Maleficent was relieved to be home again. I have been away for too long, she mused. She had wasted her time seeking help from those who were destined to betray her. She had been foolish to think she could trust Nanny—to trust anyone other than herself.

The Dark Fairy was alone, just as she had always been. And she would fix her problem herself. She would see to the matter of Prince Phillip.

Maleficent stood in front of the mirror in her dim bedroom. The only light in the room came from the green flames in her fireplace. The light danced, creating menacing shadows of the stone gargoyles peering down at her from the four corners of the room and from either side of the enormous mantel. The gargoyles that flanked the fireplace were taller than her by probably five feet or more. Maleficent had to wonder if they had been living, breathing creatures at one time, because she could on rare occasions detect a tiny glimmer of life within them. Her green face stared back at her in her mirror as she tried to collect herself, reining in her anger. She needed to be clearheaded for this fight. It wasn’t just Phillip she was up against. She would be fighting a good portion of the magical realm.

“Maleficent, please stop this now. It’s not too late.” It was Grimhilde, flickering in her mirror. Maleficent closed her eyes, willing her to go away. She didn’t want to see the old queen’s face right then. “My friend, I can’t let my daughter live. You wouldn’t understand.”

Grimhilde became quiet and still. “Wouldn’t I? I tried to kill my daughter! More than once! If anyone understands, it’s me! And mark my words, Maleficent, you will die if you face Prince Phillip. It is written in the book of fairy tales. There is no guarantee you will inhabit another realm after your body dies! The odd sisters are not here to protect you!”

Maleficent felt her face burning with anger. “It is all written, then? Predetermined? Why bother to live our lives at all?”

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!”