With Diaval to be her eyes and ears, Maleficent was no longer in the dark. A wave of her hand and he could be changed back into a raven¹, allowing him to fly over the countryside with ease and gather news of the kingdom.

Returning home from his first flight to the castle, Diaval flapped down into the ruins. As soon as Maleficent turned him back into a human, he began to tell her the news he'd learned.

"Mistress, Henry's dead. Apparently², he decreed Stefan would succeed him," Diaval reported to Maleficent.

A look of pain flashed across her face. As the information sank in, Maleficent clenched³ her fist, her long nails digging into her palm. The truth of Stefan's betrayal was now crystal clear.　

"Now he will be king! He did this to me so he would be king!" It infuriated her that his betrayal continued to surprise her. How had she not seen this coming? He was just like every other human, trying to steal to have more. More riches, more land, more power. Letting out a piercing scream, she raised her staff, shooting a lightning bolt into the dark sky.　

"Now what, mistress?" Diaval asked.　

Her rage purged⁴ for the moment, Maleficent slowly lowered her staff, panting and exhausted⁵ from the effort. She had been a fool to think the trouble with the humans was over. History was repeating itself once again. It was only a matter of time before Stefan and his army came after the Moors⁶. He knew better than Henry what riches lay there. And that meant it was time to go home.　

Maleficent and Diaval arrived at the beautiful Faerie Mound⁷ in the center of the Moors as night fell. The plants were brittle⁸ and brown, clearly undernourished; the streams had stopped flowing, pooling into dark, dirty spots of water; many of the creatures lay about listlessly. The energy in the atmosphere seemed to have been sucked dry. It was clear that the faerie world had begun to unravel⁹ in the weeks during which Maleficent had been gone, and was now in rough shape. But that was all about to change.

Stepping forward, Maleficent made her way toward the Mound. On her shoulder, Diaval the raven squawked nervously¹⁰ as all around her the faeries began to whisper. "Her wings!" one said to another. "They're gone!" a dew faerie whispered loudly.

Maleficent ignored them, gliding¹¹ to the center of the Mound, a hard look in her eye. Dead tree branches suddenly rose from the ground, writhing¹² together like snakes. They formed a tall throne behind Maleficent, and she lowered herself onto it while keeping her gaze in front of her.　

The Fair Folk looked up at her cold gaze, the command in her presence. She was barely recognizable anymore. They bowed to her instinctually, quaking in fear. The Moors had a self-appointed leader now.　

Over the next year, Maleficent hardly noticed that the other Fair Folk seemed wary¹³ of her. She spent most of her time alone or with Diaval, who she sent on nearly daily missions to the castle to bring back any news, hearing all about Stefan's new life as king, and his beautiful wife, King Henry's daughter. It took all Maleficent's energy to quell¹⁴ the infuriating surge of hurt within her. Maleficent had more important things to think about, such as the well-being¹⁵ of the Moors, and just what Stefan would do when he had settled in at the castle. While she was doing all she could to keep the Moors safe and had brought some semblance¹⁶ of peace and restored order, she remained pensive¹⁷ and often distracted. It was hard to focus on the Moors when danger was so close.

She was sitting on her throne, rubbing its rough edges, when Diaval returned from one of his trips. Waving her hand, she transformed him into a human. He stood in front of her, nervously twitching¹⁸ and scratching at his skin. Even though he had been changed dozens of times, he still had a hard time adjusting to the human form. However, that day he seemed even more uncomfortable.

"Tell me," Maleficent said, instantly on the alert.

"I've been to the castle," Diaval began.

Maleficent sighed. "I know," she said, trying to remain patient. "I sent you there. Tell me what you saw."

"I saw nothing," he answered, running his hands through his hair. "But I heard ..." He coughed nervously. "There's been a ..." His voice trailed off.

"What?" Maleficent demanded. She was growing impatient.　

"A ... um ..." He looked down at his feet, then up, his eyes meeting the intense stare of Maleficent's. "There's been a ..." He pretended to see something on his shoulder and flicked¹⁹ at it.

That was it. Maleficent couldn't take any more. "Speak!" she commanded.　

Diaval snapped to attention. "Child," he said. "King Stefan and the queen have had a child."　

"Oh?" Maleficent said, at once surprised by the wave of jealousy²⁰ that washed over her and angry that Stefan could still affect her feelings that way.　

Sensing that Maleficent was unhappy, Diaval plunged²¹ ahead, his words running into one another in his rush to get them out—and then get far, far away. "There will be a christening in one month's time. They say it's to be a grand celebration."

A celebration? For a baby? It is all just so wonderful, isn't it? she thought. They will parade Stefan's baby around like a prize. The baby that is the result of so much betrayal and so much pain. Another human put on the Earth to harm and destroy our kind. Oh yes, it is just so wonderful. Maleficent's lip curled.

But not if she had anything to do with it ...

 

有了迪艾瓦成为她的耳目，玛琳菲森再也不会感到自己被蒙在鼓里了。她举手一挥，迪艾瓦就可以变回鸟身，轻松地在乡野间飞翔，收集人类王国的新闻。

结束了他的第一次城堡之旅后，迪艾瓦拍着翅膀落在了废墟上。玛琳菲森一把他变回人形，他就说起了自己的所见所闻。

迪艾瓦向玛琳菲森汇报道：“夫人，亨利死了。看来，他任命了斯戴芬做继任者。”

一丝痛苦之色从她脸上一闪而过。等玛琳菲森领悟到这个消息究竟意味着什么时，她攥紧了拳头，长长的指甲陷进了手掌里。斯戴芬背叛她的事实已经再明显不过了。

“现在他成了国王！他这样对我就是为了得到王位！”他背叛她的事实仍然让她如此意外，这一点让她恼怒万分。她怎么就没有想到会是这样的结局？他就和其他人类一样，总想着偷取更多的东西。更多的财富，更多的土地，更多的权力。她仰天长啸，举起魔杖，向漆黑的夜空射出了一道闪电。

“现在怎么办，夫人？”迪艾瓦问道。

过了一会，她的愤怒终于平息了，玛琳菲森慢慢放下了她的魔杖。刚才那一通发泄下来，她有些筋疲力尽，气喘吁吁。她竟然傻到认为和人类之间的麻烦终于解决了。然而历史却再次重演。斯戴芬带领他的军队攻打摩尔森林也只不过是时间问题。他比亨利更了解珍宝都在何处。这也意味着她该回家了。

夜幕降临时，玛琳菲森和迪艾瓦来到了位于摩尔森林中心的美丽的精灵丘。这儿的植物都变为褐色，看起来很脆弱，显然十分缺乏养料；溪流也停滞了，淤积成一摊摊又脏又黑的死水；许多生灵都无精打采地躺着。空气中的能量似乎被消耗殆尽。很显然，在玛琳菲森离开的这几周里，整个精灵世界就像一盘散沙，现在已经不像样了。不过这里很快就会有所改变的。

玛琳菲森向精灵丘走去。在她的肩上，乌鸦迪艾瓦不安地嘎嘎叫着，周围的精灵都在低声细语。一个精灵对另一个说：“她的翅膀！”一个露珠精灵压低了的声音清晰可闻：“不见了！”

玛琳菲森无视了这一切，径直走向了精灵丘的中心，眼神中满是坚定。枯萎的树枝立即拔地而起，像蛇一样互相缠绕，在玛琳菲森的身后形成了一个高大的王座。她慢慢坐下，眼睛直视前方。

精灵们抬头看着她冰冷的目光，臣服于她的气场，都快认不出她来了。他们本能地向她弯腰致敬，在恐惧中颤抖着。摩尔森林现在有个自封的首领了。

之后的一年，玛琳菲森对其他精灵的畏首畏尾毫无察觉。绝大部分时间里，她都是独自一人或是和迪艾瓦在一起。她差不多每天都要派迪艾瓦飞往城堡打探消息，以此了解斯戴芬当上国王之后的新生活，还有他美丽的妻子—亨利国王的女儿。玛琳菲森要全力地克制自己，才能平息受伤后心中的怒火。她还有其他更重要的事情要考虑，比如整个摩尔森林的安康，还有斯戴芬在城堡中坐稳王位后会采取的举动。虽然她已经尽己所能以保证摩尔森林的安全，并且也实现了表面的和平，恢复了秩序，可她还是那样的惆怅，还常常分神。危险如此之近，玛琳菲森无法专注于摩尔森林的复兴。

她坐在王位上，摩挲着座椅粗糙的边缘，这时迪艾瓦飞了回来。她手一挥将他变为人形。他站在她面前，紧张得抓耳挠腮。尽管他已经这样来回变了几十次，他变为人形后还是有点不适。不过，他今天看上去比以往更难受。

“快说。”玛琳菲森警惕地说。

迪艾瓦开始了他的汇报：“我去过城堡了。”

玛琳菲森叹了口气，尽量保持耐心，说道：“我知道，是我派你去的。快说你看到了什么。”

“我什么也没看到。”他用手梳理着头发回答：“不过我听见……”他不安地咳嗽起来。“有个……”他的声音越来越小。

“什么？”玛琳菲森问道，她渐渐失去了耐心。

“一个……嗯……”他低头看着自己的脚，接着抬起头，正遇见玛琳菲森紧紧盯着他的眼神。“那有个……”他假装看见肩膀上有个什么东西，然后弹开了。

够了。玛琳菲森忍无可忍了，命令道：“说！”

迪艾瓦唰地一下站直了：“孩子，斯戴芬和皇后生了个孩子。”

“哦？”玛琳菲森立刻惊讶地发现，嫉妒的潮水已经淹没了自己，同时又对自己感到生气，因为时至今日斯戴芬对她情绪的影响还是如此之大。

感受到玛琳菲森的不快，迪艾瓦一口气全说了出来，一个个单词快速地从他嘴里蹦出—然后又迅速消失。“一个月后将举行洗礼仪式，他们说那将是个盛大的庆祝典礼。”

一个盛大的庆典？为了孩子？这可真是好极了，不是吗？她想着。斯戴芬的这个孩子会像战利品一样，被他们到处炫耀。这个孩子就是所有背叛和伤痛的结果。世界上又多了一个会伤害并消灭我们种族的人类。哦，是的，这真是好极了。玛琳菲森撇了撇嘴。

除非她不插手，否则……

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