I love you. I love your laugh and the way you see the best in everyone. I love that you’re brave and kind and that you care more about what’s true and right than what anyone thinks—

If only she could have said something to him before he departed…

When Maleficent was found, she would write to him in Ulstead. Or arrange a state visit. She would find an excuse to see him. And then she would admit that she loved him. And that she’d been afraid.

And she would hope.

The last time she had seen Phillip, he’d been speaking with her godmother. It had been during her dance with Alain, and Aurora could have sworn she saw a smile pulling up a corner of her godmother’s lips.

Aurora stopped abruptly in the woods, recalling the memory again with new significance.

Had Phillip been the last person to see her godmother? Did he know something about her disappearance? Had he been taken, too?

With unsteady steps she returned to the clearing. Count Alain had already kindled a small fire. She set down the wood she’d harvested.

Diaval wasn’t by the fire or circling in the sky. Diaval wasn’t anywhere.

“Have you seen the raven?” Aurora asked.

Count Alain gave a nonchalant shrug. “Went off to find some carrion, I suppose. Or worms. Or whatever they eat.”

Going to the fire, she took a stick and began to thread on mushrooms. It wasn’t much, but at least her stomach would have something in it. “Would you like some?” she offered.

Count Alain smiled. “We can do better than that,” he said, rising. From the saddlebags of his horse, he produced a pigeon pie, a bottle of port, and a thick hunk of cheese.

“Oh!” she said. “How did you think to provision yourself so well? You can’t have known you were about to go on a journey.”

He appeared surprised by her question, then laughed. “Yes, well observed! No, I didn’t know I would be venturing out here with you, but luckily I did think I would be riding to my own estates. As I said before, I hoped to convince you to come for a visit. I thought I might ride out and prepare my people for your potential arrival.”

She frowned at that, not sure what to think. Still, she was happy to eat well. Soon the fire was crackling merrily and she was wrapped in a blanket, her stomach full.

“You were good to come with me,” she told Count Alain. “Especially when I know you do not care much for my godmother.”

“I like her no less than she likes me,” he said.

“Do you suppose Prince Phillip could be with her?” she asked. “He was not her favorite person either, but I saw them together when we were dancing. He might have been the last person to see her before whatever befell her happened.”