Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty, illustration by drachenmagier

Princess **Talia**, also known as the **Sleeping Beauty**, is a supporting character in the fantasy book series "***Fairest***" created by **Fabian De Sousa** and illustrated by **drachenmagier**. She first appears in "*Fairest II: East of the Sun & West of the Moon*".

Talia is based on the titular characters of the fairy tales "*Sleeping Beauty*" and "*Sun, Moon, and Talia*", as well as the princess character of the fairy tale "*The Three Spinners*" recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

## History

Over a hundred years ago, a King of the Enchanted Forest wished to sire an heir to his royal throne, and after much time with no success, he sought out the most powerful of the fairies: Carabosse the Dark Fairy. Carabosse gave the King a rose from her garden and told him to prick his finger with one of the thorns and put three drops of blood into his wife's soup without telling her. After, the Queen falls pregnant and eventually gives birth to a daughter that they name Princess Talia, and the kingdom celebrates.

At the princess's christening, the King and Queen invite the Twelve Great fairies of the Enchanted Forest to be Talia's godmothers, and give each of them velvet caskets with gold and bejewelled utensils. Each fairy gives Talia a magical gift (such as grace, wit, beauty, song, etc), but before the twelfth fairy can bestow her gift, Carabosse arrives, angered she was not invited or given the same treatment as the other fairies. For her revenge, Carabosse curses Princess Talia that, on her fifteenth year, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.

The Dark Fairy vanishes and the twelfth fairy, who is unable to undo a curse cast by one so powerful, instead changes it. Instead of death, Talia will fall into a deep sleep that will last a hundred years and only be awakened by the kiss of a worthy prince.

The King and Queen order every spinning wheel in the kingdom burned, hoping the avoid fulfilling the curse, and Talia grows up oblivious to the curse. On her fifteenth year, while exploring her kingdom, Talia finds a tower she's never explored before and meets an old woman spinning. She asks to try spinning for the first time, and the old woman gives Talia the spindle, and the princess instantly pricks her finger and falls into the enchanted sleep.

The old woman transforms into Carabosse the Dark Fairy, triumphant that her curse has been fulfilled, and she enchants the rest of the kingdom to sleep as well, and grows a giant wall of thorns around the kingdom to stop any prince from breaking her curse.

### **Fairest II: East of the Sun & West of the Moon**

A hundred years later, Red Riding Hood (on a quest to rescue the Bear Prince) encounters the Silver Prince (Prince Charming's cousin) who intends to rescue the Sleeping Beauty but cannot pass the wall of thorns. Rose Red helps the Silver Prince pass the wall of thorns, slay a fire-breathing dragon, and overcome the enchanted song of the Golden Harp, all to rescue Princess Talia with his kiss. Talia and the rest of her kingdom is awakened and celebrates, and the prince and princess offer Red Riding Hood a reward, and Rose Red requests the now magic-less Golden Spinning Wheel that first cursed Talia a hundred years ago. Rose Red leaves as the Silver Prince and Talia begin organising their royal wedding.

### **Fairest Tales: A Collection of Short Stories**

In the short story "The Sun, the Moon, and the Sleeping Beauty", set shortly after Talia is awakened from her enchanted sleep, the Silver Prince and Talia are organising their wedding, and Talia has hired Three Spinners to make her wedding dress (as she cannot bring herself to touch another spinning wheel or spindle). The Three Spinners reveal they are prophetic and foresee a great danger that will befall the Enchanted Forest and destroy Sleeping Beauty's kingdom. Unable to tell Talia what the danger is or how to stop it, the Three Spinners advise her to speak to the most powerful good fairy, Aurora the White Fairy, who personifies light and travels the sky every day as the sun.

Not telling the Silver Prince (as her fiance despises fairies because of Carabosse's curse), Talia travels on horseback to the east to meet Aurora at sunrise before she starts her journey across the sky during the day. There Aurora confirms the mysterious danger is real, but doesn't know what it is, and advises Talia speaks to her twin sister, the Black Fairy. Talia waits until sunset and meets Carabosse the Dark Fairy for the first time, as it is Carabosse's role to bring darkness to the Enchanted Forest every night and carry the moon across the sky.

At first, Talia is terrified the Black Fairy will try to kill her, but Carabosse reveals that she never intended Talia to die and knew that the twelfth fairy godmother would change the curse of death to an enchanted sleep. Carabosse did this because Talia, with twelve fairy blessings, now equalled Snow White's Fairest magic in raw power, and someone with such power must exist in the present time to face the mysterious danger that will befall the Enchanted Forest. Unfortunately, Carabosse also doesn't know what's coming, and advises Talia to ask the stars, offering to travel the night sky and tell the stars to meet Talia in the morning.

That morning, Talia meets the stars, who are revealed to be her twelve fairy godmothers. Talia asks about the mysterious danger destined to befall the Enchanted Forest, and the Twelve Great Fairies insist Talia has nothing to worry about, as it is their job to protect the Enchanted Forest. Talia returns home to a worried Silver Prince who reveals the Three Spinners have finished her wedding dress. Talia has her wedding to look forward to, but still tells the Silver Prince about the Three Spinners' prophesy and what the fairies told her. The Silver Prince suggests they visit his cousin the Golden Prince (Prince Charming) and his wife Snow White, who owns a Magic Mirror that can answer Talia's questions.

## Appearance

Princess Talia is described as a miracle of grace and beauty thanks to her fairy godmother's blessings, and Rose Red describes her as '*fairer-than-a-fairy*'. After being asleep for a hundred years, Talia's brunette hair as grown so long it reaches as far down as her hands, and she is described as wearing pastel-coloured clothes/dresses.

## Personality

Talia is incredibly gentle, passive, thoughtful and kind, a stark contrast to her brash, sexist and slightly selfish fiance; the Silver Prince.

## Powers

Carabosse the Dark Fairy claims that all the magical gifts given to Talia at her christening make her almost as powerful as Snow White's Fairest magic, but Talia has yet to discover or use any magical powers.

## Trivia

* Princess Talia is named after the Italian literary fairy tale "*Sun, Moon, and Talia*", the earliest recorded variant of the "*Sleeping Beauty*" fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile.
* Rose Red describes Talia as 'fairer-than-a-fairy'. This is a reference to two French fairy tales that feature beautiful human princesses persecuted by jealous fairies.