The Briar and the Rose

This is not about any British boarding school, or any thing like that.

It is about magic, and the world that destroys magic.

It is as to the tale of Briar Rose, for every prince who came seeking to rescue her, during all the time when the power of the evil spell still reigned, was held fast by thorns, as though by strong hands, so that they bled until they died.

And some folk scoff at magic, but the world is an ugly place without it.... When beauty sleeps, what is left-- except all that is ugly?

(9/10)