Maleficent looked toward Evey from the corner of her eye. The girl was not asking anything particularly wrong. She wanted to know what the motivations were. There was no harm in that. And there was no harm in telling her most of the truth. There were aspects of it, like Stefan, that would not see the light of day, but the rest? Well. Why not?
"I am a fairy." She leaned more of her weight on her heels. "A fairy who was driven to protect her people and the land they loved. Coldness is a shield worn to make it easier to execute the difficult decisions. One must be as impartial as possible when there is a greater need. I declared myself Queen because of a need, not because I wanted it. I rule to protect because the others cannot lead themselves through battle. I was happy once. Truly happy. But we fae were free then, allowed to live our lives without threat. We had no need of a ruler."
Maleficent turned and looked fully at Evey then. "I am a woman who does what she must in order to survive."