A/N: Let's meet a few new characters shall we. Reminder that I have not read the books or watched any of the animated series so any of the characters I use may differ from how they are portrayed in them. Happy reading!
Mal's POV
Jay, Carlos and I were just leaving the sandwich shop where we decided to have lunch before heading to the castle for our meeting with Ben. Evie was already there because she was doing a final dress fitting with Queen Cinderella and Belle.
We arrived at the castle and were met in the front hall by Lumiere, who took my bag from me. I was going to be spending the next week here at the castle to help Belle host some of the Royals who would be coming into town for the Christmas Ball. The first guests, Mulan and Li Shang, were due to arrive in the morning. Lonnie's brother Li Shang Jr. was unable to attend this year.
"Good afternoon Lady Mal, Jay, Carlos" Lumiere greeted us.
"Hey Lue. Are we meeting in the conference room again?" I asked him.
"Yes my lady" he said to me, so the boys and I headed in that direction.
Evie and Ben were already there waiting for us when we walked in. We sat down and got straight to work. We were able to cross a lot of names off all our lists. Ben, who didn't have a list of his own, just listened to what we had to say about all the kids. I wondered what he thought about all this. Even though he had been to the Isle, he spent less than twenty four hours there and was trapped on Uma's ship for most of that, so he didn't really get to see how things actually were. Now he was getting to see how daily life went on the Isle. Of course he wasn't seeing the worst of it because the surveillance was aimed at the kids, so what the adults did wasn't really shown and they all knew there were cameras, so I'm sure the worst things were happening behind closed doors or in dark back alleys. By the end of the meeting we all agreed to keep an eye on about twelve kids. That was a lot of progress I thought.
Evie and the boys left, stating they would see us at school on Monday. I walked back to Ben's office with him closing the door behind me. Ben walked over to sit behind his desk, setting his computer down on it. I just watched him for a few minutes as he typed and then just watched something on his computer. I figured he was logged into the cameras.
"Tell me what you think of it" I inquired as I walked over and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"What?" he asked, looking up at me. I could tell he wasn't sure what I was talking about.
"The Isle. What do you think now that you are able to see it more?" I clarified. He sighed as he sat back in his seat, slouching slightly and leaning on his right elbow, bringing his hand to his face as he thought how to answer me. As he sat there thinking, I noticed how tired he looked. He was running out of steam I thought.
"I know the Isle is suppose to be undesirable. The point of it was to imprison the villains, but..." he trailed off.
"But?" I urged him to continue.
"I don't like seeing kids live like that" he said.
"Ben.." I began. He stood and walked around his desk to stand in front of me. He leaned his hands back against it, resting his backside on it and crossed his ankles.
"Ben, that is the point of what you're doing right? Giving kids from the Isle a chance so they don't have to live like that" I said looking straight at him. He sighed.
"I just wish that their life never had to be like that. That your life never had to be like that" he said. There it was. The crux of how he felt. He was feeling guilty about how I had lived before coming here. I stood up and stepped up to him placing my hands on his chest.
"It's not as bad as it seems when you are actually living it, trust me" I told him, trying to alleviate his guilt. "I know that a lot of the kids don't deserve to have to live like that, but some of them don't have any good intentions" I said running my hands up and down on his chest. He just looked at me questioningly.
"Your parents sent all the villains to the Isle because of the crimes they committed and to keep those who are good safe. It was the best choice at the time. No one knew that children would be born, but I guess that happens when you no longer have powers and find you have things in common with those around you. Even if those things are evil" I said. I wanted him to understand how things really are. "Yes some of the villains settled down quite a bit, having given up, but there are still some who are vengeful and their children are also vengeful because that's all they know. I mean just look at how I was when I first came and look at Harry Hook. He wanted nothing more than to hurt you" I said thinking back to when they had him on Uma's ship. A shiver ran through me thinking about it. Ben noticed and lifted a hand to my face.
"You saved me and we got away unscathed" he said to me, now trying to reassure me. "You chose to be good" he said.
"Because I fell in love with this really cute boy" I flirted, smiling at him.
"Oh yeah? Anyone I know?" he flirted back. I giggled, glad I was able to shift his mood.
"I think you may have heard of him" I said softly as I leaned in tipping my face up to push my lips to his. I kissed him softly. His hand slid around my waist pulling my body flush against his. The hand he had on my face slid back into my hair, using it to guide the kiss as he slipped his tongue past my lips taking control of the kiss. Oh how I loved when he got dominate like this. Letting his want for me take over. He usually let me set the pace. A shiver of want ran through me has he nipped my bottom lip before he pulled his lips from mine. He used his hand in my hair to tip my head back slightly and pressed his lips to my neck just under my jaw. I moaned out at the sensation. I was in no hurry to stop, but alas, there was knock at the door. I could have screamed in that moment. Ben growled in frustration and I took a small step back breaking our contact.
"You're going to have to answer the door because I need to sit down" he said, breathing in deeply. I knit my brow in confusion and he just motioned to the fact that he was turned on. I nodded and moved toward the door while Ben went to sit back behind his desk, tugging his pants before he sat down.
I opened the door to find Belle standing there. She smiled at me.
"Hey Belle" I said smiling at her.
"Good afternoon" she said giving me a knowing sort of smile. I must have looked like I had been thoroughly kissed, which I had. "I was just looking for you. We need to go over room arrangements before our first guest arrive tomorrow" she told me.
"Ok. Ben and I were just discussing our meeting about the new VKs" I said looking back over at Ben who was leaning forward with his elbows on his desk.
"Ok well I will let you two finish. Can you meet me in the sitting room in ten minutes?" she asked.
"Of course" I said giving her an innocent smile. She turned and headed in the direction of the sitting room and I closed the door behind her. Ben just dropped his head on his desk and I laughed. I walked over to him and ran my hand across his back and shoulders.
"I know this is frustrating, but just think, only one more week and then things will die down and I'm sure we will get some uninterrupted time together" I said.
"Yeah. It was probably for the best anyhow because I forgot to turn off the cameras in here" he said, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh! Who see's that?" I asked feeling a little embarrassed that someone may have seen us. Even though nothing too scandalous happen, it could have.
"Just Prescott, my head of security. We didn't go too far but I can delete the file. The feed is live, so if he saw it there is nothing I can do. I will just have to endure his teasing probably" he said with a shrug.
"Well I better go meet with your mom. I will see you at dinner" I said and leaned down to give him a quick kiss before I made my way to the door.
"Hey Mal" he called.
"Yeah?" I stopped and turn to him.
"I love you" he said with a smile.
"I love you too" I said, smiling back at him before I headed out to the sitting room.
I stepped into the sitting room and saw Belle sitting on the couch with her feet tucked under her, reading a book. It wasn't uncommon to find her like this.
"Less than ten minutes and you're already lost in a book" I teased coming in and sitting beside her on the couch. She just giggled and placed her bookmark in her book and set it down on the coffee table. "
"So room arrangements" I said to her.
"Yes" she said grabbing her phone and scrolling through it. I guess all her notes were on it. "So I think Aladdin, Jasmine, Aziz, Genie and Jordan will be staying in the suite that you usually stay in" she said, still looking at her phone.
"Ok. Where will I be staying?" I asked. I had assumed I would be in the suite, but I guess that would leave an empty bedroom and it would be strange for me to share with someone I wasn't close with.
"You will stay in the guest room next door to Ben's room. It is not technically suppose to be a guest bedroom considering it is next to the King's room and has an conjoining door." she said. I looked at her confused. Why was there a room attached to Ben's?
"This in an old castle. Back in the day Kings and Queens had their own rooms that shared a conjoining door so that they could...um...spend time together" she said with a smirk, answering my confused look.
"So I will be staying in a room that is meant for his queen and has a door that opens to his room?" I asked, a little overwhelmed by this information.
"Yes but don't get any idea's" she said giving me a knowing look. "I have it arranged so that Lonnie will be staying with you. Her parents will be staying in the other guest room down the hall."
"That's fine" I said giving her a small smile. I wonder if she thinks Ben and I are sleeping together now? I mean I didn't come out and tell her we weren't on Thanksgiving. I figured she would assume we weren't. "You know that Ben and I haven't... you know...done it yet, right?" I asked. I didn't want her thinking we had.
"I figured you hadn't" she said to me. "I don't expect you to tell me one way or the other when it does happen dear, but just remember I'm here if you ever do want to talk about it" she said patting my leg. "Now as for Queen Ariel and King Eric, they will stay in one of the guest rooms in the west wing and Queen Tiana and King Naveen will stay in the other" she went on as if talking about Ben and I having sex one day was of no consequence. I loved how laid back Belle was. It made her easy to talk to.
"Who will be staying in the west wing suite?" I asked.
"I think it would work best to put Zeus and his family in the suite" she said looking back down at her phone. "I tried to give the larger parties the suites" she said. I grabbed my phone to pull up the guest list that she sent me a couple days ago.
"Is that everyone who will be staying here at the castle? I asked.
"Yes. I've already called the Auradon Grand and made sure that there are enough rooms reserved for the other royals who are flying in" she said.
"So Queen Cinderella and King Charming, Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene, and Queen Aurora, King Phillip and Queen Leah are the only ones traveling to and from on the day of the ball and aren't staying right?" I asked.
"I believe so" she said looking up at me. "Thank you so much for staying and helping me host this week. Adam was never really helpful and Ben was too young. All Adam would do is hang out with the guys. I know once Aladdin get's here I will hardly see him" she said with a giggle.
"Oh maybe we can arrange a girls night and guys night for the guest staying in the castle" I suggested excitedly as the idea came to me.
"That sounds like a fun idea" Belle said looking back at her phone. "So everyone staying here will all be here by Wednesday and I know that Ben mentioned having a council meeting on Friday afternoon" she said looking at the calendar on her phone. "So Thursday evening is the only free night. Shall we plan it for then?" she asked looking up at me.
"That works for me" I said smiling at her. Just then Adam walked into the room.
"Hey! Are you guys working out ball details or am I interrupting girl talk?" he asked teasingly.
"Actually you have perfect timing. Mal had an idea that we should do a girls night and guys night, while we had so many guest staying with us. Does that sound good to you?" she asked him as he walked over and leaned down to peck her lips then plopped down in the arm chair closest to her.
"I'm always down with guys night. I never get to just hang out with my friends" he said. "When would we be doing this? Remember we have a council meeting on Friday." he said.
"Yes I know, that is why we decided on Thursday" she said.
"Great" he said. "So do you ladies need any help with anything?" he asked us. The look on his face made me think that he hoped we didn't.
"Not really but I would be grateful if you sent a text to Li Shang, Eric, Naveen, Aladdin and Zeus and told them about guys night. That way you guys can plan whatever you want to do. Oh and tell Ben too" she told him.
"We can do whatever we want?" Adam asked looking more excited by the minute.
"Well not whatever you want. Remember that Ben and Aziz are still under age so no bars or nightclubs" she said pointing a finger at him. "I know Ben is king and no one would tell him no but he has a reputation to uphold and like you said we have a council meeting Friday and it wouldn't do for all of you to be hung over at it" she said in an authoritative tone. I tried not to laugh. I guess I know who wears the pants in that relationship.
"Ok I'm sure we can come up with something that is innocent enough" he said putting his hands up in defeat. "I'll text everyone now" he said standing up. "I'll leave you ladies to finish your planning."
I looked at Belle and we both just started to laugh uncontrollably. I took a deep breath trying to compose myself.
"You are going to have to teach me how to do that" I said, a few giggles still escaping me.
"Don't worry, after you get married it comes naturally" she said still giggling herself.
"Why is that?" I asked, my head instantly picturing myself marrying Ben.
"Because you have what they want. You always have what they want" she said winking at me so that I would catch on and I did.
"Oh" I said and we were thrown into another fit of giggles.
I only saw Ben again at dinner, where he asked me if I could join them at the council meeting since the topic of the meeting revolved around him and I. I agreed even though I was nervous about it. I hated confrontation now. To think there was a time when I thrived on it.
The next morning Lonnie came over from the dorms. She wanted to be there when her parents arrived.
"It's kind of weird staying in a room that is attached to Ben's" she said looking at the door that joins our room with his as she unpacked her bag. I just laughed and she looked over at me. "Well I guess it's not weird for you" she teased. "I wonder if Belle put me with you so there won't be any hanky panky going on with you and Ben" she said in a teasing sort of voice. I laughed again.
"Would you tell on me if I were to sneak into his room?" I asked.
"No but that would be super awkward" she said with her eyebrows raised which made me giggle.
"Don't worry. I would never do that. It would definitely be awkward" I said as I silently spelled my water bottle to me from the desk across the room.
"Whoa!" Lonnie said, shock written plainly on her face.
"Oh yeah. Fairy Godmother told me to practice my summoning spell silently. I can now summon things from clear across the room without saying anything" I told her.
"That is so cool! Can you summon things for other people?" she asked.
"I don't know, I've never tried" I thought for a minute and figured I could change the words around in my spell and see if it would work. "Let's try. What do you want to come to you?" I asked. She looked around.
"How about my phone" she suggested, pointing at her phone that was laying on the desk next to where my water had been.
"Ok hold out your hand" I told her. "To Lonnie's hand you shall fly, Lonnie's cell phone now comply" I chanted with a small wave of my hand. Her phone floated straight to her hand and she clapped with excitement. To be honest I was excited too. I wondered if I could do it silently. "Put it back on the desk and let me try to see if I can do it silently" I said excitedly.
Lonnie skipped over and put it back before coming back to stand by her bed and held her hand out again. I turned my attention back to her phone and just as I was beginning to think of the spell in my head there was a quick knock on the door that opened because it wasn't closed all the way. Ben stood in the door way and as my focus shifted to him I watched as he seemed to be pulled against his will. I felt him crash into me. It was a good thing I was sitting on my bed or we would have tumbled to the ground. As it was, Ben was now on top of me on my bed and Lonnie was dying laughing which made me laugh too.
"Hey" Ben said looking down at me.
"Hey. Sorry. Are you ok?" I asked him placing my hands on his chest.
"I could be worse" he teased, smiling at me.
"Well since your here" I said leaning up the few inches and pressing my lips to his.
"Ahem. I'm still here!" we heard Lonnie say breaking us apart.
Ben chuckled and lifted himself off of me. I felt almost cold when he pulled away.
"You were practicing summoning I take it" he said to me.
"Yes and you distracted me again" I said to him.
"So this has happened before?" Lonnie asked.
"Yes when I first came up with the spell I was summoning a jar of pencils. It worked fine verbally, so Fairy Godmother wanted me to try silently. While I was trying, Ben caught my attention and I looked over at him and his chair flew right into mine" I said smiling at Ben who just smiled back. "The thing is I couldn't even summon the pencils silently, but Ben few over so quickly. Fairy Godmother said it was because my magic is emotionally motivated and I'm emotionally attached to him so I will always be able to summon him" I explained. Lonnie just nodded her head.
"Sorry again babe. I didn't mean to" I said looking at Ben.
"My feet tend to always want to move in your direction, so nothing new except for having absolutely no control over it" he said which made us all laugh. "Anyhow I came to tell you guys that Mulan and Li Shang will be here soon" he told us.
"Ok but I want to practice this spell real quick" I said to him. He knit his brow.
"I thought you had the summoning spell down?" he asked questioningly.
"I do, but now I am summoning to other people. Well just Lonnie so far and it work perfectly verbally" I informed him.
"Ok lets see it" he said crossing his arms.
"OK will you move over by Lonnie so you are out of my line of sight please?" I asked him.
"Don't stand behind me though. I don't want you running me over if you go flying into her again" she said with a giggle. He smirked as he moved to stand on the other side of her. I turned my focus back to her phone when Lonnie reached her hand out. I said the spell in my head and was surprised when the phone once again floated straight to her hand.
"I can't believe it worked on the first try!" I exclaimed. "I have to text Fairy Godmother" I said excitedly. Ben chuckled.
"That will have to wait. You have to play host" he said reaching his hand out to me to pull me from the room and we headed down stairs to meet our guests when they arrived.
Aladdin, Jasmine, Az, Genie and his daughter Jordan arrived on Monday afternoon. I met Jordan at school last year, but she decided to home school this year. We never really hung out or anything, but she seemed nice enough.
Queen Tiana, King Naveen, Queen Ariel and King Eric all arrived on Tuesday afternoon. I had never seen the castle so busy. I had never been so busy. I only got to see Ben briefly when a guest would arrive and at dinner time. He wasn't attending classes this week due to all the royals coming into town. If I thought I was busy, it was probably nothing compared to what he has on his plate.
It was now Wednesday and Zeus and his family were going to be coming in this afternoon. I had never met any of them before. We didn't get as north as Olympus on or tour over the summer. Belle told me that Zeus was very fun-loving and kind. I was looking forward to meeting them. They were all technically my family but no one knew that and I had no plans to tell anyone. My father and I had nothing to do with each other so it was easier to pretend I didn't have a dad.
Ben came to my room to get me when it was time to go down stairs to greet Zeus and his family. All the greetings so far had been formal but relaxed. I stood second in line, which was so strange because Belle and Adam both out ranked me, but Ben wanted me by his side so I stood between Ben and Belle as we greeted guests.
I heard Zeus before I saw him. He was commenting on how festive the Christmas garlands and wreaths were that were hung on the outside of the castle. He stepped in with a bright smile on his face. He must have been the largest man I had ever seen. He had Gaston beat by a mile.
"Ben my boy" he said reaching for Ben's hand to shake. "I guess you aren't much of a boy anymore" he said with a chuckle and pulled Ben in for one of those one arm man hugs, then remembering to follow royal protocol, he bowed to Ben.
"I guess I've grown a bit since I last saw you" Ben said smiling at him. Zeus turned his head and smiled at me.
"This must be Lady Mal" he said with a toothy smile. He stepped over to me and took my hand, placing a kiss on the back of it. "You are even more lovely than I was told." He was a charmer I thought.
"Thank you. It is so nice to meet you finally" I said smiling back at him.
"The pleasure is mine" he said before turning his charms over to Belle.
I was then greeted by his wife, Hera. I gave her a small curtsy when she stepped in front of me and she curtsied back.
"Don't mind him, he is friendly to nearly everyone and could charm the bark off a tree" she joked and we both giggled.
"It's lovely to meet you" I said.
"Likewise" she said with a smile before stepping over to Belle.
Hercules was next and like his father he was a large man. Not quite as large as Zeus, but I think he was also larger than Gaston.
"Lady Mal, how nice to finally meet you" he said taking my hand and placing a kiss on it like his father had.
"It is nice to meet you as well Hercules" I said with a smile.
Megara was next in line and pulled me into a hug when she got to me.
"I have been dying to meet you" she said smiling as she pulled away from me.
"It is lovely to meet you Lady Megara" I said.
"Please call me Meg. I can't wait to get to know you better. I'm sure you have some stories to tell" she said squeezing my hands.
Meg and Hercules son, Herkie, was last to greet us. I looked over as he was stepping away from Ben. Like his father and grandfather, he had a large build. Ben had told me he played tourney professionally. He was quite handsome, with tan skin, golden brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He was soft spoken as he greeted me. I felt Ben shift beside me as Herkie took my hand, then I felt Ben's hand begin to stroke my lower back.
"Lady Mal" is all he said before he kissed the back of my hand. I felt Ben's hand flex against my back. "It is an honor to finally meet you." He seemed to be just as charming as his father and grandfather.
"It is nice to meet you as well" I said with a smile. Ben's hand went back to stroking my back and I looked at him wondering why he was suddenly touching me. He hadn't felt the need to make contact before now while greeting any of our guests. I looked up at him as Herkie stepped over to greet Belle. He gave me a tight smile and pulled me into his side before looking back over at Herkie. Then it clicked. Ben was feeling a little possessive and quite possibly jealous. I felt the need to put him at ease. I lifted up on my toes and whispered in his ear.
"Don't worry. He's not my type" I said to him. He grinned and leaned down to whisper back.
"You don't have a type. I'm the only guy you have ever dated" he said.
"Of course I have a type" I whispered back before I let my eyes run up and down him. "It's just very singular" I said with a smirk and his grin turned into a full fledged smile.
I think we may see a little more jealous Ben but it won't cause any drama (I don't think). Ok so the council meeting will have the full council minus 2 people. What I want to know is if you want me to actually name every character in attendance? There will be 31 council members there plus Mal. I do not have a problem listing them all as I know I would be interested to know who is attendance, but like I said it's a lot of people. Let me know.
Reviews are love!