The Sleeping Beauty - Book 1 - Chapter 45
“Don’t look so sad, my pet,” I said to Diedre. My men found her in the Mistreach and brought her to me. She took out a half-dozen of my men before they subdued her.
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.
“Don’t look so sad, my pet,” I said to Diedre. My men found her in the Mistreach and brought her to me. She took out a half-dozen of my men before they subdued her.
“I am not sad for me. My body is nothing. I am sad for my people.”
“Yes, your people. Don’t worry. They will be safe, as long as you do what I ask.”
Diedre swallowed loudly. I could smell the fear coming off of her, but she was too proud to show it. “And what is that?”
I walked toward her slowly and deliberately. “Tell me where the girl is, that gorgon you were travelling with.”
Diedre spun her head, avoiding eye contact. “I don’t know…” she said with hurried breath. “There was a Cyclops, and the carriage crumpled…and then the monster left without me.”
“That is sad.” I stopped when I was in front of her and leaned down to whisper, “Perhaps I do need to pay closer attention to your people.”
“No! Please,” Diedre replied, tears forming in her eyes, “they have done nothing to you.”
I scoffed. “They have been a scourge on me for years. It’s best that I cut off the head and then drown the snake. Though, if you give me another snake, then perhaps they can live free for a while longer.”
“We are just trying to survive.” Diedre gritted her teeth. “Since the dreamers left, we were kicked out of our home. Please, we only want to live in peace.”
“And yet you vandalize everything you come across.” My voice boomed through the hall. “You are a bad subject of the crown, I must say. Yes, you will be made an example of. All of you.”
“Please.” Diedre cleared her throat. “What can I do to prove I am loyal, my queen?”
“Bring me the girl.” I took my time with every word and let them each land on her pale cheek.
She took a long moment to respond. “I can’t do that. I don’t know where she is.”
I sneered at her. “Then I will watch you and all you love burn to the ground.”
Diedre held up her arms. “No! Wait. I may not have the girl, but I have something.”
“What could you possibly have that will help me? Without the gorgon you are nothing.”
Diedre pulled a long tooth out of her pocket. “One of her snakes lost this in the fight. You can use it to find her and end Ozma forever. Kill two birds with one stone. That’s what you want, right?”
With the bones of the snake, I could create a pathway between the mirror and the girl. I could spy on her without the gorgon ever knowing and take my revenge on Ozma before escaping Urgu forever.
I snickered. “It’s one of the things I need.” I held up the tooth. “Very well. I suppose you have done well for yourself. Your family may live.”
“Thank you, my—”
I took a dagger from my cloak and stabbed Diedre through the neck with it. She evaporated into dust in front of me. Such a clean way to die. No blood, no fuss. “Their life, for yours.”
Fairy tales are real.
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.