Hello everyone, apologies for the long wait. This is in response to Claire12's prompt: the use of the love potion getting out. There are some references to Give Me A Reason in here (so not the canon universe) but they're small enough that you don't need to read that story to read this one.
It was everywhere before Mal even woke up.
Evie was shaking her, urgently calling her name. Mal tried to protest, but suddenly she had a smartphone shoved in her face with a news article on the screen. The title blared: KING COERCED WITH LOVE POTION.
Perhaps because Ben's coronation had occurred only two weeks ago, it took a while for the words to register. Who spelled Adam? Mal wondered sleepily. Then she remembered Ben was king. And the love potion they were talking about - that was hers.
Her name appeared in multiple places in the article. Like all good authors, however, the journalist did not like to reuse words - even names - all that much, and had elected to replace 'Mal' with 'daughter of Maleficent' at least seven times. Mal read through it with horror, and looked up to see her roommate covering her mouth with her hands.
"How did they find out?" Evie whispered.
"I...I don't..." Ben had told his parents the whole story the day after they had started dating 'for real' - for obvious reasons, they had not taken it well. So that brought the total number of people who knew up to seven. Mal hadn't told anyone, meaning there were six possible leaks...realistically, though, Ben and her friends would know better than to jeopardize the new, fragile goodwill they had acquired after defeating Maleficent. So that left Belle and Adam.
No. Ben had mentioned it over dinner. Was Mal already becoming so accustomed to royal life that she had dismissed from her notice the servants who entered and left several times throughout the meal? Who knew how many mouths had shared such scandalous gossip?
"What do we do?"
Mal could not answer. The accusations, the claims, the theories - they were all the more painful because the vast majority had been true, at first. She had tricked Ben into loving her so she could eventually steal the crown. She had put him and all of Auradon in danger. She had used him like he was nothing to her. The guilt already kept her up at night, taking its place among her usual nightmare fodder, but to see it in print - to know that this is what Auradon now thought of her, what Belle and Adam might think of her...what Ben might think of her...
There was a loud rapping on the door, and an unfamiliar male voice. "Mal of the Isle, you are being summoned to council chambers. We are here to escort you."
The girls exchanged fearful glances. Hesitantly, Mal opened the door to see two members of the Royal Guard waiting impatiently outside. On one hand, the small part of Mal's brain that had gone completely off the end found this hilarious. These two men, with their pistols and swords, were supposed to contain her? Should she decide to, she could burn them to a crisp along with anyone else who stood in her way...
No. The evil thoughts had to stop. They were fewer and farther in between, but in moments of anxiety like this, Mal regressed. "Can I at least change?" She had been sleeping in loose shorts and a t-shirt.
"That is not necessary. We must take you immediately."
Evie moved fast, throwing a jacket in Mal's direction. Mal put on her shoes, bid her best friend goodbye, and allowed one of the men to lead her. They tried grabbing onto her shoulders like a prisoner. She shrugged them off, her eyes flashing bright green for a moment, and said, "I'm cooperating. You don't want to make me uncooperative."
They got the hint, and walked on in silence. Out of the Auradon Prep dormitory, into a waiting car, onto the highway, and off at the exit for the Parliamentary Houses they went. Mal knew she was now minutes away from Ben's home castle. She had only visited once.
The guards shuffled her past a massive sculpture of weighing scales into a large stone building decorated with fake columns and overly extravagant carvings. Instead of walking into the Grand Courtroom, where the council regularly met, the men took her down a long hallway and deposited her in a small room with a suspiciously heavy door. Her fears were confirmed when they locked it behind her.
She didn't even have a phone or any way of contacting Ben, though getting signal in here would probably require magic - not that she had her spell book, either. The room was empty except for a chair, a table, and a wall clock. Mal sat.
For the first thirty minutes, she stared at the door, waiting for someone to open it again.
For the next hour, she tried not to listen to the tick-tock of the clock - it was the only sound in the room and it was driving her crazy.
After that, she broke the clock to silence it and no longer knew how much time had passed. What was going on? Where was Ben? Why wouldn't he come get her? She really hadn't had time to change into something more presentable? And the worst question, which she refused to think about - did Ben know she was being treated like a prisoner? Did he...order it?
Mal had gone through the list of spells she had memorized about three times, but could not think of one that would allow her to escape without consequently confirming that she was destructive or monstrous or whatever else Auradon thought about her. She wondered where her friends were, and what kind of treatment they were getting. The four of them couldn't catch a break - though they did kind of deserve to be punished for this one.
Finally, the door slammed open. At first, Mal flooded with relief - it was Ben on the other side. Then she noticed how angry he was - not angry, furious. In a rage, which twisted his face and almost made him look a tiny bit scary. She froze, suddenly unsure.
Then - "They've been keeping you here this whole time?!"
Mal relaxed. He wasn't mad at her, though he would need some calming down.
"Ben - "
There were some words she never thought she would hear Ben use. Surprise, surprise.
"Ben, just tell me what's going on!"
She had to walk over to him and physically block the fist he was slamming into the door over and over again as he cursed himself and the council and quite a few other things that Mal didn't think were relevant. Once she had a hold of his wrist, he paid more attention to what she was saying, though his breathing did not slow and his face did not get any less red.
"They called an emergency council meeting about some stupid article and I came - I was going to have you come eventually too but not like this - plus half the council wasn't even there yet and we had to wait, so I was doing some other stuff and I had my phone off - and now that I think about it that's the dumbest rule in a courthouse that I have EVER heard, so of course I missed like twenty calls from Evie because she doesn't know to have messages forwarded from the front desk. I had no idea, Mal, I swear. I had no idea you were stuck here this entire time because there was no point in you coming before the session even started! I didn't even think they - God, and they pulled you out of bed!" he exclaimed incredulously.
"Who are 'they'?" she asked, much more quiet.
Ben's expression darkened, and he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Could've been anyone. My parents called this session, trying to get ahead of the news. A bunch of people in there looked really smug, and I thought it was because they were going to say 'I told you so' but maybe it was because of this. Ultimately, though, it's the court officers who came to get you, whether they were following someone's orders or not."
"They were wearing Royal Guard uniforms."
Another slew of those words that sounded so, so strange coming from Ben. By way of explanation, he growled, "My dad."
Mal knew Adam had not accepted her. He had told her as much during the aforementioned dinner. But to imprison her like this? To willfully keep Ben in the dark? She was at a loss for words, but she knew one thing. However betrayed she felt, Ben was feeling it multiplied a thousandfold.
She pulled him into a hug, and he returned it almost a little too tightly. "You've got to calm down, Ben," she murmured. "Whatever's going on, it's in a courtroom. I don't know the law as well as you, and I'm sure as hell not as diplomatic as you. If I'm out there by myself, I'm just going to make it worse. I really need you right now."
She felt him nod. "Yeah. Okay." Ben pressed a kiss to her cheek. "We'll figure this out."
They returned to the chamber, as Ben had apparently run out the minute an unwitting court officer told him the 'prisoner' was already in the building. Mal felt ridiculous, dressed as she was in a room full of royals wearing stern suits. Ben did not let go of her hand.
Mal was unfamiliar with this room. The door opened into a hallway flanked by triangular walls, which led to the center of the room. The floor level was only a small square of carpet, large enough to fit a chair (with built-in restraints) and some standing room on all sides. All around were rising theater-style seats, at least fifteen rows. Only the first row was occupied. Mal recognized Fairy Godmother, Adam and Belle, Cinderella and her Prince Charming, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and her husband Kristoff, Princess Aurora, Prince Philip, Queen Leah, King Stefan, Queen Ariel, and King Eric - the council members who had been close enough at the time to attend the emergency meeting. A computer was being held up by a court officer on a railing in front of the seats - the remaining council members, too small for Mal to see, had video called in.
"What gave you the right?" Ben snarled at his father the minute they walked in. The other members muttered among themselves, while Adam stiffened.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You sent for Mal to be held here, without being told anything!"
Belle gave her husband an astonished look, but Adam held his ground. "Yes, I did. Son, you will understand - "
"Don't!" Mal did not know whether he was interrupting his father, or telling her not to sit in the chair she had begun walking towards. Either way, she stayed put.
"Please take note - " Chad's father told the stenographer. "The accused has entered sans summons."
"Accused of what?" Ben and Mal demanded at the same time.
"Sweetheart." Belle, at least, sounded troubled. "After reading today's Auradon Daily, someone brought up the point that you might still be spelled."
Ben was shocked into silence, and Mal's insides went cold. Effectively, the spell had been broken three times - once in the Enchanted Lake, once by true love's kiss, and once by the antidote itself. That had clearly not been enough for some people. They thought she was controlling their king.
She could see Ben's mind working, finally realizing the true situation they were in. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he was ready.
"What is the evidence?"
More muttering. "There is none," admitted Aurora. "But there is doubt, and it must be addressed."
Great. So much for innocent until proven guilty.
"And how do you plan to address it?" the king asked evenly.
"Well," Ariel looked uncomfortably at her peers. "Is there a way to prove you are not under the influence of a love potion?"
Ben glanced at Fairy Godmother, who opened her mouth to say something. Leah cut her off. "There is one way."
Adam asked her, "And what is that?'
The old queen stared impassively back at him. "The spell dies with the caster."
It was as if someone had pressed a 'mute' button. A cough would have sounded like a jet engine at that moment. No one dared breathe. Mal took a step back, for the first time wondering if she would have to fight her way out of here.
Instead of losing his head, however, Ben responded, just as calmly, "Queen Leah, if you dare advocate for someone's murder again, I will have you charged with homicidal intent."
His statement broke the thick veil of stillness that had settled over the council. "You impertinent brat!" Leah barked, while Stefan protested in an equally disrespectful manner at her side. Other council members admonished and silenced them, but Adam's voice carried over them all.
"That is my son! And your king! You will not speak to him that way!"
"Dad. It's fine. If she wants to remain a council member, she'll act like one," Ben said evenly. Mal was not fooled. There was a storm brewing under the surface. "She shouldn't have to be reminded to conduct herself in a manner pursuant to her station. She should know better."
Leah gaped as the humiliation of being told off by a teenager in front of her younger peers began to hit her. Before the bickering began again, Fairy Godmother interjected, "Excuse me! Excuse me, but there is another way...less violent." She glared pointedly at Leah. "We can brew the antidote here, in the council chambers, and King Ben can consume it. If there is no love spell, he will not be harmed. And if there is, we will know." She looked around for approval. Mal sighed in relief. Hopefully there would be no fighting today.
"Perfect," Ben said at once. "All in favor?"
Considering the last suggestion, the council was only too happy to vote for this one.
While Fairy Godmother started to acquire the ingredients and follow the instructions, Mal and Ben ascended the steps to sit behind Belle and Adam. Mal could not find it in her to greet the former king, and instead mumbled, "Hello Belle." Not her full title, but Mal was a bit irked with her as well.
Adam ignored her. "Ben, I understand you think this is unfair. However, there are things that a father must do - "
Ben held up a hand and just gazed at Adam sadly. "Dad...I'm not mad anymore." His father frowned, and even Mal was a little confused, because Ben certainly did not look happy. "I'm not mad. I'm disappointed." Belle inhaled sharply, and Adam's frown deepened. "All my life I looked up to you, considered you a hero and a role model. I wanted to be like you - both as a king and as a man. I know kids get to this point where they realize their parents are human but I've gotten to the point where I realize...you just want her to suffer. You want them all to suffer. You'll be sure there's a back-up reason, but you'll take every opportunity to make them pay - for your mistake. She wouldn't have done any of the things she did if she'd been raised in Auradon in the first place." Ben sighed heavily. "Dad, I know you love me. I love you, too. And I want you to know I'm glad you raised me the way you did. But after all the things you've done to innocent kids, I can't...I can't respect you anymore. This was just the last straw. I'm sorry. I really am. I just wish...I wish you'd done the right thing."
Belle had tears in her eyes, and her husband was as taken aback as Mal was. No one said anything. Mal noticed a tear fall down Ben's cheek as well, but she was paralyzed by what he'd said and couldn't reach out.
A sheepish Fairy Godmother tapped Ben on the shoulder. "I am so, so sorry to interrupt this family discussion, serious as it is, but...I need that." She swiped Ben's tear with her finger, much to the astonishment of all four of them, and returned to the potion.
Mal glared at the woman's retreating figure, but was finally able to cover Ben's hand with her own. She only saw pain in his eyes when he turned to look at her. That was the moment, Mal thought later, that she vowed to never commit an act of evil ever again. She never wanted to be the reason Ben felt this way.
"I'm sorry Auradon keeps trying to hurt you," he told her. "And I'm sorry I'm not enough to keep you safe."
"You are!" she protested. "Ben, you think I've never had my life threatened before? Yeah, it sucks that this happens here, and that it's just us Isle kids targeted, but it's still a million times better than the Isle. And that's because of you." She squeezed his hand. "I have a home, because of you. You're - " Mal had never been very good with 'the mushy stuff', as she had previously referred to these conversations. "Just...don't think you're not enough. You're...everything."
She had gotten Ben to smile. It was the little victories, Mal learned.
"Darling." At first, Mal thought Belle was talking to Ben, but then the Queen Mother placed a hand on her knee. "I am so sorry for what we put you through today. And every day. Ben is right; this was the wrong thing to do." Mal appreciated it, but couldn't help feeling it was too little, too late.
"Yes. So sorry," spat Adam. "It's all our fault, isn't it? All my fault. My fault for trying to keep my kingdom safe. My fault for bringing peace to Auradon these twenty years. So sorry that you had to endure injustice for that to happen!"
"Injustice?" Mal repeated quietly before Ben rebutted. "I've been beaten, cut - " She still had her scars from the fight with her mother, but there were much older ones she bore - some on her arms and easy to show. " - isolated, starved, locked up. My friends have been abused, molested, nearly killed. But no, thanks for your insincere apology. It means a lot." She shook her head in frustration. "Why is it so hard for you to understand that we were innocent - all we did was exist - and you treated us like the worst criminals in your kingdom?" Her voice slowly rose. "Why did you keep us there? Why didn't you care about us? What had we done to you to deserve that? How could you sleep at night knowing you could have saved the lives of all the children who died on that island, but chose not to? Why didn't you ever come for us, Adam?" Her voice was shaking more than she wanted it to, but she'd been waiting a long time to say that. Sixteen years of seeing Auradon just across the bay and wondering why she couldn't be there.
Adam finally listened to her. He could not avoid it - had she been any louder, others nearby would have heard and at first, he was trying to save face. The more she spoke, however, the more wound up he got - she fully expected him to punch her in the face at any moment. Instead, he choked out a sob and shouted, "Because I am a monster, is that what you want to hear? I let children die, even though I knew they had committed no crime. I did not want to give them a chance, and I never wanted to find out if I was wrong about them. I want you to be evil. I want to be justified. I am waiting for you to show your true colors because I want to be right. Because I cannot afford to have been wrong. Because otherwise it means I am still the Beast I always was." Everyone was looking now. "You win, Mal. You are a saint, and I am an animal. You are good, and I am evil."
Ben's face paled. Mal doubted he had ever seen his father like this. Belle was crying, rubbing Adam's arm and trying to convince him, "You're not. You've changed, Adam, you have."
"Dad..." Ben whispered. "This was never about winning or losing. All I wanted was to see you take responsibility. You taught me that's what a good king does. And I thought you, more than anyone else, would know what it's like to be isolated and attacked just because people are scared of you - without knowing anything about you."
The former king buried his face in his hands. "Well, then I was not a good king." His voice was muffled by his palms. "That's what you wanted to hear, right? I was wrong. I am the villain here, for allowing this to happen under my rule. So put me on the Isle, son. Give me the punishment you think I deserve."
"Don't guilt him." Mal wished she hadn't opened her mouth. "Just because that's the punishment you know you deserve." It was the first time she'd gotten a glare from Belle, and even Ben gave her a look that said too far.
She tended to forget, in her hatred of this man, that he was still Ben's father.
So she sat back, and watched as Fairy Godmother put the finishing touches on the brew. Adam had retreated to Belle's arms, more broken and unsure than ever before. Despite everything, she felt a pang of pity for him. Perhaps things would change, now. Maybe he would never approve of her as Ben's girlfriend, but if he could stop randomly imprisoning her, that would be a start.
Ben held a cup of water in his hands, and Fairy Godmother dropped barely a teaspoon of the antidote into it. Ben grimaced at Mal. "I really do prefer baked goods when I'm being spelled."
She nearly said, "I'll keep that in mind," but decided this was not the time nor the place.
He gulped down the glass. Mal was the only one in the room who wasn't waiting with bated breath. It was a nice feeling, to be so sure of how he felt. One constant in a life full of variability.
"Still love me?" she asked him after he'd set the glass down.
Ben grinned. "Still love you."
Mal would never admit how eagerly she'd embraced him then. Kissing him was out of the question in such a formal setting, so it was the best she could do. He caught her gracefully and stroked her hair. Someone, possibly Anna, had started clapping, but almost immediately stopped. The rest of the council spoke to each other in low voices. About what, Mal didn't care. "It's over now," Ben murmured happily. "Hopefully forever."
"I hope so, too." She pulled back enough to rest her forehead on his, and sighed dramatically. "Worst day ever."
Ben winced. "You were nearly gored to death by a dragon two weeks ago."
"Second worst day ever."
He rolled his eyes. "Well, let me wrap up things here and then we can maybe try and salvage it?"
"I think..." Mal bit her lip. "I think we should call today a lost cause. There's someone who needs you more." She nodded in Adam's direction. The older man's eyes were downcast, and though he was talking to Belle, it seemed as though he wasn't entirely present for the conversation.
"Yeah. You're right." He moved to hug her again, his cheek pressed against hers. Though the room was so somber, Mal smiled. She knew he could feel it. Ben pulled away, exhaling slowly. "No chance of you coming with, is there?"
"Not today." Tempers were too hot for that to go well. "Besides, I've got some people waiting for me back home."
Her three friends had been furious, and Mal was getting rather worn out by talking down furious people. She asked them to let her eat in peace and then take a nap. When she woke up, a bouquet of flowers stood in a vase on her nightstand.
"Evie?" she called out. Her roommate was not there.
There were two envelopes that accompanied it. One had her name written on it in Ben's handwriting. Inside, the card read - Sorry for everything that happened today. I hope you're doing better. If it helps, I'm not sure what FG put in that antidote but I think I love you more now. DON'T TELL ANYONE.
She laughed quietly to herself and picked up the other, unmarked envelope. The writing inside was not as familiar.
Mal -
I think it's time we met as we were meant to. Belle and I would like to get to know you, as Ben's girlfriend. Please let us know what time will be convenient.
- Adam