This is just a quickie revolving around Maleficent and King Stefan meeting during the sixteen years Aurora is away. Enjoy.
If there was one thing that Maleficent hated, it was being kept waiting, especially if it was a wait that was longer than necessary. If there is going to be a meeting between one and another at an assigned time then that is when they should meet! Yet, here she was standing under a big tree in the middle of the forest, not far from the wall of thorns she had put up a few years ago, one hand on her lap and the other holding up her cane. It was night time in the middle of Autumn, yet the ground was already beginning to turn to frost but she did not care. Diaval probably did but he was far from her thoughts. Right now he was in his raven form sitting on a branch on another tree not far from her, keeping an eye out for ...
Just thinking of him made Maleficent's blood boil, if something like that were possible considering that she had heard from Diaval that many of the kingdom's inhabitants said her darkness had made her incapable of feeling warmth of any kind regardless of the situation. Any normal person would be offended or upset by such words, but not Maleficent. In fact, she even liked such things being said about her. The hatred that radiated from her own heart and the misery and sadness she brought … What was there not to like?! Besides, it all affected that no good king of theirs. That beat, that liar, that traitor!
Stefan.
That name made her sick to her stomach and a low growl came from her throat as if she were about to attack said person. Well … Really, she could if she wanted to. They were meant to meet here … Well, if he decided to turn up that is.
The sound of a bird call from above made her look up, causing her black cloak to drape over the branch at the bottom of the tree. A raven was sitting on one of the branches above her, looking down at her intently. It let out another call to her and then nodded in the direction of the trees to the right. Maleficent looked in that direction and clenched her teeth, trying to keep herself calm but it was proving difficult not to throw a spell in his direction.
Maybe I should turn him into a toad. She mentally told herself. Or just make him disappear maybe? Yes, that would be good. It's the least he deserves.
As much as she despised him, however, a part of her still questioned whether it was right to feel this way. It was understandable why after what had happened years ago, after he had … Removed something so important to her identity but was it still worth it in continuing to let these feelings fester within her? Maybe.
A twig snapped and both she and the raven looked up and saw a figure emerge from behind a tree about twenty feet away. It paused as if observing them and the area they were in before walking towards them. As it came closer, Maleficent could see the figure was dressed in a huge brown cloak akin to that a monk would wear with a hood pulled over its head. The hands were covered by the sleeves, which unnerved Maleficent a little considering what had happened last time.
"That's close enough!" she stated vehemently with a firm tone, causing the figure to come to a halt just a few feet from her. "And you can pull down that hood of yours as well!"
A pause filled the air between them with neither moving as though they were frozen in time. Even the raven had become still, fearing that something nasty would happen at any moment. Even the movement of the breeze through the trees had ceased. The entire forest seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for what would was to occur.
With a quick flick of his hand, the hood came down and Maleficent's eyes filled with anger and disgust at the sight of the person before her.
It was a man, slightly taller than her with a thick black beard and moustache that looked unkempt. His eyes were a pale green colour and his hair, once a neat chocolate brown, was untidy, dirty and grey in a few places. The skin on his face was worn and dry. His hands were flaking in places, a sure symptom of some form of dermatitis, and the left hand shook as it lowered from removing the hood. Had Maleficent been anyone else, she would have been quite appalled and repulsed by the appearance of this man in front of her but she herself revelled in it. It made her glad to see that he looked as though he had quite literally fallen from grace and was now akin to a peasant farmer.
"Well, well, well," she said with an air of superiority about herself, taking a step forward. "What have we here? A peasant or a ruler showing his true self?" she paused to let that sink in, smiling at the glare he gave her. "Either way, it's … Quite enjoyable to see."
He just glared at her. "I see ya bitch of an a'itude has nae changed, witch!" he retorted, his Scottish accent thick. "But then again, ya'd enjoy such remarks. Ya practically live on 'em."
Maleficent smiled whilst examining her hand, speaking with a lack of real care or offence. "Yes that is very true, Stefan. So you are in fact doing me a favour than trying to insult or harm me. So do carry on."
Stefan said nothing but his glare intensified towards her, making her titter in response. Oh how she loved tormenting him. Next to making him beg her not to do something, just as had happened at the ceremony of his daughter's birth, it was her favourite thing to do to him. And she revelled in it!
After a moment's pause between them, Stefan spoke up. "Ya obviously know why I'm here, don' ya!" he said to her brusquely.
"Obviously, but I can't see it going anywhere you like," the horned fairy replied, rubbing the crystal ball on the top of her cane with her hand. "To be honest, I did not want to meet you at all, Stefan."
Heavy footsteps made her turn her head to see him advancing towards her angrily. "Now look 'ere, Maleficent!" he spat, pointing a finger at her. "Ya listen ta wha' I have ta say! I came 'ere ta have ya lift tha' spell of yers off my daughter once I take ya to her."
Maleficent exhaled heavily. "Oh, your daughter of course!" she said with an air of annoyance. "For goodness sake, I know where she is." Stefan's face fell when he heard this, his eyes going blank before filling with a fiery anger, or a worried expression, or maybe even both, once again. "I have known for a while. And don't worry…" she spoke over the king before her. "I've actually been doing a better job in protecting her and looking after her than those three imbeciles you assigned have!"
Stefan stopped and looked at her with a confused expression. What! She was actually protecting his own daughter?! Why! Why considering she was so evil and cruel?!
"Why? I though' ya hated children?"
She rolled her eyes, letting out an annoyed groan as she rounded on him. "I am an evil creature, Stefan, I admit, but I am not a monster-"A cry from the tree above them made her and Stefan look up to see the raven staring back at them. "Oh shut up!" Maleficent snapped at it angrily, opening her hand and firing a green ball of some kind at it, making the raven leap out of the way onto one of the branches of the tree next to it. "Accursed bird!" she muttered under her breath as she turned back to Stefan.
"What the hell are ya doin' talkin' ta a bird?" he asked her.
"Oh be quiet!" Maleficent shushed him up and took a step closer to him, her golden eyes burning brightly with that fiery gleam. She was not going to stand being called a monster, not when the real one was before her. "Really I thought you would have realised by now who the real monster was, especially after what you've done!" she told him firmly.
She went to walk past him but he grabbed her arm forcefully and held her in place, digging his fingers into her flesh. For a moment, a brief feeling of panic swept over her, thinking that he was going to suddenly cut her to ribbons. He could if he wanted to; after all he did have her by the arm and if he had a dagger or a sword under his robe then she was a goner.
Instead he leaned in close to her and whispered into her ear: "Don' think tha' ya can just walk away from this!"
She turned her head to him and held up her other hand with the cane, the ball at the end glowing a bright green and Stefan immediately backed off, looking at said object with an anxious expression. Maleficent calmed a little in knowing she had saved herself from any immediate danger, for now at least.
"You know very well what I'm talking about," she said, looking back up at him, her gaze unnerving. "After the pain you inflicted on me, I still find it amazing that you have not at least come to at least speculate as to why I am his way!"
He knew what she was referring to. That night some six years ago when they had slept in the moors and he had given her a sleeping concoction … Right before he … He … Took something that defined her, something that was a part of her body. That she did not realise why he had done only enraged him.
"Maleficent, ya listen ta me!" he snapped at her vociferously. "What I did, I did fer you!" he paused to see her reaction, which was her head shaking a little as she gave him a look as if to say: 'He still doesn't understand!' "I did it ta protect ya!"
She scoffed. "And what a good job you've done!" she replied sarcastically and continued on in a similar fashion. "You took something very important away from me, but that is just to protect me? Oh I feel so lucky to have had you by my side! Here's an idea!" she paused and mockingly placed her finger on her lip as if deep in thought. "How about you just cut my head off? That can be a way to show your queen you would rather be with me than her!"
She stopped and sighed, shaking her head once again at him as if she were a mother who was disappointed her child had not learnt his lesson from last time.
"You know, I really should feel pity for you, Stefan. I don't want to but you've managed to win it from me, in a sarcastic way that is. But I do feel sorry for your wife, your kingdom, and especially your own daughter! You've given her to three useless fools who don't even know how to change her clothing or even know how to feed her properly, thus putting her in more danger than if you had kept her in the castle where she would have been safer; you've barely been able to lead your kingdom with at least some level of dignity and wisdom and, what's more, you're more obsessed with trying to kill me and burn down the forest of thorns!"
Another pause as she let her words sink into him, hoping they were going to make him realise the error of his own actions. "Honestly, Stefan, I'm starting to think that you would rather care for my demise more than you would for the safety of your own family. I mean, why did you cause me to do this? For a crown and a kingdom?! I thought you were better than that king who tried to burn my home to the ground!"
"Shut up!" he snarled at her, silencing her. "Look, Maleficent, you did no' have ta do this! As I said, I did it fer you! I did it ta keep ya safe! Wha' I did was horrific, yes, but if they had gotte' ta ya, they woulda cut ya up! At leas' with me ya still breathin'."
Yes, that was his reasoning. From his perspective, she was being unfair and evil. After all, he did save her. If the previous king or one of the other agents had gotten to her, her head would have been brought back on a pike and that would have been the end of it. He had taken her wings, as horrible as it was, to protect her from them. Again, yes it was horrible but it had saved her, had it not?
If she could read his thoughts, Maleficent would have become a fire akin to that of hell itself. Here he was standing before her trying to convince her it was her fault she had become this way! How dare he! He had taken her wings and expected her to just forget it? No! He had been selfish and sought power over her. He had betrayed her trust and love for him, and for what?! A crown that did nothing more than sit on his head so that he could suddenly feel like he ruled over everything! How stupid!
I pity his daughter she thought to herself. Maybe he did do the smart thing sending her away.
Around them, the breeze began to die down again as if the forest were hoping not to become embroiled in their argument and maintain its peaceful feeling. On the branch, the rave (Diaval) had even taken to hiding in the leaves, fearing that at any moment his master would shoot a spell at Stefan and end up blowing up the part of the forest they were in.
Stefan sighed and looked at Maleficent with an almost pleading expression. "Look, will ya a' least be merciful and lif' the spell from my daughter? I'm offering ya a peace treaty of sorts; just so we can settle this and be on our way!"
With a roll of her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose, she looked down at the ground momentarily and then up at him.
"I think not, Stefan. Had we not already had a feeling of distrust between us, I would be a lot more sympathetic towards you but with your recent feelings towards me, I cannot trust you. And, for what it's worth, maybe it's best if you and your daughter were not together. You clearly are in no mental state to be around her." She told him firmly.
Stefan looked as though he had been slapped across the face. His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. She was certain that she saw his arm reaching under the top half of his rob for something, and that put her on edge. On the branch behind her, Diaval, seeing the movement, got ready to lunge at him. If he had a weapon, he was ready to stop him from using it.
With another swish of his arm, the hood was pulled over his head. "Fine, bu' be warned, Maleficent!" he said icily, pointing a finger at her. "This isn't over between us. Ya've signed yer death warran'." And with that, he turned and stormed off back into the trees, disappearing into the night.
Almost as quickly as he had left, Maleficent, with a triumphant 'humfph', turned and began walking back into the deeper part of the forest, calling for Diaval to follow her whilst thinking over what had just happened.
He says he did it for me?! She mentally told herself. More as if I have done for him by moving his daughter away from him.
That, dear readers, was the state they were in and, as the years rolled by and maleficent watched Aurora grow older, and Stefan planned more over how to deal with his wicked enemy, nothing would change the anger and hatred between them.