I Know You

29

 "Aurora, slow down!" Diaval called, struggling to keep up with the girl as she marched through the town towards the castle gates. "Don't you think we should discuss this, before we go charging in?"

Aurora didn't respond, pushing past the crowds of people that had gathered outside the stone walls which held the castle beyond.

"Aurora–" he tried again, doling out a few apologetic nods to the townsfolk as he followed her through the mass of bodies.

The girl stopped dead at the front of the crowd, surveying the castle grounds before her.

The once well kept gardens were in disarray, sporting large holes in the otherwise perfectly pruned hedges and even larger craters in the grass.

"Diaval, what is that?" she asked, gesturing to the red mist which hung in the sky above the castle.

"I don't know," Diaval told her, honestly.

Aurora set off at a sprint towards the castle.

The grounds were scattered with guardsmen moving here and there, but none of them stopped to challenge her.

Cursing, the raven-man followed after her again, and the pair made it to the main entrance of the castle before they were intercepted.

"Aurora!"

Diaval saw Prince Philip before she did – dressed for apparent war and looking a little dishevelled.

If Aurora heard him call her name she didn't show it, continuing on her path, eyes trained straight ahead.

"Aurora!" the prince repeated, reaching out to catch hold of her arm.

The girl pulled away, refusing to stop.

"Hey! Aurora?" he tried again, managing to get in front of her and stop her in her tracks before taking hold of both of her wrists.

Aurora let out a growl of frustration, releasing herself from his grasp and pushing him backwards.

"Stay away from me! You think I don't know what you did?! You and your awful mother!" she cried.

"Aurora, I don't know what you mean. I –"

"Stop it," Aurora warned him, tears stinging her eyes. "I know you were just trying to get close to me so you and your family could take the moors. It's not going to work, Philip. You'll never have the moors!"

"Aurora... that's not... I..." the prince began, a genuine look of confusion on his face. "Please, listen to me–"

"No!" she pulled away again, moving past him and continuing towards the main court yard of the castle.

"What are you doing?" he asked, following.

"I want to speak with your mother. Where is she?" Aurora demanded.

"Aurora, you can't go in there..." the prince tried, hopelessly.

Ignoring him, Aurora rounded the corner and entered the court yard.

A crowd of people stood gathered in the centre, listening to Queen Ingrith talk, and when Aurora entered, they all fell silent.

Ingrith stopped mid-sentence, eyes fixing upon the girl as a cruel smile spread across her lips.

"Aurora. How lovely of you to join us so soon! And you've brought your...friend," she said, glancing at Diaval. "I trust you've had a pleasant journey?"

"I know all about your plan," Aurora told her, voice quivering in anger.

"Yes, I thought that might be the case. You see, you're not the first of the moorsfolk to grace us with your presence today. We had the pleasure of your so-called mother earlier."

"Then you'll know that your pursuing the moors is a waste of your time," Aurora told her, plainly. "You'll never have them, not so long as my mother protects them."

Ingrith chuckled. "My dear, I am inclined to agree with you. And that is why I have removed her from the equation."

Aurora chanced a glance at Diaval before returning her gaze to meet the Queen's.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that Maleficent is dead," Ingrith told her, softly.

For a moment, Aurora said nothing.

And then she shook her head fiercely.

"I don't believe you."

"And that, Ex-Princess Aurora, is your prerogative," Ingrith smiled with a shrug of her shoulders, before turning back to the crowd and addressing them. "MALEFICENT IS DEAD!"

Applause and roars of triumph erupted around them.

Laughing, Ingrith turned to look at the two of them again before beckoning two guardsmen over from the entrance to the courtyard.

"See our guests out."

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Aurora screamed at her, as two strong hands seized her under the arms. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!"

She struggled against the large guard, digging her heels into the ground beneath her, and promptly found herself being lifted off her feet and dragged across the court yard.

Within minutes, the two of them were standing back in the now-deserted castle gardens, as the heavy iron doors which contained the palace were hauled shut before them.

For the longest time then, they stood in silence, seemingly oblivious to the fine rain which had begun to pour from the clouds overhead, quickly soaking them through.

It was Aurora who eventually found her voice, her gaze frozen on the ground and her eyes glazed over like nothing Diaval had ever seen before.

"What were you going to say?" she asked, softly.

He frowned. "When?"

"Back in the moors. We were talking about the fire at the cottage, and the window... and you were going to tell me what you thought," she said, emotionlessly.

Diaval cleared his throat.

"I... was going to say that I don't think you made the glass disappear at all..." he began, gently. "I think that hearing you call her 'mother' was what did it. I think that the 'thing' you felt was Maleficent's love for you, and I think that it's what dissolved the glass between you."

Neither of them spoke again and for then, the only sound was that of the rain, falling steadily around them.

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