Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy (Villains #4)

by Serena Valentino

Maleficent had been born in the Fairylands, in the hollow of a tree filled with screeching crows. She was little and defenseless, and she seemed to be made up entirely of sharp edges. Her features were pointy and her skin had a milky-green pallor. Terrible nubby horns were starting to emerge from her bony little head. Nothing about her was right. Nothing at all. All the fairies feared her, because they found her appearance disturbing. They’d left her there in that tree, alone, for no one knew who had abandoned her there. If her parents hadn’t wanted her, then surely the fairies didn’t, either. For all they knew, she was actually an ogre. Or something too vile for even the likes of ogres. Besides, she didn’t have wings or pleasant features. And there was a distinct air of evil about her, so clearly she couldn’t be a fairy. No, she wasn’t a fairy at all. At least, that was what the fairies told themselves, to console themselves when they stayed up late at night, wondering if they’d done the right thing by leaving the defenseless little creature in the hollow of an old tree. Whatever her origins, she belonged to the crows. The crows will care for her, the fairies told themselves. She must have been born of their magic. After all, everyone knew crows were evil. The fairies called her Maleficent. They had named her after Saturn, because of its unfavorable influence, and after Mars, a malicious god known to cause destruction and war. For that was what the fairies saw in her futu...