From the courtyard, Magnus and Arthur watched Maleficent circle overheard with morbid fascination.
"Terrifying, isn't it?" Arthur said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Perhaps, if not so predictable," Magnus said, using a small periscope to gain a closer view of the dark fairy. "Tell me Arthur, do you honestly believe a creature like that is capable of love towards a human child?"
The younger man shrugged. "You believe it to be a curse, do you not?"
"Whether it is a curse or genuine mother's love does not matter. All that matters now is gaining the Princess' abdication, we will deal with the fairy later. OPEN THE DRAWBRIDGE!" Magnus called to the guards above them. "...Not that she needs it"
The two men watched as Maleficent landed in the grounds just outside of the castle and crossed the bridge, the raven hovering to the right of her shoulder.
The fairy said nothing until she was inside the castle walls, a mere six foot away from them.
"Good evening," Magnus called. "Thank you for accepting my invitation."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to skip the pleasantries," Maleficent told him. "And let us discuss the reason for my visit. Where is she?"
"The Princess will be out shortly," he replied. "Until then I-"
"Until then, you will be silent," Maleficent interjected. "There will be no negotiations, and none of human 'small talk' until Aurora is in my sight."
"I can assure you, the Princess is quite well," Magnus said.
"Starving herself, by all accounts. It would seem that you are losing control of your kingdom, My Liege," the fairy responded, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"How did you...?" Magnus began, stopping as Maleficent arched a brow, and turning to Arthur. "Bring out the girl."
Nodding, the younger man hurried away, more than happy to be excused.
Ω Ω Ω Ω
Aurora had given up counting the days.
She wasn't sure whether it the starvation, or the endless monotony of one day rolling into another, but her awareness seemed to be severely lacking.
She was only vaguely aware that the iron-clad door had been opened that evening, as she watched the beginnings of a sunset through the tiny window.
An arm gripped hers, and she was swiftly pulled to her feet and bundled towards the door before she could do anything about it.
Pulling back as she stumbled into the daylight, Aurora managed to free herself from the grip of the young guard, staggering back against the wall, startled by the sudden occurrence.
"What are you doing?" she asked, managing to gulp in a few breaths of clean, fresh air – the first she had had in days.
"You need to come with me," the young guard told her, rather timidly, as he reached out to take her arm again.
Managing to evade him, Aurora made a dash for it.
She didn't get far however, before a stronger hand clasped the back of her dress.
"Where do you think you're going, Princess? Come with me," Magnus said, dragging the girl in the direction of the castle's courtyard.
"Get your hands off me!" Aurora cried, struggling to no avail.
"Gentleman of the King's council, I give you your Queen!" Magnus called, dragging her into the courtyard and pushing her in the direction of two guards, ready and waiting to take a firm hold on her. "Nothing more than a disobedient street urchin!"
"Remove your hands from her at once!" – a firm, feminine voice from across the courtyard.
Blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light, and squinting through a mess of blonde curls, Aurora's head snapped up.
"Godmother!"
Maleficent was angry, she realised, watching as a familiar green mist surrounded the fairy.
"Use of hexes won't be necessary, Maleficent! As you can see, the Princess is alive and well!" Magnus called, stepping back slightly all the same.
"I have no use for hexes, you insidious waste of space. I will destroy you and your entire army if you do not unhand her at once!" Maleficent cried.
Aurora attempted to wriggle free of the guards' grip, pulling in the direction of her Godmother, but the two men held her firm, looking to Magnus for guidance.
"All in good time. She will be returned to you, you have my word," he told the fairy. "Just as soon as we have finalised... an agreement."
"What is it you want?" Maleficent asked, folding her arms.
"From you? Nothing," Magnus said, moving to stand parallel to the girl. "It's our Princess here who has a choice to make."
Aurora watched him silently, eyes full of resentment.
"Princess, tell us all what it is you have longed for, ever since your return to the palace?" he asked, loud enough for all of the men surrounding the courtyard to hear.
Aurora's eyes moved from Magnus to Maleficent and back again, but she remained silent.
"It's okay, Aurora," the fairy told her, almost calmly, nodding to encourage the girl to speak.
"We are waiting, Princess!" Magnus cried.
"I have wished... I have wished only to return to the moors. With my Godmother," Aurora said, in the most confident voice she could muster up.
Murmurings spread rapidly around the courtyard, surprise in the faces of King Stefan's loyal men.
"So there you have it Gentlemen! Your future Queen, the last remaining blood line of our late King, chooses the fairy that murdered him over her own people!" Magnus told them all.
"How dare you try to turn these people against her," Maleficent told him, her eyes flashing emerald once more.
"You misunderstand me, fairy. That is not my intention," Magnus told her, growing in confidence as he felt the support of his men around him. "I'm simply bringing it to the Princess' attention that she must now choose her side."
"What?" Aurora asked, incredulous.
"Come on, Princess. Even in your naivety you can't surely believe that you can have it all?" Magnus asked, gesturing to Maleficent. "Our kingdoms will never be united!"
Aurora glanced at the fairy again – poised and ready to invoke her magic at the first sign of trouble, and yet surrounded by a number of guards, each clutching an iron spear.
"Godmother," she whispered, choking back a sob.
Maleficent said nothing, but her eyes told Aurora that it was okay – that it would be okay.
"So what will it be Princess?" Magnus asking, circling round to stand in front of her. "What is it that you truly want?"
"I have told you!" Aurora cried, angry tears spilling down her cheeks.
Silence for a moment.
"Then, you shall have your wish," Magnus told her, softly.
Aurora stared at him, awaiting the catch.
"You may leave with your 'Godmother' tonight. Just as soon as you have abdicated the throne."
There it is.
More hushed whispers from the onlookers.
For a moment, Aurora looked between them and the man standing before her, before she spoke again.
"H...how do I do that?" she asked softly, for fear of humiliation.
Magnus sniggered, producing a large roll of parchment from inside of his robes. "I had a feeling you might ask. It's really very simple, your majesty. I've taken the liberty of having this drawn up ahead of time. You simply need to sign it, and you are free to leave."
Looking him dead in the eye, Aurora gave the man a small smile of her own.
"Bring me a quill."
"Aurora, you don't have to do this," Maleficent told her from across the courtyard, her voice level.
"Yes I do. It's what I want," Aurora told her.
"And if you regret it?" her Godmother asked.
"I will not."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I will be with you," Aurora told her, sincerely. "Living in the moors, as we planned. That is the only thing I have ever wanted."
Before Maleficent could respond, a feathered quill was pushed into Aurora's hand.
Glancing in the direction of Maleficent, the young girl paused.
"Lower your weapons!" she called to the men surrounding the fairy.
The guards looked to Magnus, who gave a small nod of his head, and their spears dropped as they backed away from Maleficent.
Taking the quill, Aurora waited as Magnus straightened out the parchment.
I, Princess Aurora, do hereby declare my irrevocable determination to denounce the throne for myself and my descendants, and my desire that effect should be given to this instrument of abdication immediately, it read. In token whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of May, in the presence of the witnesses whose signatures are subscribed.
Dipping the quill into the small inkwell offered to her by one of the guards, Aurora signed her name beneath the text.
Magnus took it from her hands, casting his eyes over the parchment as if it confirm she had not written something untoward.
For a moment, the silence was such that the dropping of a pin might have echoed.
And then Magnus turned, sending an order for the men to release her with casual disinterest over his shoulder.
Finally free, Aurora tore across the courtyard as fast as her legs could carry her.
She came at Maleficent with such force that she half expected for the both of them to end up on the floor. Instead, she found herself wrapped in the arms and wings of the fairy, shrouded in the safety and comfort that she had longed for so desperately during her nights in the dungeon.
Aurora pressed her face into the sharp collarbone of the older woman, her arms tightening around the fairy's waist as she did so.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, as Maleficent stroked the girl's hair and Aurora clung to her furiously, sobbing in relief.
"What were you thinking, you foolish child?" Maleficent whispered eventually, glancing over at the direction in which Magnus and his men had disappeared.
"I don't want to be their Queen, I will never want for that," Aurora told her, lifting her head up to look at the fairy.
"Over the throne and this kingdom, you have chosen..." she began, trailing off as if she dared not say it.
"You. I have chosen you," Aurora confirmed, looking her in the eye as more tears threatened her own. "But there was no choice. There could never be a choice... You're my mother."
With that, she burrowed deeper into the safety of Maleficent's embrace, and the fairy held her back, just as tight.
"Can we go home now?" Aurora pleaded.
A small smile played across Maleficent's lips and she inclined her head.
"Yes, Beastie, I do believe we can."
Ω Ω Ω Ω