The Sleeping Beauty - Book 1 - Chapter 36
Hera had been generous to me in the time since I began to serve her, but none of her gifts were as great as the magic mirror on my bedroom wall.
Fairy tales are real.
Rose Briar is a diabetic college student without insurance. She’s been scraping by through a combination of maxing out credit cards and relying upon the kindness of strangers.
Unfortunately, she’s spent every dollar at her disposal. There’s no money left to buy her life-saving insulin.
Without her medication, Rose falls into a diabetic coma. She tumbles into a deep slumber and wakes up in a fantastical place called the Dream Realm, where fairy tales and legends of old are still very much alive.
She has one chance to wake up.
She must trek across the world, visit the most powerful object in the land, the Obsidian Spindle, and entreat with the fates; the only beings powerful enough to send her soul back to Earth.
But evil forces don’t want her to leave. They will stop at nothing to capture her and make sure she never goes home again.
Now, with the help of her half-gorgon girlfriend and a mysterious red rider, Rose must race across the land fighting dragons, monsters, and the forces of the Wicked Witch, Nimue, in order to reach the Obsidian Spindle before her body dies on Earth and she’s trapped in the Dream Realm forever.
Will she be able to wake up? Can she survive? Find out by reading The Sleeping Beauty today. If you love mythology, fairy tales, and dark fantasy, then you’ll love the first book in The Obsidian Spindle Saga.
Paid subscribers can access the entire archive of this series from the beginning, along with other series and every article I’ve ever written. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can access the archive for free with a 7-day trial.
Hera had been generous to me in the time since I began to serve her, but none of her gifts were as great as the magic mirror on my bedroom wall. With a simple command, I could look upon any of those in my employ. It would have been more convenient if I could simply look and find the impetuous girl, but my eyes could only see through those that granted me the ability to use their minds freely.
Hera once told me that free will was a gift from the gods, and thus even the gods could not break it. Only those who gave it up willingly could be molded to my will. Given the powers I was granted, it was hard to complain about something so trivial, but it was still a nuisance, and I hated nuisances.
Those who worked for me gave up free will when they joined my cabal. I couldn’t have them questioning my commands, after all. That would be madness. I had been betrayed too many times over the centuries to simply trust them. No. It was much better to take their free will, so they blindly carried out my commands. That made sure things got done.
Well, it usually made sure that things got done. Every once in a while, things didn’t go my way.
“Show me my forces at the Happy Dragon Inn,” I snarled at the mirror, stalking toward it with all the confidence of the rightful queen of Oz. By now, the girl would be under my control. But when I saw the inn, I found that my men had failed again to capture her.
“Play backward and show me everything that happened since my men walked into the inn,” I commanded. The mirror moved backward in time until the moment my men arrived. There, I saw her. In the corner. The Red Rider. The girl sat next to her. She was pretty, but nothing too ravishing. She seemed absolutely and incredibly normal.
“How could they have gotten away?” I fumed. “They’re right there! Continue from here, mirror. Do not change this angle.”
The mirror replayed the scene. I watched as they slaughtered a drunken gnome, and then I watched the Red Rider take the girl through a small hatch at the base of the floor. My eyes narrowed.
“Move backwards again. This time, show me the barkeep.”
The mirror played backwards and tilted to the north. When the image played again, I watched the barkeep turn slightly toward the Red Rider. I watched again, and this time I saw him beckon her forward. They were in this together. He helped the Red Rider and the girl escape.
“Guard!” Two burly oafs rushed inside. “Make contact with Captain Balsim. Burn the Happy Dragon to the ground. Tell him to bring the orc to me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I will be there momentarily to examine the wreckage.”
The guards left and I turned back to the mirror. I couldn’t wait to watch the Happy Dragon go up in flames. It was a favorite place of Hypnos, and nothing brought me more pleasure than watching what he built turned to cinder.