“Grimhilde in danger? Are you serious? She tried to kill her own daughter!” spat the Fairy Godmother. The three good fairies chimed in with murmurs of agreement. Each of them talked over the others, their voices becoming shrill in defense of the Fairy Godmother.
“If Grimhilde had had a fairy to help her through her grief, not to mention someone to protect her from her abusive father, she would never have turned to the odd sisters, gone mad, and tried to kill her daughter. Maleficent saw this! Maleficent saw that by trying to help Grimhilde, she was also helping the princess Snow White!”
“Maleficent sided with Grimhilde because they are both evil!” hissed the Fairy Godmother.
“Oh! I would have guessed that would still be your stance on this, Sister! Perhaps if you could have gotten past your fairy bias, you would have seen the special, talented girl Maleficent was before we failed her. Before you sent her on her path of ruin.”
The Fairy Godmother got up from her seat and slammed her fists on the table, rattling the teapot and making the teacups quiver. “Now hear, Sister! We are not going to dredge all of this up again! I won’t stand accused of Maleficent’s death once more! And what does this have to do with the odd sisters? Can you tell me that?”
“It has everything to do with them. It’s for all women like them who are not born beautiful princesses and therefore must live without the guidance and support of the fairies! How would the odd sisters have turned out if they had had a proper fairy to look after them? Look at Gothel, and Ursula. Had they had fairies looking after them, their lives may have turned out so much differently!”
“They’re witches!”
“Circe is a witch! And yet you want to make her an honorary wish-granting fairy! Do you choose her because of her beauty or because she is a gifted, empathetic witch?”
“I choose her because of the good she has done with Tulip, and with Belle. I choose her because she is a gifted young witch, and I wanted to steer her away from her mothers, if you want to know the entire truth! Of course it doesn’t hurt that she is beautiful. She won’t frighten her charges like Maleficent did during her exams.” This made the three good fairies giggle, causing Nanny to give them a wrathful look.
“It’s not Maleficent’s fault you couldn’t see past her horns and her green skin!”
“No, my sister, I couldn’t see past her black heart! Just as I couldn’t see past Gothel’s and Grimhilde’s black hearts!”
Nanny shook her head. “If these wretched fairies hadn’t stolen Maleficent’s birds, and if you hadn’t said those dreadful things the day of the fairy exams, she would never have exploded into a rage of fire and destruction! I should never have given you her daughter, never have let you fools give her to King Stephan and his queen! Oh, I know they longed for a child, and I know they met the fairy criteria for being good, loving parents, and why not turn the girl into a princess! But in doing so, I betrayed my foster daughter and broke her heart, and that is why she turned to Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha for help!”
“You fail to remember why the fairies don’t take witches on as charges, dear sister. Look to your first charges as example.”
“How dare you bring that up!”
“Every witch you have ever tried to help has broken your heart and caused more destruction and death. Why do you think we tried to bring Circe into our ranks, if not only to save her from you, and her mothers?”
Nanny felt as though her sister had struck her in the face. “The odd sisters were babies then! How was I to know who they would grow to be? It was protocol to give them to a royal family, and the Whites took them gleefully. They were my first case!”
“You knew who they would grow to be. You told me yourself you saw something evil within them. Yet you gave them to that family to cause destruction and ruin for generations! You insisted we give them a chance, insisted they could do great things and walk another path. You refused to see the truth. But you see everything, don’t you, my dear sister? You see what a girl will become before she even knows it herself. You saw it in Maleficent, and you saw it in Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha.”
“And I see it in Circe and Tulip as well! Hasn’t my love and care for them redeemed me in any way? Don’t you see this is all connected? I have paid for my mistakes. And I am doing my best to make amends. That is why it’s so important we change the way the fairies direct their magic, to avoid the disaster we’re facing with the odd sisters.”
“What has any of this to do with the odd sisters?”
“Everything!” a sonorous new voice boomed, reverberating throughout the courtyard and shaking the cherry blossom tree branches. All the fairies looked up and saw Oberon standing there, towering above them, majestic and awe-inspiring, but with kind, fatherly eyes. “Nanny is right,” he said. “The fairies need to extend their reach! And as much as I agree with Nanny that this is all tangled up with the odd sisters’ story, at the moment we need to focus on this impending threat. We need to protect the Fairylands! The odd sisters have raised Maleficent from the dead, and she is on her way to destroy the Fairylands. And we need to protect ourselves and the witches in the dead woods.”
“The dead woods? Never! Let the witches of the dead defend themselves! Maleficent is on her way here to destroy us and we need our forces here!” squealed the Fairy Godmother, making Nanny gasp.
“Circe and Snow White are in the dead woods, Sister! How could you say that?”
“If Circe chooses the dead woods over the Fairylands, then perhaps she is not worthy of our protection. Perhaps she is fated to break your heart, as all your witches have before her. As for Snow White, someone must conjure her back to her own kingdom at once! We can’t let a princess be harmed in any way!”
“I see the time you’ve spent with your sister in Morningstar has done nothing to change your fairy-minded ways!” said Oberon, looking down on the Fairy Godmother with disappointment and sadness. But she faced him head-on, putting her hands on her hips defiantly.
“You have always taken Nanny’s side, Oberon! Always. Even now, when she admits to her mistakes, you still take her side! After all I’ve done for the Fairylands, this is how you treat me!”
“That is the difference between you and your sister. She admits to, and has learned from, her mistakes. She wants to make things better. You, however, do not, and it breaks my heart. I have been so long away from the Fairylands I felt it wasn’t my
right to come and sit in judgment, but I see my guidance is much needed. It is time for all of you to put aside your differences and fight together to defend all our lands!”
The Fairy Godmother was incensed. “I have half a mind to step down and let you and Nanny rule the Fairylands! I am sick to death of being criticized for upholding our traditions that you laid out for us so many years ago!”
Oberon gave the Fairy Godmother a sad look. “I think that may be the wisest suggestion you have ever made.”
It was twilight in the dead woods. The sky was purple, and the stars were glowing in the mist that always hung low and heavy in that part of the many kingdoms. Snow White was alone in the morning room, surrounded by the piles of books. She was reading Lucinda’s journal by candlelight, hoping to learn more about the odd sisters, something Circe could perhaps use to defeat her mothers.