Chapter 58
CALISTA
There was always one last trial.
A game to be played, a challenge to be met. It was not about overthrowing the Dragon so much as it was living up to her expectations.
Surpassing the plans she had made.
I walk through the halls of the house I was brought to, the walls that heard my screams and masked my cries. Each step brings me closer to my future, a step closer to the woman who designed it for me.
“And so she returns.”
I come to a stop in front of Maleficent, watching the steam swirl from her coffee mug, the same mug she’s used since the day I became her own.
Her eyes, so much darker than mine, drift across my face. Studies and examines my features with a slight tilt to her lips, amusement just waiting to be released.
“My safe was rather empty this morning. Find anything interesting?”
“Just an inheritance with some old documents.”
A beat passes as we stare at each other, hearing the words neither one of us are willing to say.
I break the silence first.
“You promised me an empire. A kingdom you would hand over once I was strong enough to take it.”
“So I did.”
The skirt of her black dress tumbles to the floor. Setting the mug down on the table, I listen to the familiar click of her heels as Maleficent bridges the distance between us.
Her pinched lips and narrow eyes soften as she reaches out and cups my face. Traces the slope of my nose and the jut of my lips with a tender expression.
“My sleeping beauty.”
She touches me with claws sharp enough to cut. Caresses me with the touch of a poisoned heart.
“Those men didn’t know what would happen when you finally woke up, did they?”
A tear slips out and shatters against my cheek.
I thought I would remember the pain. The humiliation and the heartache.
But as I stare at the woman in front of me, all I see is the independence she gave me. The strength she installed and the lessons that taught accountability.
I look at the monster who stole me from my home and I see the woman who spent hours crouched over a drawing board, designing a fairy garden just the way I wanted it.
I see the woman who sent the nurses home so she could patch up my legs herself.
Maleficent Drache was not meant to be a mother.
But she chose to be mine.
“You’ve always had her face.”
The stream of my sorrow flows over the bitter edge of her nails, dampening her hands as she smiles, looking at the daughter she designed.
“But your laugh... that has always been mine.”
My lips tremble beneath her touch, shaking beneath the weight of another loss this evening.
“Goodbye, mother.”
“Goodbye, Calista.” Pride trickles through her voice, “Don’t forget what I taught you.”
“As if I could.”
She gives me a knowing smile that crushes whatever was left of my heart.
“They don’t deserve your tears, your fear or your love. No man who could ever walk this earth.”
It's the mantra she’s given since the first night she took me. The words she made me repeat until her vengeance became my own.
“You’re wrong.” My voice breaks, crumbling as I fail her one last time, “It was me who didn't deserve him.”
She doesn't acknowledge the disappointment. Simply brushes her lips against my forehead.
“That’s what they all say.”
I close my eyes and lean into her touch. Collapse into this moment before I have to throw it all away.
“Wolf Hollow is yours, my child.” Her nails sink into my skin, piercing the flesh to ensure a mark stays behind, “See that it succeeds.”
It’s a demand, not a request.
At least it would be, if I hadn’t already given her power away.
“The fate of this town is no longer in my control.”
Maleficent stills, tendrils of frost seeping through our tender moment.
“You have given the keys away. The fortune I built for you-
“I have given away the future you built for me.” The tears on my lips don’t taste quite so bitter when I smile, “The Drache family no longer holds the power in this town.”
“Who could you have possibly...”
Her words falter as recognition dawns.
“You believe that boy is capable of running a town such as this one?”
“I believe he is a man not to be underestimated.”
A harsh crack of laughter rings out, “Wolf Hollow will topple under his reign. There are threats on the horizon and no child, no matter how brilliant he may be, will be able to stop them.”
“Again, that is no longer any of my concern.”
“You foolish girl, how could you-
“I made my decision, mother. Just as you made yours.”
Maleficent sucks in a sharp breath, her eyes no less cruel when she looks at the daughter who chose to survive.
“This is not a game you will win, Calista.”
“And yet it is one you have already lost.”
The defiant tilt of my chin has her taking a step back. Looking at me with a renewed respect, one that shines brighter now that we are on the same playing field.
“Very well.” Bitterness clips her tongue, dark eyes ablaze with a familiar fire, “I shall be on my way.”
A woman’s worth only goes as far as her word and I watch my mother stay true to hers. Picking up her purse from the table, Maleficent Drache walks out the front door.
Leaving her empire in the hands of somebody else’s prodigy.
Admiration shuffles through the wave of grief as Maleficent leaves with her head held high and a terrible reputation wrapped around her shoulders.
“And then there was one.”
My words ricochet off the walls of an empty manor.
I turn around slowly, taking in the drapes and furnishings that were always a bit dark for my taste. The Dragon’s mark on every stone, her presence lingering in the air.
Nails click along the floor as my baby boy finds me. Nuzzles my chin and kisses away the tears that continue to fall as I stare at the blank tiles in front of me.
A clean slate that’s about as much as a girl like me can ask for.
A future that hasn’t been written.