The Fall of the Wicked Queen and Her Return to Greatness

Once there was a wicked queen who found herself robbed of all her powers. The prince who rendered her powerless, defenseless and old did not notice that while he vanquished her power and the falsehood of everlasting youth, he did not vanquish her life, and so she was left to wander the enchanted world as an old hag.

    Embittered and full of vengeful thoughts, the hag struggled through village after village, seeking a solution to her magicless state, and spitting on all she felt were beneath her.

    Until one day she came upon a sorcerer and strove to strike a deal.

    The sorcerer was as cruel as the hag, however, and had no desire to strike any sort of deal.

    Upon realizing this, on her way out of his fortress the hag stole a series of books with titles of enchantment from where she hoped she could derive a plan to steal or sacrifice or whatever it was that would return her powers to her.

    The books, however, were not filled with the kind of enchantment she was seeking. Rather, they were filled with stories about small people with little victories and happy lives. Overcome with the thought of happiness, the hag set about living in an abandoned cottage and administering healing tonics to those who came her way. And when the time came for her to lay down her head in death, she was firmly convinced that her life, in itself, was magic.

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