sleeping beauty - revisited

CHAPTER ONE

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom on the foot of a mountain. It was as majestic as a kingdom can be; the grass in their fields was greener than the ones in any other lands nearby, the colorful flowers seemed to blossom as if touched by the sweetest enchant of all, and the smiles of the people who there lived were as wide as the king was rich.

However, very little people knew the truth about that kingdom, and that it stood above the shadows of ancient stories - most precisely, a story so ancient, so absurdly unfinished that it was believed to be a legend. For even the most common people knew the story of the Princess Who Slept, although they didn't know how real it could be. So much they didn't know, it was remembered as a simple fairytale, and every time the parents told it to the children who went to sleep still waiting for the happy ending those bedtime stories should have, the story seemed to get even sadder than it already was.

And while such melancholic story kept waiting for its closure, the sun kept rising every day, the birds kept whistling their songs, and a whole lot of wonders kept blessing the surrounding lands. And it was one of those beautiful sunny days when a Prince made his way into the woods.

His name was Philip and, like the rest of the royal family, he knew what stories were real or not. He was the most loved and admired Prince it was ever heard of. Every heart in the Kingdoms seemed to be charmed by his looks and his charisma, and many people were enchanted by what they used to call his 'sweet innocence'.

He often walked around the kingdom distractedly, and everyone could see he was lost in his own daydreams. His blue eyes met the blue horizon like he could see many wonders in the plain sight of the sky, and he smiled to every people he passed by, like he could always see a reason to be happy. He was never seen with a frown on his face.

"He's always so happy", the ladies from the kingdom sighed, charmed.

"He's always too happy", some of the older folks said in disapproval, but they couldn't help but agree that there was something charming about him.

Since he was the heir to the throne and his father's reign would soon come to an end, he needed to get married. Many Kings and Queens from neighbor kingdoms had offered their daughter's hands already, and the people already spread rumors about who was going to be the Prince's wife - some even said he was going to marry a Princess from the North lands.

But none of them were right, because the Prince had a dream; he wanted to be the one to wake up Sleeping Beauty with the sweet true love kiss and then make her his wife.

And that was why he was walking to the forest when this story began, with his most loyal knights as companions to help him in that quest. They sang old travel songs as they made their path, and the Prince's voice seemed to stand out among all of the others; he sang with his heart, and his voice seemed to reach every dark corner of that forest. While he sang, he couldn't help but daydream about the princess's sweet lips, desperate to be kissed...

"Your highness?"

A voice removed him from his daydreams. He turned to look, finding it was one of his guards who had been speaking.

"Your highness, since it's getting dark, it would be good if we stopped now and made our camp", the guard said.

The Prince stopped to look around. They were about to reach the border of the forest, and it seemed to get only darker from there. The guard had a point; the night seemed to be approaching quickly.

"We'll stop to rest and eat for a few hours, but we'll part before the sunrise. We can't wait too much. The Lost Princess awaits for me."

"Riding in the forest while it's dark will bring no good, your highness. We might get lost or even find danger."