Time passed quickly in the forest, and before long, Aurora¹ was no longer a toddler but a child of eight. The dangerous baby years were over, and while the pixies had been practically useless to an infant, they seemed capable enough of taking care of a young girl. So Maleficent mostly stayed in the Moors², safe from humans and content in the knowledge that Stefan, as all of Diaval's reports indicated, was a sad, mad, lonely king. But on occasion, she would make a visit to see Aurora.

Once, when Aurora was still a toddler, Maleficent had followed Diaval to the clearing and waited in the shadows of the trees as, in raven³ form, Diaval played with the girl. Fall had turned the leaves gold and red and sent many of them drifting to the ground. Aurora, her blond hair long and loose, sat in the midst of a big pile of leaves, giggling⁴. She lifted a handful and threw them into the air, laughing as a few landed on the black bird. Reaching out, she gently stroked Diaval's thick black feathers. "What a pretty bird," she said, her voice pleasant to the ear.

Maleficent squirmed. At one time, the baby had been the only thing to irk her. Yet more and more, she found that Diaval's spending time with Aurora irked her far more. Or was she irked because he could play with her out in the open, with such ease? That afternoon Maleficent had shaken her head to clear the ridiculous thought and walked away from the clearing.

Yet she was never gone for very long. Even though she hated to admit it, she felt an odd pull to Aurora. And there was another draw, as well. It was too much temptation to play tricks on the three pixies, a break from her serious thoughts and a brief reminder⁵ of happier days spent playing tricks on the other faeries. Often the thought of disrupting the little pixies' lives for even a few moments was enough to send Maleficent through the Wall and into the human forest.

One summer morning she and Diaval, in his human form, made their way to the clearing. Hearing Knotgrass's nasally voice, Maleficent inched up to the edge of the cottage. Diaval followed and together they peered through an open window. On the other side, the three pixies were sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of checkers. As usual, they were bickering⁶.

"What's this?" Flittle said, reaching out and grabbing Knotgrass's hand. Prying⁷ it open, she revealed one of the markers. "You're cheating!"

"I resent the insinuation," Knotgrass huffed.

"There's no insinuation. I've caught you in the act," Flittle retorted. "You cheating hedgepig."

As the three began to hurl⁸ insults at one another, Maleficent raised a finger. A single drop of water fell onto Knotgrass's head. She brushed it away absently.

Plink! Another drop fell. Again, Knotgrass brushed away the water.　

Plink! Plink! Plink! Unable to ignore the water any longer, Knotgrass looked up, trying to see where it was coming from. Not seeing an obvious leak, she moved over. But it was no use. Plink! Plink! More drops fell, landing only on Knotgrass.　

Shooting a dirty look at Flittle, Knotgrass snapped, "Stop doing that!"　

"I'm not doing anything," Flittle protested.　

Hiding on the other side of the window, Maleficent stifled⁹ a laugh. It was so easy to rattle¹⁰ the pixies. Her shoulders shook as they tried to figure out the origin of the water, blaming each other and then a leak. But as Knotgrass pointed¹¹ out, a leak would only happen if it was raining. And it most definitely wasn't raining.　

Plink! Plink! Plink! Plink!

The drops came faster and faster, each one falling only on Knotgrass. Finally, she slammedher hand down on the table. "Stop it!" she screamed.

Instantly, the drops ceased. Knotgrass anxiously stared at the ceiling as though waiting for the next wave. But when, after a few moments, no more water fell, she sighed and sat down.　

And then it poured.　

A torrent¹² of water fell on Knotgrass, drenching¹³ her instantly. The other two pixies began to laugh, but as they did, a wave of water poured down the stairs, washing over them. They all screamed.

Outside, Maleficent was racked with laughter. Her body shook and she struggled not to make a sound as she waved her hand again. Inside the cottage thunder boomed and lightning cracked. Looking at Diaval next to her, Maleficent smiled, eager for him to join in the fun. But his expression was serious.

"Oh, come on," Maleficent said. "That is funny!"

Diaval didn't respond right away and Maleficent could tell he was working up the courage to speak. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Mistress," he began, "there's something I need to know."　

Maleficent let out a sigh. He was ruining all her fun. "And what is that?" she asked, not bothering to hide her aggravation¹⁴. What possibly could be so important that Diaval would take away from one of the few carefree moments Maleficent allowed herself?

His next question shocked the smirk¹⁵ right off her face. "When are you planning to revoke¹⁶ your curse?"

"Who said I was planning on revoking¹⁷ it?" she asked, turning her attention back to the cottage. "I hate that little beast."

Diaval shook his head. He had expected Maleficent to be difficult. "You hate Stefan," he pointed out. "May I speak freely?"

"No," Maleficent answered. Waving her hand, she moved to transform him. But for once, Diaval didn't let her. He grabbed her hand, his fingers lacing with hers.

"Any time you don't like what I have to say, you change me back into a bird," he pointed out.

Maleficent opened her mouth to retort but then shook her head, thinking better of it. This was not a conversation to be had there or then. Before he could stop her, Maleficent pulled her hand away. Quickly she waved it, transforming him once more into a raven. When he was muted, she sighed. Diaval had taken all the fun out of the day. It was not like Aurora could ever be a part of the Moors. She didn't fit in there. She could never fit in there. How could a human understand and appreciate the magic and nature of the Moors? No, it was silly of Diaval. What was done was done. There was no revoking the curse. Maleficent was perfectly¹⁸ content with that. And what she wanted to do then, more than anything, was continue to play with the pixies.

 

森林里的时间过得飞快，不久以后，爱洛就从一个蹒跚学步的幼童，长成一个八岁的孩子。危险的婴儿期已经过去，虽然魔法仙子们在抚养宝宝时几乎一无是处，但照看一个小姑娘还是绰绰有余的。所以玛琳菲森大部分时间都待在摩尔森林里，远离人类，同时她还心满意足地从迪艾瓦的汇报中得知，斯戴芬已经变成一个凄惨、疯狂而又孤独的君王。不过偶尔，她还是会去看看爱洛。

曾有一次，在爱洛还是个幼童时，玛琳菲森跟着迪艾瓦来到空地上，她站在树荫下，看着乌鸦身形的迪艾瓦和爱洛嬉戏。秋风将树叶变成金黄和深红色，再将它们从枝头卷落，飘落大地。爱洛披着金色的长发，坐在大堆的落叶中，咯咯地笑个不停。她双手捧起一堆树叶，抛向空中，有一些便落在了乌鸦身上。她伸出手，轻轻地抚摸着迪艾瓦又黑又厚的羽毛说：“真是只漂亮的鸟儿”，她的声音十分悦耳动听。

玛琳菲森有些局促不安。曾经，这孩子是她烦恼的唯一来源。然而，她越发觉得迪艾瓦和爱洛经常待在一起更让她烦恼。或许，她烦恼是因为他竟然可以这般轻松地在光天化日之下陪爱洛玩耍？那个下午，玛琳菲森摇了摇头想要摆脱这个荒谬的想法，随后她便离开了空地。

不过，她是不会离开太久的。尽管她不愿承认，但她感到有一股奇怪的力量拉着她走向爱洛。而且那儿还有另一个吸引她的地方：戏弄那三个仙子对她来说简直太有诱惑力了，它能够让她暂时从严肃的思考中脱离出来，让她想起过去戏弄其他仙子的快乐时光。搅乱三个仙子生活的想法只要在她脑海中出现一小会儿，就足以让玛琳菲森穿越荆棘墙来到人类的森林中。

一个夏季的清晨，玛琳菲森和变成人形的迪艾瓦来到了空地上。玛琳菲森听到红叶仙子略带鼻音的说话声，便一点点地移至小屋墙角。迪艾瓦跟着她，透过一扇开着的窗户向内窥探。屋内的另一端，三个仙子围坐在餐桌前，下着西洋棋。和往常一样，她们又在拌嘴了。

“这是什么？”蓝果仙子说着就抓住了红叶仙子的手。掰开一看，里面藏着一枚棋子。“你作弊！”

红叶仙子生气地说：“我讨厌含沙射影。”

蓝果仙子反驳她：“这不是含沙射影。都被我当场抓住了。你这个作弊的讨厌鬼。”

在她们三个开始互相辱骂时，玛琳菲森举起了一根手指。一滴水落在了红叶仙子的头上。她心不在焉地拭去了。

滴答！又一滴水落了下来。再一次，红叶仙子又拭去了水滴。

滴答！滴答！滴答！红叶仙子再也不能无视落下的水滴了，她抬起头，想看看水是从何而来。她没发现明显的裂缝，所以挪了一下位子。不过没用。滴答！滴答！更多的水珠落了下来，只淋到红叶仙子一人身上。

红叶仙子朝蓝果仙子翻了一个白眼，厉声道：“给我停下！”

蓝果仙子抗议道：“我什么也没做。”

玛琳菲森躲在小屋另一边的窗外，憋着笑。这三个仙子也太容易被激怒了。她们想要弄清水从何来，互相责备着，然后又归咎于屋顶的洞，玛琳菲森见此笑得肩膀抖个不停。不过红叶仙子指出，除非是下雨，才有可能漏雨，而显然外面没有下雨。

滴答！滴答！滴答！滴答！

水滴落得越来越急，每一滴都打在红叶仙子身上，她的手猛拍了一下桌子，尖叫道：“停下！”

水滴立刻停下了。红叶仙子急忙盯着天花板看，好像是等着下一阵水滴的降临。可是，过了许久，还是没有水滴落下来，她便舒了一口气坐了下来。

再然后，水倾泻而下。

水流倾注般落在了红叶仙子的身上，她马上就浑身湿透。另外两个仙子笑了起来，可就在同时，一大股水从楼梯上奔泻而出，将她们浇个透心凉。她们都尖叫不已。

屋外，玛琳菲森已经笑得不行了。她前仰后合，却要憋着不能出声，手再次挥动起来。小屋里立刻雷声滚滚，闪电阵阵。看着身旁的迪艾瓦，玛琳菲森笑了，想要他也加入这个有趣的游戏。不过他却一脸严肃。

玛琳菲森说：“哦，拜托，那多好玩啊！”

迪艾瓦并没有马上回答，玛琳菲森知道他正在攒足说话的勇气。最后，他清了清嗓子说道：“夫人，有件事我想知道。”

玛琳菲森叹了口气，他把她的乐趣都破坏殆尽了。她懒得掩藏自己的怒气，问他：“什么事啊？”。是什么如此重要，让迪艾瓦宁愿抢走玛琳菲森那为数不多的无忧无虑的片刻时光？

他接下来的问题，让她的脸上再也挂不住笑容：“你打算什么时候撤销魔咒？”

她问：“谁说我打算撤销的？”然后她便将注意力转回小屋，“我讨厌那个小怪物。”

迪艾瓦摇了摇头。他早就知道玛琳菲森不会轻易松口。他点明道：“你恨斯戴芬。我可以直说吗？”

玛琳菲森回答说：“不可以。”她手一挥，想要将他变回鸟身。不过这一次，迪艾瓦拦住了她。他抓住她的手，手指和她的手指相互交缠。

他继续说道：“每次你不想听我要说的话，你就把我变回鸟身。”

玛琳菲森张嘴想要反驳，不过还是摇了摇头，改变了主意。这个话题不适合在那个时候或那个地方谈起。在他阻拦她之前，玛琳菲森抽出了手，迅速一挥，又把他变成了一只乌鸦。当他闭上嘴后，她叹了口气。这一天的乐趣都被迪艾瓦毁了。爱洛不可能成为摩尔森林的一部分。她不适合那里。她永远都不适合那里。一个人类，怎么能够理解和欣赏摩尔森林的自然和魔力？不，愚蠢的迪艾瓦。木已成舟，魔咒不可能撤回。玛琳菲森对此可是满意至极。而她现在想做的，不是别的，就是继续戏弄那三个仙子。

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