Hey guys! Nope I didn't give up finishing this one just yet ^^ I'm sorry for the delay and I'll try to write regularly from now on. Bigs thanks to DancingKitKat for the beta-reading! Don't forget to review! (please?)
Maleficent was walking carefully near the south end of the Moors. Snow and ice were everywhere, considerably slowing her patrols to ensure the safety and well-being of her precious land. Fortunately, Diaval was helping her, flying from one border to another and reporting to her if there was anything that would need her magic. He was incredibly diligent in his work, reporting her even the slightest wounds to the trees. To be honest, they made a good team, and she could totally picture their collaboration to go on beyond winter, even if there wasn't much to do, most of the time.
However, today her raven was rushing toward her, cawing madly. She held her breath. He must have witnessed something serious.
He led her to the entrance of the forest nearing the border with the human kingdom, and landed on her staff to caw at her, flapping his wings.
The fairy looked around sternly. Nothing seemed to be wrong here. She turned to her servant and changed him in order to stop his incessant squawking. He got the bad habit of doing so every time he wanted to be changed into his human form.
"Well?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow.
If he was to proudly show her a pile of rocks he just assembled, she was going to get mad. He had done so a few days ago, but once changed in his human form, he must have figured out it looked ridiculously small, because he had stepped on it. Even now, she was still wondering what he intended to achieve, though.
"A fox got caught in a human trap, this way," the raven turned man explained hastily, bringing her back to present time.
She looked in the direction he was pointing to and sighed. She would have to walk again. She was tired of struggling against wind and snow to perform her duty every single day. She just wanted to go home, have a tea and let her servant's warm embrace lull her to sleep.
"Why didn't you led me to it then, instead of slowing us down," she grunted angrily.
The quicker they would deal with this, the quicker she could rest. She took a step forward, but Diaval grabbed her arm.
"Mistress, wait."
Raising an eyebrow, she froze at the contact and her fierce eyes fell on his hand.
"Sorry," he mumbled while removing his hand.
He knew it wasn't his place to tell her what to do, but something felt dangerously wrong. Animals from the human land never crossed the border of the Moors because the omnipresent smell of magic surrounding the place made them feel unsafe – he had experienced it more than once in his raven form – so what was that fox doing here?
"I just… I have a bad feeling about this," he said.
She eyed him suspiciously. What had got into him? It was just the forest. Humans were bold, but not to the point of challenging the power of the Moors by knowingly setting traps beyond their border. It was certainly an unfortunate mistake. It wasn't the first time nor would it be the last time that happened.
"What if they were other traps? They are made of iron, you know…"
She held back a shudder at the word. Of course they were, and that was why she had to take care of it. She couldn't stand the thought of her precious land corrupted with iron. She shook her head and stepped into the dark forest.
"Don't be ridiculous. I can watch my steps."
Fortunately, ten minutes later, they reached the border of the Moors without incident. The exhausted animal was lying on the ground and watched them approach helplessly, as if it knew the end was near. The fairy stopped a few steps away to examine the wound. It didn't look too serious. Diaval came closer as she gestured for him to release the creature.
"There, there, little fella," he whispered, while spreading open the metallic jaws.
The trembling form tried to crawl away, but Diaval held it back and settled it on his lap, away from the trap.
Maleficent crouched on the snow next to him. She raised an eyebrow when noticing her servant was actually petting the fox. His compassion towards other life forms always took her aback while he was in human form. She wasn't used to this kind of behaviour from humans… Sometimes she wondered if it wasn't too much of an insult to his kindness to change him into a human so often.
"Don't worry little one. We're the good guys. Mistress here will heal you, and you'll be as good as new," the raven turned man softly told the fox.
"I thought you hated canines," she retorted, as her magic was working on the wounded paw.
"He's been trapped by men and saved by you. I think we have a lot in common. Besides, this one is pretty nice to look at, and he's got fluffy fur."
Mal smirked. Was it always about the look? The wounded paw was soon healed and the fox ran away, lightly limping. She got up and looked at the darkening sky. The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon.
"Let's go back to the tree," she said, getting up.
She heard Diaval getting on his feet and following her closely. She smiled as he stumbled in the snow. She should have changed him, but it was funnier to just let him struggle.
"Mistress. Please let me lead the way. I don't think it's safe."
She stopped and turned around to meet his eyes intently. After all, if he wanted to make a fool of himself, the least she could do was to watch. It would be much more fun to see him fall again and again than to just hear it. She hoped it would be worth the inconvenience. On the end, she gestured for him to go before her.
He was walking much too slowly for her taste, watching his steps carefully as they were going to be ambushed anytime soon. Such ridiculous notions he had sometimes. As if humans were stupid enough to come into her realm to try and hurt her. She sighted loudly. She would be patient and let him another 10 seconds before kicking him in the butt and scolding him for his slowness. After another day walking in the snow, she missed dearly the warmth of her tree and couldn't wait to get there, but at this pace, it…
A howl interrupted her thoughts and she gasped as she saw Diaval fall down in pain.
"Diaval!" she called, hurrying to his side.
His human form was shaking and the pain made him winced violently. It was taking everything for him not to yell like mad and keep his teeth firmly clenched together. When you were a trapped animal, the last thing to do was to cry out in the night.
Maleficent's heart skipped a beat at the sight of his blood pouring abundantly from the wound and the ferocious jaws that hung tightly to his ankle. The metal seemed to have pierced his flesh to the bone. The agony on his face made her insides freeze, and without thinking, she reached for the trap, ignoring her burning palms. She was about to try and open it when Diaval's hands irreverently slapped hers away.
"Mistress, don't!" he yelped in alarm.
He couldn't help but groan in agony while sitting up in a better position. The pain was unbearable, worst than anything he had ever experienced, and he could already feel the wetness at the corner of his eyes. But it didn't matter, he had to do it himself, or his mistress would burn herself on the hot iron. With all the courage he could muster, he grabbed the metallic jaws with both hands and slowly forced it open, struggling against the vicious trap as well as the pain he was inflicting himself, shrieking with all his might to find the necessary strength to finish his task. He had barely managed to withdraw the metal from his leg when all his strength abandoned him and he let go of the giant jaws. Wincing at the tremendous amount of pain he knew was to follow when the trap would dig into his ankle again, he closed his eyes and waited for the blow, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find a thick piece of wood keeping the jaws just open enough not to bite into his flesh again. Letting out a shaky sigh of pure relief, he watched as his mistress worked her magic on his bleeding wound.
She observed him, incredulous, while healing his leg. She couldn't believe he would have gone through that so she wouldn't get hurt. His courage, devotion and kindness were startling her all over again. How could such a simple creature grow up to display qualities even humans rarely possessed?
Diaval's eyes shifted from his mistress to the pool of blood at his feet. For a moment there, he really thought he was going to die. He was still trembling from the trauma. He was just relieved this didn't happen to his mistress. The pain would have been so much worse for her, and he couldn't begin to imagine her going through that kind of agony again. He vowed to himself he would protect her, and he realised proudly that he managed to do just that.
Once the wound was healed, the raven turned man thanked her and summoned what was left of his energy to extract his foot from the trap. The pain has been reduced to an annoying stinging, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stand. He felt too weak to even move a muscle, anyway. With an exhausted sigh, he collapsed to the ground.
The fairy got up, raising an eyebrow. When her eyes fell on the iron trap, she remarked it was in fact bigger and stronger than the one they found the fox in. This has been all a set-up to get to her, she realised with bitterness.
She raised her hand, and with a flip of her fingers, Diaval was floating beside her.
"Mistress?" he queried sleepily when he felt his form hovering above the snow.
"Shhhh. Sleep," she lulled, sending a wisp of golden magic towards him.
He gratefully welcomed the darkness that took hold of him and fell into a gentle slumber, what was left of his pain already forgotten.
About an hour later, the sun had almost completely vanished beyond the horizon. Maleficent was in her nest, pulling a blanket over her servant's sleeping body. She sat beside him and watched him sleep peacefully for a moment, deep in thoughts about today's events.
Humans crossing the border and setting up iron traps in her realm without anyone noticing: this was very alarming, especially with Stephan as the new king of the humans. He knew the Moors as well as the defences around her land, and it would be far too easy for him to find a way around it. She had to strengthen the security and find out who was behind the attack. She would talk to Balthazar about it tomorrow.
Her eyes settled on Diaval's feet. His tibia bone has been broken near the ankle, and it would need rest in order to heal completely. She felt a pang in her chest at the simple thought of the pain he's been through. His instincts were right, but she was too stubborn to listen to him. If she have had even the slightest doubt, she would have called Balthazar to check the area first. Never in a million years the fairy would have let her raven take the risk of getting hurt that way. She hoped he knew this.
A freezing breeze came inside the nest and made her shiver. The nights were getting colder. It had never been a problem before now, because her wings would always keep her warm. She missed them so dearly… She sighed and made the ivy plant grow a good layer of extra leaves, hoping that would protect them from the wind. The fairy then nestled against Diaval and pulled the blanket over them both.
"Mistress," Called her servant, woken by her warm body snuggling closer to his. "You brought me back," he pointed out in a relieved whisper.
"Of course I did, silly creature. Do you think I would have let you there to die?" she sneered.
He couldn't say he didn't think she would. After all, it was how it worked on the wild. When one on a flock got sick or hurt, they would be left behind. He was glad it was different with his mistress. He had a proof today that she would protect him just like he was protecting her. It felt so good to know someone had your back…
He naturally snaked his arms around her when she moved to lay her head on his shoulder. It has been a while since they last cuddled, and he intended to enjoy every single second of it. He breathed into her hair as her hand climbed to his chest. He was tenderly observing her long fingers stroking his scars when a thought struck him.
"Mistress, your hands! Were you hurt?" he cried in alarm, reaching for her hand.
She was too stunned to react when he examined her palm for any trace of wound. The fairy watched him, fascinated, as he was holding her hand with extreme care, like it was some kind of treasure.
"Don't be ridiculous, Diaval, it was just a little burn. It's healed already."
However, she didn't shove his touch away, not even when he didn't let go and instead settled their joined hands on his chest. His steady heartbeat under her had already started to lull her to sleep.
"The only one that got hurt was you," she said bitterly.
"If we could go back in time I would do the exact same thing, Mistress," he answered at once.
He smiled reassuringly as her wide emerald orbs met his black ones.
"I'm just glad you're alright," the raven turned man added in a whisper, squeezing her hand softly.
Such devotion. Such protectiveness. If it had come from anyone else, she would have known without a doubt they were lying, but from Diaval, she could almost believe his sweet words. She wanted very much so. Before she knew what she was doing, her thumb was gently brushing the back of his hand, and she was delighted to feel his fingers soon drawing patterns on her palm, as if he had been waiting for her impulse to do so. She just realised they never touched hands before. It was a very enjoyable feeling, one she wanted to explore. There was nothing wrong in doing so, after all.
She let out a relieved sigh. It was working, more than ever before. His arms were bringing her warmth, comfort, safety and even something she recognized as contentment. She could almost be happy right now. Almost.
"I'm just glad I saved you that day," she murmured softly, mirroring his blissful words.
He tightened his arm around her in response. At this moment, Diaval felt like he's never been happier in his life. She just admitted that she appreciated him, didn't she? Not to mention she was still caressing his hand with a fondness he never witnessed from her. He fell asleep within minutes, wishing the warm feeling inside him would never go away.