𝖗𝖚𝖎𝖓 𝖒𝖞 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌

Her positivity was something Mal admired in her, wondering how long she could have that outlook on life until the harsh realities of the world soured it. The fae herself had once experienced a life where she saw the world as her oyster and that everything had a reasonable purpose. That mindset was ripped from her as was her mother's wings. While it was Aurora's father that Maleficent had to thank for that, this wasn't the time to start revealing her own tragic backstory. "Doesn't mean they shouldn't also be making sure you're alright." It was a job she'd taken on herself, plotting herself beside the bed with her eggroll still in hand. "Of course, my treat." There was a lot more coming but she reserved her thoughts for after the blonde had eaten something. Instead, the conversation shifted to the very thing that had brought Aurora into harm's way which the raven-haired woman knew more about than she let on at first. It was time she knew the truth or at least, that part of it and the reality many of the Isle residences faced. "Not the individuals but the group behind it is that of hunters," she began, finishing the snack she'd snagged. "This isn't the first time and it won't be the last. They usually only want those who are different, who are... magically inclined, if you will." That was one way of putting it but from the very same curse she'd placed, she knew Aurora would understand. "This is the first time I've seen them take so many risks by opening fire with so many humans around but it shows promise for the borders opening. Something good to come of this unnecessary slaughter, I suppose." Though Mal didn't see it as quite an even trade, they needed the breakthrough.

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Things had changed. Maleficent's motives were shifting and her plan to manipulate the blonde had now taken a different form. While what initially were preparations to learn everything she could about the girl to destroy the very ground she walked on had become quite the opposite. When Mal caught word that she'd been hurt in the attack not a moment was spared, coming to her room once the sun had vanished from the sky and the waiting room had faded to only a few stragglers. There had been no sign of Stephen himself, not to anyone's surprise that he hadn't come by to visit his only child, the man not giving his time for even her. Now it was the very woman who wanted him dead that stood at his daughter's bedside. "The food here is abysmal," the raven-haired woman said while setting a sack of Chinese Takeout on the overbed table. "How are you feeling? I hear it was quite the fireworks show today." A mild way of putting the tragedy that had actually occurred; Mal still unsurprised by the evergoing war between those like her and the hunters who wanted to mount them. "Just goes to show that the hunters are the real monsters out there if you ask me," she quipped while snagging a vegetable eggroll from the bag.

It was admirable, for her to have committed so much to her work instead of a personal life. Aurora felt like she had the exact opposite issue, never having kept a job and her entire future riding on who she was going to marry. "Well, I think the best life would probably have a balance of the two. But, I don't think you need romantic love to be happy--I just mean something else that fills your soul. That's what I thought marriage might do for me, but, if I'll have to grow to love him, then, perhaps, I'll fill my time with other interests, or passions." At least, that's what she'd been telling herself, in the time since she and Phillip had to part.

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Perhaps it was risky bringing her enemy's daughter into her place of business but other things were at play. She'd been peeling back layers of understanding to see if Aurora possessed the same vicious nature as her father. That's how she determined the girl was a victim all the same, having not suffered a loss of physical wings but her ability to fly. Maleficent had determined now that she wished to open an opportunity up to the blonde. What future might await them after this meeting was unknown but she knew this would act as a starting point. Many of her employees had gone home for the night besides those guarding the entry points, including escorting her guest into the office. The raven-haired woman got to her feet, moving around her desk like a snake in the grass so that she could formally greet her. "Welcome to Chaneque Oil. Please, make yourself comfortable," she said while gesturing for her to take a seat. "Thank you for coming by. What do you want to drink? I usually finish my day off with a brandy myself." Mal had already made her way to the bar cart to prepare a glass for herself along with whatever her guest requested. "I make sure it's always stocked, you never know what kind of drink the day calls for."

She couldn't help but laugh a bit at the remark, finding it rather comedic that she had just been to an engagement party that her aunts thought was for a pre-determined match. "Business advantage, I think. So that we can take over what they've started and combine resources to make it even more successful." At least, that's how the fairies had described it to her when she'd begun to question her parents' motives. "Have you ever been in love before? I'm sorry if that's ... you don't have to answer that, if it's too personal," Aurora blurted, before retracting her question as she'd forgotten her manners.

Maleficent wished it was so easy to open one's eyes to the truth but after years of being told one version of the story, it becomes difficult to believe another. She knew the unveiling of what lay behind the curtain could bring about chaos but their daughter deserved to know. There was blood on her parents' hands and she could see clearly now that even Aurora wasn't safe from them. In fact, the blonde had her wings clipped too as she was forced to participate in their narrative for her instead of her own. Mal gave a deep exhale at the words she couldn't agree with. "I think that's not for anyone else to decide but what do I know?" A tight smile formed to keep the true thoughts to herself.

She nodded in understanding at the explanation of what brought forth this marriage. There was motive in everything even making your child marry someone they didn't love. "Interesting that they think that marriage was a business arrangement of that sort." She figured any relationship with only that basis wouldn't end well. Still, it wasn't her place to say her opinions so outright, there would be time for that later. "And that's what you want, I assume? To take over and grow the company? You don't really need a man to do that though, do you?" Just because it was their dream for Aurora didn't mean she needed to agree. Mal had experienced something similar but she had been able to take over on her own and expand where her father couldn't. "It's quite alright," she assured her with a more genuine smile than the one she had on before. "I have been, yes. Only once but now that seems like forever ago. Since then I've only been comitted to my work." That was something that she never had to worry about leaving her.

She supposed the older, wiser woman had a point. Aurora did believe that she deserved her own kind of happiness, but the form of it had shifted since she and Phillip had faced the truth together. "Well, the problem is, it's ... the person who I'd fallen in love with, he's in the same spot as me. Except, with someone else. His father is making him do it." This was the first she'd spoken about it with anyone other than Phillip, not even her fairies having heard the full truth since she'd been too sad to speak on it at home. "So, I suppose, if I can't be happy, and neither can he, at least I can fulfill what my parents wish for me, and I can wish he finds happiness doing the same."

It was as Aurora spoke that she unraveled the very thing that Maleficent was getting it. That was precisely why she understood why the blonde was trapped and it wasn't for the right reasons. "You said it right there, I am the one making orders. My hand is not forced," she repeated. If she had chosen another path she believed her father would've understood but the loss of her mother gave a different motive. That was when she knew she wanted to take over the company and turn it into something else entirely. She'd turned Chaneque Oil into what she wanted as well as developing her father's dream further. "I don't think anyone is born to be married to someone they don't love, do you?" It wouldn't matter what reason it might be for, she couldn't find any that was fair to the girl. That was the precise problem with her father.

The woman gave her a confused look and even looked around as if to see if anyone else noticed the strange coincidence though they were alone. "You've got me be kidding, is that so? What're the chances of that?" She hummed thinking now that it was obvious but leaving it to the girl to find out for herself. Whether it was from her or when she was walking down the aisle. What mattered was the principal of it all, their daughter deserved freedom to love who she wanted. "Does everyone marry off their children these days? What is it they expect to get out of it all anyway?" She asked with an arched brow while swirling her champagne in thought.

This was the first time anyone had shown her any sort of sympathy for her situation, beyond what she and Phillip had discussed. Except, then, it was more of a shared understanding that they were both going to be heartbroken given what they had to do. Aurora gave the woman a shrug, trying not to think of him while she was so vulnerable while being asked how she really felt about all of this. "I can't be with the person who I really love, so, I suppose, if I have to have someone else, at least it'll make my parents happy," she admitted. While she couldn't understand why her parents had done what they had, at least she could live knowing she was doing what they thought was best for her. "I'm simply happy that I had the experience of falling in love, on my own terms, before I have to do it on someone else's."

If only she knew. That continued to go through her mind before her mouth spoke. The girl appeared as much of a victim of her parents as everyone else, Maleficent adjusting her frame of view with the information she'd been gaining. Things were shifting but she believed it could be for the best if she maintained her path. Perhaps they weren't all that different after all. "As much as one can," she spoke with a laugh beneath her words. A smile had almost crept onto her face but she kept it at the edge of her lips to not get too carried away. "I took over from my father, it's what I was born to do, and who can complain about being the boss." That was true, revealing small parts of herself to a girl who had been her prey. Things were changing and she wanted to reveal the truth for her to decide where she wanted to stand. That was when Mal would know what to do next.

A thoughtful hum came through as she listened to the blonde talk. It hadn't been unexpected that Aurora was forced into this marriage. In fact, it made sense for a man like Stephen to refuse to see any other way of being besides his own. There was no question he wanted the same control of his daughter as he did Mal's own mother. "Why must you make them happy? Does your happiness not matter just as much?" These were questions she knew were bold to propose but wished to open the girl's mind to another way of being. "This doesn't have to be your destiny," she said turning so that her demeanor could show the power she held. It was unusual but Mal wanted to help free her, regardless if she'd been part of her captivity. Her mind would be open now and the curse would give her another way of finding her path. Tonight, Aurora would sleep restfully. "It's your life, no one else should tell you how to live it."

"Not really, no," she admitted quietly, though from what Mal had told her, Aurora wasn't sure how much she wanted to know about the man who she was supposed to marry. She would have an entire lifetime of having to deal with what kind of person she was stuck with forever--perhaps ignorance was bliss for the time being. "I think people can learn to be happy. Making the best of a difficult situation to find some semblance of it is the only path to peace, sometimes, isn't it?" At least, that's what she had been attempting to do since her parents had locked her in the forest. Not that she wanted a lifetime of it, but she'd survived this long.

Maleficent hadn't given much of her identity away to the girl, preferring to lurk from the shadows, until now. It wasn't time to reveal her hand but the moment was coming. The blind would soon see the truth of the world, what her father had been hiding her from. Mal wouldn't sugarcoat the truth of what she already deserved to know. It was what made them not all that different. "I work in oil, someone has to make sure things keep running around here," she replied simply even though she'd kept most of her personal information quiet until then. This wasn't anything she hadn't felt comfortable sharing since growing her place with Aurora.

"I'm sorry they have treated you as if you are something to be given away so easily." Mal could see it in her eyes, knowing her happiness would not follow her father's hand. These were decisions a man shouldn't be making for anyone, especially not his own daughter. Politics were better left away from men for this exact reason, Mal knowing this is what they did with such power. "You don't really believe that, do you?" An eyebrow raised over her dark eyes as she shifted her gaze back to the girl beside her. "It's no one's decision to make but yours. The truth shouldn't be hidden from you at least, and then you should be able to make your own decision with that knowledge. If they trusted you then they would see you'd be able to make the right one all on your own," Maleficent replied with a softer, more understanding tone than usual. Aurora had been controlled enough, even her own hand in the matter, and it was time she saw the world for what it really was.

Quite the hunter was the most she'd heard about the man she was supposed to marry. The fairies hadn't told her a single thing about him, but, given what little she knew about her family's history, it made sense to know that it was probably for an advantageous reason. "Where did you hear that from?" She hoped not to sound too desperate, giving herself away. "It's quite sad, how many of these arrangements that are happening lately--it's true. I hope they're all happy, of course, in the end."

Mal wondered if anywhere was truly safe for someone like her. The curse only shows Aurora a glimpse of what it's like to have powers beyond their control. This wasn't the life that the woman had chosen but she wouldn't take any of it back. Power wasn't given to just anyone and Mal refused to let hers go to waste. This was a gift, one that she wanted to use to free those like her. "They're everywhere but I think we're safe out here," she mused, looking at their surroundings before back into the eyes of Stephen's only child. Aurora was beautiful, that much was obvious, but did she have the same blackness in her heart that her father did. That was the question Mal wanted to get to the bottom of. "Perhaps you could visit me at my office sometime and I can tell you all about it. I wouldn't want them to come after you too."

Either the blonde was a better actress than she looked or she hadn't been warned of what the world could do to her. Mal was the least of her worries, Aurora's father being a danger far beyond her power. "Don't tell me they haven't told you anything about him?" The woman feigned surprise, knowing very well that they'd keep simple details from her. "He's well-known, respected, though I'm not sure what that says about one's character if they're willing to hunt people," she commented bluntly before moving from her own feelings on the matter. "Can anyone be happy if they're forced into something?" It was a question the girl probably didn't want to hear but Mal thought it was worth posing for her. Aurora needed to think about what she wanted, that would be the first step to showing what her father blinded her to.

"Someone's following you?" Aurora blurted, suddenly worried for the woman for a moment before what the brunette said next registered with her. No one knew her secret besides her aunts, but they wouldn't have told anyone--they always kept to themselves, anyway. Caught off-guard, Aurora shook her head at the woman, choosing the path of denial. "You must have me mistaken. I'm not engaged," she fibbed, holding up her ring-less hand.

If only the blonde knew the half of it, Maleficent watching her back for as long as she could remember. There were always people following her or at least the stench of fae that she left behind. It was Aurora's very own father who hunted her kind for sport and stole a most precious life from her. In due time she would come to see the actions of her bloodline that had brought her to the crossroads she was at. "Indeed and it's so awful, isn't it?" The raven-haired woman met the eyes of her prey, looking at her instead of through her. She wanted the blonde to know that she didn't flinch from her statement. Even if it wasn't the truth that the girl knew yet, it would be the future that she'd find when the time was right. "That's peculiar because I've heard that you're betrothed and to quite the hunter too," Mal hummed through pursed lips. "Perhaps it's someone else." There wasn't any use in trying to explain things now. It would all become clear in time and she would be there when that day came the same as she was tonight. "A shame how they marry girls off these days, does no one believe in love anymore?" She asked before turning her gaze back to the sky, planting seeds to begin a conversation about the male half of the equation.