I Know You

28

Stumbling over another mound of earth, Aurora hoisted her skirts up above her ankles and turned to look at the man who was several paces behind her.

"Just how far is it to Ulstead?" she sighed.

"About twenty miles North. As the crow flies," Diaval muttered ironically. "Which I am not right now, Aurora. Seriously, this'll take us all day."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Let her go there alone? You know what they'll do to her," Aurora pointed out.

"She can take care of herself," he told her, softly.

Huffing, Aurora sat down heavily on a nearby rock, eyes trained on something in the distance.

Silently, Diaval sat down beside her.

"She came to get me, from the cottage," Aurora muttered, playing absent mindedly with the sleeves of her dress.

"This isn't really the same," he reasoned.

"No, it's worse, Diaval. Don't you see that? Those men said that Philip was trying to get close to me, didn't they? They were sent there for a reason last night... They want to kill my Godmother and take the moors for themselves."

"Who is 'they'?" Diaval asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "The King and Queen of Ulstead? We have to go after her, Diaval. It might be trap."

His deep sigh told her he had conceded.

"So you want to walk all the way to Ulstead?" he asked.

Aurora shook her head. "No... we need a horse."

"Well, without your Fairy Godmother, I'm stuck in this body," Diaval told her, an undertone of bitterness to his voice. "So unless you've got any other suggestions, we're out of luck."

For a moment, there was silence.

And then Aurora raised a brow, averting her eyes in the direction of the palace that had once been her home.

"Aurora..." he began with dread.

"Come on," the girl decided, tugging at his sleep before pushing herself off the rock on which they were seated and setting off in the direction of the palace.

Ω Ω Ω Ω

Ingrith turned her back to the red-headed woman standing in front of her, busying herself by examining the pictures above the fireplace.

"Captured?" she clarified.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Maleficent has taken them into the moors."

Ingrith hummed softly, wandering across to the small window which looked out over the courtyard and the village beyond it.

"More fool them. What about the girl?" she asked.

"The girl lives. The fairy pulled her from the cottage just in time," Gerda told her. "Your Majesty, should I gather an army together to travel to the moors? Demand the return of our men?"

Glancing in her direction, Ingrith smiled. "No."

"Your Majesty?"

"They were given very clear instructions, Gerda. That they were unable to follow them is the least of my concerns. Those imbeciles have drawn attention to Ulstead and to our plans," she said. "Let them rot in the moors, for all I care."

"It's possible no connection will be made between the men and Ulstead," Gerda told her. "They travelled in plain tabards–"

"Nonsense! Those two spineless idiots will have spilled their guts the moment Maleficent flashed her fangs at them!" Ingrid cried. "No. We will need to revaluate our next move."

"Do you have another way?" Gerda asked.

"Perhaps..." Ingrid told her thoughtfully, her attention drawn back to the window as a shadow moved past it at speed. "But for now, we have more pressing matters to attend to."

Gerda frowned, as the shadow passed them by again.

Ingrid turned to look at her once more.

"Have a message sent to King Magnus. Advise him that we have a visitor."

Ω Ω Ω Ω