Chapter 3: The Enchanted Forest


The last two weeks of Mal's life had been spent planning, learning and casting. Every single moment other day had been spent under her mothers careful watch and training, working out every precise detail needed for the success of their plan.

When the day finally came for Mal to travel to the Enchanted Kingdom, she was ready. She'd packed her mothers old trunk with the best gowns she could find in their palace, dressing herself in a modest purple long-sleeved dress. She was to meet Evie in her palace before the two would travel up the next morning, as to not arise suspicion.

The sun had barely risen when Mal began preparing for her travels. With her trunk firmly grasped in one hand, Mal stared out into the Moors for the last time from her mothers balcony. She was going to return victorious, no matter what.

"And remember dear," Maleficent coo'ed, eerily curling her hand around her daughters shoulder before whispering, "Don't blow it."

Mal nodded nervously, giving the ruined kingdom one final fleeting look before turning away, following her mother through the crumbling corridors to the front of the castle, where Maleficent's henchmen awaited.

"Knuckleheads, help my daughter carry her trunk to the thorn walls," Maleficent ordered, turning to her daughter one last time, "Good luck pumpkin, and come back soon."

"I will mother," Mal nodded, and with one final stern look, the two parted ways.

Mal knew her mother loved her, she really did. But she also knew that emotions meant weakness, and she wasn't going to be weak, especially not in front of her. Her mother hadn't disclosed much about how she was imprisoned, but she knew that some people had wronged her in more ways than she could ever imagine. She knew that there was a reason for the Mistress of Evil to be evil, and she was eager to take after her mothers footsteps.

The walk to the wall of thorns was spent in silence as Mal tried to ease her nerves. No one had crossed the wall in years. She knew it was enchanted to keep Maleficent in, but no one had attempted to wade their way through the thorns in fear of being cursed themselves. Mal, however, had no option but to try.

Upon arriving to the wall of thorns, Maleficent's goons set the trunk down silently, watching expectantly as Mal looked through the wall.

The thick vines created an even thicker wall than Mal imagined, with few and far between gaps between each vine. The thorns were large and sharp, dauntingly so. With a gulp, Mal reached her hand forwards and touched one of the vines.

To her surprise, nothing happened. She expected to be thrown back against a tree or to burst into flames, but the vine was... Normal. Tough, but normal. She grabbed the handle of her trunk, and slowly but surely, began ducking through the vines and thorns, carefully making her way through the first layer of the wall.

"Tell my mother I'll be back soon!" Mal called through the thorns as Maleficent's henchmen were left dumbfounded. Upon not receiving a reply, Mal began climbing through the vines and thorns further, leaving behind the world she'd once known.

It took Mal an hour to evade the walls that had once confined her. She'd only managed to injure herself once on a thorn, and although it had sliced the sleeve of her dress open, it wasn't too painful. On the other side, however, she was shocked at the world surrounding her.

The Moors had always been tinted with tones of dark greys and blacks, but on the outside, everything was light. The grass was an unnaturally happy tone of green, and flowers seemed to actually be blossoming. The sky was no longer an ugly shade of grey, shrouded in stormy clouds, but instead it was turning from the golden orange of the sunrise into a baby blue.

And although Mal found everything a little too bright for her taste, a small part of her couldn't deny that, maybe, it was a little bit beautiful.

Mal opened her trunk and grabbed her spell book, or rather, her mothers spell book. Inside, Maleficent had written all the best incantations inside the leather-bound brown book, sealed with a golden dragon crest and embedded with four colourful jewels. Mal had planned on turning something in the outside world into a carriage, but she couldn't see any pumpkin patches nearby, and she wasn't sure how good a shrub would be.

Just as she began to accept the fate of walking to the Enchanted Forest, she spotted something flying above her. Had she been a stranger, she would've assumed it was any other old raven. However, Mal recognised the pattern of the ravens wings, and recognised it as her mothers familiar. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Diablo!" Mal called, and just as she did so, the bird obediently flew down to her perching itself on top of her trunk.

She flipped through the paged of the spell book, finding a travelling spell easily. Scanning over the page a few times, she looked at the bird hopefully.

"Let's hope this works," Mal muttered, reading out the incantation, "Noble steed, proud and fair, you shall take me anywhere."

Mal held her breath as she watched the raven grow, first into twice its size, continuing until Diablo was as big as a small dragon.

"Well that worked," Mal breathed in relief, caressing the ravens beak, "Let's hope I'm not afraid of heights, right Diablo?"

The raven bent down to allow for Mal to climb onto it's back. Grasping the trunk between his claws, Diablo prepared himself for the journey.

"To the Enchanted Forest," Mal commanded gently, excitement filling her body as, suddenly, they were riding through the air.


The Magic Kingdoms had been a breathtaking sight for Mal, considering she'd only ever been in one place her whole life. From Diablo's back, she'd been able to see parts of the world she'd never dreamed before, and all in a short journey's time.

They arrived in the Enchanted Forest, away from the village itself. Diablo landed in the thickest part of the forest, away from prying eyes. As soon as Mal climbed off his back, he shrunk back to his normal size, resting on Mal's arm diligently.

"Thank you Diablo," Mal coo'ed, stroking his feathers, "You better go back to my mother soon. Take care of her, yeah?"

Diablo nodded, and with one final stroke of his feathers, Mal let the bird go.

She watched as he sore through the blue sky, and with a parting smile, Mal grabbed the side of her trunk before heading through the forest, making her way to the White Palace.


Evie anxiously flittered from room to room of the palace, making sure everything was clean and tidy for Maleficent's daughters arrival. She was excited to say the least. I mean, who wouldn't be? Not only was the daughter of one of her biggest idols about to arrive, but they were to leave for the whole summer for a royal event, in which she could eventually be crowned queen!

Evie had spent the majority of the morning curling her hair and immaculately applying her makeup. She'd already packed her trunks for the summer, dozens of beautiful gowns tightly packed together to ensure she'd be the fairest of them all.

She'd just finished placing the final touches on a withering bouquet of flowers when a knock echoed through the front door of the secluded building. One perk of living in their own wing meant that Evie and The Evil Queen were separate from the palace itself, residing in a smaller building just behind it, meaning their guests were mysteries to the royal family.

Evie quickly rushed to the door, stopping to take a deep breath and smooth out her skirt. Although their mothers talked frequently, Evie had never seen Mal's appearance, and could only assume her appearance from the snippets of information her mother had given her. With that in mind, she excitedly opened the door.

In all honesty, Evie had expected someone a little more... Presentable. Instead, standing in front of her was a girl that could've been a peasant, had she known any less. With her plain long purple dress, sickly pale skin and purple hair held in a messy bun, Evie would've never guessed she was Maleficent's daughter if it weren't for the piercing green eyes staring back at her.

"You must be Mal!" Evie exclaimed enthusiastically, stepping aside, "Please, come in! My mother is out doing an errand, but she should be back soon. Is that your real hair colour? It's so gorgeous!"

Mal was taken aback from Evie's peppiness. She'd assumed she'd be a lot more like her mother; bored with life and a little more evil. However, she wasn't about to underestimate her, and instead followed her through the wing, carrying her small trunk behind her.

"The carriage will be taking us to Auradon tomorrow morning at sunrise," Evie rambled as she quickly paced down the hallway towards her room, "Which gives us plenty of time to get to know each other and swap dresses and do makeovers and-"

"Do what?!" Mal demanded as they reached Evie's room.

Mal contained a gasp as her eyes fell on the blue-haired princesses room. Although they weren't as rich as the principal royal family, Evie had made-do with anything she could find. Her double bed adorned a dark blue canopy, the dark wood of the bed frame making the red covers pop. The walls were painted a midnight blue, and although the paint had chipped in many parts, it was still hundreds of times neater than Mal's room had been.

A large oak bookshelf was pressed against the wall on the left of the room, cluttered with books upon books, many of which appeared to be textbooks. A soft padded bench made of patchwork blue fabric was nestled underneath the nearby window on top of a large brown trunk, which Mal assumed contained fabrics of sorts as she spotted Evie's spinning wheel and sewing table. In addition to a well-kept vanity and dark blue rug, Mal also spotted a large painting of Evie and her mother hung next to the biggest mirror she had ever seen.

"Sorry for the mess," Evie apologised profusely, despite the room being immaculate, "And obviously I'm giving you a makeover, silly. If you're going to be my lady-in-waiting, we need to tidy up those split ends and bring some colour to your face."

"Right. No thanks," Mal declined, "I'm perfectly presentable like this."

"Sure you are," Evie replied sassily as she picked up a hair brush and scissors from her vanity, "Now come on, the faster you accept this is happening, the sooner it'll be over."

"I am not letting you cut my hair," Mal protested, backing away from Evie, "Do you do this to everyone who comes to visit?"

"Only those who need it," Evie shrugged, "We need to pass off as royalty, right? Plus, it's a great way for us to bond."

"Bond?" Mal asked, "I thought you were the daughter of a villain."

"And I thought you were a future queen-to-be, but you most certainly don't look like one," Evie replied calmly, "If we don't pull this off, our mothers will possibly-literally kill us, right? And my mother's not a barrel of laughs when she doesn't get her way. Just ask Snow White."

"Your point?" Mal pressed.

Evie rolled her eyes at Mal's reluctance, "My point is that we're not going to get away with this if we don't start acting like proper royalty. Did your mother never teach you royal etiquette?"

"She taught me how to hex the daylights out of her goons," Mal shrugged, smirking in satisfaction as Evie took a step back.

"I forget you're from the Moors," Evie sighed as she twirled the hairbrush between her fingers, "Just trust me on this, okay? They'll never even let us step foot into the royal palace unless we look like Auradon royalty."

Trust. That wasn't a word Mal used lightly, because in all honesty, she didn't trust many people at all. She grew up alone, with her mother constantly keeping her away from the citizens of the Moors, not wanting her to stray from the path of evil. And although she didn't resent her mother for it, sometimes she wondered what it would be like to have a friend.

"Fine," Mal groaned, seating herself at the edge of Evie's bed, "But if you think we're about to become best friends forever and swap secrets, you're wrong. I'm simply doing this to-"

"To become queen of the Moors and make the Magic Kingdoms cower in fear, blah, blah," Evie teased, seating herself behind Mal, "Don't worry, I can do the talking for the both of us. So, what's your favourite colour?"


A/N: The reception on this story has been phenomenal so far, and I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed this story. Reading your reviews really motivates me to keep writing and make my work better, so if you have any comments or ideas whatsoever, please leave them in the reviews. Thank you! x