Yellow rays, from the morning sun, lit the dried up, discoloured petals that drooped sadly from the once white rose that stayed in a vase on Aurora's bed stand for over a week. Cezanne with a click of her tongue, waved her hand, making the withered flower disappear within a sparkle of magic.
Aurora yawned widely and wiped the back of her right hand across her sleepy eyes.
"Hmm..." she hummed. "Fairy Godmother?"
"Yes, Princess?" Cezanne answered, as she always did.
"Whatever happened to that girl?"
"Which girl?"
"The girl who played with me in the castle garden that time. I don't recall her leaving. Why did she go without saying goodbye?" Aurora sounded more confused than sad, but Cezanne saw clearly within the girl's blue eyes that she was deeply troubled by this sudden revelation.
"I believe, she felt out of place, my dear," the red rose fairy answered as truthfully as she was willing.
"She did? Oh no!" Aurora's eyes grew wide with worry. "Did I make her feel that way?"
"Of course not! You were wonderful with her!" Cezanne flew in to reassure her favourite human. "I suppose she was not used to it here."
"I miss her," Aurora sighed quietly. "She was my very first real friend."
"I'll find her for you, Aurora," Cezanne offered, desperate to please. "I'll bring her here, so you can play together again."
"Oh please do, Fairy Godmother! It would make me so so happy!"
"And it is my job to make you so so happy!" Cezanne reflected the princess's excited tone, as well as her large, bright smile.
Carabosse was hidden within a shadow of the room and watched the red rosebush twin flutter out of the princess's door.
"So, the spell works for as long as the rose lives. Interesting..." Carabosse thought, not able to hide her annoyance from Ibis, who listened carefully from his perch on the windowsill. "I'll have to fix that when it matters," she added with a smirk, sending a quick glance towards her companion.
"Oh! An owl?" Aurora queried as she too looked towards her bedroom's view of the morning sky. She got out of bed and walked towards the open window. "Shouldn't you be in bed, great bird?" she asked him gently.
Ibis nervously glanced towards Carabosse, who silently and hurriedly told him to leave through their telepathic connection.
A sudden flapping of brown, tawny owl wings made Aurora start, then with a light giggle she waved goodbye to Ibis.
"Goodbye, Owl! Have a good sleep!" she called after him with a sweet smile, which sent Carabosse's eyes into a scoffing roll.
◇
Aurora, with the help of castle staff, managed to get changed for the day and eat breakfast before Cezanne returned with the pauper girl. Cezanne called Aurora out into the garden where the girls could once again enjoy the sunshine together.
Carabosse followed the princess as she skipped out of the castle. She swiftly transformed into a blackbird as she felt the sun shining upon her tiny fairy form, then perched on the branch of a nearby tree.
Aurora stopped in her tracks when she saw the girl, dressed in her beige rags and her off-white bonnet.
"Oh?" Aurora couldn't stop the confused sound from coming out of her mouth.
"Aurora, I'm sorry," Cezanne rushed in, wildly fluttering her red, butterfly wings as she drew closer to the hesitating princess. "Claudia, refused to come if I changed her clothes. She explained to me why but I don't..."
"If you please, your Highness," the pauper girl interrupted with a clumsy curtsy. Then continued to speak as she nervously played with the ends of her long, tangled black hair. "Those posh, magic clothes are just not me. I wanted to come here as me. I hope you understand." She bowed her head in shame and waited for the princess to reject her. However, instead, Aurora surprised her with a warm smile.
"I don't care what you wear! I am glad you are here! You're my best friend!" she said, then ran and threw her arms around the thin teenager. Her eight year old head only reached the girl's chest.
Once Claudia got over the initial shock of the princess's reaction, a tiny smile, snuck onto her nervous lips. All the dread she felt before seemed to have melted away and she couldn't understand why. She couldn't understand how she could trust this super rich, royal girl; especially after what happened last time.
"Come with me, Claudia, I want to show you around the castle!" Aurora squealed with delight.
"Oh, erm, o-okay, your Highness," Claudia stammered an answer, after glancing nervously towards Cezanne, who gave a reassuring nod.
"Call me Aurora!" Aurora instructed gleefully, then gripped tightly onto Claudia's shaking hand and led her into the castle's side door.
Aurora and Claudia were inseparable from that day onward. Aurora insisted that her best friend would always be at the castle with her. To work around the pauper girl's true position in society, Claudia was offered the job of being Aurora's personal lady's maid. However, Aurora refused to treat Claudia as anything less than her best friend, which more than compensated for the misunderstanding at their first meeting.
Carabosse, as she watched this development unravel, chose to let it be, which did not surprise Ibis in the slightest. She constantly could feel his knowing gaze bear into her thoughts.
"Oh, shut up!" She would say to the smug tawny owl. "I'm only allowing this silly friendship to grow because it will make my curse sting more when it comes!"
Ibis was never convinced, which irritated Carabosse to no end.
◇
Years went by like a wonderful, happy dream for Aurora. She had her best friend at her side to help her to get ready in the morning, to chat and to play with. She also had the magic of her fairy godmother to make her world a beautiful and enchanted place.
Aurora could not be happier.
Yet, Carabosse refused to let Aurora out of her sight, despite the fact that the princess's constant sunny disposition made her feel sick to the stomach. Achlys constantly tried to remind her that her curse would happen no matter where she was; that she didn't have to watch the "simpering royal brat", but he never managed to convince her. It was as if she had an addiction.
However, soon came the time when Cezanne and Fleurine sought to act on their next mission - to find a suitable suitor for Aurora. They planned this out so that she'd have a true love's first kiss when she required it. They managed to approach a few eligible human males, but unbeknownst to them they were closely watched by a tawny owl.
"So, you know who they've approached?" Carabosse asked as Ibis joined her on the branch of a tall tree within the castle garden.
"I certainly do," Ibis answered. "And all four of them shall be meeting the Princess tomorrow, in plenty of time before her birthday celebrations next week," Ibis recited what he overheard Cezanne say to her twin on the matter.
"My sisters are clueless! Only four suitors!" she exclaimed through bursts of triumphant laughter. "And a week for the princess to fall in love! They're making this too easy for me!"
"Indeed, it does seem like they may be a bit over-confident," Ibis pondered. "Yet, what am I to know? I don't understand human relationships. In fact I understand humans even less than I do fairies."
He then kicked off the branch into the night sky leaving Carabosse laughing wickedly at the ridiculous notions of her rosebush sisters.
YOU ARE READING
The Dark Fairy
Fantasy"Nothing good can come from ash." The fairies of the Enchanted Forest have spoken these words over Carabosse from the day that she entered the world. Through cruel words and harboured prejudices from those who were supposed to have her back, the s...
