Mistress of All Evil (Villains 4)

Circe was ecstatic at the idea of finally meeting her cousin Queen Snow White. She looked down at her dress and laughed. Well, I’d better change my clothes! Circe was completely disheveled from the events that had befallen her in the past weeks. She hadn’t even bothered to look in a mirror—and she didn’t dare now for fear of how frightful she surely looked.

The owl tapped his little foot on the wooden table, waiting for his reward. She tossed him the other half of the biscuit while she scribbled a hurried note to Nanny, letting her know Snow was on her way to Morningstar.

Once she cleaned herself up and heard what Queen Snow White had to say, she would continue searching through her sisters’ books. Circe just hoped she could find something before it was too late.

Pflanze was sitting quietly in the solarium with the odd sisters. She was keeping herself occupied by looking at the solstice tree, its silver and gold ornaments glittering by the candlelight, when a dreadful feeling came over her. She sat very still. Her ears perked up as she felt a terrible tremor. Something large was approaching Morningstar Castle. As it drew closer, the decorations on the tree started to shake violently, falling from the branches and shattering into splinters all around Pflanze. She bolted away from the tree and let out a loud screech to get someone’s attention. She rarely used her voice, and it sounded strange to her. She decided to call Nanny telepathically, but before she could, the solarium doors burst open, revealing a worried-looking Nanny and Tulip.

What is it? What’s happening? Pflanze asked, looking more frightened than Nanny had ever seen her.

“We don’t know! We thought the odd sisters had woken up and that’s why you were howling!” Nanny cried. She looked around the room, frantically trying to find the cause of the shaking. The room grew dim, and then everything went black.

“Stop!” Nanny raised her hands skyward, creating a brilliant silver light. In its glow, they could see the source of the vibrations. Massive trees had surrounded the solarium. Trees larger than any others, trees thought to have been extinct. Trees that had ruled the kingdom in the time before men or women.

Nanny knew at once why they were there.

Tulip looked up at the trees in shock. She had dreamed of the creatures as she’d read their history, but she’d never thought that she would ever see them in real life.

“They won’t hurt us. That’s not their way!” Tulip screamed. She was afraid Nanny would harm them with her magic.

Before Nanny could answer, there came a rapid knock from the front door of the castle. Nanny and Pflanze turned their attention in that direction as Tulip dashed out of the room to see who was there. When Hudson opened the door, Prince Popinjay ran into the castle, looking rather pleased with himself. “Tulip! The Tree Lords! They’re here!”

Tulip laughed. “Yes, my love, I know. But what are you doing here?” She brushed the leaves and twigs from his velvet jacket, straightening the ribbons at his sleeves.

“I had to follow them when I saw they were headed to the castle, my love! But they assured me they mean you no harm. Their leader, Oberon, he wants to speak with you,” Popinjay said.

Tulip blinked a few times. She was dumbfounded. “With me? But why?”

“I don’t know, my darling. You’d best ask them yourself.”

“I suppose I’d better go out and meet him, then,” Tulip said.

“Now, darling, I know you don’t fear Oberon, but please be wary,” Nanny said. “Don’t agree to anything. Don’t make promises that are not within your power to keep. And whatever you do, please warn them that Maleficent is on her way and will not hesitate to use fire to protect herself.”

Tulip nodded, taking in everything Nanny was saying with grave importance. “Of course.”

“Choose your words wisely, my dear. As you’ve read, the Tree Lords speak very straightforwardly. There is never room for interpretation, and you should use similar language. Always speak as directly as possible. Your words matter now more than ever. Misinterpretation could be disastrous. Now go! Speak to the King of the Fairies!”

Princess Tulip Morningstar stood in the shadow of Oberon. She couldn’t have fathomed how tall the Tree Lords were without seeing them with her own eyes. Her imagination was great—but seeing the sheer awesomeness of Oberon and his army in reality was more earth-shattering than anything she could have conjured in her wildest of dreams. He stood taller than the Lighthouse of the Gods, dwarfing Tulip, who felt smaller than she ever had before. Despite this, somehow she was not afraid.

She stood silently, waiting for Oberon to speak first. Technically, he was visiting her lands, but he had ruled there first, long before the time of men and women. Princess Tulip wanted to show him the respect he deserved. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long. Oberon’s voice rumbled from overhead, shaking his branches. His leaves cascaded around Tulip as his sonorous voice—one befitting a venerable and powerful being—boomed out of the darkness.

“Princess Tulip, I am honored to meet you. Would you mind if I took you within my branches so we may speak face to face?”

“Not at all, I would like that,” Tulip replied. And she meant it. She had never felt so fearless. As Oberon’s branches gingerly grabbed her, she didn’t fear that she would be crushed within his powerful clutches. He placed her safely atop the balcony of the Lighthouse of the Gods, where they could meet almost face to face.

“Ah, there you are. You have the face of a queen. You possess beauty that surpasses my imaginings.”

Tulip smiled at the Tree Lord, examining the lines in his face. His features were defined by his bark and the deep cracks in his trunk. And it seemed to Tulip that he might have the most benevolent face she had ever beheld.

“Kind words, my dear,” Oberon said, reading her mind. “We are here to protect you from the Dark Fairy, Maleficent. Long ago, she destroyed the Fairylands. We left it to the other creatures of the forest to exact revenge while we slumbered. But now that we have awoken, we cannot let her come to our lands—your lands—and destroy those you love, dear Tulip.”

The princess didn’t understand why Oberon felt such a devotion to her. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve such an honor.

“We were slumbering in darkness and obscurity for what felt like a millennium, until your interest woke us,” Oberon answered. “Your stories, your imaginings of us brought me and my brethren out of our slumber and gave us life once again. We were forgotten in these lands after we were driven off by the Cyclopean Giants following the Great War. But your thirst for knowledge has sparked life back into us, and for that we are grateful. Without your interest and devotion, we would not exist. I witnessed many things while I slept, my dear. There are many wrongs in this world that we intend to right. It is time to take my place among the fairies once more as their benefactor. To deserve that place again, I must destroy the Dark Fairy known as Maleficent for her crimes against the Fairylands.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why punish Maleficent now for burning the Fairylands so many years ago?” Tulip said.

Oberon seemed to be contemplating Tulip’s question. “Because, my dear, we were sleeping before. We watched her atrocities while we slumbered. We watched in horror as she destroyed every living creature in those lands—all except the fairies themselves. It took the fairies years to repair the damage. Never once did she return to see if anyone had survived. She didn’t even care to find out whether her adopted mother still lived. We were helpless, as if trapped in a nightmare, seeing all of this without being able to do anything about it. But now that we’ve awoken, there is no choice but to avenge nature by making Maleficent pay for what she’s done. She is a danger to all living things. She is a danger to herself. She is a danger to those you love!”