Phillip lost his footing. It was just a small stumble, perhaps from his boot hitting a rock, but it was enough for Alain to strike, shoving his sword into Phillip’s wound. Phillip pivoted out of the way before the blade could sink into his side, but even the graze of the tip made him gasp in pain. He brought up his sword just in time to parry a blow that would have run through his heart.

Holding on to one manacle, Aurora swung the other at Alain’s back. It hit him hard, sending him sprawling onto the floor of the mine. Phillip turned his blade, the point at Alain’s throat.

Lord Ortolan walked forward but stopped at a fierce look from Maleficent. Aurora went to him and held out the manacles, her heart racing. “Give me your hands,” she said.

The old man looked mutinous.

“Step to it.” There was a new voice. Diaval walked into the cave and nodded to Aurora, rolling his shoulders. “Yes, it’s me, finally with thumbs and a tongue fit for speaking. As soon as Maleficent had her hands free, I started hopping around the entrance, hoping she’d see me. Better late than never, Diaval is here to help.”

“I should have broken your neck when I had the chance,” Count Alain said to Phillip, ignoring the new arrival.

“You’re a fool,” Phillip returned, looking down at him. “You had wealth. You had influence. You had the ear of a queen. And because you could not see what you had, you will have nothing.”

Aurora noticed that Phillip looked very pale, almost like he had in her dream. There was even a touch of blue to his lips.

“I played the same game you’re playing,” Alain spat at him. “Just because you played it better, that’s no reason to sneer at it.” With those words, he pushed aside Phillip’s blade and lifted his own to strike.

Aurora screamed. There was no way Phillip would react in time.

“Into a bug.” Maleficent waved her hand, and in a wild rush of glittering gold magic, Alain was no longer there. In his place was a large black centipede. His sword fell with a clang beside it.

Phillip lifted Alain’s blade from the ground, squinting at the centipede. “He’s going to be difficult to catch if he crawls up on the ceiling,” he said, then sagged to the floor. The blood from his wound had soaked all the way to his boot.

“Phillip!” Aurora shouted.

“Oh, no, don’t worry about me,” he said faintly. “I’ll have a little lie-down and then be fine—”

“Don’t be more of a fool than usual,” Maleficent told him. “We need to rebind your side. Diaval, go find me some yarrow, the crumblier the better.”