Sorry for not updating in a while, things have just been really busy.
Anyways, here's the newest chapter, we're getting into even deeper BAL territory as the story continues.
A big thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with the story and for the reviews.
Please leave a review if you feel like it, I appreciate all feedback.
Don't be afraid to ask any questions, I always reply.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Commotion
"What was that?" Lancelot said, looking up from his book.
Archer didn't need to ask what Lancelot meant, he had heard it too. "Sounded like a scream, someone could be in trouble."
Both of them jumped out of their beds, still in their pajamas, and bolted for the door. After rushing through the doorway, Archer looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Royce and Aden appeared from the door on his left.
"Did you hear that?" Royce asked.
Archer just nodded and ran past him, conjuring up Excalibur whilst doing so. Lancelot, Royce and Aden followed him, all of them were on bare feet and in their pajamas.
"It sounded like it came from downstairs!" Aden yelled as he trailed behind the others.
They ran down the stairs as fast as they could, skipping several steps. Archer led the others as they first looked around the lunch yard, where everything was quiet. They then sprinted past the lockers into the first hallway, which was next to the kitchen.
Archer looked around and saw Ben, Mal and Evie standing further down the hallway.
"Ben!" Archer yelled as he quickly approached him. "Did you hear that scream? Do you know what's going on?"
Ben sighed deeply in response. "It's nothing, Archer. It was Evie who screamed, but it's nothing."
"Wha- Why did you scream?" Archer asked Evie.
Archer saw Evie give pleading looks to Ben and Mal, who both gave her piercing stares in return.
"It's nothing." Evie eventually replied with a sigh. "I just bumped into Mal when I walked through the hallway and they scared me. That's all."
"Hmm, what are you doing here exactly? It's quite late." Archer asked.
"I was baking cookies!" Evie immediately answered loudly.
"Okay…" Archer replied, a little perplexed. "And you?"
"We ran a bit late, wanted to grab a bite to eat first." Ben explained.
"Where did you go?" Aden asked as he put away the knife he had pulled.
"We were on a date. That's still legal, right?" Mal answered, a little harshly.
"Yeah, sure." Aden answered, a little insecure.
Archer pulled up an eyebrow, as did the rest of his troop. Ben, Mal and Evie were all acting rather strangely, as if they wanted to hide something. Before he could ask any further questions, three people appeared at the end of the hallway.
"Mal? Evie?" One of them yelled.
Mal groaned as Carlos, Jay and Lonnie approached them.
"We heard someone scream, was that one of you?" Jay asked. Both him and Lonnie had messed up hair and wore their pajamas, Jay furthermore had his shirt on backwards. Carlos was wearing his normal clothes.
"It was me." Evie admitted. "But it was nothing guys, honest."
"Why did you scream?" Carlos asked.
"I-I just ran into Mal and Ben, they startled me." Evie repeated.
"Hmm, they must have scared you pretty badly then." Carlos replied.
"Where were you guys actually?" Lonnie asked Ben and Mal.
"What?" Ben replied.
"We didn't see you at dinner." Lonnie continued.
"Oh yeah, we had a date. Kinda lost track of time." Ben said shrugging, but a blush gave him away. He was hiding something.
Archer kept staring at him, but Ben tried his best to evade his eyes. Archer then darted his eyes to Mal, who was shuffling uncomfortably on her feet and kept her left hand clutched around her right.
The wheels in Archer's head span at top speed, and he yelled out loud when he eventually came to a conclusion.
"Woah!" He exclaimed.
"What?" Everyone around him asked in shock.
"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Archer repeated.
"Archer, what's going on?" Lancelot asked.
Archer pointed at Ben. "Did you….?" He then pointed at Mal. "Did she…?"
Both Ben and Mal turned as red as a beet, but neither were able to say a word. All Archer could do was stare and point, unable to do much more than gurgle some unintelligible words. Now something appeared to dawn on both Lancelot and Carlos, who also started looking at Ben and Mal more closely.
"D-did you ask her?" Carlos asked Ben.
Ben and Mal seemed to become even more flushed than they already were, with Mal almost convulsively squeezing her right hand with her left.
Now something apparently dawned on the rest, and they all stared at Ben and Mal with wide eyes.
"Did you ask her?" Jay repeated. "Are you…?"
Mal sighed deeply, but then removed her left hand from her right and showed everyone the green and purple diamond encrusted ring on her finger.
Both Evie and Lonnie squealed in delight and the rest of the guys yelled out in surprise. Within a second, everyone had gathered around Ben and Mal in a big group hug. Archer yelled out his congratulations but could hardly hear himself over the sound of the others, who were equally as enthusiastic.
Ben and Mal, who initially looked hesitant, now both had broad smiles on their faces while accepting everyone's felicitations.
Hugs were shared, and happy wishes were exchanged. Neither Evie or Ben ever let go of Mal, all done with the intent to not get her overwhelmed. It wasn't long however before all guys pulled Ben aside into some kind of mix of a group hug and warrior's dance. In any case, Ben was now surrounded by Archer, Jay, Carlos, Lancelot, Aden and Royce, with all of them singing the same lyric at the top of their lungs.
"He's getting married! He's getting married!" Echoed through the school.
Naturally, the commotion they made caused other students to show up and inspect the tumult. Soon, the group already present was joined by Alex, Freddie, Jane, Jordan, Doug, Chad, Ally, Anxelin, Ruby, Herkie, Arabella and many more.
As soon as any of the new arrivals learned why they were being so loud, they immediately rushed to congratulate the newly engaged. Ben had a perpetual smile on his face, accepting everyone's best wishes and continuously hugging and shaking hands. Mal tried to play it cooler, seemingly a bit uncomfortable with the large crowd, but it was very apparent that she was ecstatic as well.
Even Fairy Godmother arrived at one point, dressed in a furry robe and slippers. She was initially furious about so many students being up past curfew, but immediately softened up when Ben and Mal told her about their engagement.
Fairy Godmother gasped. "Bibbidi-bobbidi… Well, just this once I can make an exception. Just don't make it too late."
"We promise." Ben replied.
Archer removed himself from the crowd a bit, both to let other people interact with Ben and Mal and to give himself some breathing space.
"What's going on here?" A voice behind Archer asked.
He looked back and saw Audrey, in a fluffy robe with her hair in a messy bun and some sort of cream applied on her face.
It took a second for Archer to take it all in, but then he answered. "Ben proposed to Mal, she said yes."
Audrey's mouth fell open so far, that it almost looked as though her jaw had fallen off. "They what!?"
"They are getting married." Archer explained, both his eyebrows pulled up.
Audrey looked stunned. "W-when did this happen?"
"We only just found out." Archer replied.
Audrey seemed distressed more than anything else, her eyes shooting from Ben to Mal and back. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.
Archer grinned. "What? Disappointed that you'll not become queen?"
Audrey scoffed. "Please, I'm over that. I just didn't think that he'd actually have the balls to ask her already."
"They are in love, and Ben thought the time was right." Archer explained. "You can be happy for them, right?"
"I guess. But I don't see any point in interrupting my beauty sleep any more, goodnight." Audrey said before turning around and heading back upstairs.
When Archer turned back to the collection of students, he stood face-to-face with Ben.
"What did she want?" He asked, nodding at Audrey.
"Just wanted to share her opinion on your unexpected engagement." Archer answered with a grin.
Ben shrugged. "Ah well, you can't have everything."
"How do you feel?" Archer asked, now that he some alone time with Ben.
Ben looked back at Mal, who was showing off her ring to pretty much every girl in the school. "I feel on top of the world."
Archer looked at Mal as well, noting the genuine smile of excitement on her face. "You are both very lucky. I have no doubt that you'll make each other very happy."
Ben smiled. "I hope so too. Maybe we'll finally find some peace, she deserves that."
"This will be nice. Having your happiness as a shining beacon in these dark times. It will give the people hope." Archer said.
Ben grinned. "A shining beacon, really? Since when are you such a poet?"
Archer shrugged. "You know I've always been good with words. I promise that I'll say some nice things at your ceremony."
"You better. The best man is often expected to make the first toast." Ben replied.
Archer looked at him in astonishment. "The best man?"
Ben looked back. "Of course, who else?"
Archer smiled broadly and punched Ben on the shoulder before hugging him. "It would be an honor."
"I was serious though, you better come up with something good." Ben replied. "And this also means that I'll be able to burden you with all stressful wedding activities."
Archer's shoulders sagged. "Well, that became unappealing very quickly."
Ben hit Archer on the shoulder. "You know that you'll get help from the maid of honor, thought I doubt if Evie will even consult you for any decision."
Archer looked over at Evie, who was already having a heated discussion with Jane and Doug, probably regarding the wedding.
"I think it'd be best if I'd just let her handle things." Archer proposed.
"I wouldn't blame you. I actually don't have that many demands, I mostly want it to be Mal's day." Ben said.
"Nah, I will do my best. Consider it an early wedding present from me to help as much as I can with organizing." Archer replied.
"Again, you'll probably have to deal with Evie. I'm not even sure if I'll have a say in any of this." Ben grinned.
"But still, this will be a lot to handle. Surely, she'll accept any help offered, right? I mean, with everything involving the location, the people and the… ooh." Archer suddenly stopped.
"What?" Ben asked.
"Dude, I just thought… You are going to have your hands full with the press from now on. I mean, this is a royal wedding, they'll become rabid." Archer said.
Ben groaned. "Damn, I hadn't even thought of them. God, they'll probably be here to ambush us by tomorrow. Or, do you know if any news has already leaked?"
Archer checked his phone. "Ehm, yep. #royalwedding is already trending, followed by #benandmal and #allhailthequeen."
Ben groaned again. "So far for keeping this under wraps I guess."
"Don't worry about it." Archer advised as he guided Ben back into the crowd. "Tonight, is still your night and you will enjoy it goddammit!"
Ben grinned. "I guess I will leave my worries for tomorrow then."
Archer nodded. "Exactly. And who knows, maybe the press will finally take it down a notch?"
"KING BEN! KING BEN! HOW DID YOU PROPOSE?"
"MAL! HAVE ANY WEDDING PLANS ALREADY BEEN MADE?"
"WHAT IS THE REASON YOU DECIDED TO GET MARRIED AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE?"
"KING BEN! HAVE YOU HEARD OF ANYONE VOICING THEIR DISPLEASURE WITH YOUR FIANCÉ?"
These questions and hundreds more had already pretty much been thrown at Mal and Ben the entire morning. After their engagement was made public the previous night, the two of them had been pulled out of their beds ridiculously early by Fairy Godmother and Ben's parents.
"It's barely morning, what's this about?" Mal mumbled sleepily after Belle and Fairy Godmother had tenderly awoken her.
"Sweetie, the press is already here. They demand an audience with you and Ben." Belle answered.
"Already!? What? Can't this wait until, like, noon or something?" Mal asked, her mind now starting to awake.
"I'm afraid not, dear. In the case of a royal engagement, the press has the right to call an audience at any given time." Fairy Godmother explained.
"Where's Ben? Does he know?" Mal continued.
"Adam and Lumière are waking him up as we speak. The two of you are expected at entrance in about fifteen minutes." Belle replied.
"Fifteen minutes!? My god!" Mal wailed as she threw her head back on her pillow.
"Mal, get up!" A third voice said.
Mal raised her head and saw Evie come out of the bathroom, fully clothed. Mal just groaned in response and pushed her face back into her pillow.
"Mal, come on! I already have an outfit for you, if we just apply some simple make-up and quickly style your hair, you'll have time to eat before facing the press." Evie explained.
That got Mal's attention. If anything, she wanted to have something in her stomach before having to possibly face a mob of flashing cameras and shouted questions for the duration of the morning.
"Fine! Fine!" She mumbled as she slowly slid out of bed.
"Good." Belle said stiffly.
Mal noticed that Belle looked at her differently than usual, her usually loving face now mixed with something resembling worry.
"Anything wrong, Belle?" Mal asked.
"What? No, it's nothing sweetie. Just… Well, you don't find out that your only son is going to get married every day." Belle replied.
Mal's eyes widened. She had just realized that neither her or Ben had faced either of his parents ever since the announcement of their engagement had been made.
"Oh my god, Belle! I'm so sorry, we should have told you. It's just… we wanted to keep things under wraps, but then Evie found out and the others came and…" Mal rambled.
Belle shushed her. "Shh, Mal. It's all good, sweetie. Ben had told us of his desire to marry you and we're glad to finally officially welcome you into our family."
Mal gave a sigh of relief and hugged Belle, who, she just realized, would become her mother-in-law.
"Mal!" Evie hissed. "Sorry to interrupt your tender moment, but we only have thirteen minutes for you to get ready!"
Mal quickly sat down in front of Evie, who grabbed her make-up supplies and got to work on Mal. Belle and Fairy Godmother both left to prepare the press.
Within eight minutes, Evie had applied a sufficient amount of make-up and put Mal's purple hair in a simple pony tail. Evie had also picked out one of Mal's favorite purple dresses.
"Good luck." Evie said once Mal was ready to go.
"I'll need it." Mal replied.
She stood up and headed for the door, only to have someone knock right before she reached it. Mal opened up and saw Ben standing in the hallway, wearing a neat, blue suit and holding a tray of food.
Ben looked a bit stunned at first after Mal opened the door, but a broad smile quickly appeared on his face.
"You look beautiful." He said.
Mal just groaned and pulled Ben inside. "We only have a few minutes left, please give me food."
Ben handed her the tray, which held oatmeal with strawberry yoghurt and a glass of orange juice.
"I tried to postpone it, but the press has really put their foot down this time. They are still reeling after I sent them away after the dance." Ben tried to explain.
Mal had her mouth full, so she just nodded.
"Thank you for all your help, Evie." Ben said.
Evie waved her hand. "It's no problem, I'll probably have to face much more when the wedding planning actually starts."
"Oh yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. Archer, as my best man, should probably also be involved in some way." Ben said.
Evie bit her lip. "Well, he can sit and watch. I have actually already conjured up a vague outline with Doug and Jane, I don't really know where Archer will fit in."
Ben's shoulders sagged. "He just wants to help, promise me that you won't turn him down."
Evie seemed reluctant, but sighed nonetheless. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. Or, what he can do actually."
"Ben!" Mal suddenly said from behind him. "I'm finished, let's go."
Without waiting for a reply, Mal grabbed Ben's hand and dragged him out the room, waving to Evie in the process.
"Are you ready for this?" Ben asked with genuine concern.
"Of course, it's not like I haven't faced them before." Mal replied as she turned to Ben.
Ben noticed a small speck of strawberry yoghurt on Mal's chin, and he couldn't suppress a smile.
"What?" Mal asked.
"Here." Ben said as he wiped the speck off of Mal's chin with his thumb. "Don't want to let the press know you're a messy eater."
Mal smiled back, but it was somewhat of a sad smile. "Can you, just, hold me for a second."
Ben didn't respond, but instead put his arms around Mal in a tight embrace. Ben had always loved the way she so easily fit in his arms, it made it all the easier to see her as the center of his world. Mal was equally happy whenever the two of them hugged. For her, there was no safer place than in the arms of the person she loved.
"We can do this, together." Ben softly said as he stroked her back.
"Together, always." Mal replied before kissing him.
Back to the present, where both Ben and Mal were currently being blinded by flashing cameras and deafened by screaming reporters. Mal had honestly tried her best to answer all questions to the best of her ability, but quickly felt her temper rise and her level of annoyance start to grow. While Ben didn't show it on his face, Mal knew that he felt exactly the same way, she saw it in his eyes.
It had already easily been over two hours and, given the ridiculously early time at which she had to get out of bed, Mal felt absolutely exhausted. As much as she now liked to consider herself a level-headed person, Mal couldn't trust herself to not wish a thousand curses on each reporter in front of her. She knew that it was their job to gather all news, but could they really not try to harass them like this.
Mal was awoken from her thoughts when Adam suddenly stepped in front of them and addressed the reporters.
"Everyone, please!" He yelled with his thunderous voice. "The king and his fiancé have had a very busy night, so I urge you all to come back at later scheduled times. This audience is at an end."
The reporters naturally protested this announcement, but Mal could hardly understand them as Belle and Fairy Godmother directed her and Ben back inside. Mal's mind was numb from the constant questions and the flashing of the cameras, and she felt a sharp pain in her temple.
"Are you alright?" Ben asked in a tired voice. Now that they had gotten out of side of the reporters, Ben had allowed himself to finally let his fatigue show.
"Yeah, fine. It just never gets easier though, does it?" Mal replied.
"Well, as long as you are with me I don't mind so much." Ben said.
Mal put her head on Ben's shoulder and closed her eyes, instantly feeling better now that they didn't have a horde of eager reporters at their doorstep.
"You two go get some sleep." Belle suggested. "You had a long night and a busy morning, we need you sharp and attentive at the official proclamation this afternoon."
"That sounds good." Ben said with a large yawn. "What do you think, Mal?"
Mal just nodded, not wanting to open her eyes.
"We'll wake you around lunch time." Belle said before she and Fairy Godmother walked back towards the entrance.
"Come on Mal." Ben said as he nudged his shoulder. "I'll take you to your room."
"Can I stay with you?" Mal mumbled.
Ben grinned. "Well, who would I be to refuse my wife-to-be?"
Mal looked up, her green eyes wide open. "Can you carry me?"
Ben's grin widened. "You just can't get enough, can you?"
Mal pouted. "Pretty please."
Ben didn't need to hear any more, instead grabbing Mal under her knees and back, carrying her bridal style. Mal rested her head in the crook of Ben's neck. "I love you." Was the last thing she said before her tiredness took over, and she fell asleep in Ben's arms.
Some loud noise awoke Mal from her sleep. She looked around Ben's room, which was where she was currently laying on a king-size bed.
Ben was still next to her, snoring loudly and fast asleep. The rest of the room looked normal, except for something to her left. In front of a window, a golden vase with several blue flowers had fallen into shards, which had probably been the sound that woke her up. As she looked, a hand suddenly appeared on the window frame. Someone was breaking in!
"Hey!" Mal yelled loudly.
The hand let go of the window frame, which was immediately followed by the sound of a scream and a crash.
"Wha-?" Ben mumbled from next to Mal, having apparently also woken up from the ruckus.
Mal jumped up and ran over to the window. When she looked out, she saw a man laying on his back at the bottom of the building, groaning in pain.
"Hey!" Mal yelled again.
The man looked up in fright, scrambled back up and ran off, a camera dangling around his neck.
"What? What's wrong?" Ben asked from behind her.
"Someone tried to break in!" Mal said loudly as she turned to Ben, who was now sitting on the edge of his bed.
"What!?" Ben exclaimed as he stood up. "Who?"
"Some kind of paparazzi, he just fell down from the window!" Mal replied.
"Is he alright?" Ben asked as he joined Mal at the window.
"Ben! He tried to break in! Should we really be wondering if he's okay at all?" Mal questioned.
Ben sighed. "Well, maybe. I am actually supposed to look after my people."
"Ben, we have to do something about the press. This is the final straw." Mal said with conviction.
Ben sighed again. "Damn, I had really hoped that they would start to lay off, I've warned them plenty of times."
"Yes, but they just proved that they don't listen. Ben, all they do is harass us whenever we go outside, can we please take some sort of precaution?" Mal pleaded.
"We already have security around the school, I'm not sure what more we can do about it." Ben replied.
"Some punishment at least. I mean, these guys have broken in here, like, five times now. At least take their cameras away." Mal suggested.
"I will do more than that, I'll message my father right away to start up a new proclamation. Any type of damage done by the press will now be counted as harassment, to which a legal punishment will follow. Hopefully this will discourage most form attempting stunts like this again." Ben summed up.
"Good." Mal said as she sunk back down on the bed.
"You okay?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, I'm just so tired of the press. Really, Ben. I'm fed up with the way they shamelessly harass people and still try to claim to be the good guys." Mal told him.
Ben nodded. "I get it. If there was an easy to fix this, I would do it. But I still have to respect my people and their profession."
"I would just like to have a world where we do not have these freaks breathing down our necks all the time." Mal confessed.
"And we will. Together, we will make this world a better place. And I'm king, so I can actually keep that promise." Ben said with a satisfied smirk.
Mal smiled back at him. "Since when did you get so cocky?"
Ben stroked his chin, pretending to think. "Well, a short time ago I was introduced to supposedly the evilest girl in the world."
"What was she like? Was she pretty?" Mal asked with a pout.
Ben sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "You wouldn't have liked her at all. She was way too witty, cheeky and confident."
"But was she pretty?" Mal repeated.
Ben grinned. "She was the most beautiful girl in the world and soon she will be the most beautiful bride."