Sleeping Beauty Far away from our world, there were the Blue Castle and the Red Castle. In the Blue Castle, everything was soft and blue, and Izod was the softest fairy of all. Izod loved her land, and the land loved her. It was a happy place, but at times it was very sad. When one of the High Fairies died, all the people cried for days. Izod cried more than everyone else. She had a big heart, and beautiful wings. They called them her “wings of water”. Because of this, she was chosen to be queen. She was afraid at first, but she was also excited. She had to wait until she became sixteen. But on the day of her sixteenth birthday, the men from Red Castle came. It was the first time that Izod had seen them. They wore red. Their eyes were red like fire. And when they attacked, the Blue Castle turned red with blood. They killed and killed, and Izod cried and cried. When they found her, she had cried every tear from her body. But the Red Men did not kill her. They did something much worse. They hit her, pulled out her wings, and left her alone in the Blue Castle. All alone. Her beauty was dead, and her magic was gone. Della loved her land, and the land loved her. Her father and mother, the King and Queen, smiled whenever they saw her. She had beautiful red hair. People called it her “hair of fire”. The people of the Red Castle brought her presents every day. In the Red Castle, everything was bright, and everyone was strong, and Della was also bright and strong. When a gladiator killed another man, she cheered. She would be queen one day, and she would be a strong queen. But on Della’s sixteenth birthday, everything changed. The day started with beautiful sunshine, but quickly turned dark and wet. Many people had come to celebrate Della’s birthday, and now they all stood inside the castle. They were wet and cold, but still, they were happy for Della. Della sat and received each present one by one. There were many things: cakes, jewellery, paintings and dresses. Finally, Sir Galen came up. He was the head of the guards. He wore bright red armour, and he was very strong and handsome. He gave Della a very interesting present. ‘These are wings, your majesty. They are from a fairy, and they have strong magic. I wanted to give them to you before, but you were too young. Be careful with them. They are dangerous.’ And then, the doors to the Red Castle opened by themselves. A strong wind blew in, and the rain came inside. ‘Shut those doors!’ shouted the King. The guards did so, but with the wind, something had come inside. Not something, but someone. It was a tall person, wearing a black cloak. Their face was hidden. The people looked afraid, and moved so that the cloaked person could move forward. ‘Who are you?’ asked the Queen. The person took off the cloak. It was a woman, but she looked very bad. Her face was dark blue, and her eyes were as white as milk. She looked soft and sad. She looked like the rain turned into a person. Della had heard of the Blue Castle, and the strange blue people who lived there. But they had all died, years ago. That was what her parents had told her. The woman looked at Della. ‘Give me back my wings. I need them to fly.’ She was quiet, but nobody in the castle spoke a word. Della was afraid, but she did not show it. ‘These are not your wings,’ she said. ‘Sir Galen gave them to me.’ The blue woman just shook her head. ‘The wings are mine. Give me back my wings. I need them to fly.’ ‘Guards!’ said the King. ‘Take this woman!’ But the guards did not move. In fact, nobody in the room moved. It seemed like nobody could move. The blue woman said again, ‘Give me back my wings. I need them to fly.’ She sounded like she was going to cry. Della stood up. She picked up the wings and looked at them. They were hers, because they were a present from Sir Galen. But this woman, this strange woman, wanted them so much. Della knew that if she didn’t give her the wings, her birthday would be bad. So she walked towards her. ‘No!’ shouted Sir Galen. ‘It is Izod, the bad fairy of the Blue Castle!’ Della stopped. There was a moment of quiet, and then the blue woman’s face changed. Her face turned to anger. She tried to move towards the wings, but the guards ran forward. They held her back. ‘Then she will suffer like me!’ shouted the blue woman. ‘If I cannot fly, then she must sleep. Tonight, she will fall asleep, and she will never wake up again.’ Then, Izod was gone. The cloak fell to the floor. The Red Castle was quiet. Outside, the sun shone again. That night, Della did not sleep. She did not sleep the next night, either. Every night for a week, she did not sleep. The King and Queen found entertainers—musicians, clowns, and dancers—to keep her awake. But each day, Della grew more tired, and one night, she fell asleep at the dinner table. The King and Queen tried to wake her. They shook her. They brought delicious food and drinks. Musicians played music. But nothing worked, so they carried her to her bed. The King and Queen sat by her every night and told stories. But finally, they were suffering too much, and even they left her. Della lay alone in her room. She was a Sleeping Beauty, and nothing more. Izod slept as well. Without her wings, her magic was not strong. To keep Della asleep, she had to sleep as well. In their dreams, they met. At first, Della ran away. But as the years passed, she could not keep doing this. Finally, they talked. ‘Why did you do this?’ Della asked. She did not sound like a child anymore. She was a suffering woman, now. Just like Izod. ‘I had nothing left.’ Della shook her head. ‘But you got nothing from this. Now we are both asleep. You do not have your wings. Does it make you happy, to see me suffer?’ ‘Of course it doesn’t. I know how you are suffering. I feel your pain.’ Della started to cry. She could not stop the tears any longer. ‘Then why did you do this?’ ‘You know the history of our lands.’ Della could not look in Izod’s eyes. It was true. Her people had gone to the Blue Castle and killed them. They had killed families, and killed the land. And they had taken Izod’s wings. ‘I know it was wrong. But being King is not easy. My father has to do many things he doesn’t want to do. And your people were dangerous. You have magic.’ ‘One time, we all had magic.’ Izod smiled. ‘But they did not tell you that story, did they? One time, we were all one. Blue and Red were together. And then we broke ourselves up, and killed one side of ourselves.’ Della shook her head again. ‘I don’t understand.’ ‘There is a way to wake up, but you will not like it. Still, it is my only hope. It is the reason I did this.’ ‘Tell me.’ Della woke up, but she was not Della now. She was Izodella. She had her wings of water, and she had her hair of fire. Her mother and father were dead now, and Sir Galen was king. The land was Red, red with fire and blood. There was no happiness, only suffering. Izodella did not wait. She killed the king. Then she flew above the land. She held out her right hand, and fire rained down. It ate the Red Castle, and the remains of the Blue Castle. It killed everything and all. Then she held out her left hand, and water rained down. It cleaned the land, and ended the suffering. The fires died, and the rain stopped. The land slept. Izodella cried, and her tears fell on the earth. And where they fell, something new woke up. Green. The end