Maleficent(47)
Luckily, the pixies had no intention of letting Phillip walk out of the room just yet.
Flittle pushed the prince closer. “Haven’t you ever heard of love at first sight?”
“Kiss her!” Knotgrass urged.
Slowly, Phillip leaned down and gently moved aside the light fabric. Maleficent’s breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to close his eyes, pucker his lips…
Then he leaned back up. “An enchantment, you say?”
Maleficent nearly cried out in frustration. At the same time, the pixies shouted, “Kiss her!” and, together, pushed him back down.
For a moment, Phillip struggled, and Maleficent felt panic rise in her throat. But then he stopped fighting and, once more, leaned down.
And then, ever so slowly, he gently kissed her.
It was the perfect kiss. Soft, sweet, full of unspoken promises. It was the kiss girls dreamed of as they lay in bed at night. It was the kiss poems were written about. It was the kiss of fairy tales and romance. Maleficent couldn’t have imagined such a perfect kiss sixteen years earlier when she cursed an innocent babe.
But it didn’t matter how perfect the kiss was or how much love Phillip felt.
Aurora didn’t wake up.
“IS SOMETHING SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN NOW?” Phillip stood up straight and looked at the pixies expectantly.
Maleficent’s heart sank. Hope fled and all the bitterness and despair that she had pushed aside in that moment as Phillip’s and Aurora’s lips met came flooding back. She should have known. True love didn’t exist. Aurora would never wake up. Maleficent would never be able to explain herself. They would never be able to walk through the Moors together, never watch a sunset or play with the snow faeries in their meadow. Aurora would sleep on…forever. Maleficent suddenly realized that her parents ultimately had been right—there really were good humans out there, ones who appreciated and loved nature as much as the faeries did. She realized that peace was possible between the races, that humans didn’t need to be dealt with violently. But she’d come to this realization far too late.
Near the bed, the three pixies threw up their hands in frustration. They were upset as well, but for more selfish reasons. If King Stefan found out they had failed to wake up his daughter, there was no telling what he would do to them.
“I was certain he was the one,” Flittle said to the others as she pushed Phillip out the door.
Following him, Knotgrass nodded. “We have to keep looking. Scrape the bottom of the barrel. He doesn’t have to be a prince. He doesn’t even have to be handsome.”
“Or even that clean,” Thistlewit added as they moved into the hallway and shut the door behind them.
Stepping out of her hiding spot in the shadows of the bedroom, Maleficent made her way to the bed. Sinking at Aurora’s side, she looked at the beautiful princess. Even asleep, she looked kind and good, and Maleficent was racked anew with guilt for the punishment she had foolishly inflicted on the innocent girl. Who would have thought, all those long years before, that things would turn out that way? That the curse would be as great a punishment for Maleficent as it was for Aurora.
Letting out a deep, sad sigh, she reached out and gently brushed a strand of Aurora’s hair from her face. Diaval stood at her side, his silent presence a small comfort to Maleficent. She took a deep breath and spoke softly, her voice cracking with emotion. “I will not ask you for forgiveness. What I have done is unforgivable. I was so lost in hatred and revenge. I never dreamed that I could love you so much. You stole what was left of my heart. And now I’ve lost you forever.” She paused, wiping a tear. “But I swear, no harm will come to you as long as I live…and not a day shall pass that I won’t miss your smile.…”