If the kingdom's princess cannot marry by her twenty-first birthday, the throne passes to a distant cousin. Not only does the court need to find a suitable fiancé, but someone—or something—needs to breach the magical barrier that prevents any living being from touching the princess.

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When the king, her father, was killed in a hunting accident, the princess was only three. Her distraught stepmother decreed that no one touch the princess, and a magical barrier began to form. It will take a prince from the neighboring empire, a wise counselor from far away, and a magical cocoon to finally reach the princess and make "happily ever after" more than just a possibility. 

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The story behind the opera composed for Marina Carson Bridgepoint, the heroine of Debbie Romani's novel Mendocino Music.