Phillip smiled, a little amused. But he recognized the boy’s name, and he could see that Maleficent did, too. He was the one whose family thought that he’d been taken by the faeries.
Simon went on, following Phillip into the hall. “I was in the stables and I overheard a conversation between Lord Ortolan and Count Alain. It was about the queen and it wasn’t very nice. I thought I’d kept mum and they hadn’t noticed me there, but a day later, when I was headed for home, soldiers surrounded me, and the next thing I knew, I was here.”
“We’ll get you out of this,” Phillip promised.
Maleficent knelt down in front of the boy. He looked panicky, and his fear only increased when she brought a fingernail beneath his chin. “Yes, child, we will help you, but not as you are. It’s too dangerous.”
“What do you—” the boy began.
“You can’t—” Phillip started, realizing the only meaning her words could have.
“Into a rodent.” Another wave of her hand and before them was a little mouse. He squeaked and made to run, but she lifted him by his tail.
“Here,” she said to Phillip. “Put him in your pocket. He probably likes you better anyway.”
Phillip stared at her in horror, but he took the mouse and cupped his hands around him. He could feel the trembling of the little body and the racing of the tiny heart. “Why did you do that?”
“I’m helping,” she said with a pout. “He’s in less danger as a mouse. And we’re in less danger without having to worry he will do something foolish.”
With a sigh, Phillip lifted his cupped hands to eye level. “Don’t worry, Simon. She’ll change you back as soon as we’re out of the prison. I promise. And until then, you can sit on my shoulder.”
Maleficent was already walking up a rough-cut stone staircase, taking a torch from the wall to light her way. Phillip followed, trying to ignore the feeling of tiny claws digging into his skin, even through the fabric of his shirt. “That’s right,” he murmured. “Hold on tight.”
They stepped onto a landing of hewed stone, and Phillip realized where they must be. They were not just on Count Alain’s land. This was one of his iron mines. No wonder Maleficent had been suffering.
There were carts piled with ore, waiting to be unloaded. And there was the wide opening of a man-made cave, leading out to a forest at night. Stars dotted the sky, and the scent of fresh air filled Phillip’s lungs.
There was a guardhouse near that opening. From it, three soldiers emerged, along with Lord Ortolan.
Phillip cursed softly. Maleficent threw down her torch, obscuring them from view.
“Who’s there?” the advisor called in a voice wavering with alarm.
The guards advanced toward the fallen light. They were armored, whereas the jailers below had not been. Phillip thought he recognized one of them as the soldier who’d stabbed him in the side. As they got closer, all drew iron blades.
“Stay hidden,” Maleficent whispered to him. “Get out once the fighting begins. Steal a horse and find Aurora.”
“What about you?”
“With any luck I will best them and beat you there,” she whispered, her eyes lit with wild torchlight. “I travel faster than you ever shall.”
Phillip wasn’t bad with a blade, but he did the sort of fencing that distinguished a nobleman. He was used to a saber, not a heavy broadsword like the ones the guards were carrying.
And he had neither weapon.
Maleficent’s mouth turned up into a smile and she walked forward, leaving Phillip hesitating. Should he follow her instructions? He slid toward the far wall of the mine and the shadows there.
No one was looking at him. They were staring at Maleficent as she walked into the torchlight and lifted her hands. A great wind whooshed from her fingertips, knocking the guards over and sending even Lord Ortolan to his knees. Even with all the iron around her, her magic was still something to behold.
With two powerful beats of her wings, Maleficent landed in front of Lord Ortolan, catching him by the throat.
She lifted her other hand, glowing with sparking green magic.
The other guards were getting slowly to their feet again, but they didn’t dare approach—not when she had Lord Ortolan in such a vulnerable position. If they went for her, she could snap his neck.
And with another blast of her magic, it was settled. Their helmets clanked together, and this time when they went sprawling on the floor, they stayed there.
“Where is Prince Phillip?” Lord Ortolan demanded. “Phillip! If you can hear me, I know it wasn’t sporting to lock you up, but that’s all I ever intended. I said the rest to frighten you.”
“A rather unlikely tale,” Maleficent said. “But it hardly matters. As you can see, Phillip isn’t here.”
“I am an old man—a loyal advisor to Aurora’s father and her grandfather before him. Aurora wouldn’t like to see me harmed.”
“Aurora isn’t here, either,” said Maleficent. “It’s only you and I and your lackeys. But I don’t think they will save you.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Lord Ortolan sputtered, but the panic in his face was telling. And Phillip wasn’t sure what to think. He wasn’t certain what Maleficent might do right then.
She gave an extravagant shrug. “No point in debating when the answer is so close to hand. Let’s find out.”
“She means to murder me!” Lord Ortolan shouted. “Phillip, please. I am human, like you! Save me from this monster!”
“Prince Phillip is gone, dear Lord Ortolan,” Maleficent said, fixing the advisor with her startling emerald eyes. “I sent him away for just this reason.”
Phillip realized that though they had been on the same side back in the prison, he wasn’t sure they still were. He couldn’t stand there and allow her to kill a person—or several persons—when it was within her power to take them prisoner.
But he wasn’t at all sure he could stop her, either.
“Maleficent.” A voice rang out near the entrance. There was a man with a skunk stripe of white in his hair and a blade on his hip. It seemed that Count Alain had finally returned.
Chapter 29
Aurora woke to Diaval pecking at her fingers.
“Ow!” she cried, sitting upright and putting her hurt finger in her mouth. “Oh, you’re back. Where were you?”
She turned toward where Count Alain had been sleeping, but he was no longer there. Only a tangle of blankets remained. Her dream was still thrumming through her mind, confusing her thoughts. She still saw the pallor of Prince Phillip’s half-buried face, still heard his final shout echoing in her ears.
Run!
At the memory, she scrambled up out of her blankets. Diaval took off into the air.
Her dream confirmed for her that in her heart she didn’t believe Phillip was to blame for Maleficent’s disappearance. Aurora knew him. She believed that he was still the person she’d fallen in love with despite herself, someone kind and decent and good. She could believe he’d gone back to Ulstead, but she could never believe he would hurt anyone just for power or revenge.
Count Alain’s words had played into her fears, but that didn’t make them true.
And if I’m wrong, then nothing is fair, she told herself, because we didn’t even get a love story. He didn’t kiss me one time when I was awake. If he was going to betray me, he should have at least kissed me first.