it in his stead."
"Oh!" cried Rosie. "What's the prince like?"
"Well," started Matt. "He's a charming sort of fellow. And the maids think he's handsome."
"I bet!" sighed Rosie, totally out of character.
"You don't seem like the type to sigh over a prince," Matt said curiously.
"Well, boys no," Rosie stated. "But princes! It's like a fairy tale!"
"Especially the part about his bride-to-be," said Matt.
"What?" asked Rosie curiously.
"You've never heard that story?" Matt said.
"Obviously not!" Rosie answered, not without heat.
"Okay! Sorry!" Matt said, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. "Truce! Would you like to hear the story?"
"Why not?" said Rosie, feigning disinterest.
Matt could tell that it was just an act, but decided to ignore it.
"Okay then," he said. "Where do I start? Well, how about the beginning. Okay, so, in the kingdom next to ours, Useses, the king and queen have a daughter. She is their second-born, they already have a son, so they betroth her to our newly born crown prince, Philip. But then, at her first birthday celebration, an evil fairy comes and puts a curse on her."
"A fairy?" Rosie interrupted. "I didn't know fairies still existed."
"They exist, all right," said Matt patiently. "They're just very rare. Anyway, this evil fairy casts a curse on her. On her eighteenth birthday, she's supposedly going to prick her finger on a needle and die. At least, that's what the curse said."
"But..." prompted Rosie excitedly.
"But?" questioned Matt.
"Oh, please tell me there's a but!" cried Rosie.
"Okay," chuckled Matt. "There's a but. That's what the curse said, BUT luckily there were three good fairies there."
"And they reversed the curse?" Rosie cried eagerly.
"Sort of," said Matt. "They changed the curse, so that instead of dying, the girl will fall into a deep sleep. Then, when she gets a true love's kiss, she will waken."
"Where is she?" asked Rosie.
"With the three good fairies who helped her, living in the forest," answered Matt.
"How long until her eighteenth birthday?" Rosie wondered.
"It's in two days," he said.
Rosie, who was about to ask another question, paused. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"W-what is her name?" Rosie asked, quietly.
Matt noticed her sudden change in attitude, but decided to disregard it.
"Aurora," said Matt. "Her name is Aurora."
•-------------------------------------------•
Alright. If you don't know what fairy tale this is, I have lost all respect for you! Still, you should keep reading. Try to figure it out. =) P.S. Thank you to my the friends I'm borrowing names from. Shoutout to you guys! And, if I know you but your name isn't in it yet, I probably have a plan on how to use it!
