Hi all! Writing this fanfic literally saved my life while I was bored to death at the airport waiting for fucking late easyjet plane. In any case, enjoy!
"This morning has seen a new queen coming before you. This evening, I would like to welcome a new magical creature into the Moors."
Her eyes shifted to Diaval who was in the crowd, seated next to Aurora and Prince Phillip. He frowned, confused. She didn't tell him anything about a newcomer. He watched her nodding toward the border guards, and they started a slow, ceremonial beat, slamming with logs on giant mushrooms. Soon after that, all the fairies gave hands and started humming a soft melody, magic slowly filling the air.
"Diaval. Come to me," she demanded elegantly.
He frowned deeper but stood up. She motioned for him to come by the large aisle in front of her and he obeyed. As he walked toward her, flowers petals were falling around him and each of his steps seemed to make tiny flowers blooming at his feet. The moment was so ethereal he couldn't help but gape in amazement.
By the time he was before her, Maleficent had closed her eyes and had started to glow. She seemed to be concentrating intensely.
"Mistress?"
She opened her eyes and his heart skipped a beat at the ravishing smile she gave him.
"Come," she said, turning to the side. "Stand before me."
He obliged obediently and she took a step closer to him. Her hands went down until they clasped his, intertwining their fingers together. Awkwardly aware of all the eyes on them, Diaval didn't move a muscle until she spoke again.
"You have been faithful and loyal to me and to the Moors for almost two decades, now. You lived among us and helped defending us to the best of your abilities. Tonight, you will stand as an equal to me and my kind."
She stood a bit closer to him, leaning her forehead against his and her large wings encasing them both. She glowed brighter as she recited the spell.
"My dear Diaval. I grant you the gift of changing your shape into any living creature you desire, may it be human, animal or magical."
A bright light radiated from the fairy, before slowly moving into him through their joined hands and foreheads. At this instant, the music stopped abruptly and he felt not only her magic, but the magic of all of the Moors resonating in every inch of his body. It lasted only a few seconds, before Maleficent nearly passed out, clinging at him for support.
It didn't take her long to find her strength back and she sent him a reassuring smile. When they turned toward the fair folk, all the magical creatures cheered happily, launching flowers and sparkles above them. Diaval hesitantly hooked his arm around his Mistress' to help her walk and led her down the aisle, while pixies were dropping flower crowns on their heads.
A gigantic feast followed, during which Diaval made a show of himself by changing his form at least a dozen times. The celebrations went on until the darkest hour of the night, and once Maleficent was sure Aurora was peacefully asleep – and at a respectable distance from the sleepy form of the prince – she drew back into the forest with Diaval.
They walked in silence for a while. The fairy was slow and leaned heavily on her staff. From the corner of his eye, Diaval noticed her stumbling.
"Are you alright, Mistress?" he inquired, eyes flashing with concern.
"This has been a very draining day for me. I'll be back to normal after a good night's sleep. No need to worry," she dismissed absently.
He stopped and bowed reverently before her.
"Would my lovely mistress grant me the honour?" he said, offering his arm.
She frowned but took it nonetheless. She was too exhausted to argue with him tonight, and his humble attitude and sweet words didn't help either.
"I am not your Mistress anymore, Diaval," she reminded him sternly.
His features darkened a bit. They'd had that discussion the day before, when she had freed him from her service. Back then he didn't say much, but the more he thought about it, the less he liked it.
"I know," he replied gloomily, looking at his feet.
The sadness in his voice made her turn her head to look at him, eyebrow raised.
"Do you not want to be free?" she asked, incredulous.
He kept his head low, pressing his lips into a thin line. The problem wasn't to be free, it was to find his place beside her as something else than a servant.
"I think I do, but I've been your servant pretty much all my life, and I don't know what else to be or what to do with myself. Also I don't want to leave your side, you know that."
It was one of the only things he had been sure about when they'd talked the day before, and he had almost lost his balance when she had told him she felt the same way.
"You could stay with me as a friend," she suggested mildly.
He raised his head to look at her and his lips curved up a bit. A friend? That sounded nice.
"I'd like that very much, Mistress. Although I'm not sure I know how to be a friend."
At that, her peaceful smile was back. That wouldn't be too difficult for him. After all, he had been acting more like a friend than like a servant during their years together.
"I think you do more than you suspect."
He gave her a questioning look.
"Just stay yourself."
"Alright," he complied with a lopsided smile.
That was good. If he didn't have to change his behaviour or anything, there wasn't much to worry about, then.
They walked in silence for several minutes, simply enjoying the quietness of the night and each other's presence.
Suddenly, Diaval thought of something that had been bugging him all evening.
"Mistress, may I ask why everyone was congratulating us both and giving us presents?" He inquired, taking a handful of said presents out of his pocket.
The fairy winced upon seeing the numerous flowers, trinkets and shiny stones. As if Diaval didn't have enough baubles already…
"Those fools think we're married," she sneered.
Of all the awkward situations… She had wished above all he wouldn't ask that.
"W-What? Why?" He raised an eyebrow. "Are we?"
"Of course not, don't be ridiculous," she scoffed indignantly. "They think so because of the ceremony. It hasn't been used for centuries, but the main purpose of it was to provide unity between mates when one of them was magical and the other wasn't, by invoking the power of the Moors to make the latter a magical creature."
The raven turned man blinked, enable to speak. Did that mean they were mates now?
"It was the only way I found to give you this gift," she explained, hoping that alone would dissipate her discomfort.
But it didn't, and the silence of the raven-man only served to made things worse. It wasn't such a big deal, really, the insane ramblings of dumb pixies, but they were still testing the waters as friends, and she clearly didn't need things to get even more confusing than they were.
"So I went from being your servant to… your husband? Not a bad deal for a raven," he taunted, trying to release the tension
That was the very last thing he said before being hit in the face by freezing water. He gasped in surprise.
"We – are – not – married – Diaval," she said, pronouncing each word more menacingly than the previous.
"Whatever you say… Wifey." He teased, nudging her shoulder.
Maleficent rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically.
"I knew I was going to regret this."
He chuckled lightly, glad to see she was comfortable enough with him to not totally freak out at the nickname. He had to admit he had been a bit daring on this one.
"Forgive me, Mistress. That apple wine must have gotten to my head."
"Well, I'm pretty sure it has gotten to mine as well, else you'd be a toad already."
This time he laughed in earnest. "Watch me," he replied, flashing her a grin.
A second later, he was hopping on the ground next to her in the shape of a black toad.
She couldn't help but chuckle. It was so easy to fall back to the constant bickering they've always shared. She had been a bit worried over that new friendship thing with the raven-man at first, but now she knew everything would be alright.
He changed back to his human form and she naturally snaked her arm with his to resume their stroll. A few minutes later, they were at their tree.
"Let's go to bed, shall we?" she said, untangling her arm from his.
But before she could take flight, he called her.
"Maleficent, I…"
He paused, gathering his thoughts. He didn't know how to thank her. Any words that came to mind seemed way too bland to express how he felt.
"I could never thank you enough. For everything," he finally blurted out.
She cracked a sweet smile at him and before she knew what she was doing, she leaned forward to kiss his cheek. Damn that bloody apple wine…
"You're welcome, Diaval."
They smiled at each other, and with a single flaps of her majestic wings, she was in her hammock. Diaval changed into his raven form and nestled in his, which was just above hers. She looked at him pensively for long minutes.
"What about you sleep in here with me tonight?"
He tilted his head at her and cawed in confusion.
"Why not? Now that you're not my servant anymore, I was thinking we should settle new living habits."
Diaval cawed in agreement and glided down next to her. He hoped on her lying form to look for a proper place to nestle and snuggled in the crook of her neck. The raven crooned softly when she reached up to pet his feathers, and tilted his head on her cheek to give her better access.
That night, they were both lulled to sleep by each other's breathing, comforted by the thought that a whole new life was ahead of them.
Many thanks to DancingKitKat for the beta-reading (past perfect is finally sinking in!). Might write a second chapter, or not...