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The marriage to Philip turned out to be a disaster among disasters. He’d fought so valiantly to rescue her from her eternal sleep so surely he must be a good man. Oh how reputations and appearance could be so deceiving when you were young.
Briar Rose figured it was his charm that fooled her. Now twenty years later she’d seen the error of her ways. The kingdom was in shambles and villagers destitute. If she knew then what she knew now, she never would’ve married Phillip.
One night, however, Briar Rose had an idea. What if she could tell herself it was going to turn out? Her aunties knew quite a bit of magic. Perhaps if they worked together Briar Rose could go back to warn herself of the danger of marrying Philip.
She brought it up to her aunties the next evening who balked instantly at her idea.
“Aurora time magic is not something to be trifled with! It can have disastrous consequences.”
Briar Rose scoffed. “Look at the state of my kingdom. If I don’t take this opportunity to correct my mistakes I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” She took a deep breath. “So please give me this chance.”
Her aunt who was partial to the color blue slowly nodded her head. The other two frowned but reluctantly agreed. “There is no guarantee we can send you to the correct time. We will aim for the right moment but time magic is tricky.”
One of her other aunties nodded in agreement, “There is a reason it is forbidden, my dear.”
“It is a consequence I will have to live with.”
“Are you absolutely sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
To be honest, Briar Rose didn’t have a plan. If she could go back far enough before she fell into that long sleep then Briar Rose could warn her younger self of the future.
They prepared the spell for the next monday. There was no particular reason except to give her aunties time to gather everything they needed and as well see if it was possible to change Briar Rose’s mind.
Briar Rose wouldn;t. She had to much hope riding on this most convoluted plan. Naturally, Phillip suspected nothing. He never paid much attention to her these days so it really worked in her favor.
“Good luck,” The auntie in red whispered. She gently squeezed her hand.
The one in green sniffed, trying desperately to hold back her tears. “Please be careful my dear. We couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”
“I may not see you again in this life but I will in another,” Briar Rose said firmly.
She sat down and closed her eyes as the fairies reluctantly started the spell, their anxiety practically radiating off them. Briar Rose ignored them. She had to if she wanted to get through and god knows Briar Rose was determined too.
The spell washed slowly over Briar Rose. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, Briar Rose felt completely disoriented. The aunties said these side effects were completely normal. She only hoped the serious side effects stayed far away.
When Briar Rose gained the energy to look around, she noticed a bed with her younger self laying in it. She gasped, cursing underneath her breath. Yes, Briar Rose went back a significant amount of time but not far enough to stop that damn curse.
Briar Rose didn’t know how close she was to the day of Phillip’s arrival. She couldn’t wait forever since her future self would perish eventually.
“What did Philip say when he came that day?” Briar Rose walked towards the small window and looked out. “The thorns seemed to part for him, he said. I hope it wasn’t one of his exaggerations.”
She stared out the window, intently waiting for any movement but there wasn’t any. The plants shielding the castle remained completely still as her sleeping form on the bed. Either Phillip lied or Briar Rose was way off--
“Did those plants just move?” Briar Rose gasped. “Dear god the man actually told the truth in once in his life. I almost want to call this a dream.”
Now Briar Rose had to act fast. She looked at her younger self and frowned. Briar Rose couldn’t let herself marry Philip. He would bring herself nothing but unhappiness. She loved herself too much for that.
“I wonder if that would count as true love’s kiss?” Briar Rose murmured underneath her breath. Realizing there was nothing to lose, she decided to brush her lips over her younger self’s forehead. Honestly, Briar Rose didn’t know what she expected. It really was a gamble. The fluttering eyes and soft gasp of surprised proved it happened to be a good one.
She smiled. “Hello. I know you must be confused but please hear me out. My name is Briar Rose. I am you but from your future. Our aunties sent me back so I could give you a warning.”
Young her looked overwhelmed but Briar Rose held no ill will towards her. It was quite a lot of information to take in after all.
“What warning?” She asked, her voice tinged with fear.
“The man that is supposed to come wake you up from this eternal sleep will ask for your hand in marriage. Do not say yes. A marriage to him will bring you nothing but unhappiness and ruin your kingdom.”
She closed her eyes and then opened them once or twice, as if to make sure this was real and not a dream.
“... you broke the curse?”
Briar Rose laughed to herself. “I guess I did.”
“I may not know much about the world but that seems almost narcissistic.”
“I just want you-- us to be happy.”
Young her looked like she wanted to say something but then a look of panic replaced the confusion and fear. “You’re fading.”
“Oh the aunties mentioned something like this might happen if I did indeed change the past. I guess this is goodbye. Please remember what I said. He might appear charming and did try to rescue you but it isn’t worth sacrificing your happiness or kingdom.”
Then Briar Rose faded out, hoping her advice was taken seriously.
~*~
Briar Rose turned Philip down that day and several times afterwards. The words that woman spoke wouldn’t leave her mind. Even with the uncanny resemblance, Briar Rose held some doubts that it was her but the power words spoken were not as easily ignored.
She instead focused on trying to help her kingdom recover not only from the years they lost but also the struggles from the curse.
As it turned out, Briar Rose was right to listen to that voice in the end because Philip ran his own kingdom into the ground. Probably one of the best decisions Briar Rose ever made.