Mistress of All Evil (Villains 4)

Grimhilde sighed. “I wish there was more I could do, but my powers are limited outside my own kingdom.” Grimhilde seemed to understand there was nothing she could say to talk her friend out of this madness. “If you insist on dying today, then please know I have loved you well.”

Maleficent felt a lurch in her stomach, in that place where she kept all her pain, in the place where she kept her adoptive mother, the odd sisters, her daughter, and her former self. “I know, Grimhilde. Thank you.”

“It’s not too late,” Grimhilde persisted. “You can release the prince. You can ask the fairies to enchant him so he doesn’t remember who you are or what you’ve done to him. They owe you that much at least! You can wake up your daughter. Just go down to your dungeon and release him, Maleficent. All of this can end!”

Maleficent seemed to be considering everything Grimhilde said. Then her face became rigid. It was hard and almost completely motionless before she said simply, “No.”

“Why? Please put aside your pride, and your anger. This isn’t about the One of Legends or the other fairies. I know they betrayed you, but please don’t let this anger consume you. Don’t kill your daughter because others have hurt you. You’re not punishing them by doing this. You’re hurting yourself! You’re hurting Aurora!”

Maleficent wondered why no one saw her motivations in this. It seemed so simple to her, so obvious. But no one, not even those who had once been closest to her, knew her reason. The odd sisters would understand, though they would’ve wanted to keep the princess awake, and they’d have reveled in the disaster they created by doing so.

“I have to kill Phillip. Don’t you see? He is her true love. They fell in love with each other without even knowing they were betrothed. He has renounced his place in his father’s kingdom for his love of her, without knowing that it is she he is intended to marry. If he kisses her, she will wake up! It’s all too perfect, really. Predestined, like it was written many years ago and the two are just playing their parts. And of course, I’ve played my part, the mistress of all evil, determined to keep the young lovers apart! And why? Because I was offended by being left off a guest list? No! Was it my adoptive mother’s betraying me and giving my daughter to those horrible fairies that caused me to want to see my daughter die on her sixteenth birthday? It all seems so simple, doesn’t it? There are so many mundane reasons to choose from. But no one sees the truth. No one sees why I need to keep my daughter safe!”

She threw her staff across the room in anger, making a loud clatter. “Why do you think I chose her sixteenth birthday? Do you think I just picked an arbitrary number out of the ether? I came into my powers on my sixteenth birthday and I destroyed the Fairylands. I almost killed everyone I loved when I came into my powers, and I don’t want that for my daughter. She will have my powers. She’s probably already showing signs of them now! I don’t want her to suffer the way I have. I’m trying to save her that pain. She needs to stay in the land of dreams!”

Grimhilde understood. She understood more than anyone else ever could. “I understand. And I agree.”

“You do? Truly?”

“I do. If you think she has your powers, if there is any chance, any chance at all, you have to protect her. You mustn’t let her wake, even if you have to kill Prince Phillip.”

“Thank you, my friend.”

“Now go, save your daughter!”

Maleficent was in the bowels of her castle, where she did her great magic. My important magic. Her goons were there, dancing in the green flames, as she stroked her beloved Diablo. She had to cast everyone and everything out of her mind. She had made herself vulnerable in the past few days and had been betrayed. She was alone, and she belonged to the crows. The creatures danced in her honor. They belonged to her, and they did her bidding. She started to feel like her old self, the way she had felt before she ventured to Morningstar Kingdom. Her power was returning to her in this place, her home, her place of strength. She knew she was the Dark Fairy, but she wondered: Did she really have to kill him? Did she have to kill the prince?

As her goons danced in the flames, she thought of Phillip, alone in his cell, and her hatred for him grew. He was a threat to her daughter’s security. And she would do anything to keep her daughter safe. To keep her from becoming the monster she herself was. And as she stroked her pet Diablo while they watched the festivities, she thought she’d better pay the prince a visit. “What a pity Prince Phillip can’t be here to enjoy the celebration. Come, we must go to the dungeon and cheer him up.”

Diablo led the way down the long hall that was guarded by his mistress’s goons. They went down a long, narrow cylindrical staircase that wrapped around the east end tower, even farther into the depths of the castle. It led to the dungeon, where Maleficent had told her minions to imprison the prince. Diablo perched on a protruding column while his mistress used a skeleton key to unlock the large wooden door, which groaned in a warning when she opened it. She found Prince Phillip much the way she expected to, chained to the wall with his head down. He was exhausted and in despair. Was she really doing this? Was she going to kill him? Was she taking on the role of the Dark Fairy? The mistress of all evil? But she’d already resigned herself to the role. This is the way it was written. This is how it was meant to be.

“Oh, come now, Prince Phillip, why so melancholy? A wondrous future lies before you. You, the destined hero of a charming fairy tale come true.” The mistress of all evil waved her hand over the sphere at the top of her staff, enchanting it so the prince could see into his future. Maleficent decided that she didn’t have to play the role exactly. She could take another path. Maybe she could save the prince and still keep her daughter safe. And maybe, just maybe, Maleficent would live. “Behold, King Stefan’s castle. And in yonder topmost tower, dreaming of her true love, the princess Aurora. But see the gracious whim of fate: why, ’tis the selfsame peasant maid who won the heart of our noble prince but yesterday. She is indeed most wondrous fair; gold of sunshine in her hair; lips that shame the red, red rose; in ageless sleep she finds repose. The years roll by, but a hundred years to a steadfast heart are but a day, and now the gates of the dungeon part, and our prince is free to go his way. Off he rides on his noble steed, a valiant figure straight and tall, to wake his love with Love’s First Kiss and prove that true love conquers all.” Maleficent laughed at the evil brilliance of her plan. She laughed as she saw the prince struggling against his chains, realizing she intended to keep him there for a hundred years. “Come, my pet, let us leave our noble prince with these happy thoughts. A most gratifying day.”

As she locked the dungeon door behind her, she felt relief wash over her. “For the first time in sixteen years, I shall sleep well.” Maleficent made her way to her tower, comforted by the thought that her daughter was safe. She wanted to sit and think. She wanted to talk over her plan with Grimhilde to see if she thought Maleficent had made the right decision in keeping the prince alive, but Diablo was making a terrible screeching noise. She heard the clamor of weapons and thought her goons were fighting among themselves, being the witless fools that they were.

“Silence! You tell those fools to—Ah! No!”

My precious one. My old friend.

Diablo had been turned into stone! And she knew who was responsible.

The three good fairies!

Aurora didn’t understand why the odd sisters didn’t simply say their little sister’s name to make her appear in the mirror. They stood baleful and wraithlike before her in their tattered white dresses. Wait. When did they change their dresses? Aurora’s head was spinning. Is any of this real? Why are these witches tormenting me?

“Because, my dear, this is your dream. We have invaded your corner of the dreamscape, and you control the mirrors here. Now say our sister’s name! Show us Circe!”

Reluctantly, Aurora did as they asked. “Show me Circe.”

Images of Circe appeared in all the mirrors, but the one in the mirror on the right-hand side of the chamber caught Aurora’s eye. That Circe seemed to be staring directly at Aurora. It sent chills down Aurora’s spine that she couldn’t explain. There was something unnerving about that image of Circe. It was as if she could see right into the princess’s very soul. But the sisters didn’t seem to

notice; they were focused on another mirror, where Queen Grimhilde was screaming at Circe, threatening to kill her. “I will see the queen Grimhilde rot in the bowels of Hades for this!” Ruby screamed, but Lucinda was now concerned with what was happening in one of the other mirrors. “Shhh! Sisters, I don’t think that’s happened yet! But look!”

In the other mirror, Circe was at home, searching through the odd sisters’ books, desperately looking for something. “Oh, Snow! I think I found it. I think I found what Maleficent was talking about. It’s a spell!” Circe said, panicked. The odd sisters watched as all the color ran from Circe’s face. She looked ill, like she might faint.

“What is it?” Snow asked, running to Circe and putting her tiny hand in hers. “Are you okay? Come sit down over here. I will get you some more water. You look dreadful.”

“Take your hands off our sister!” Ruby shouted. But Snow White couldn’t hear her.