Sleeping Beauty

I certainly can't read 14th century Italian, but from what I can tell, necrophilia, incest, rape, pedophilia, and cannibalism were all part of the original myth, so my version is probably more true to the original than anything that has come out of Hollywood or the Disney animation studios.

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In a far away land, long ago, lived a young prince and his lovely bride. Though this was in a time when royal marriages were usually arranged only for political reasons, the young couple loved each other dearly, and it was said that Prince Stefan's wife was truly the fairest and most beloved in all the land. Before Prince Stefan had celebrated his eighteenth birthday, his beautiful wife bore him a daughter, whom they named Aurora. Aurora inherited her mother's beauty, and grew into a charming little girl, who brought much joy to the royal family and all who visited their grand castle.

Alas, such joyous times could not last. Only five years after the birth of Princess Aurora, the king died of a fever while engaged in a minor war with a neighboring kingdom, so Stefan ascended to the throne. Later that same year, his wife, the queen, died in childbirth, along with the boy who would have been King Stefan's heir, had he lived.

Blinded by rage and grief, King Stefan restarted the war on the rival kingdom, whom he blamed for his father's untimely death. The war cost much to both kingdoms, their armies pillaging and razing many towns and leaving a trail of destruction. Finally, King Stefan saw how greatly his people suffered, and met with King Hubert to discuss terms of peace.

"Our kingdoms have been at war for far too long," declared King Hubert. "We must forge a bond between our peoples, lest this animosity fester and return to destroy us both. I hear that you grieve the loss of your beloved queen, so take my younger sister as your wife. Let us call each other 'brother' and bring a lasting peace to this land."

King Stefan saw the wisdom in these words, and he accepted Princess Maleficent as his wife and queen in a grand ceremony, attended by the nobles of both kingdoms and dignitaries from the surrounding countries. Numerous slave girls were roasted and served at the wedding feast, marking it as one of the greatest feasts in many years.

Although this brought peace to the kingdoms, it brought no peace for King Stefan or his household, for Queen Maleficent was a greedy and cruel woman and despised her new husband for taking her away from her homeland. More than this, she saw that the king loved Princess Aurora and doted upon her many gifts and servants, so the queen grew to hate Aurora most of all.

For four years the wicked queen tormented the girl and whined to the king of how unfair it was that he treated the young princess better than his wife, the queen. King Stefan tried to buy peace for his castle by having many lavish gifts sent to the queen's quarters, but her hatred was so great and her heart so bitter, that she only complained all the more.

Finally, despairing for the safety and well being of his precious daughter, King Stefan bought a small house in a nearby town and sent Princess Aurora to live there with only her nurse and two devoted maids. The king arranged for a generous allowance for the household, ensuring that they would never want for food or clothing. King Stefan secretly visited the princess now and then, but always, he kept his visits short, for fear that Queen Maleficent would find out and make more trouble for the sweet girl.

Princess Aurora quickly became the darling of the town she now lived in. Her beauty, grace, and kindness were praised by all each time she ventured into the market with her maids. Although she was away from her father and all that she had known, Aurora soon found herself at home in the quiet town, making friends of all its people.

Naturally, Queen Maleficent heard about how happy and loved the princess was, and schemed to bring hardship and misery to the girl. Eventually, through threats and bribes, she had the princess's allowance stolen by the stewards a little more each month, dwindling the amount which reached the hands of the princess's caretakers, until it was less than what a common beggar could earn from alms. Out of fear of retribution from the queen, the maids carefully hid their poor state from the king, searching out work to do to earn enough to care for the princess and keep up appearances before him on his visits.

One of their best sources of income proved to be mending and sewing dresses and fine clothes for the wealthy merchants and minor nobles of the town. Young Princess Aurora, ever eager to be helpful, also learned this art, which she quickly excelled at. In those days, many well to do ladies of that region could proudly claim to wear fine lace made by the very hands of their own princess.

When the queen learned that, despite all she had done, the princess continued to live a happy, carefree life, she turned to the dark arts and began to study and search for some evil magic which would finally unmake the princess's joy. After years of searching, Queen Maleficent devised a plan.

Dressing herself as a poor, old, haggard woman, the queen traveled to the town, even to the door of the princess. She chose a time when the maids would be out on errands, leaving the thirteen year old girl alone in the house.

"Please, dearie," the wicked queen croaked, "might I come in and rest a moment? I am weary from travel and would ask only for a bit to drink and a crust of bread for an old woman. I was told that this was a house which never looked away from a chance to do a little kindness for those in need."

"Oh, yes!" cried Aurora. "Please, come in and have a seat in our parlor. I will go and brew some tea and fetch some bread with fresh butter, if you'd like."

"Bless you, child. You are too kind."

As soon as the princess had left the queen alone, Queen Maleficent slipped away, and found the sewing supplies used by the princess. It was not hard to see that the spinning wheel had been halted in haste to answer the door, so the queen knew exactly what the princess would do when she resumed her work. Moving quickly, the evil queen poured a vial of a specially crafted potion on the spinning wheel, then hastened back to the parlor before she was discovered.

After eating and drinking the simple food brought by the princess, the queen thanked her and bade farewell. Princess Aurora, wondering to herself why the woman had seemed familiar, returned to the spinning wheel. When she set her hand on it to get it moving again, a fine splinter of wood stuck in her finger, and she fell to the floor, as if dead.

When her nurse and maids discovered the princess, they were greatly distraught. At once, the heartiest of the maids set out on a borrowed horse to bring word to the king that the princess had fallen ill. However, the guards at the castle gate were in the employ of the queen, so when the maid arrived, they turned her away, forbidding her passage in to see the king.

So, it was not until some weeks later that King Stefan happened to pass near the town where the princess lived, and he thought to stop in and see her. When the nurse showed him into his daughter's chamber, Princess Aurora lay so still that the king feared she was dead.

"Get out," ordered the king, taking the hand of the princess.

When the nurse left, he wept for a time, then he thought to try to restore life to her body. He began to rub her hands and arms, warming them. He pulled down the covers, revealing her naked body, for the nurse had recently washed the princess with a perfumed cloth to ward off the scent of death. The king admired the form of the teen girl, seeing in her a great resemblance to his first wife: the unparalleled beauty and love of his youth. He pressed his lips to hers, blowing breath into her, filling her with the air from his own chest. As he continued rubbing her body, trying to bring back the warmth of life, he felt the stir of life within his loins.

Seeing that his caresses were not reviving the girl, the king unsheathed his manhood and reenacted the memory of taking his young wife for the first time. He continued plowing her fertile trough until he had fulfilled his desires in her.

After he had covered her and dressed himself, King Stefan left her chambers and departed the town, expecting to never again see his daughter's face.

A few months of quiet grieving later, King Stefan returned to the town, thinking that he should sell the house and be rid of the place which held the memory of his precious princess. He was surprised when the maids escorted him up to see the princess, still in her bed, and even more amazed when they told him that she continued to swallow the food and drink placed in her mouth. She could not move, and her breath was shallow and heart beat only faintly, but the princess was indeed alive.

The king rejoiced. From that day, he journeyed once per month to visit Princess Aurora, himself bringing the full allowance he had allotted her house. The nurse informed the king on his second visit that Princess Aurora was with child, which pleased the king further. On each of his visits, he dismissed the maids for a time, taking his beautiful daughter to himself again.

The queen was furious that the king had begun to travel so often to spend time with the princess, but there was nothing she could do against him. She continued to brood, waiting for her chance to bring misfortune again.

In due time, the princess gave birth. She bore twin girls, which the nurse claimed to be a sign of good fortune. The king named them Eliana and Oriana, meaning sun and dawn, after their mother, the light of day. The nurse cared for them, laying them against Princess Aurora's breasts to feed them.

For two years the king knew a happiness which he had not felt since the loss of his first wife. He ordered the restoration of his three daughters to the royal castle, where he doted on the young girls all of his love and affection.

One day, the king declared that there would be a great feast, celebrating the peace and prosperity of the land. When the queen heard this, she knew that another time had come for her to act on her wicked schemes.

The day before the feast was to begin, Queen Maleficent had one of her soldiers kidnap the two young princesses and hid them away in a far corner of the castle. She planned to carve them up into the girl stew being prepared, then offer the stew to the king at the feast, before revealing that he had eaten his precious daughters. When the soldier deposited the squirming girls in the kitchen to be slaughtered by the queen, little Eliana and Oriana heard the queen laugh and tell them their fate. Fortunately, they escaped from her grasp and were discovered by the maids, who had been searching high and low for the missing girls.

Thinking that the distraught girls must be hungry, they were taken directly to their mother to feed from her breasts. As the small girls clung to their mother, the keen eyes of Princess Eliana spied the sliver in her mother's finger. She took her mother's finger in her mouth and sucked out the bit of wood.

At once, Prince Aurora awoke, released from her curse. When the king arrived at her quarters, he was initially overjoyed at her recovery.

"Father!" cried Princess Aurora. "I was not ill, but had fallen under a curse. An old woman came to me and placed a curse on my spinning wheel, which left an evil magic splinter in my finger. These darling girls, which I am told I bore to you during my aliment, have removed the splinter and freed me from the curse."

The king was enraged. "What?! We will search the kingdom and bring that wicked woman to justice."

Princess Aurora continued, "I fear there are more evil tidings this day, Father. Our daughters tell me that they have narrowly escaped being butchered and cooked by a frightful woman in the kitchen."

Just then, Queen Maleficent burst into the room, come to see if it was true that the princess had somehow broken the curse.

Eliana and Oriana pointed at the queen and said, "There. That's the bad woman."

Princess Aurora gasped. "And also, I see past her disguise now: she is the one who cursed me. Queen Maleficent is behind it all, Father!"

"Seize her!" bellowed the king. "You have surely lived up to your name, Maleficent, bringer of evil. I am sorry that I can kill you only once for your crimes, for you deserve death many times over for your evil schemes."


At the start of the feast the next day, the king began by reintroducing Princess Aurora to the crowd. When they had cheered the return of their beloved princess, the king told them all of the evil deeds of Queen Maleficent. Amidst jeers and boos at the hated woman, guards brought forth the queen, bound and gagged to ensure she did not speak any parting curse.

Her brother, King Hubert, who was in attendance, expressed his sorrow that his sister had betrayed her husband and her people with such evil deeds. He disowned her, and asked that her actions not be taken as an act of malice between their kingdoms.

King Stefan stripped the queen of her crown, her jewels, and her robes, leaving her naked before all her subjects. Then, at the king's command, the head chef skewered the queen with a spit, and hoisted her over the fire, making her the first to be slaughtered during the feast.

With the evil queen dead, King Stefan announced that the feast would now become a wedding celebration: Princess Aurora would be his wife, and be crowned as queen. Word spread far and wide throughout the week-long celebration, bringing much joy to all who heard about their new Queen Aurora.

And they all lived happily ever after.