The Sleeping Beauties

Prologue

When the king and queen of Vres gave birth to a daughter, in the summer of 3456, the whole kingdom rejoiced. The long-awaited heir to the throne had been born. To celebrate the king and queen threw a big feast at the palace, they invited all the nobles, rulers of neighboring countries, and the best scientists. Every guest ate from golden plates and drank from golden goblets. The young princess slept in her cradle that hovered around the room so all the guests could get a glimpse at the beautiful child that would one day be their queen. Everyone was so immersed in the celebration that no one noticed the dark figure standing in the corner of the room.
   When the time came for the guest to present their gifts, everyone lined up with boxes wrapped in bright wrapping paper and bags filled to the top with extravagant paper. The guests set their gifts in a huge pile by the sleeping baby. However, when the last seven people in line came to the front they did not hold boxes or bags, for these were the seven best scientists in the whole kingdom of Vres.
“What is the name of your child?” the oldest, and the wisest scientist asked, stepping forward. She was a petite woman, with graying hair and intelligent blue eyes.
“Cyra,” replied the queen.
“Cyra my gift to you is the gift of intelligence,” said the old scientist. “I will teach you everything I know, and more.”
The scientist followed suit presenting the young princess with their gifts.
“Cyra my gift to you is beauty.”
“Cyra my gift to you is the gift of grace.”
“Cyra my gift to you is the gift of a voice so beautiful the whole room gets chills.”
“Cyra my gift to you is the ability to dance as gracefully as a swan.”
“Cyra my gift to you is goodness.”
Before the seventh scientist could bestow her gift upon Cyra a sharp cackle came from the corner. Everyone jerked their heads toward the noise. A dark figure emerged to reveal a petite young woman. She had raven black hair, emerald green eyes, full blood red lips with high cheekbones.
“Oh, dear Cyra,” the young women said mockingly, with a sneer on your face. “My gift to you will be your death,” she sneered as she walked towards the child with a syringe in hand.
“What are doing,” exclaimed the queen “GUARDS!”
The guards rushed forward only to be flung back by an invisible force. Screams started to fill the room but they were subdued by more thudding noises against the walls. “You see that’s the problem with these kinds of events,” sighed the young women. “Everyone decks out in their finest cobalt jewelry, which is magnetic, making it so easy to keep anyone from helping their poor darling princess.”
“Who are you?” asked a trembling guest who was glued to the wall.
“Who am I?” asked the young women, insulted. “I am Ara youngest renowned scientist in all if Vres history, I am the reason the queen is still alive,” she exclaimed. “I found the cure to her fatal disease, but do the king and queen even invite me to their child's celebration, NO!”  Aurora shouted.
“We couldn’t find you,” the queen said weakly.
“That’s your excuse. I told where I would be.”
Everyone had been so focused on the argument that they hadn’t noticed that Ara was right next to the baby until it was too late. The young women inserted the syringe in the babies leg and injected the green liquid into the child’s bloodstream. The young princess began to cry.
“Don’t be such a baby. Let everyone be aware that I will be back. The child will prick her finger on a spindle that will trigger the disease coursing through her veins. The same disease I cured her mother from. The disease only I know the cure to.” Ara yelled making sure everyone heard as she sauntered out the huge door.
With that, The young scientist was gone. The guards and guests fell to the floor from the wall. The queen was sobbing into the king's chest. They all felt helpless until a small voice spoke up.
“I haven’t given my gift yet,” said the last scientist. She approached the wailing child and said, “My gift to you little Cyra will be a cure to this disease.” The queen sobbed harder into the king's chest. The guest looked relieved, but the tension in the air was still thick.
The scientist kept true to her promise, she found a cure several years later. Instead of dying the princess would sleep for 100 years while her body would fight off the disease. Since the king and queen didn’t want their daughter to wake up alone, they ruled that if the princess did fall asleep everyone else in the palace would follow suit. They also ordered every spindle to be burned, which wasn’t many considering it was the year 3456 and everything was automated. The only way to wake the rest of the palace would be through Cyra, since she would be told how to wake them.

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