Chapter Text
Chapter 1
"Maleficent?"
The sound broke through her peaceful slumber...a familiar voice, but one she had not heard for a long time. Wakening fully, she heard her name called again.
"Maleficent!"
Stefan. A frown crinkled the smooth, white skin at her brow and her lips twitched, though whether in a smile or a grimace, even she could not be sure. Either way, she could not resist true love's call. Stretching first her body - stiff from sleep - and then her wings, she took flight towards the edge of the moors, where she knew he would be waiting.
The moon was almost full, stars twinkling above as many of the fairy folk slept. Lights from those night-waking pixels and creatures of the moors glittered and flitted around beneath her. Then, she reached the boundary between her world...and his.
There he stood, much as he had been the last time she had seen him. A little older, perhaps, but still the same boy who had stolen her heart as a young girl. Her frown deepened at the sight of him, her anger and frustration at being abandoned by him for so long overpowering the jolt of pleasure she felt upon seeing him.
Allowing her wings to deposit her gently upon the ground, she landed behind him, just as he turned to leave. Her wings folded behind her with a soft rustle of feathers.
"So," she said, her tone as cold as her expression, "how is life with the humans?"
He turned slowly, hands raised in supplication or mollification - she was not sure which. Despite the coolness in her voice and the frown upon her beautiful features, she would never harm him. Never.
"Maleficent. I've come to warn you," he began. Her eyebrow twitched at his words, curiosity and anxiety fluttering about within her mind. "They mean to kill you." She lifted her chin and gazed at him, no fear upon her features. She had no need to ask who 'they' were. Humans. Fools. Had they not learnt their lesson the last time?
"King Henry will stop at nothing," his face pleaded with her, and her heart softened, as did her gaze. "Please. You have to trust me."
And she did. A smile transformed her features; her eyes softened and her eyebrows relaxed. She inclined her head to look him properly in the eye, and saw her love reflected back at her. She trusted him with her life, her heart. Everything she had.
Taking his hand gently in hers, she turned towards the Moors. "Come," she said softly, and he followed her into her homeland. She did not notice the tell-tale clanging of iron in the bag he carried over his shoulder, nor did she hear the rapid beating of his heart. She did not guess, could not know, just what was in store for her.