Time, as it does, marched on. Aurora settled in to the castle as best she could with the pain of leaving Maleficent and the stress of ruling a kingdom hanging over her. Diaval was a comforting presence; her only link to the Moors and her beloved fairy. Every couple of days he would take off and make his report to Maleficent, who had taken to wandering the Moors to fill the empty hours. Aurora would send little messages to her through Diaval that she would reply to. In this way, their loneliness was somewhat lessened.
Weeks stretched into months and Aurora found herself with more than enough work to fill all the hours of the day. Construction on the castle continued until every last scrap of iron that King Stephan had installed to keep Maleficent out, was removed. As a way to generate revenue for her kingdom, Aurora ordered the iron workers to melt down and sell all the excess to neighboring kingdoms. She then set them to work experimenting with different metals that might replace iron in their weapons and building materials, a metal that would allow residents of the Moors to interact with humans without risk of being burned.
In addition to revamping the castle, Aurora also went to work on a series of laws and regulations concerning the Moors. She made arrangements with Balthazar and Samuel that several members of the Moor guards would be at the castle at all time. Not only did this allow people in and around the castle a chance to adjust to life with with the fair-folk, but they were also a reminder to outsiders that Aurora ruled both lands.
With the help of Samuel and Prince Phillip, who had both quickly become trusted confidants, Aurora decreed that residents of the Moors could come and go in the human lands as they pleased. Humans would also be allowed into the Moors, but any citizen wishing to go would have to have an audience with Aurora. If they met with her approval, messengers would send a petition of Maleficent, who had the final say in the matter. Trespassers and poachers in the Moors were dealt with swiftly and harshly.
At first. there was very little mixing. Many humans were still terrified of the Moors and the fair-folk were perfectly content to stay put. However, as the months turned to years, the creatures of the Moors ventured beyond their safe border more and more often and the people they met welcomed them with awe and wonder.
There was one resident of the Moors who had not left the safety of the magical land. Maleficent spent most of her days as she had before the curse. As the royal guardian of the Moors, she was charged with keeping the land and its creatures safe. She frequently checked for poachers and trespassers, made sure that the borders between the Moors and other kingdoms stayed peaceful, and reported all she saw back to Aurora and the palace guards through regular messengers.
During the day, Maleficent could almost convince herself that she was fine, that she wasn't lonely and in many ways this was true. The Moorland creatures, who had been so afraid of Maleficent's darkness, had once again embraced her as their own. At night however, Maleficent's thoughts always turned to Aurora. She wondered how Aurora was and what she might be doing. She missed her blonde princess more than she thought possible. She missed her sweet smile and understanding eyes, but more than that she missed having someone around that truly knew her; that had seen her at her worst and loved her anyway.
Miles away, under the same night sky, Aurora dreamed of wings and bright green eyes and tree hammocks. She woke, as she always did, with an ache in her chest and a sadness that never quite went away.