Four Seasons

Mating Season

It was Spring again, and Maleficent hated it with all her soul. Leaves sprouting, flowers blooming, trolls playing in the mud, tree-guardians blooming, birds chirping, pixies blooming... Couldn't they at least be less obvious about what they were doing?

Being the only fae in the land had too high a price, and it was not an option if she was willing to pay it or not. Spring was a cruel reminder of her loneliness, and not even her newly recovered wings could placate the hurt it inflicted on her.

Aurora would always welcome her at the castle, but the beastie was so in love with that prince of hers that it was almost worse than blooming dryads. So, to strategically retreat to that human dwelling was not an option.

The ruins she inhabited in the Forbidden Mountains could be an option, if it were not so full of memories of her hatred days after Stephan betrayed her. Correction: hatred years.

And her own nest was constantly surrounded by tiny little flying beings absorbed in ritual mating flights. Mating rituals! She was sick of it.

"Diaval!" She hoped her shout could be heard over the hum of the bees, of the bumblebees, of the hummingbirds and... "Diaval, you annoying crow, I'm calling you!"

A caw answered instantly, and Maleficent saw his figure shot down from a flock of other ravens who were circling the Moors lately. She decided to put the whole flock in her list of hated things about Spring.

"Hey!" He complained right after shifting into man in front of her. "I'm not a stupid crow, my beautiful self is a raven!"

Maleficent was tempted to reconsider her gift of free-will shape-shifting so she could close his mouth once in a while, but a small part of her knew she needed his petulance to keep her sane. She looked straight at him and ignored his complaint.

"I need a place to stay."

Diaval considered her for a moment and diverted his eyes.

"But you have a place to stay, mistress. I built the nest with my own calloused hands, if I remember correctly."

"Yes, but..."

"I made it with the best branches I could find, used smooth twigs to make the borders comfortable to perch on, secured the inner layer with mud and moss..." Maleficent heard his rambling, intrigued, and he looked back at her, visibly hurt. "I even lined it with shed fur! Do you know how far I flew to gather all this fur?"

"I didn't ask you to line it with fur." She defended herself.

"You didn't ask..." He gaped at her for a moment, seemingly annoyed. "Build it as you want, Diaval, I know you'll do your best, she said. Don't have any haste, Diaval, just make sure it's well made." Quoth the raven.

"Diaval, what's..."

"What's. Wrong. With. This. Nest?" He punctuated each word pointing to said nest under their feet.

"Nothing!" The fae had to admit. The only problem was her own discomfort about the thrice-damned season. Diaval was so angry she capitulated. The problem was hers, and his complaints were legitimate. "Nothing..." She repeated in a quieter voice, turning to stare at the horizon. "The nest is perfect."

"So..." He looked at her with hopeful eyes. "Is it acceptable? You accept the nest I made for you?"

"Yes, Diaval, I accept the nest you made. Sorry for importuning you."

"Sor... Sorry?" He sounded surprised.

"Yes, sorry, Diaval, don't you know what the word means?"