Fairest 2

Synopsis
''Okay, so Sleeping Beauty has been awakened again by true love's kiss. But hold on! The thief Ali Baba doesn't seem a likely candidate for knowing true love from a day-old cruller. So how did this kiss work? We proudly present thrills and chills – and since the Snow Queen is involved, we do mean chills – along with mathematical proof of what does and does not constitute true love.''

Plot
With snow falling without any apparent end, Ali Baba urges his new princess Briar Rose to run for her life. Briar Rose is more than reluctant to be Ali's anything, and she isn't particularly fond of his bottle imp Jonah Panghammer either. All the same, they had been instructed by the Snow Queen to run, and they will if they want to live. Fortunately, they find shelter in a cave, though it is still quite cold.

Earlier, the three of them had found themselves surrounded by a disgruntled and blood-hungry army of goblins. Despite Jonah's urging that Ali needed to stand and fight, they were suddenly saved the trouble by a wall of ice that encased their attackers. It was the Snow Queen, wakened, as Briar Rose was, by Ali's kiss of true love. However, while she is angry with the goblins for daring to kidnap her, she still demands vengeance against Briar Rose for placing her in her cursed sleep. She advises the newcomers to run while they can, because she will come for them when the goblins are dealt with.

With the Snow Queen's giants approaching, Ali allows the cave's entrance to be closed off by snow, so that they will be undetected. Fortunately, the snow will act as an insulator, but he suggests that they snuggle together for warmth, since the fire must be put out. Briar Rose agrees, but makes it clear that her only interest is survival.

The next morning, Ali manages to scramble through the snow, and dig a way out of the cave. He behaves, perhaps too familiarly with Briar Rose, as he thinks that they are connected by true love - otherwise his kiss wouldn't have woke her. The girl attempts to challenge this, but they soon realize that they are surrounded by ice giants.

After a short while, the trio have been slung in a gunnysack over the shoulder of an ice giant. Exasperatedly, Briar Rose demands to know how she ended up in this mess, and Jonah Panghammer happily obliges.

Long ago, the kingdom of Seppantyre held a great celebration in honor of the birth of the king and queen's new baby daughter. In addition to the nobility, numerous guests were invited from the twilight lands to become her godmothers. However, one fairy was not invited. Feeling slighted, Hadeon the Destroyer had vowed to bring a curse down on the child.

Briar Rose feels as though she ought to remember some of that story, but her complaints are silenced by the sudden thud of her body being dumped from the sack onto the ice below. The Snow Queen stands before her captives and demands that they continue the story.

Featured Characters

 * Ali Baba

Supporting Characters

 * Jonah Panghammer
 * Briar Rose

Antagonists

 * Snow Queen
 * Ice Giants
 * Goblins
 * Hadeon the Destroyer (Flashback only)

Other Characters

 * Nyura (Flashback only)
 * Katrya (Flashback only)
 * Sofiya (Flashback only)
 * Ionna (Flashback only)
 * Alyas (Flashback only)
 * Yeva (Flashback only)
 * Leysa (Flashback only)

Locations

 * Seppantyre (Flashback only)
 * Forest of Dire Blight (Flashback only)