“Please give her a chance,” Nanny said. “Please don’t hurt her.”
“I promise to give you the opportunity to speak with her and to let her know how much you still love her. If she loves you in return, I will show her compassion. I may even spare her life,” Oberon agreed.
“Will you give her a chance to redeem herself?”
“I will, my wee fairy, you have my word. But I’m afraid she will disappoint you once again.”
Nanny and Tulip returned to the castle and gathered with Popinjay in the morning room. Nanny looked sick with worry, and it made Tulip’s heart hurt to see her in such a state. Tulip wanted to take Nanny in her arms and cover her face with kisses, but she was afraid if she did, it would make Nanny cry. “Please don’t worry, Nanny. Oberon promised to give Maleficent a chance. I don’t think he will hurt her.”
Nanny didn’t answer; she just stared off into nothingness, lost in her own thoughts.
“Nanny, are you okay? Here, let me ring for some tea.” As Tulip went to pull the bell, an explosion of green light burst from the fireplace. Tulip was sent flying across the room and landed at Nanny’s feet. The room was overwhelmed with green light and flames. As Popinjay helped Tulip to her feet, Maleficent walked out of the hearth and stood before them, tall and imposing, with green flames lingering around her like an evil aura.
“Maleficent!” cried Nanny.
“Well, isn’t this quaint? A little gathering, smaller but much more distinguished than I would have imagined. I’m sorry I missed the ceremony for the great sea queen, but I did see it through the eyes of my crows. It was very…touching,” Maleficent sneered.
Her voice was unmistakable to Nanny. Older, yes, but it was still her daughter’s voice. Maleficent was beautiful, as always. Her long black robes, accented in purple, and her sharp features fit her formidable personality. There was a confidence in Maleficent that Nanny hadn’t seen when her charge was younger, and the grown fairy emanated an air of power and majesty. She was probably the most striking woman Nanny had ever beheld. But her horns! Her beautiful horns are covered in back wrappings….
“Maleficent,” Nanny said again. It seemed to Tulip that Nanny was diminished and heartbroken. She looked pale and dwarfed in comparison to the fierce firestorm of a fairy.
“Welcome to my court, Maleficent,” Tulip said, trying to give Nanny a minute to compose herself.
“Tulip, is it? Yes, that’s right. Tulip. I’m sorry to hear about your mother. Although I can’t take credit for her sleeping spell. That was the good fairies’ doing.” Maleficent looked at Tulip for some time, taking her measure, soaking in her beauty. “I always found it astounding how remarkably alike you and Aurora look, considering—”
“Maleficent, why are you here?” Nanny asked, finding her voice after hearing Maleficent speak to Tulip so flippantly.
“Why, to say good-bye to the great sea witch, of course. To show her the respect she deserved.” Maleficent smirked.
“You never loved Ursula. Why are you truly here, Maleficent?” Nanny asked.
“You can thank the good fairies for my visit,” Maleficent replied. “I wouldn’t have come at all had they not interfered with my curse. But now that they have, now that there is a chance the sleeping princess will wake, I do need help. Don’t you see? Prince Phillip is in love with the girl. I cannot have him waking her. You’d think the fairies would have thought of something more creative. Practically every princess in peril has been saved by Love’s First Kiss! For goodness’ sake, between witches and fairies, can’t we think of something more original? I’m weary of this. Why must a young girl n
eed a man to save her? Why can’t a princess fight for her own life, break her own curse? Why must it always be a prince? By Hades, I want to kill Prince Phillip on principle, just so we don’t have yet one more prince kissing some helpless sleeping girl, making her feel like she has to marry him out of gratitude.”
Popinjay cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t expect Tulip to marry me just because I saved her—not that she needs saving by me or anyone else.”
“Well, aren’t you a modern man of the age?” Maleficent taunted the young prince. “But if I recall, it was Ursula and Circe who saved Tulip, not you.”
“She saved herself,” Popinjay said. He puffed out his chest to try to make himself seem larger and more imposing.
Maleficent laughed. “If by ‘saving herself’ you mean jumping off a cliff in an attempt to take her own life because she was heartbroken, only to be saved by witches, then you are correct. Though I will say her story is more original than most. I will give her that.”
Tulip hated hearing Maleficent speak to Popinjay that way. She wondered if the Dark Fairy had even noticed the Tree Lords standing outside the morning room. She felt pride, knowing they were there to protect her from the horrible fairy. Tulip tried to imagine the Dark Fairy standing before her as a little girl, helpless and afraid, but she couldn’t. This woman seemed to be afraid of nothing. Her confidence was astounding. She truly didn’t seem to have one ounce of fear in her heart.
“Why are you really here, Maleficent?” Nanny asked again.
“The odd sisters were supposed to help me with something very important. As addled and scatterbrained as they were, they were the only people left in this realm I could trust. Now I am forced to ask the very person I trust least for help,” Maleficent replied.
“You must have known the odd sisters were asleep! But still you came, and you didn’t even know who would be here to greet you!” Nanny said.
“I sensed great power—yours and another’s. A powerful witch who no longer seems to be in your company.”
“You mean Circe.”
Maleficent paused to consider that for a moment. “Ah, Circe. I should have known it would be the odd sisters’ little sister. Of course. It all makes sense. I had to come on the slim chance you two could help me. I can’t break the addendum to the curse alone. I need three witches to break this fairy magic. Don’t you see? Even if I do away with Prince Phillip, there’s still a chance some other young man might wake her from her slumber. We have to keep Aurora in the dreamscape. We must never let her wake!”
“There is no way you will get Circe to agree to help you,” Nanny pointed out. “She is not like her sisters. She’s not going to harm a child simply because you want her to, and neither will I!”