The room was eerily quiet. There were tears in everyone’s eyes except Maleficent’s. After a moment, she broke the silence. “But you didn’t die. None of you did. I thought I had killed my mother and everyone I had ever known. I didn’t find out until later that you had survived.”

“If it hadn’t been for the odd sisters’ spiriting us away, we would have died,” Nanny said softly.

“I suppose they knew what happened was a possibility. I suppose you all did. Everything the odd sisters said the night before my birthday about the stars not aligning made sense after that. I fulfilled my destiny that day.”

“Yes, we knew it was possible something disastrous might happen.…”

“Did you know I would turn into a dragon and destroy the Fairylands? Is that what you and your sister saw when you found me in that tree?”

“No! I never saw that, I swear! I knew you were capable of great evil, but I had faith you would take another path. I always saw the good within you, Maleficent,” Nanny insisted.

Maleficent turned her steely gaze to Circe. “You’ve been awfully quiet, listening from your sisters’ enchanted mirror, Circe. Have you nothing to say?”

Circe hesitated before replying. “I was a child, Maleficent. I don’t even recall visiting the Fairylands. I don’t remember meeting you, the three good fairies, or the Fairy Godmother. I’m sorry for whatever part I might have played in what happened, I really am, but it sounds as if I was trying to defend you.”

Maleficent contemplated Circe’s words. “You truly don’t remember?”

Circe shook her head. “I don’t.”

Maleficent smirked. “Then it would seem you’re almost the same girl you were then. Almost, but not quite.”

Circe didn’t understand the Dark Fairy’s meaning, but she decided not to press it. All of this seemed so unreal. Circe had heard many tales of the villainous Maleficent. It was strange to hear the story of her as a hopeful girl—to hear tales of her own sisters as they lay helpless in the solarium. And her sisters were now too close to the Dark Fairy for Circe’s liking. She suddenly felt foolish for leaving the castle while so many she loved were at risk. Her head was spinning. Circe felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare, a mixed-up fairy tale, and she couldn’t tell how it would end.

“What happened to Diablo and your crows? Were they hurt?” Tulip asked, drawing Maleficent’s attention away from Circe.

Maleficent shook her head. “No, they are all still with me to this day.”

“But what happened to them? How did they find you?” Circe asked.

“Luckily, they weren’t hurt by my destruction of the Fairylands. They were trapped in the alternate reality created for the fairy exams. I thought you would know this, Circe. You must have been with your sisters when they found my birds. Your sisters were the ones who moved everyone in the Fairylands to the alternate reality when they realized I was transforming. They knew they would be safe there.”

“I told you, I have no memory of what happened, Maleficent,” Circe insisted. “In fact, I have no memories of my childhood whatsoever. My sisters would never talk to me about that time.”

Maleficent regarded her like a cat eyeing a mouse. “Is that so?”

Maleficent lifted her gaze to Nanny, who was holding the mirror. Nanny studied her daughter. She could no longer detect any love in Maleficent’s heart. It was as if a part of Maleficent was missing. The part Nanny had loved so much was somehow gone, ripped from Maleficent’s being. And Nanny couldn’t bring herself to ask her how she lost it.

“Why did you let me believe I had killed you?” Maleficent asked, pulling Nanny from her thoughts. Her yellow eyes were blazing, and her skin had turned a light shade of green.

“I didn’t know that was what you thought!” Nanny said.

“Why didn’t you at least try to find me? I was your daughter! And you didn’t even try to find out if I was living or dead.”

“I did! I searched everywhere for you. I could not find you, I swear! I thought you had died, consumed by the flames. It took me and my sister an age to restore the Fairylands. You destroyed everything, Maleficent—and almost everyone. It took all my power and strength to bring life back into that place. It wasn’t until the odd sisters told me they had found you alive, years later, that I learned you still lived.”

“You’re a powerful witch. Had you wanted to find me, you would have! How could you not feel me in the world? Even in my dragon form!” Maleficent spat.

“You stayed a dragon? For how long, Maleficent?”

“For years,” Maleficent croaked.

She said nothing more, but Nanny finally understood. She hadn’t been able find Maleficent because she had remained a dragon. She hadn’t felt her moving in the world because Maleficent hadn’t been herself. “I’m so sorry you were by yourself all those years, Maleficent.”

“I had my birds.” Maleficent’s words were like a knife in Nanny’s heart. The thought of her little fairy alone for so many years shattered her.

Maleficent waved her hand. “It’s no matter. I’m content with my life, with my power and what I’ve achieved. I am the mistress of all evil, as prophesied by you and your sister!”

Nanny was hurt. “I never saw that for you!”

“Lies! You knew from the moment you saw me I was evil. You gave me everything I needed to become who I am!”

“Don’t you see it was my sister who caused this? Listening to you just now, I could tell it was her words. She brought about this prophecy!”

“Yes, blame everything on your sister, as always,” Maleficent sneered. “You never take responsibility for your own actions. And I suppose you will say it was she who decided to have Merryweather and her friends care for Aurora and who decided the child’s fate?”

“What should it matter to you who cared for Aurora?” Circe asked, feeling protective of Nanny.

Maleficent’s expression turned as hard as stone. “Your sisters didn’t warn you, did they? Well, let me make it plain for you, and never make me repeat it again. Never question me about the child. Ever! There was a time when I loved your sisters well, but that love will not protect you!”

In that moment Circe realized the magnitude of Maleficent’s rage. She meant what she said; her words were like a spell woven in pure hatred. Her anger was a bubbling inferno inside her, just waiting to come out.

But Nanny saw something else at the mention of Aurora; another emotion had surfaced and overwhelmed her anger: concern. It was like a shining star in the darkness. Nanny could see that this one star had guided Maleficent over the years, even as she had become more corrupt and stopped being the person Nanny remembered. That one aspect had prevailed: her obsession with the child and her relentless need to keep her asleep.

This time it was Circe who interrupted Nanny’s thoughts. “I’m sorry, Maleficent, but if I’m not mistaken, you need my help. Mine and Nanny’s, correct? Might I suggest you stop threatening me, and then maybe we can make some progress?”

Maleficent flashed her yellow eyes at Circe, mildly impressed that the pretty little witch didn’t seem to be intimidated by her. “You’ve been raised well, Circe. You are a very powerful witch, though you have much compassion in your heart. That may eventually be your downfall. But I’m happy to see you have your wits about you, unlike your deranged mothers.”

“You mean my sisters,” Circe said, correcting her.

“No, I mean your mothers,” Maleficent smirked.

“You lie just to hurt her, Maleficent!” Nanny said, raising her voice with Maleficent for the first time since she had arrived.

Maleficent drew back. “I may be the mistress of all evil, but I do not lie. You are the queen of lies, queen of secrets, queen of betrayal, not I!” Maleficent’s voice reverberated through the castle like a malevolent storm.

“What is she talking about?” Circe asked Nanny. But Nanny didn’t know. Clearly the odd sisters had secrets they’d shared only with Maleficent.

“You can find the spell in your sisters’ books for yourself. It’s all right there. How they did it. How they created you,” Maleficent said. “You may be the only thing in this world left of them now that they are trapped within the realm of dreams.”

“I don’t believe they are my mothers. I don’t!” Circe cried.

Maleficent laughed. “You know I’m telling the truth! Read the books sitting before you. Everything is there. Learn your mothers’ secrets now that their books are open to you. I gave them the spells that protected their secrets from you all this time. But they no longer inhabit this world. Those spells are broken! Why do you think you have always had greater power than them? Why do you think they have always deferred to you, their little sister? You are them! But go! Go look for yourself. When you find the book that tells you their secrets and mine, secrets we have been hiding, you bring those secrets back here. Bring them to me and to the One of Legends, and then you will know what I say is true. Only then will you want to help me!”

Circe’s reflection in the mirror looked at Nanny, wondering what she should do.

“Go, my dear. Do as she says!” Nanny said. “See for yourself and bring the book back to the castle.”

Nanny looked at Tulip and Popinjay. “My sweet dears, I have not forgotten you. Tulip, can you and Popinjay please go attend to that matter we discussed earlier?”

“Yes, of course, Nanny,” Tulip said. She had almost forgotten that they were expecting the Fairy Godmother and the three good fairies.

“Directing everyone like a maestro as usual, I see,” Maleficent snapped.

“Stop this, Maleficent,” Nanny cried. “Have you not heard anything I’ve said to you? I loved you! I loved you more than anyone I have ever known. I loved you as my own child. I still do. Please stop this condemnation!”

Tulip and Popinjay felt like they were eavesdropping on a personal conversation. They crept out of the room as quietly as they could without disrupting mother and daughter, because that was what Nanny and Maleficent were. Mother and daughter.

Or at least they had been at one time.