Late night, outside Aurora's castle

Diablo flew over the castle in fast circles, the air stinging his damaged eye. He welcomed the pain, welcomed the ability to feel anything at all. There was confusion in his small raven-brain, and he felt like as time wore on, he was becoming less and less able to understand complexities. And this was certainly complex. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. The child, the child he had thought of as his, his and Maleficent's, was no longer a child. She was no longer a child and she was exploring romance for the first time, but this was all wrong. It was hopelessly, completely wrong. She was supposed to look at him and Maleficent as parents, her caretakers.

She certainly was not to consider her godmother a potential lover.

He landed just outside the window to Aurora's quarters and stared at the child in her bed. Aurora had ordered a section of the room separated by privacy walls for himself and Danger, but the quarters weren't quite set up yet and Danger was on the bed with Aurora, curled up like a cat at the queen's feet.

When Aurora had pardoned the beastmaster and ordered her near, he had been quietly elated. She didn't recognize him, and he would be able to stay close to his daughter and protect her. It was the next best thing to travelling to find the rest of the lost beastmasters, so he was glad his plan had failed.

But now, now he wished he'd never met the scruffy girl.

How could Aurora do this to him? Was this why Maleficent had rejected him? Did she know of the child's growing feelings, and she wanted to protect her at all costs, even at the cost of her own happiness? Did she love him back, but couldn't be with him because she didn't want Aurora's heart to break before she grew out of the phase?

Or is it much, much worse… Does Maleficent return Aurora's feelings… does she not love me at all, and she sent me away so she could figure out how to…

He swallowed back bile, gripping tightly into the windowsill. It couldn't be. It shouldn't be. There was no reality in which he could accept that Maleficent and Aurora were meant to be lovers. This was a mistake, and Aurora was just confused because she was too close. The two spending so much time together had blurred her thoughts and she was confusing Maleficent's motherly love for something else entirely. He had to figure out a way to correct this, and luckily there was already the beginning of a plan in motion. Aurora herself was distancing the faerie, and all Diablo had to do was encourage it through Darla.

Yes, Darla was the answer. He would make sure they spent more time in Phillip's kingdom, and perhaps something between the two rulers would grow. She would fall in love with Phillip, the one she was supposed to be with, and she would forget all about this foolishness with her mother. In time, Maleficent would see that Aurora had fulfilled her destiny and she would be free to be with him the way she should be. Everything would go back to normal, and he would have his family back. He'd even keep Darla. Maleficent would like her, and she would be like Aurora's sister. Perhaps, perhaps he and the faerie would even have daughters of their own. The two girls would help raise them, and he, the proud papa, would watch over his family and keep them all safe.

Yes. That was how it would be. That was how all of it would be.


Late night, The Moors

Maleficent walked alone, as she often did when she was back in the Moorlands and Aurora was not near. The air was crisp and the moon was bright; it led her hither and yonder through the magical trees where all manner of creature dwelled. There were lesser faeries, flowers that walked like men, and also a few odd beasts that roamed. There were silver and black cats, large animals whose roars were mighty and whose muscled bodies shimmered in the twilight; beautiful creatures forged of the ancient alliance between the angels and the few selfless men of the world.

Though, there are not many that dwell near the heart, anymore. They have all scattered now that I've taken the wall back down.

Maleficent sighed sadly. She had been a lesser protector than the faeries of old. Stories had been passed down to her of mighty wings, women taller than the mountains and brighter than the sun. One such had been lady over these lands for millennia, before her heart had broken. But instead of holing up in her homeland, she went forth into the world and ended her suffering. That night was when Maleficent herself was born up out of the earth in the center of the Moors, the legacy passed down from mother to daughter to take up the mantle and protect the land.

Now that had been a lady of the earth. She stood fast and true, and when her heart could take no more, she sacrificed her own life so that there might have been beauty again in the world. I wish I had known her. Perhaps I would have handled things differently if she had been here to guide me. I wouldn't have taken out my rage on an innocent child, who had done me no harm, and had, in the end, returned to me what was stolen… and so much more.

Maleficent lifted off the ground, never forgetting the days when her wings had been broken, and she could not take to the sky. Aurora had given this back to her; given back what the heartless mad king had taken. The faerie would forever be grateful to the child for returning her to the skies, and there wasn't a time she lifted off the ground that she did not think of Aurora, and what had been returned to her, what she had gained. In fact, it seemed that these days there was not even a second she did not think of the child, and her smile.

But she is not a child, now. Every day she grows stronger, and more perceptive, and more… Every day she grows into more.

Maleficent sighed and aimed higher, looking down on the Two Kingdoms and all of the creatures dwelling within. The border between the two was still sharp, but the edges were blurring as Aurora ordered her subjects to tend the lands and bring life back into them. She was indeed growing into a mighty ruler, and an even mightier woman. She had taken to pulling her long golden hair into a simple knot at the base of her neck, and her features were maturing, strengthening. She was morphing from a beautiful child into a magnificent lady, very much like the Valkyries of old, when they still roamed the earth, before rule had been given over to the faeries of Maleficent's kind and the others had faded into the starlight.

And therein lies the issue, does it not?

Maleficent closed her eyes and let the droplets of condensation sting her face. Up here it was so different than near the surface. It was colder, and often wetter, but still beautiful and part of her home. Perhaps it would help her to clear her mind, her stormy thoughts that were in turmoil ever since Diaval asked her what was to become of them. Oh she wasn't confused because of her feelings for him, even though that was what she allowed Aurora to believe. She was confused because of her decided lack of feelings for him…

And she wasn't sure why.

Or are you sure? Do you not see what has changed? What is changing?

She shook her head to clear it and aimed back toward her favorite tree, back toward her homeland. It would be lonely without Aurora, but the human kingdom needed far more repair than the Moors did and so she understood and accepted that she and her goddaughter had to be separated at times. Landing lightly on the treetop, she settled in and looked toward the stars. The night was still clear, and she thought she could see through to other worlds.

I miss you, beastie. I miss you already.

Maleficent sighed again and closed her eyes. The first night was always the worst. Out of habit, when she lay down she opened her left wing so Aurora could rest within. On the nights they were together, she would close it around the young queen, and together they would slumber through the night, quietly content and far away from the pain and despair of yesteryear. On the nights like this, she would leave it unfurled, with a foolish hope that she would awaken to Aurora having joined her.

A silly thought, of course. How would she even get up here without me to carry her?

The faerie turned to her side and wrapped her wings tightly around her own torso, breathing deeply, acutely aware of the lack of lightly scented rose. Two months in the human kingdom, the longest to date she had spent, had taken its toll on her sanity. She could almost forget her responsibilities here, and almost forget that there was anything else in the world at all but her and Aurora. Sometimes they would talk late into the night, making unification plans and discussing how to handle situations, and sometimes Maleficent would cast a sleeping spell over Aurora and look into the darkness, drinking in the moment and the strange silence she felt in her stormy heart whenever the young woman was near.

But she is growing. Soon, she must take wing on her own, and our days like this will be over. I cannot be selfish and allow this to continue.

Things were changing, and they were changing quickly. Aurora was no longer a non-descript, but beautiful child. She was blossoming into a woman, and soon she would start to question her future and how the faerie fit into it. Aurora certainly wouldn't want to spend the rest of her days wrapped up in Maleficent's wing, nor should she. She should find a mate and live her days in happiness. If it wasn't to be Prince Phillip, then it may be one of her subjects or even that scrappy cat-child that the faerie, in her days of darkness, had somehow managed to leave outside the wall.

I really thought I had gotten them all. She would be so disappointed in me. I wonder if there were any others out there alone. I was so caught up in my own pain that I didn't give enough thought to those left in my care.

Maleficent closed her eyes and curled into a ball, nestling deeper into the tree's soft boughs. She would try not to think about Aurora, or the warmth the woman brought every time she lay down. Being close to the young queen was always comforting, but it was starting to feel different. Maleficent had to turn her head away as the human lay down, and she was acutely aware of the position of her arms, always one behind her head and the other wrapped tightly around her torso. In the beginning, she told herself it was because she wanted to keep her left wing completely open and at the human's disposal to move as she saw fit, for the girl would often toss and turn in the night, but lately… Lately she was holding herself so tightly it left marks, the strange urge to reach out for Aurora threatening to overwhelm her.

No, her silence, the faerie dust, the avoidance, it was all because something dangerous was brewing in her heart, something she couldn't control, something she didn't understand. A compelling force was tugging at her, but she was still damaged, and Aurora was too young to piece her back together. She deserved a life of her own, not a life where even the only one she trusted in the whole world betrayed her out of selfishness. Perhaps it was time to cut the cord, so to speak. Perhaps it was time to let Aurora go, and not summon her back to the Moors. She could fade quietly out of the human woman's life, and as the young queen spent more time ruling and rebuilding her kingdom and more time with her scrappy handmaiden, she would grow away. She would forget, and she would move on to the things in her life she was meant to have; love, companionship, perhaps even a family. She would always remember a darker time in her life when a shadowy woman lurked and watched over her, but it would fade to black and white, and… and perhaps not even that.

No, I will not summon you this time, beastie. I will let you disappear into the temptations of the human kingdom, and you will grow away as your father did before you, and you will never know how close I came to… crossing the line.


Early morning, Queen Aurora's personal chambers

"Danger. Wake up! Danger!" Aurora kicked at the slumbering human and shouted. Danger was asleep in her customary spot, curled in a tight ball at the foot of Aurora's bed. "Wake up!"

Darla rolled to the floor and yelped, fumbling at her sword and cutting herself in the process. "Ouch, shit Rory what is your problem?" She looked at the fresh trail of blood on her forearm and scrunched up her nose. "How come it always happens just above the cast? Why can't it ever just hit the cast where it won't cut?"

Aurora smacked her handmaiden with a pillow. "Put that thing away. You have to come. Phillip has sent a missive. His scouts have found something unusual and he wants us to come right away to discuss it."

"Ow, fine." Darla dropped the sword and glared at it, covering her injury with her other hand to stop the bleeding. "I'm up."

"You should start sleeping in your armor. You'd avoid getting so many cuts." Aurora smiled at her idiot friend's antics. The human was useless as a bodyguard, but as a jester? She was perfect.

"I can't curl up in it. It's wayyy too restrictive. Can't sleep unless I'm curled up." Darla got to her feet, still holding her arm. "So what is the big deal? It's not like he hasn't sent a billion letters since I got here."

"He's sent two, and this time he thinks he's found something interesting. His scouts picked something up on the shores that border his lands. He calls it… Machina. At least, that's what his scribes have been able to translate from the etchings on the device."

"Mac-kin-aa," Darla replied slowly. "Sounds cool. What is it?"

"I don't know." Aurora shook her head. "He sent drawings. Come to my war room. I've got them there." The queen turned and left the room, motioning for Darla to follow her.

"Come on, Diablo. Let's go. We gotta go see Phil." Darla glared up at the bird as he settled into her hair, but followed Aurora through the castle.

When they arrived, the queen leaned over the massive table that housed a map of the joined realms, and pushed a stack of scrolls toward Darla.

"Diablo," Darla said, looking up at the bird, "Can you get those?"

Diablo cawed and hopped down onto the table, arranging the scrolls so that the human could read the missives.

"Whoa, Rory, I know what those are." Danger smiled in delight and jumped in the air a few times. "Those are Machines! I build those too, or at least, I used to. I made something like that, though nowhere near that advanced. It's broken right now." Darla sighed, remembering how she got her wrist injury, which was nearly fully mended.

"Machines?" Aurora raised an eyebrow at the strange word.

"Yea, just something I call them. It's a Machina, a machine. Completely automated. I built one to help me travel. I call it DATA – Darla's All Terrain Automatic. Do you like it?" Danger grinned ear to ear and nodded to the scroll with the drawing.

"Charming. So what do you know about these?"

"Well, not a lot, really. Nothing at all, actually. When the great wall went up, I tried to live like my people for as long as I could, but without the mountains and the horned goddess' grace, all the animals that were trapped with me eventually died. I stayed for a few years, but the land was so dark and barren that I had to leave. So I travelled back and forth along the wall, trading what I could. I came across some scrolls one day; a merchant said he got them from over the sea, and I worked out how to build things." Darla shrugged and nodded to the parchment. "I never built anything like that, though. That looks fucking sinister."

"Enough with the mouth," Aurora said absently, coming to stand near her friend and looking at the sketch. "Where is your… device now?"

"If no one has pillaged it, it's still just at the border of the Moors. That's where I was trying to go before it started giving me trouble. That place scares me, but I wanted to try to find my brothers. I'd heard the horned goddess was away, little did I know she was here with you," Darla waggled her eyebrows, earning herself a smack. "Anyway she was supposed to be away so I figured it would be a good time to go look. But every time I get near the place, something happens to keep me out. That's how I know she hates me."

"I sure she doesn't hate you. In fact, she's the reason you aren't doing community service, so watch it." Aurora picked up the sketch and studied it closely. "If it's near the Moors, I'm sure it hasn't been pillaged. We have to travel through them to reach Phillip anyway. He is on the other side. We can pick up your device on the way through and bring it to him. You can join the team he has working on the one he found. Perhaps you can help him get it up and running again, or at least figure out its purpose."

"You bet, but I'll need to bring a few things to fix DATA. One of the wheels is busted. Hey, you think I could borrow one off your billion spinning wheels downstairs?" Darla blinked innocently and dodged the second smack aimed her way as she ducked out the door. "Ha ha missed me missed me now you gotta… oof, get off me Diablo!"

Aurora watched her friend leave, the raven tangling in her hair. Those two were quite the interesting pair, but they were both good and loyal friends. The last few weeks had actually been rather pleasant, despite the ache in her heart at Maleficent's absence. Darla made a habit of sleeping at the foot of her bed, and that suited her just fine. There was something decidedly catlike about the human, though Aurora would never call her a pet cat to her face. Diablo would sometimes perch in the human's scrappy, calico hair, and sometimes he would perch on a windowsill just watching them, but something about his presence was familiar and calming. Between the two of them, they distracted her just enough so that she didn't spend all her time thinking about her godmother.

And this… Well this was certainly interesting. Nothing like it had been seen in her kingdom, Phillip's kingdom, OR the Moorlands, though it seemed her friend knew something about them. There was something else, as well. Aurora smiled and rolled the missives back up. Phillip was inheriting his kingdom and his father was stepping down. His father was ill, and even though Phillip was not yet married, he needed to step in and handle the day to day. Once he took the crown, they could cement their allegiance and then both lands bordering the Moors would forever be allies. The image of the lion would be added to the rose and the wings, and the three worlds would become one, human rulers living in harmony with the fae.

In fact, the only thing she wasn't particularly looking forward to was the journey through the Moors. She knew that she was supposed to be visiting her godmother soon, yet she hadn't found the courage to pen the missive that said she wasn't coming. After some thought, it seemed the best approach would be to wait until the summons came and then send a short, but respectful reply, but that wouldn't work now. She couldn't simply leave the castle with instructions to politely decline the missive, and then take the four week journey around the Moors and over the sea to get to Phillip's kingdom. He needed her right away, and the shortest path was straight through her godmother's lands. They would have to go and pick up Danger's… whatever it was… and pass through the faerie kingdom.

I wonder what the chances are of sneaking through without alerting her…

Aurora chuckled a little and dismissed the thought. Nothing happened in the Moors that Maleficent didn't know about and certainly the queen with her rag-tag entourage would qualify as a serious event. She would have to see her godmother, and again deal with the pain of walking away.

Though, perhaps I do not have to walk away at all. I could ask her to join us. I can bring several guards and of course, Darla and Diablo. I can have them set up a private tent for me. I may not even have to address our former arrangement. Traveling as a queen to a foreign land to meet with the dignitaries there requires a certain propriety. Yes, that is precisely how I will frame it. Danger will help, and at least I will get to see my godmother again…

Aurora, her mind made up, left the room to attend to her daily tasks.


The next morning, stables

"Woo woo! Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga woo wooo!"

Aurora covered her ears as she entered the stables, looking around for the source of the noise. "What is going on in here?"

Darla peeked up from over her project, a small steam-powered platform with strange green wheels. "Just a little thing I'm working on. Check it out." She stepped back and pulled on a lever, and the platform slowly lurched forward.

Aurora eyed the thing suspiciously, crossing her arms. "You took those from the dungeon."

Darla crossed her arms as well and narrowed her eyes. "You left them there! And," she raised a finger sagely, "You left me there with them for a whole month!"

"You can't use those as wagon wheels."

"Why not? They are the right size and check it out," Darla pushed the lever back to its resting place, stopping the cart, before grabbing a massive hammer. "Watch this." She lifted the hammer over her head, somewhat precariously, and brought it down hard on the vertex of one of the wheels. The hammer bounced back off the wheel, throwing Darla, and her injured wrist, into the wall. "OWWWWW, son of a…"

Aurora laughed and moved to help her friend up. "Looks like they are still under some effects of the curse. I won't touch them, but if they are useful to you, then so be it." Aurora stepped back, careful not to brush against the wheels of the device.

"It will help get DATA back on the road. The trouble is normal wooden wheels aren't strong enough to hold the stuff powering it, but steel wheels are wayyyy too heavy to move. But these…" Darla lifted one of the spinning wheels, which still glowed with a faint green light, "I think these are my answer. I'll keep them away from you, but if we are going to get that thing to Phil's place, I'm gonna have to use them."

"That's fine," Aurora replied. "Are we nearly ready to depart?"

"Yep, just say the word. I got some soldiers outside waiting. Not a whole lot, just six or so. That way we look like a delegation proper. I got your message about your godmother. Don't worry, I got your back. Though, are you sure you don't want to just like, throw caution to the wind, toss her against a tree and ravage her? I promise I won't look. Well, I'll try not to, anyway. I mean, you're both kinda hot."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. As if I could, anyway. Do you have any idea how strong she is?"

"Aurora," Darla started, putting the wheel down and sitting on her cart, "I think that you might be underestimating yourself, just a little. If you aren't ready, I get that, but I don't know what it is… nevermind." Darla shook her head, as if something was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't place it.

"What?" The queen crossed her arms and scrunched up her face. Most of the time Darla was a hopeless wreck, but there were these strange moments of lucidity, almost wisdom.

"I don't know. You just remind me of… something my mother passed down in the stories. Millennia ago the horned goddesses, there were many of them in those days, took for themselves consorts of beautiful winged angels. My mother always described the angels as starlight, and the horned goddesses as earthlight. I just… I look at you and I see starlight. I don't know why." Darla bit her lower lip and shrugged. "Then again, I probably have the stories all fucked up anyway."

Aurora sighed. So much for the moment of lucidity.

Starlight. How silly.

"Well, I am ready for the journey. It should take us a little over a week to reach Phillip's land if we only stop when absolutely necessary, so the faster we get on the road, the faster we get there."

"Yep. Here, this one is for you." Darla led a white stallion out from the stables and helped Aurora onto it. "Not bad. You should think about commissioning some armor. Something bright. You'd look like a proper queen, then."

Aurora looked down at Darla and nodded. "You are right. When we return, I will have something made. I want you to come up with some designs. Something elegant, but utilitarian."

Darla whooped and jumped. "All right! I will totally make sure you look hot. My mother once did drawings for me of what those winged angels wore. I totally got this."

Aurora watched as the scrappy human, in her quickly scrappy-ing armor, mounted a scrappy calico paint horse.

I've been spending too much time with her. I'm starting to add actions to the end of words that have no business being there.

"You couldn't find a better horse than that for yourself? You are my handmaiden. You should at least have a horse as good as I do."

Darla cocked her head in confusion and looked down at the beast below her. "What do you mean? I love this horse. She's perfect!" the human petted the side of the horse's neck and sat up tall. "You should hear the things she has to say. Brilliant, just brilliant."

"What is different about you today?" Aurora squinted at her handmaiden, looking her up and down. The leather boots were dirty, but present. She had traded in the simple trousers for chainmail since they were journeying, that was fine. Her chainmail shirt looked terrible, with bits of feather and dirt caked into it, nothing unusual. Her hair, as always, was a ratted bird's nest, but that was also… that's it.

"Where is Diablo?" Aurora asked.

"You know, I haven't seen him at all this morning. I'm sure he will catch up with us. You know how he is. I talk to a horse for a few minutes and he gets all pissy."

"All right. Let us go find this device of yours, and get to Phillip's kingdom." Aurora spurred her horse into motion, leading the way from the stables.


Sometime later, outside the Moors

"There it is!" Darla pointed and scrambled off her horse, running the last several hundred spans to her broken down cart. She fell to her knees in front of it, crying out for joy.

Aurora gracefully led the calico horse next to her friend and slid off her own. "Interesting contraption. You say this device moves on its own?"

"Yep! Check it out." Darla grabbed Aurora's hand and led her to the side, opening the door and ushering her in. The space was only just big enough for both of them, and Darla pointed to the iron stove at one end. "I fill that one up with combustible material and funnel the energy into this transfer thingy. It makes the wheels move, and I can control the speed with these levers." She put Aurora's hand on a circular orb and grinned. "That's the steering. This thing can turn in any direction. You just move the orb around and push forward or backward to tell it which direction to go in."

"Very clever," Aurora said, testing the controls. "You can get this working again?"

"You bet! Come on!" Darla grabbed her hand again and ran back outside. "Ok, you just sit here. I'm going to get these dudes to help me with putting the new wheels on."

Darla ran off, and Aurora leaned back on the rock she'd been left on and pulled her hair out of its knot. She turned her head to glance behind her, the shadow of the Moors just on the edge of her sight. They were close now, to Maleficent's realm. They were close now, to her godmother. She sighed. Despite taking a leisurely pace, the border had come upon them all too quickly. She still wasn't ready to address this, to… not address this.

Which is it? Do I want to push her away, or bring her closer? Am I ready to bring her closer? What if I try and she rejects me? This is quite a foolish notion, after all, regardless of what Darla says. She is an idiot anyway. What does she know about the "seed of beginning"? What does that even mean?

Aurora clenched a fist and tried to master her emotions. This wasn't helping. If she couldn't even keep herself under control, there was no chance her godmother would ever see her as anything more than an insolent, petty, and uncontainable child. She relaxed her fist again and shook her head, smiling.

How ironic it is that the one person, who I know could help me sort through this, is the one person who is causing all of this?

"May I be of assistance?"

The voice came from somewhere behind her, and her heart stopped. She closed her eyes and took a breath, calming herself down. Slowly she rose and turned, smiling.

"Hello, Faerie Godmother. How did you know I was here?"

Maleficent circled Aurora slowly, eyes never leaving the woman's face. "I know when you are near." She nodded to the cart, and the rag-tag team of makeshift tinkerers fiddling with it. "That has been here for quite some time. It belongs to your scrappy handmaiden?"

Aurora nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. Why had she never noticed before how beautiful her godmother was in the sunlight? "Danger has some thoughts on how to fix it. She has brought some of the cursed wheels…" Aurora's heart lurched at the expression of pain that crossed her godmother's face, but it was gone in an instant, replaced once again by that cold, chiseled beauty. Aurora felt rather plain next to the magnificent woman, and she wished that Darla had suggested the suit of armor before they started the journey. Her thin green robes made her feel silly, like she may as well have been naked.

"I see. And will your journey take you to the Moors?"

Aurora shook her head and crossed her arms, hoping to draw strength from the display. She thought she detected a hint of hope in her godmother's voice, but it could have been projection. "Our journey takes us through your lands, but I am not here to visit, no."

"Ah." Maleficent crossed her own arms, folding her wings neatly behind her.

"You may travel with us, if you wish." Aurora hoped she sounded matter-of-fact, but there was no way to tell how the powerful faerie had interpreted it. Her godmother's face was an impenetrable mask. It was impossible to know what was going on behind those striking green eyes. A large part of Aurora wanted to rush into those arms, feel those wings wrap around them, that magic envelop them, to hell with the rest of the world and what anyone might think.

And then what? What happens then, in your little fantasy? Do you pull her to the ground and beg her to take you? Do you follow Danger's advice, throw her against a tree and 'ravage' her? Look at her face. You are but a child to her, a pitiful human girl who needs the mighty faerie's protection. You may as well be…

Aurora's internal struggle was cut mercifully short, however, as Maleficent rose from the ground and bowed. "Your Grace, duties call me away for the foreseeable future. I see that you are in good hands with your new companion, and I wish you both well. She is a good choice. You shall pass unimpeded through these lands, of course, but I will be indisposed and will not be able to travel with you. Call should you need me, but I trust that you will be able to carve your own way." And with that, she disappeared into the distance, leaving Aurora standing there alone, stricken.

"I… What is that supposed to mean?" Aurora was confused. Did her godmother think she and Darla were… what?

Darla walked up to her, wiping some grease off of her cast and looking into the distance where the faerie had departed. "You ok?"

"I… I'm not certain," Aurora replied, running a hand through her hair before pulling it back again and fastening it at her neck. "I think I've just been… dismissed. She thinks that you and I…"

"No, she doesn't," Darla replied. "She knows how my kind works. I'm bound, but it's definitely not to you or anyone that's currently within any of these three kingdoms. No..." the cat-child looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, now that I've had a chance to study her face without her looming over me ready to strike like a snake… She is troubled. She is greatly troubled. There is a shadow in her heart that she's trying desperately to chase away, and she is confused. She smells…" Darla tasted the air, squinting her eyes. "She's frightened. Yes that is definitely it. She's frightened, and it's you she is frightened of… or herself… or both. Whatever it is, I know that look as well. I think there's a little more than a seed there, and we're on the right track, Rory. Don't give up on her, but give her space. I mean, this is what we wanted anyway, right?"

Aurora hugged herself and nodded. Darla was right, after all. All of their plans involved one major component – distance between her and her godmother, distance enough that she could return one day as a woman and have her offer considered as such.

But even though she told herself that this was right, this was how it had to be, it didn't change the fact that standing there, watching the distance, she'd never felt more alone and empty in her life.

This must be what a broken heart feels like. Goodbye for now, godmother, and be well. You will be on my mind always.

Aurora shook her head and gestured to the unusual cart. "I see we are ready?"

Darla nodded and bowed. "Your chariot awaits, milady!"

Aurora rolled her eyes and climbed into the contraption, placing her hand on the controls and guiding the strange device forward into the Moors.

Forward into her fate.