"Be my wings," Diaval soon learnt, meant "be my spy." He flew over the humans' farms and villages, sometimes as far as King Henry's castle. He eavesdropped, and flew back to the Moors, where she would transform him into a human and order him to report to her.
The sunlight reflecting off the crown caught Diaval's attention. He landed on a castle window, just as the crown was placed on the new king's head. Stefan rose and displayed himself to his subjects. Leila, King Henry's daughter, sat in the throne beside Stefan, a sad expression on her face. Diaval leapt out of the window and flew back to the Moors.
When he reported the news to Maleficent, he wished he hadn't.
"He did this to me so he would be king."
She shrieked. A pillar of eldritch green flame appeared before her. Fueled by her pain, it grew until it reached to the clouds. 'Twas large enough and bright enough to be seen from the king's castle.
"What now, Mistress?" Diaval asked.
She marched off without answering him.
Diaval stood there, still human, afraid to follow her when she was in such a mood.
Dark clouds hid the sun, covering the Moors in shadow. The Faerie creatures Maleficent had once called friends stared as she marched across the causeway to the islet that held two standing stones. They gasped at the loss of her wings. They shivered at the angry expression on her once beautiful face, mirrored by the dark weather.
Without a word of incantation, the half-dead branches of the trees expanded and grew into a throne. Diaval flew down. Maleficent seated herself upon the throne, and he landed on her arm. Two of the entish guards approached, each taking his place on either side of throne. Balthazar growled, and the eldritch inhabitants of the Moors bowed to Maleficent.
She spoke not a word. She did not declare herself queen. She did not need to.
She petted Diaval.
He leaned into her strokes. Her hand felt good upon his feathers. He wondered, not for the first time, just what he was. A pet, like a songbird a human kept in a cage? A trained beast, like a falconer's goshawk? The queen's courtier? The queen's jester? A witch's familiar? He didn't know, and he tried not to think about it. Before Maleficent had saved his life, he hadn't thought about much beyond the joy of flight and where his next meal was coming from.
Her fingers stroked his feathers. He tried to clear his mind, and just enjoy her petting him.