Chapter 1
Crimson lips whispered her name softly as they slowly descended. Aurora jolted back to reality just as those delicious lips finally claimed her own. Shifting on her cold throne of white gold studded with glittering rubies, the young woman sighed deeply and tried to look attentive to the tedious weekly run down of the expenditure of the castle and its grounds. For months now, the Queen had been conjuring up this day dream in her spare moments between lethargy-inducing meetings with her governors and retainers. Lately her mind had seemed to wander more and more, and tired after a long day of fulfilling her duties as monarch, she could hardly wait to be alone with her thoughts.
Six years had passed since she had first met face-to face with her guardian fairy. Six years since the curse had been lifted by the one who had placed it, and yet she longed to travel back to that moment; the moment those lips had altered her fate. At the age of 22, the golden-haired Queen wondered how true love was supposed to feel. She had always loved her protector, however these feelings had gradually matured into something else entirely. Images of the chestnut-haired fairy had begun to creep into her mind unbidden, until now the very though of her was enough to produce a desire so profound that she often thought she would go crazy. The cabin fever from being isolated in a fortress amongst a bunch of war-mongering old men was bad enough after the wild freedom of the Moors.
Signing the last of the financial documents placed before her, the young woman dipped a short curtsey to the members of her council before bidding them goodnight. Finally able to put an end to matters for the day, she made her way through the drafty stone corridors towards her private chambers. They were comfortably furnished but could not come close to the experience sleeping in the arms of an ancient tree wrapped in the inky blanket of the night sky. And the strong wings of a beautiful fairy…
Flopping down on her soft bed piled high with embroidered goose-feather pillows, the golden-haired girl turned her head to gaze beyond the leaded stained glass window bearing the design of a white lily. She had been naïve to think that the humans would forget their suspicions and coexist with the folk of the Moors so easily after her father's death, not to mention past failures to conquer the enchanted lands. Her plan to split her time equally between the two kingdoms when she first donned the crown had rapidly disintegrated and it had now been months since she had last been able to visit her Godmother and her friend Diaval. She wished she could return to her home in the Moors beyond the oppressive walls, however her vow to keep the two kingdoms united was tested increasingly as the resources of the human lands were consumed by the ever expanding population. Growing numbers of her council were adamant that the Moors could provide all that the country required to keep their coffers filled.
To the North lay King Phillip's domain; while their most important trading partner, her friend's kingdom also boasted a mighty army that could not be matched with whom there was an amicable alliance not in anyone's interest to break. The lands far to the South and the West were rich in untapped resources, but were out of reach due to natural obstacles such as towering mountain ranges and wide raging rivers, making the Moors just on the doorstep an easy target in comparison. While she knew that she had to find a solution to feed and house her subjects, Aurora was unwilling to allow humans to invade and ravage the peaceful Moors. It was never they who had needed ruling, but the humans who had declared war upon the Moors repeatedly. She would have abdicated long ago, but she knew that she was all that stood between the effectively autonomous Moor-folk and the destruction of their habitat for the sake of human greed. It was clear to her that the only way to keep the truce was to keep humans far away from the enchanted land to the East and its ethereal denizens; a task that was fast becoming impossible. It seemed that she faced more opposition with every day that passed. She was almost at the point of asking Maleficent to raise the wall of thorns between the borders once more, but this would certainly be interpreted as an act of aggression by those looking for an excuse to take up arms against the Moors once more.
Dispelling these sobering thoughts, Aurora wished that Maleficent was with her. The first time she had returned to the Moors after being stuck in the castle for a solid seven months, her longest stretch yet at the age of 20, the girl had realized how achingly beautiful the dark fairy was. The humans were so plain and drab in comparison to the denizens of the Moors, but not even a single one of them could ever hope to compare to their powerful protector. Aurora had become bewitched by her for the second time. Hardly able to tear her eyes away from the older woman, the two walked had towards the lakes with Diaval gliding in their wake. Maleficent wore a rare smile as they talked, and the golden-haired girl thought how much more alive the woman looked with her chestnut hair flowing freely about her shoulders. She had said as much to the fairy, who had replied somewhat shyly, "only thanks to you, Beastie. You made me whole again."
Aurora had felt a powerful rush of warmth to her heart at those words. While she always felt a gentle warmth and happiness when she was with her Godmother, this was a sensation she had never experienced so strongly before. Looking at Maleficent in surprise, her wide blue eyes had met those golden-green orbs and another wave of heat surged through her. The girl had blushed fiercely, and quickly broken eye contact to hide her face behind a screen of golden locks. Maleficent gave Aurora a curious glance before continuing to tread the path in silence, while the younger woman fell slightly behind as she tried to get a hold of her thoughts and dispel the redness suffusing her cheeks.
It had taken a while for Aurora to realize exactly what these new sensations meant. She had been far too nervous and embarrassed to mention anything to her Godmother or to Diaval. It was only when she was parted from the beautiful fairy and had retuned to the castle that she discovered a longing had entered her being in place of that heady warmth that Maleficent's company brought, and she finally began to have her suspicions. After a few weeks, she eventually summoned the courage to bring up the subject of attraction to her lady in waiting. Assuming that the Queen could only be referring to Prince Phillip as he still was at the time and who visited fairly regularly, the maid had happily talked with her monarch of love and romance.
"These feelings are definitely love? They are completely normal?" Aurora had questioned anxiously. "Of course they are, My Lady, and may I say what a wonderful couple you and the Prince will make!" squealed the delighted maid.
Taken completely by surprise, Aurora blurted out "Philip? No, I don't-"
"We all thought it such a shame when we heard that he hadn't been the one to break the curse" the portly woman had tutted as she folded the Queen's clothes into an oak chest of drawers. "It would have been so romantic. But it has all worked out fine now with the two of you in love."
"Wait, what do you mean he wasn't the one to break the curse? I was told by the pixies that his kiss had woken me."
"Ah, well, that's not quite true My Lady. I'm not quite sure how you still don't know after all this time, but I don't see the harm in telling you now that it's all worked out. He did kiss you for sure, but it wasn't him, more's the pity. It was the witch, Maleficent, even though the whole nasty business was her fault. The pixies tried to keep it quiet in case it harmed your chances of true love with the Prince you see. No, it was Maleficent's kiss that woke you, though how it could be true love between two women is beyond me." The maid sniffed and continued her chores, all the while chatting on about royal weddings and babies oblivious to the fact that her Queen had gone completely silent in thought.
After a moment, Aurora asked slowly, "Is no such thing as a woman falling in love with another woman, then?"
"Of course not!" Snorted the lady in waiting. "Now, true love between a Prince and a Queen is exactly as it should be. Don't you worry my dear, it was just more of that witch's trickery in my opinion."
The young woman had never questioned before precisely how her curse had been broken, and had understood only that the Prince had been responsible. Her adoptive aunts had prattled on about something to do with the magic of Princes' kisses. She had never been too bothered, and had been far too busy to spend much time thinking about it once she had expressed her gratitude to Phillip, as it now turned out, erroneously. But the fact that it had been Maleficent was a total revelation to her, and only served to intensify her feelings towards the woman and colour her fantasies. The assertion of the maid that a woman could not feel romantic love another woman was quickly discarded; it could not be anything else. But it had cast a shadow of doubt in her mind as to whether the dark fairy would ever reciprocate the girl's feelings, she was like a daughter to Maleficent. But, the maid had said that it was true love's kiss after all. Was it so far fetched that the fairy could possibly feel something more? Aurora had no desire to lose her godmother and fear of how the fairy may react caused her keep her emotions hidden. But still she clung onto the slim hope that maybe Maleficent could feel the same way.
Two years later in the present, Aurora was still no closer to discovering Maleficent's true feelings. This was mostly due to the growing discontent within her council that had kept her away from the Moors, coupled with the required trips to meet with King Phillip in the neighboring kingdom to continue to foster the new alliance between the two lands. Though the horned fairy did come to see Aurora from time to time, the visits were always brief due to the wariness of the humans, and the fact that Maleficent herself had not entirely recovered from her betrayal at the hands of men and was still largely distrustful. Often when she visited, she would fly above the clouds towards the castle, cutting through the air to land gracefully upon Aurora's balcony effectively avoiding interacting with any other human.
Aurora shifted her gaze from the window towards the open doors leading out onto the balcony. If only Maleficent would come to see her tonight. The moon was out and only a few wisps of cloud glided past the starry sky. The girl let her imagination wander as she began to doze. In her mind's eye, the fairy would swoop out of the night sky like a dark angel. Aurora would not hear her soft tread as she entered the room, but instead become aware of her presence as the wild fragrance of fruit and sap drifted over the harsh smell of stone and metal. Then the golden-haired girl would turn and meet the gaze of her protector just beyond doorway. The golden-green eyes would hold her captive as Maleficent whispered "Hello, Beastie" before striding purposefully across the room. The space between them would disappear as the fairy wrapped her arms tightly around Aurora before kissing her deeply.
As the Queen drifted off to sleep, she didn't hear the arrival of a midnight black bird, who glided skillfully through the balcony doors to perch upon the chest of drawers. Seeing that the girl was already abed, the raven stretched his wings before settling down for the night. The morning would be interesting; Diaval had a plan.
