Thornhedge

Thornhedge is a 2023 novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. The novella is a reimagining of the story of Sleeping Beauty. It won the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novella and 2024 Locus Award for Best Novella. Toadling guards a wall of thorns which conceal a sleeping princess in a tower. She hopes that humans will eventually forget the existence of the tower and its occupant. Hundreds of years later, a knight approaches the hidden tower. Toadling tries to tie elf-knots into his hair to scare him away, but he awakens and discovers her. The knight tells her that his name is Halim and claims to be looking for the lost princess. Toadling narrates her story to Halim. She was born a human princess and switched with a changeling at birth.