In a land teeming with magic, it is unwise to steal from those who wield its power. That is a lesson I learned too late. Endless hours spent in regret, I am a prisoner of my own mind and body. A mind that never sleeps, and a body that rarely wakes.
My eyes flutter as the sound of music lands upon my ears. I am fully awake, but the enchantment is so strong that I am unable to lift my head. I am too weak to cry out. This is my fate.
I can still see her in my mind’s eye. The trails of suspended glitter that had always accompanied her every move were nowhere to be seen. Once radiant skin was now as dull as any mortal. How can such cold eyes burn so deeply into my soul? I cannot forget the chill that washed over me as she pronounced sentence for my crime.
“You stole from us our very lives. We are now as the walking dead. Your fate shall be no different than our own.” The moment those words left her tiny mouth, I fell to the ground as though I were dead. I could think. I could feel. I could not will myself to move. I had brought this on myself.
I was soon found by my beloved, the one who had unknowingly helped carry out my plot. He was innocent, but destined to shoulder a heavy burden for my folly. He laid me in a quiet room at the top of the stair that day, and began tending to my every need.
It was he who helped me fell the Immortal tree of the fairies. He did not know it was an enchanted tree, and I did not tell him. It was he who helped bring the wood to a craftsman who turned it into an instrument of great power.
Today I lie awake listening to melodies hanging in the air. Music from this instrument is the only thing in the world with the power to wake me. His skillful fingers flow over the keys in cascading patterns. The sweetness of its sound is marred by the bitterness of my enchantment.
The music abruptly stops. My eyes close as I fall back into my waking slumber. I hear a great commotion. Unfamiliar voices speak. I cannot make out the words. All falls silent once again.
“My love, you will forgive me for what I have done when you awake,” my husband brushes my cheek with the back of his hand. “I have sold your most prized possession. It was the only way to pay for your new treatment.” Dread fills my heart.
“I will no longer be able to play for you. The piano is gone. In its place will be a doctor who assures me that he can cure you. We will get a new piano when you wake.”
I cry out in my mind. I am forever lost.