“This is where I live. The crows are my parents.”
When the One of Legends looked up at the crows, she saw concern in their eyes and she knew that the girl was telling the truth. How in the Fairylands could my sister have stood by and let this happen? Abandoning the girl like this? Leaving her to be cared for by the crows? It’s a disgrace.
“Will you let me take you home with me, little one?” Nanny asked. “I can care for you.”
Slowly, Maleficent shook her head. “No.”
“No? Why not, may I ask?” Nanny tried not to laugh. Maleficent looked so stern, and so decisive, especially for one so young.
“I don’t want to leave my crows!”
“Then we shall bring them with us! How does that sound?”
And looking up at her crows for a moment, Maleficent slowly nodded.
Maleficent’s life utterly changed that evening. Nanny could see that no one had ever treated Maleficent like she was anything other than something to be feared. She was glad to be able to give Maleficent the love she deserved. Maleficent felt safe with her and called her Nanny. And that was what she was—her nanny—though Nanny cared for Maleficent like she was her own child. Together they lived in a beautiful Tudor-style cottage with gingerbread trimmings and large-paned windows. Nanny magically replanted Maleficent’s crow tree in the front garden, and she fashioned a wonderful tree house just for Maleficent so that she could visit her crows whenever she wished. Nanny insisted on always keeping a window open so that the crows could come into the cottage whenever they liked. They often flitted in and out, checking on their little fairy to be sure Nanny was treating her well, which she always was. She loved Maleficent dearly and was unspeakably happy to give the special girl a home and family to call her own.
Queen Snow White woke in terror. It was the same old nightmare: she was running through a tangled forest with grasping trees scratching her as she fought to escape their clutches. She almost expected to be covered in cuts but found herself unharmed.
“Momma?” Snow looked for her mother’s reflection in the mirror on her bedside table. “Are you there?”
But the old queen didn’t answer.
Snow looked around her room at the other reflective surfaces. She found nothing other than her own pale face. It was a strange feeling, waking up without her mother smiling back at her from one of the mirrors. Snow glanced around her room at her things, trying to shake off the terrible feeling of her dream. Everything was in its place. There was nothing strange or amiss as there normally would be when she thought she’d awoken from a nightmare but was actually still dreaming. This was her room, with its deep red tapestries, adorned with golden trees and tiny blackbirds, hanging on the walls. This was her bed, with its light petal-pink curtains draped around the four cherry-oak pillars. She looked around her room again at the many mirrors held in beautiful antique gold frames of various sizes. Yes, everything was as it should be. She was safe. That was what her mother always said to her when she woke up startled, wasn’t it? Look! You’re in your own room. You’re safe, my bird. But the shadows of this nightmare remained. She could still feel the looming danger of something pursuing her as she searched the dark corners of her room, hoping she wasn’t still dreaming.
I need to speak with my mother.
Snow had to tell her about the other part of her dream. It was a new nightmare—one that reminded her of a story her mother had told her when she was very small.
The story of the Dragon Witch who put a young girl to sleep.
Why do witches always put young girls to sleep in these stories?
Snow White’s own story was very similar. Her mother had put her to sleep. But that was many years past, so long ago that Snow rarely thought of it. The Dragon Witch had been plaguing Snow’s dreams for many nights. That much she knew. But the actual events of the bad dream always escaped her upon her waking. All she remembered was the forest from her childhood. She’d been trying to capture her memory of the Dragon Witch dream so she could share it her mother, but it was like a forgotten word or name she couldn’t grasp. Snow knew this dream was important. She knew this nightmare held meaning. And now that she finally remembered it, her mother wasn’t there.
Where is she?
r /> Snow White dressed quickly in one of her favorite gowns. It was a red velvet dress decorated with embroidered silver birds and shiny black beads that sparkled in the light. She sat at her vanity, looking at her mirror as she brushed her thick black hair, brilliantly streaked with silver at each of her temples. She watched the curls bounce back with each stroke before tying the red ribbon to keep her hair from falling into her round pale face and large eyes. Snow never thought much about how she looked—and that day wasn’t any different—but she thought it was sweet the king always said she hadn’t changed over the years. Though she had to admit she did have a few more lines around her eyes and mouth when she smiled, which was most of the time. Snow was so accustomed to seeing her mother’s face in her mirror that it was strange to see her own. She hadn’t realized how much she took her mother’s company for granted. How lonely she would feel without her. Especially now that her children were grown and living in their own kingdoms and her beloved was away on a diplomatic mission.
You look beautiful, my bird. You always do.
Snow White looked up with a gleaming smile at the refection of her mother in the mirror. “Momma! Where were you? I have to tell you about my dream!”
“I know your dreams, my darling. I’ve been trying to find the Dark Fairy. I have to warn her,” the old queen Grimhilde replied.
“Is she the Dragon Witch?” Snow White asked.
Grimhilde laughed. “Yes, my bird, the very one.”
“Is your old story coming true, then?” Snow asked, confused. “I don’t understand!”
“I’m not sure I do, either, darling. The story I told you so many years ago was in a book your cousins gave to me. I think they may have written it. And I’d very much like to see it now. Do you have it somewhere among your things, by chance?”
Snow White knew exactly where it was. It was in a place she didn’t like going. “It’s not in my chambers. It’s in one of the trunks in the attic, packed away with the rest of your possessions.”
“Are you brave enough to go up there alone, my bird? It’s very important that you do.”
One morning, Maleficent was messily munching on a blueberry scone while tossing crumbs to her favorite crow, Opal. It had been more than a year since Nanny had found the tiny Maleficent and taken her into her home. She had given the girl time to become comfortable in her new surroundings before bringing up school, and now Nanny decided it was time to broach the subject. “It’s time to think about your education, my darling. You must learn your fairy magic.”