Chapter 48
A/N: Please review! Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
"Do you know what we never did?" Diaval asked later as he and Maleficent sat on the bank of the lake, watching Aurora splash in the shallows with some of the younger fairies. Maleficent turned and raised a lazily curious eyebrow. "Celebrate Aurora's birthday," he explained.
"We were rather distracted at the time," Maleficent reminded him, pain momentarily clouding her eyes. Diaval sighed inwardly at having reminded Maleficent of the events surrounding Aurora's birthday. It had not been his intention to bring up any difficult memories. Maleficent had seemed to forget - or at least block out - what had happened since Aurora's disappearance. The last thing Diaval wanted was to bring about another crisis for the fairy.
"Perhaps we should plan something for her," Diaval said, bringing the focus back to Aurora.
"Parties are not exactly my strong suit," Maleficent replied somewhat distastefully.
"I can organise everything," he assured her. "All you would have to do is turn up." The more he thought about it, the more excited he became with his idea - a party was exactly what the moors needed after all the recent troubles and heartache.
"Very well," Maleficent agreed, her eyes focused on Aurora playing happily at the water's edge. "I am sure the little beastie would enjoy a party. Just as long as you don't try to get me involved!"
...
Three days later, Maleficent walked with Aurora through the moors, some distance from the fairy mound, while preparations took place for the party. As promised, Diaval had organised everything - surprisingly quickly, at that! And as promised, Maleficent had been asked only to keep the young queen occupied and distracted until everything was in place. It was one task Maleficent had been more than happy to take on.
"I've never been to this part of the moors before," Aurora noted, looking around in curiosity and interest. Maleficent had taken her to the farthest end of the land, away from the border. They were walking along a path a few feet away from the edge of a deep ravine in which crystal clear water flowed rapidly. The bright midday sun beamed down upon the trees that created a canopy above their heads, casting dappled shadows upon the ground.
"I used to walk here often, after..." Maleficent's voice trailed off, not wanting to mention, or think about, Stefan and what he had done.
Aurora placed a gentle hand on Maleficent's arm. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked sweetly, guessing the end of Maleficent's sentence.
The fairy shook her head, her eyes distant as she brought her mind back to the present. "No," she said softly. She managed to arrange her features into a slight smile. "Not today, anyway."
Aurora looked like she wanted to say more, but - to Maleficent's relief - Thistlewit's sudden arrival prevented her from doing so.
"Aurora," the tiny fairy said breathlessly, "you are needed at the fairy mound immediately!" She then winked quite openly at Maleficent who rolled her eyes at the foolish fairy's transparency. The party was supposed to be a secret!
Feigning ignorance, Maleficent turned to Aurora with a wide-eyed shrug. Luckily, it seemed the young queen had failed to notice the wink; her forehead was crinkled in concern. "Has something happened?" she asked anxiously.
"Let's go and find out," Maleficent cut in before Thistlewit could respond, giving the little fairy a warning glance. And so they hurried back through the moors towards the fairy mound...and the party.