I Know You

3

Magnus stood atop the highest turret of the castle, looking out onto the grounds below and pondering his next move.

He had only ever kept the company of women whose sole purpose was to please him. Handmaids and even prospective suitors, who had surely been raised in the knowledge that women were to be nothing more than a pretty face.

So with Princess Aurora, he had gotten more than he had bargained for. Two days has passed since their exchange in the dungeon, and true to her word, she had not spoken a word or eaten so much as a bite in this time.

At first, he had thought it best to wait it out, in the hope that the girl would blink first. But having been raised in a manner such as she had, it seemed that Aurora was made of sterner stuff, and refused to waiver.

As a result, Magnus was now under pressure to act, as unrest grew around him. The other members of the council were concerned that the standoff may lead to their future Queen becoming ill, and even, perhaps, her eventual death.

In the absence of the king, he had to act, though in what vain, he was yet to decide.

"Sir?"

Magnus turned in time to see his righthand man Arthur appear through the exit to the rooftop, covered in the broth that he had been ordered to take to the Princess some moments earlier.

"She has not come to her senses, I assume?"

Arthur shook his head. "The Princess is not for swaying, Sir." 

"Impossible," Magnus muttered, turning his back to Arthur again.

"Sir? If I might..." the younger man began.

Magnus did not react. Under normal circumstances, he would have questioned the other's boldness, but at the present time, any suggestion was worth consideration.

"The girl is young... foolish. She does not want for anything more than her mother," Arthur said.

"Her mother is dead."

"Then... she does not want for anything more than the fairy," he corrected. "If she changed her mind tomorrow, would you be prepared to entrust the throne to a child who believes that refusing to eat will get her what she wishes? To entrust our people to a girl who spends her nights crying for the one creature they fear the most?"

"It is not a matter of what I am 'prepared' to do. She is the natural successor," Magnus pointed out.

"Perhaps there is another way?" Arthur suggested. "If she were to abdicate-"

"The Princess is naïve, Arthur. But she is not stupid," he shook his head. "She will not simply abdicate the throne."

"But if she did? Sir, the law of the land clearly states that majority vote of the council would name a successor. And if I may be so bold, I believe you would make an excellent king," Arthur said.

Magnus turned to survey the younger man again, his interest piqued.

"I daresay I agree. But the child screaming across a dungeon that she is not our Queen will simply not do. A full and clear abdication would be required," he began.

"I believe we have the means to obtain it," Arthur told him.

"How so?"

"Maleficent."

Raising an eyebrow, Magnus cocked his head to one side. "I'm listening."

"We bring her to the castle. When she knows the girl is here, she will come, there is no doubt about it. The Princess sees her precious Godmother, and will be handed to her, in exchange for the abdication," he said. "Everyone wins, Sir. The girl is free to go back to.... whatever it is that they do in the moors. And you will be crowned king – I am certain of it."

A pause.

"The truth is you know, this may lull them into a false sense of security," Magnus said, mulling the idea over.

"Sir?"

"Fair-folk and children have one thing in common, Arthur. Both think only of their own ends," he said.

"Forgive me, Sir. I don't quite follow," Arthur frowned.

"If we allow the girl to leave... to return to her 'home'... their defences will be lowered. They surely won't expect an attack. And there will be nothing to stand in our way – we will take the moors and all of its treasures," Magnus told him.

"And Maleficent?" he asked.

"King Stefan took her wings. And an admirable job he did, yet as we saw... reversible. When I venture into the moors, I will avenge the late king. And I will bring back her head," Magnus said, dismissing Arthur with one hand. "Go. You have an invitation to pen."

Ω Ω Ω Ω

Maleficent sat against a large boulder, watching the nearby water sprites absent-mindedly as she awaited Diaval's return, hopeful for some news.

On the outside, the fairy may have appeared a picture of calm, but below the surface her anxiety at the situation was growing and her chest felt tight. What was more, she missed the girl and longed to have her back where she could watch over her.

A commotion in the undergrowth brought her from her thoughts, and she watched silently as the tiny black mouse scurried towards her, a dove following behind in hot pursuit.

"What's this?" she asked, amused. "A mate? Or are you dinner? Into a man."

"Neither," Diaval huffed, removing a twig from his hair. "It's an invitation, Mistress."

Frowning, Maleficent reached forward and removed the tiny, delicate scroll from the bird's ankle.

"An invitation to what? Dinner?" she scoffed, unrolling the parchment.

"To the palace, Mistress. It seems they want to begin... negotiations," Diaval explained.

"Negotiations?" Maleficent repeated, her eyes flaring emerald. "There will be no negotiations! Aurora belongs here!"

Diaval watched as the dove took off, startled by the fairy's fury.

"She won't eat, Mistress," he said softly, when the flapping of the bird's wings had faded into the distance. "She won't talk. Concern is growing amongst the king's council."

"That little beast," Maleficent muttered. "If she won't eat, she'll be good to no one."

"With all due respect, Mistress, I don't think she wants to be good to anybody there," he pointed out. "She only wants..."

"What?"

"You," he told her, sincerely. "She only wants you. She needs you."

Silence for a moment then, and the fairy turned away from her servant, as if to hide the tears that threatened to pool from her eyes.

"How shall we respond to the invitation, Mistress?" he asked, carefully.

"Confirm that I will attend," was all she said.

"It may be a trap..." Diaval pointed out, well aware he was providing both sides of a very balanced debate.

"Then so be it. You said it yourself, Aurora needs me. I have not spent the best part of 16 years protecting that child for her to be destroyed by humans in the space of a week," Maleficent told him. "Be back here before the sun sets – you will accompany me to the castle."

Ω Ω Ω Ω