At The Lake
Uma heard footsteps behind her. She instantly whirled around, raising her arms. Following the motion of her arms, two tentacles of water raised from the lake, ready to strike.
"Whoa." The person behind her-a boy around her age with pale skin, short brown hair and golden eyes-said, raising his hands yieldingly. "I'm not looking for any trouble."
Great, now I have to wipe his memory. Uma thought.
"You don't have to wipe my mind, I won't tell anyone about you."
Uma clenched her hands into fists, ready to command the tentacles to attack.
"Before you drown me or whatever, don't you want to hear what I have to say? I think we could help each other."
Uma lowered her arms and the water lost its shape. "This better be good." She said.
"Let's start with an introduction." The boy said, smiling in a practiced yet charming way. He gave a playful bow. "My name's Carver. What's yours?"
"Uma. Now what was this about you being able to help me?"
"I suspect you have plans to bring down the barrier around the Isle. Wouldn't that be a lot easier if you had someone inside Auradon Prep to give you information.
Uma had been avoiding eye contact by looking at her nails this whole time-a surefire way to make someone desperate to earn your attention-but now she looked him directly in the eyes. "Consider me interested. Let's talk."
"Well, I can get you into Auradon Prep-in disguise, of course-and I've got a pretty solid plan to take down the barrier...and break Mal's heart."
Uma perked up hearing that last part. "Well, please, don't keep me waiting."
"Ever hear of Queen Sif?" Carver asked with a smirk.
Next Month
One of King Ben's favorite school events was the annual Welcome Ball. The student council threw the reception every year for any new freshman or transfer students. Ben had promised Audrey and Jane that he would greet all the new students. But, after two hours, his face hurt from smiling and he'd shaken so many hands his fingers felt like they were going to fall off. It was always a pleasure meeting people, but it would've been nice to have a break. But, for now, he'd greeted little more than half of the incoming students.
He turned to welcome the next person in the line before him and his jaw almost dropped. The girl in front of him looked remarkable. She was tall and thin with chestnut-colored skin, long and shiny gold hair tied in braids, dark brown eyes. She wore an extremely elaborate white dress with gold embellishments. Actually, he noticed she wore a lot of gold (it was braided into her hair, she had gold bracelets, rings, cuffs on her upper arms and a necklace with a pendant shaped like a star).
"Hello, Your Majesty," She said softly, curtsying before continuing to say, "it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Please, call me Ben." Ben said, composing himself. "And you are?"
"I'm Amelia, Princess of Aurelia, but you can call me Millie." Millie said.
That explains the gold. Ben thought. Hearing the name instantly brought up memories of his father explaining the history of each of Auradon's kingdoms when he was younger. Aurelia's farms produced almost all of Auradon's produce, livestock and timber. And Queen Sif's ordeal with Rumpelstiltskin had left the entire kingdom with a mountain of gold in their vault, More, in fact, than any other territory in the nation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Millie. Are you looking forward to studying here?"
"Of course. I spent most of my life castleschooled, so it's kind of exciting to be in a real school. Even though it may be a bit more challenging to win Prom Queen when my brother isn't my only competition."
"Yes, it may be." Ben laughed. "I hope you enjoy your school year. Auradon Prep is..."-He sighed appreciatively-"there's no place like it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." She curtsied gracefully again. "I'll see you around." She said before descending the staircase that led to the main area of the party.
Ben didn't even notice he was staring until she turned around to look at him and smiled at him.
At the Ball
Mal was waiting for Ben to finish greeting the line of people in front of him, but it was obvious that he'd be occupied for at least another hour. But she didn't know what else to do considering all her friends were busy at the moment. Evie was doing a last minute fix for someone that ripped their dress. The last time Mal saw Carlos, he was going to the projection room above the auditorium to find the slideshow Jane had prepared for the end of the night. And if Mal knew Jay, he'd be dancing in the most visible part of the room. Freddie, Jordan, Allie and Lonnie were spending the night with their dates. She'd tried to help Jane and Audrey supervise to pass the time, but apparently the future queen wasn't supposed to do that kind of work. She'd even considered talking to Reggie, but he'd passed on the party in favor of pursuing his goal of watching every classic movie Auradon had to offer. Her phone was out of life already and her plans to find a charger were interrupted when she heard someone sitting down next to her.
"May I have a moment of your time? It's urgent." They said. She looked up and saw a tall boy about her age that had long gold hair, dark brown skin and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white tuxedo with ornate gold embellishments on its trim.
"Yes, go on." Mal said. Then she remembered to smile. Even if randomly talking to strangers wasn't normal for her, in Auradon it was like a practiced ritual.
"I'm a thief. And I'm here to steal your heart." He said with a smirk.
"Wow, did you really think that would work?" Mal asked. "I'm kind of in a serious relationship right now, but, even if I wasn't, that line wouldn't do anything but make me laugh."
"I know. You're with him, right?" Mal followed his eyes to Ben, greeting a girl wearing a white and gold dress.
"Yes, I am." Mal said, a small smile lighting up her face when she looked at him. Then she turned back to the guy in front of her with a scowl. "You knew about me being in a relationship, but you still came over here with a pick-up line? Were you trying to be funny or are you just plain crazy?"
"More the former. I saw that you were alone over here and looking bored, so I thought I'd come over here and make you laugh."
"By flirting with me? How chivalrous."
"By using such a corny line."
"Oh, obviously." Mal said. "Because most normal people would just come over here and tell a joke."
"I'm not most people. And I'm certainly not normal."
"Now you're really about to make me laugh." Mal said with a smirk. "So, Mr. Not Normal, are you always so-"
"Bold? Confident? Good looking?"
"None of the above, actually. I was gonna say...-" She had to pause to find a nice way to say it "-eccentric."
"Sorry. I don't usually think before I speak. Not a good quirk to have around here. Gets you in trouble sometimes." He said as he looked around the room.
"Trust me, I can totally relate." Mal said. "Sometimes, when I'm at places like this, I just wanna turn invisible so that I don't have to constantly watch every little thing I say."
"Right? There are literally entire books about the etiquette in all the kingdoms. What for? Did you know that waving hi to somebody is an insult in DunBroch."
"Yeah. I learned first hand, actually. I waved at the crowd when me and Ben's carriage got there. It was so horrible, no matter how many times I apologize, I still feel bad."
He started laughing uncontrollably for a few seconds until he was finally able to compose himself. "I'm so sorry, but that's just too funny."
Mal hit him lightly on the arm and said, "Don't laugh, it was a disaster."
"But you have to admit, in hindsight, it's kinda funny."
Mal smiled a little as she said, "Yeah, a little bit."
"Don't worry, I'm not one to judge. I've got plenty of stories where I said or did the wrong thing."
"You so have to tell me one."
"Fine, I guess it's only fair considering you already shared one. So, one time in New Orleans, I..."
An Hour Later
Mal hadn't even realized how long she and Mr. Not Normal had been talking until his phone buzzed. He looked at the screen and the grin fell from his face. "I gotta go, my sister needs me."
Looking up at the staircase, Mal saw that Ben had finally finished greeting everyone in line. "No problem." She said.
"It was nice talking to you. Excuse me if I don't wave goodbye, though." He said as he stood up.
"Not funny." Mal said, though the way her face lit up said otherwise. As he turned to leave, Mal said, "Wait. I didn't get your name."
"Mason." He said.
"I'll see you around, Mason." Mal said.
"See you around." Mason replied, before turning away.
In the Dorms
When he knocked on the door, it was opened quickly. Millie stepped aside to let him into their room. A private suite with two bedrooms, the kind reserved for the most privileged students at the school.
"Hey, Millie." He said.
"Hey, Mason." She replied, looking around the room after she closed the door. "How'd you get such a nice dorm?"
"We are supposed to be the two richest students at school. And, if we had roommates, how would we ever have to time to cast spells in private?"
"True. Now, do you mind turning me back? I hate feeling this tall, it feels like I'm gonna hit my head all the time."
"Not at all." His eyes glowed gold and Millie's hair turned from black to aquamarine, her height decreased and her facial structure shifted. At the same time, Mason's hair turned white, his eyes stayed gold but stopped glowing, his muscles disappeared and he got paler and paler.
"Thank goodness." Uma said, stretching her arms as the illusion faded. "I'm finally me again."
"For the night, at least." Carver said.
"Don't remind me." She said. Then her demeanor changed. She went from carefree to captain in a second. "So, were you successful tonight?"
"I think so."
"Think?"
"I said all the right things, which isn't a surprise given my particular skillset. Mal seemed to look forward to seeing me again."
"Good. It doesn't surprise me. She always trusted people just a little too much."
"And you? How did things go with the king?"
"Perfectly. And, judging from the look on his face when he saw me, I think I made a pretty good impression."
"And with the girls?"
"Good, considering we're totally going shopping together on Saturday." She said, flipping her hair and imitating Audrey's valleygirl-ish way of speaking for the last part. "Trust me, soon we'll totally be BFFs.
"Perfect." Carver said. "Soon we'll be able to shake the entire nation."