Come on, Duncan, man up and tell Gwen who you really are! Also, virtual self-saucing chocolate pudding for anyone who catches the hidden reference to another Disney movie that I put in. It's probably not that hard to find, though, so...enjoy the pudding! Thanks to the guest reviewer, but I have no plans for Emperor's New Groove. It's a great film, but I don't think I'll do that. Other thanks to: Gage the Hedgehog, Bloodylilcorpse, Silver Writer 0927, and xandra19.
"Thanks for taking me here." Gwen whispered as the couple lay on the rooftop garden, staring up at the stars. They weren't doing anything, just talking, but watching the stars go by was enough.
After a moment, Gwen looked at Duncan again, more closely, and added "You know, it would be nice if we had that candy I gave away."
"I'll bet you're sweeter than the candy, but I can't believe the woman handling that was so easily fooled." Duncan said without thinking. Suddenly, he sat up, realizing what he said. "...oops."
"I knew you were that boy from the market!" Gwen said, scowling at him and sitting up too. "Why did you lie to me like that?"
"Gwen...I'm sorry."
"Did you think I'd think less of you if I figured it out?" Gwen added. "And come to that, who are you, anyway? Are you even a prince?"
"I am!" Duncan said automatically. "But palace life isn't easy. Sometimes I pretend to be a normal person."
Gwen's face softened. "Why didn't you tell me? It's not like we haven't met before."
Duncan shrugged. "I...I guess you'd think it was weird. Me, wanting to escape my palace."
"Nah, I get it." Gwen said, starting to smile. "So how come Captain Courtney knew who you were?"
"We dated while I was pretending to be a commoner." Duncan admitted. "But she didn't know I was a prince. I had to break it off with her, and she's wanted me dead ever since."
"And I thought you were dead!" Gwen added. "I talked to Alejandro about letting you go, and he said that you'd been executed."
Duncan shrugged. "Your brother's royal vizier? I don't know anything about that. Maybe he just made a mistake or something."
They went back to the palace, of course, but by that time, Gwen had decided. Duncan was definitely the best of any of her suitors. Maybe he didn't exactly act like a prince, but she didn't care. He clicked with her the best.
"Goodnight." she smiled as he dropped her off on her balcony.
"'Night." he said. And on impulse, he suddenly leaned forward, and the two were kissing.
Gwen was taken by surprise, but she kissed back, putting gentle passion into it. As they broke apart, they smiled at each other, and Gwen went back inside.
Duncan waited until she was out of earshot to fall onto the carpet as it floated back down to the garden. "YESSSS!" He had done it! Everything he'd ever wished for had come true. Well, okay, his one wish had basically granted all his other wishes by default.
"I'm rich, the hottest and simultaneously coolest girl I've ever met wants me, and I'm a prince! For the first time in forever, something is going right."
And then everything went wrong.
Before Duncan could even react to anything, strong hands took hold of him, gagged him, tied him up, and a dark shadow fell over him.
"I'm afraid you wore out your welcome the minute you stepped into this palace." He looked up, recognizing the voice. It was the girl who'd tried to kill him that night in the cave, although she looked different – tall and slim, with waist-length dark hair. And behind her was...that was Alejandro. Shock shot through Duncan as he began to realize what the Royal Vizier had done.
The girl made one last order. "Make sure he's never found. Try the thousand-foot high cliff with the shark-infested waters."
The guards holding Duncan obeyed, except for one, who was standing back, smiling. "Can you take my place, Ryan?" she said, fluttering her eyelashes at the guard with the most muscle. "I'd rather just watch this."
Ryan smiled at her. "Sure thing, Court'."
But then again, no one enjoyed watching the man plummeting to his death more than Courtney. She didn't know it was the man who'd broken her heart, but all she knew is that he looked extraordinarily like him. It gave her a lot of sadistic pleasure to have him killed.
It was only when Duncan hit the water that he remembered the lamp. He managed to get one hand free and into his biggest pocket, when he saw a shark coming at him. He rubbed the lamp and Geoff jumped out instantly.
"What's happening?" He saw the shark and said "Duncan? Can you wish? Look, dude, remember, you can't cheat again. Wish for me to save you!" He shook the half-unconscious man, and then said "I'm gonna take that as a yes." And in seconds, Duncan was back on land, and alive.
"Thanks, Geoff." he managed to say, once he'd recovered.
"No problem, man." Geoff said with a grin. "We're friends, right? I wasn't going to let you die without freeing me, anyway."
There was only one thing to do – go back to the castle and alert Cody about what his closest advisor had done.
But Alejandro had gotten to Cody first. His hypnosis hadn't worked the first time he tried to convince Cody to let him marry Gwen, but this time, it worked. As Duncan was on his way back to the palace, Cody was informing Gwen of the new decision, horrifying her.
"But Cody, I already chose Prince Duncan! Why can't I marry him?"
"He left last night." Alejandro told her.
"You might wanna check your facts and your crystal soccer ball." Duncan leant against the balcony doors, scowling at the taller darker man. "Tell the truth, Al. You and that girl with the dark hair tried to have me murdered."
Gwen believed him instantly. She spun around to face Alejandro. "You and Heather tried to have him killed? Not to mention you lied to me about him being executed! Why?"
"This must all be a misunderstanding!" Alejandro said, again focusing his eyes on Cody. "They are both lying."
"Both...lying..." Cody mumbled in response.
Gwen shook Cody. "Cody! What's wrong with you?"
Duncan had noticed Cody's glassy stare and dead tone. "I think I know!" He strode up to Cody and clapped his hands in Cody's face, making him come back instantly.
"Your Highness, I think you may have had less control than you believe. You were hypnotized by Alejandro." Duncan told him.
"Yes, you just told me I had to get married to him!" Gwen chimed in. "Do you remember doing that?"
"No..." muttered Cody, still a little dazed. But when he took in the words of his sister and the prince, he believed it.
But Alejandro had noticed something – something in Duncan's pocket. A brass spout was sticking out of it. But as Cody called for the guards, he pulled out a little potion that Heather had given him for emergencies, finally showing his true colours as he made his getaway. "I'm not done with you yet!" he cried, pulling out the stopper and throwing it at them. It turned into a gas, which evaporated quickly, but revealed no sign of him.
"I can't believe it!" Cody stressed. "I trusted him, and he was plotting against me all this time. How could I not have..." But he stopped, seeing the two in the middle of the room.
"Gwen?" he looked at her hopefully. "Is it true? You've chosen a suitor?"
Gwen smiled at him, nodding. "I didn't think I'd be able to." she said. "But I feel as if I already love him."
Things seemed perfect, except for one thing. Cody mentioned something Duncan had forgotten – that he would be Sultan next, with Gwen as his queen.
He didn't want to have that responsibility. He just wanted to be rich and be with Gwen. But he couldn't just have fun if he was Sultan.
We're getting near Duncan's low point, as you can tell.