Chapter One

Diaval was staring at his reflection in an old, dusty mirror which hung from his bedroom wall.

Bedroom might be a big word for it actually, in truth the room existed of a few walls made out of black stones which had almost crumbled and the few pieces of furniture he had taken the effort to scramble together.

The room didn't even have a roof and the ruined walls were covered in poison ivy and roses.

The room had been a part of a castle a very long time ago but it had been in this state for as long as he could remember.

Maleficent had taken residence in the castle after she had lost her wings and she had offered him a place there too.

What had started out as a nest on a window sill had grown into something that could almost be called a home, or at least if you didn't have high standards or expectations.

He owned an old bench with faded, red velvet cushions and legs covered in gold leaf which was starting to peel off, a small book case filled with the books that Maleficent had given him so he may learn how to read, an old creaky desk filled with wax stains from candles and recently he had even added a proper bed.

Now Maleficent didn't need him to be her wings anymore he had started to become more and more human each day, it was more comfortable most of the time but also more lonely.

He touched the scar on the left side of his face and his neck.

He had thought that birds were vain but then again he hadn't known what it was like to be human.

"What are you doing here?"

Maleficent's voice was soft and songlike and her dress ruffled softly while it dragged behind her as she entered the room.

"This is my home now, isn't it?" he asked her, sounding more venomous than he had intended too.

Maleficent had known him for a very long time though, too long to let any harsh words coming from his mouth hurt her.

"What's wrong, love?" she asked instead while she stood behind him, pressing her body slightly against his.

He could feel her hot breath on his skin and her lips brush against his neck while she wrapped her arms around him.

"Nothing" he said kindlier this time and he even managed to put some sorts of a smile on his face even though he felt no joy inside "you don't need to worry about it"

"If you say so" she answered pressing a soft kiss on his neck.

He could see their reflection in the mirror and how absolutely stunning Maleficent looked, she was too good for him, too beautiful, too wonderful and he should be happy that she wanted to be with him, he should be more than happy but still…

"We need to go back to the celebration I'm afraid" Maleficent, the reason why there was even a bed in his room, said "Aurora would want you to congratulate her on her engagement"

He laughed bitterly at that and he walked away from the mirror and Maleficent.

There was a bottle of wine on his desk, another perk of being human, but after picking it up and opening it he only put it down again.

"If she marries the prince, we'll never see her again" he said tracing the rim of the bottle with his finger "she'll move into a castle further away than Stefan's castle ever was"

"I know" Maleficent said softly "but she'll be happy there"

He turned around to face the woman who had given him so much even though he had never asked for it.

"What makes you so sure of that?" he asked her crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning against the desk.

Maleficent smiled softly at that.

"Because that little beastie was even happy when she lived in a tiny cottage with three dimwitted fairies" she said chuckling a little bit "if she's not happy, she'll find a way to change things until she is and of that I'm certain"

Diaval ran a hand through his black hair and finally he managed to put a more genuine smile on his face.

"I don't like it when you're right" he said eventually.

Maleficent laughed at that and she shook her head.

"You should be used to it by now" she said with a cheeky smile while she linked arms with him and lead him out of the ruin that was his home "now let's not keep Aurora waiting any longer"

Aurora was the Queen of late King Stefan's kingdom, the Moors and soon she would also be the queen of Philip's kingdom resulting into her having three different engagement parties to attend to.

Diaval didn't doubt that the party the nobility of the human kingdom had thrown for Aurora was filled with fake politeness and empty courtesies and he wasn't only saying this because he had been watching her as his old self through one of the higher windows.

He had more than once caught Aurora trying to hide a yawn behind her hand and it had given him a strange feeling of satisfaction as if he would somehow benefit from the fact that she hated her own engagement parties.

The party the creatures from the Moors had thrown for her however couldn't be more different.

Diaval had missed the official part of the celebration since he had been in the castle but Maleficent had brought him back on time for the actual celebrating.

There was sweet honey wine, bowls filled with sugared fruits and cupcakes and cookies sprinkled with fairies dust that would leave you smiling for days floating around on cloudlike trays.

The water fairies were singing their songs and all guests appeared to be having a good time.

Suddenly Diaval spotted the three fairies who had raised, or at least made a weak attempt at raising, Aurora balancing a large three layer cake in-between them while they shouted at each other.

"Oh dear" Maleficent sighed while she watched the three pixies struggle with the weight of their own backing good "I'll be right back"

Maleficent let go of his arm and rushed to the three fairies.

Diaval took a glass of honey wine from one of the passing clouds and drowned it but the wine was too sweet and contained little alcohol.

He put the empty glass back on the cloud and decided to find a quieter place where he didn't have to see people having a great time.

He walked away from the square where the celebration was held and where Aurora's coronation had taken place too a few months ago and he decided to sit down at a small group of trees near the peaceful stream.

Diaval sat down on the grass and rested his back against the strong oak and he let out a deep sigh.

He knew that he should be happy for her but he just couldn't.

He wanted her to stay with him, in the Moors, and he wanted her to run through the fields full of flowers and dance with the fairies like he had seen her do during all those years of her precious youth.

His memories betrayed him sometimes though, one minute he imagined her in those same field and the next minute he could see himself standing next to her, touching her soft hair and kissing her rosy lips like he had wanted to do when she was cursed.

Diaval felt ashamed of these dreams, of these figments of his imagination.

He wasn't worthy of Aurora, he wasn't even a human and she was a Queen.

Suddenly he heard something rustling in the tall grass next to his group of trees.

He recognized Aurora's clear eyes and she pressed her finger against her lips to tell him to stay quiet.

"Aurora!" he heard someone call "Aurora, where are you?!"

Neither of them said a word though and it wasn't long before Prince Philip disappeared again.

"Thank you, Diaval" Aurora said letting out a sigh and she got out of her hiding space.

He watched the girl brush off the leaves of her now grass stained dress and he couldn't help but smile.

"Come here" he said and he picked a leaf from her hair after she moved closer to him.

She sat down next to him, looking just as innocent and beautiful as always reminding him once more of what he couldn't have, of what he shouldn't even want to have.

"What was that all about?" he asked her kindly.

She shrugged and she took the crown from her head and he watched her fingers trace the lines of the golden leaves.

"I'm just tired" she said softly.

He put his arm around her and she laid her head down on his shoulder as if that was the most normal thing to do in the world.

Suddenly he felt hot tears dripping on his shirt and Aurora was shaking almost unnoticeably.

"What's wrong?" he asked her shocked while she quickly wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

"N-nothing" she tried to say while she shook her head but she only started to cry harder.

He gently raised her chin so he could look into her eyes.

"Aurora, what's wrong?" he asked her again "you know you can tell me anything"

Suddenly she wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest while tears streamed down her face.

"I'm scared, Diaval" she said shaking harder now.

He stroked her golden hair while he whispered soothing words and flashbacks of when she was just a little girl came to his mind but that little girl was gone now and she had grown into a beautiful woman.

She seemed to have calmed down again after a little while and she quickly wiped away her tears again after breaking their embrace as if she was afraid of appearing weak to him.

"I'm sorry" she said still sounding a little bit out of breath "I know I shouldn't be complaining, there are so many people out there who are so much worse off than I am. I'm just a spoiled brat!"

Aurora wrapped her arms around herself as if she was cold even though the sun was still shining.

"You're not a spoiled brat" he said wiping the forgotten tears of her cheeks and he smiled at her "far from it, Aurora, you are a Queen!"

She looked at him with those familiar clear eyes of hers filled with sadness instead of joy this time.

"What if I'm not cut out to be a Queen?" she said softly "what if I turn out like… like my father?"

"You could never turn out like him, Aurora" Diaval said while he tucked a golden strand of hair behind her ear "your heart is filled with love and compassion and his was full of greed and envy"

She took his hand into hers and laced their fingers together.

"I don't love Philip" she said barely audible "and he doesn't love me, he kissed me but I didn't wake up"

He wanted to smile at what she had told him, he wanted to kiss her, to pick her up and carry her to his room in the castle but the way she was looking at him was so heartbreaking that he couldn't do anything but comfort her.

"Sometimes love takes time" Diaval said "if Maleficent had kissed you before she had gotten to know you, do you really think you would have woken up?"

"I guess not…" Aurora agreed hesitantly.

She sighed and got up from where they were sitting.

"I should head back to the party" she said "it's mine after all"

Diaval got up too and he gave her a sad smile.

"You probably should" he said still wishing that he would have told her the truth about his feelings for her and that he didn't think that Philip was right for her at all.

"Aren't you coming with me?" she asked him tilting her head slightly.

"No, it's a little bit too crowded for my taste" he answered chuckling slightly but his laugh sounded fake and strained.

She nodded with a sad look in her eyes, waved at him and turned around to go back to the party.

"Oh by the way, Diaval!" she said all of the sudden and before he could answer she had turned back around again and planted a kiss on his lips.

"If I'm going to have to marry someone I don't love, I at least wanted to have done that" she said and the feeling of her hot breath on his lips sent shivers down his spine.

"Bye, Diaval" she said with a cheeky smile he had never seen on her face before and she hurried back to the party, disappearing into the crowd of creatures.