Hidden within the shadows cast by the decorative statues within the throne room, Carabosse watched Aurora being prepped for the day's events. The queen and the rosebush twins fluttered and flapped around Aurora, whose look of dread matched that of her father's, who sat on his throne beside her.

Aurora was sat upon her very own decorative, golden throne in-between her parents. It glistened in the daylight that shone through the numerous stained-glass windows. The golden shine reflected on her long, blonde hair, that was wrapped in perfect waves around a pink and red stoned tiara. Those waves also flowed delicately over her silk, baby-pink dress that looked weightless upon her form and draped down to her white sparkling shoes.

"You look wonderful, Aurora, I am sure these suitors will fall head over heels for you!" the queen gushed over her daughter.

A wicked smile stretched across Carabosse's hidden face.

"Indeed! You are pretty beyond words!" Fleurine squeaked excitedly, not able to hide the nervousness she felt for her twin sister's godchild.

"I'll go and see if the royal guests are ready," Cezanne announced with a curtsy then flew quickly out of the double doors. Carabosse followed close behind, moving so quickly and quietly that nobody around detected her.

The four suitors stood in the corridor, waiting, dressed in brightly coloured formal outfits. Each one of them looked so different. One was tall and lanky, with red hair and freckles, another was short, had tanned skin and light brown, shoulder length hair. The third along the line was a tall, dark haired lad, with a strong frame and the fourth was shorter and fair haired with a similar frame.

Carabosse recognised the faces of the latter two, which made her briefly think of Claudia, Aurora's lady's maid and best friend.

The only thing that the four suitors had in common were the white rose bouquets that they all held in their hands. An evil glint entered Carabosse's black eyes when she saw that her influence within the town worked like a charm; mysteriously, word had got around that the Princess's favourite gift in all the world was a bouquet of white roses, and not one of the suitors dared to turn up empty handed.

"You'll all get to meet Princess Aurora," Cezanne told the group of young men. Three of them looked quite nervous, but the fourth looked extremely confident. So confident that he looked down his nose at the other three.

"To make this process less daunting for the princess, you'll be going in individually," continued Cezanne as she fiddled with the twisted, vine wand in her fairy hands. "You shall go in alphabetical order, so, André, son of Pierre - the King's right hand man, you shall go in first."

The dark haired lad strolled confidently behind Cezanne, towards the double doors and threw a smug look at the lads that he was temporarily leaving behind.

"Hmm," Carabosse laughed quietly to herself. "André, I remember you. She passed you over before and she'll do so again."

Carabosse barely got those words out of her mouth before André stormed back through the double doors, empty handed and dejected.

He marched past the other suitors and with a quick angry glance he hissed, "Good luck! You're going to need it!"

He then mumbled something else that only Carabosse seemed to catch. It sounded like "That foolish little cow!" Of course, if anybody else heard him he would have been reprimanded immediately, but nobody said anything, they just watched him stomp away and disappear through the front doors.

"Beau, son of the Kingdom's richest merchant, you are next," Cezanne called from the open double doors.

The red haired lad rushed clumsily into the throne room and Cezanne closed the doors quietly behind them. The last two suitors exchanged a look and tried to eavesdrop on what was being said, but all they could hear was muffled voices. This meeting was lasting a little longer, which seemed promising to those standing in the corridor. However, Carabosse's knowing smirk didn't fade at all.

Beau was sent out of the throne room, no longer holding his white rose bouquet. He was not as angry as André, but he certainly looked disappointed.

"Julian, son of the Royal tailor," Cezanne's voice sounded from the throne room, she seemed a little less hopeful, which caused Carabosse's shadowed smile to widen. She managed to see through a crack between the ajar double doors, that he gave his white rose bouquet to Princess Aurora before a word was said. Carabosse counted down from five, and before she got to one, Julian sadly turned away from the three thrones and headed back towards the corridor.

"Okay..." Cezanne entered the corridor after him. "Philippe, the younger son of the royal tailor." Cezanne monotonously greeted the last suitor. "Come on."

The shorter, fair haired lad took a few steps towards the throne room but was suddenly stopped.

"Hang on," Cezanne said, then paused as she listened to her sister whispering in her ear. Her defeated expression then swiftly changed to one of enlightenment and interest. She nodded towards her twin then held out her hand towards Philippe. "Let me take these off you," she said, to Carabosse's horror, and took away the bouquet of white roses that he was holding. "Okay, in you go!"

Carabosse was not going to wait out in the corridor this time! She followed them all into the throne room. Managing to stay hidden within the shadows that were scattered about the place, she watched Philippe approach the three thrones.

Aurora looked bored with her chin balancing upon her hand. She caught her mother's eye, which harboured a stern look that Aurora took as a cue to straighten up.

"Princess Aurora, this is..." Cezanne began but got interrupted by the Princess's sweet voice.

"No need, Fairy Godmother. I know who this is," Princess Aurora said, clearly wanting this tedious process to just be over. She then addressed the poor, nervous lad who awkwardly stood there, trying his hardest not to fidget. "You are Philippe, I do believe I met you in town once. You are a close friend of my first suitor."

"Indeed, you are right, your Highness," he responded politely with a bow.

"Are you as ill-tempered as your best friend, I wonder?" she questioned, causing her mother to scowl at her for being so forward.

"I admit, he can be quite brash, your Highness," Philippe answered carefully. "I like to believe I am a bit more well-mannered than he is."

"You'd turn on your own just like that?" Aurora said with a glint in her eye.

"If they ever offended you, Princess, indeed, I would," Philippe said calmly, picking up on her kind nature.

The smile that lit up Aurora's face caused Carabosse to act quickly. She blew green magic into her invisible hand and blew it towards the king, who breathed it in, in one long sigh.

"Did you come empty handed, boy?" the king spoke up indignantly from his throne, causing his royal wife to jump in her seat, for he had not said one word until that moment.

"I-Indeed I did, your Majesty," Philippe rushed in and turned towards Cezanne. "Fairy Cezanne decided to carry it for me."

Cezanne blushed as she tried to hide the bouquet behind her back, and Carabosse didn't fail to notice Fleurine slapping her hand onto her forehead as she realised her twin's blunder.

"Are they white roses?" Aurora asked sweetly.

Stifling a chuckle, Carabosse watched her sisters begin to panic.

"They are, Princess Aurora. I got them especially for you as they are your favourite," Philippe answered with a kind expression.

"They are my favourite, I adore white roses!" Aurora smiled brightly.

"Then I'll present them to you," Philippe said reaching out towards Cezanne who had just handed the flowers to her pink rose sister. Then suddenly the flowers disappeared in a puff of pink glittering magic.

"Oh! Whoopsie!" Fleurine feigned embarrassment. "It happened again! Oh Sister, how foolish of me!"

"Fleurine, Sister!" Cezanne joined in with the charade. "What have you done?" She then turned towards the king and queen and gave a low curtsy. "I am terribly sorry your majesties."

A silenced growl tore through Carabosse's throat, but she refused to let her sisters win this battle. She waved her disguised fingers in the air and green magic curled its way towards Philippe's lapel. There grew a grand, sparkling, pure white rose, that was bigger and brighter than any of the other white roses that Aurora received that day. The shine caught the corner of Philippe's eye and he looked down towards his chest.

"Oh, look, what luck!" he exclaimed. "I forgot that I put this here." He added whilst removing the beautiful, magical flower from his green, dress jacket. "It seems not all is lost after all."

He then presented the white rose to the blushing princess, causing looks of dread to sweep across Cezanne and Fleurine's faces - to Carabosse's dark delight.

Aurora's eyes drank in the flower's beauty and as soon as the rose reached her fair hand, her eyes glazed over and Philippe was forgotten.