By the time Helga's ship docked in Corona, it was late at night; too late for Gaston to try to talk to his mom. He decided it would be best to stay the night in the cabin in the woods where he grew up.

Gaston wasn't born into royalty. In fact, he had been born poor. He lived with his parents in this small cabin. His father owned a tavern, but barely made enough money for his family to survive off of. Gaston's father hunted to provide food and taught Gaston to hunt at an early age.

Now the grass around the cabin was overgrown and there were vines creeping up the wood siding. Inside, the floor was peppered with leaves and dirt and the cabin smelled of rotted wood. It was no longer fit to live in, but it was good enough for the one night.

"This place is disgusting," Helga griped.

Gaston ignored her. He hadn't invited her to stay in his cabin with him; she just followed after him and complained the whole way.

He lit a candle that sat abandoned on the table by the door and held it up in front of him. The cabin was even smaller than he remembered. There was a kitchen that could barely fit more than two people off to the left and an even smaller washroom in the back; the rest of the cabin was one room that was used as the living area and bedrooms. When he was growing up, the room had been divided with a dressing screen to make two bedrooms. His parents slept on the only bed while Gaston slept on the couch. When Gaston and his mother moved to the castle, Gaston used this as his hunting cabin and over the years broke down the dressing screen and couch to use them as fodder for the fire place. Now the only furniture in the cabin was the dining table and chairs, the bed, a nightstand, and a trunk containing spare weapons and bedding.

"What's the plan?" Helga asked.

Gaston set the candle on the nightstand before stripping the bed of its current bedding and replacing it with somewhat unscathed bedding from the trunk.

"Gaston?"

"I'm working on it."

Gaston had no idea what would happen in the morning when he went to see his mother. He wasn't expecting a warm welcome, nor did he think she'd turn him away, either. How he was going to bring up the subject of him becoming king and convincing her to let him rule was another matter altogether.

His real problem, though, was not how he was going to become king- he was certain he'd be able to figure that out. No, his real problem was Helga. He'd never make the manipulative daughter of Davy Jones his queen.

He had to come up with a way to get rid of her.

Once he was back on his own throne, he could have her arrested and hung as a pirate. Or he could simply kill her himself. He could do it right now if he wanted to. She'd die on land so her father couldn't save her. No one would even know; there were plenty of places in these woods to bury a body where it would never be found.

Neither of those were realistic options, though, since they both resulted in pissing off Davy Jones further.

"It's important that you prove to your mother that you're a worthy and proper king," Helga told him, interrupting his thoughts. "She was prepared to deny you the crown because of your murderous behavior. Tell her you've changed and you're ready to take on your responsibilities."

"Telling her I've changed won't be enough."

"You being engaged should be enough to show her you're thinking of the future of the kingdom and ready to settle down."

"She'll never approve of my marrying you," Gaston said. "A marriage with you is not beneficial to the kingdom in any way."

Helga thought for a moment as she undressed for bed. "Then maybe what you need is to look like a hero. You know The Damned is on their way here and they're going to attack and destroy the kingdom to avenge their former captain. Stop them before they can, arrest them, and send them to the gallows. Everyone will see you save the kingdom and they'll look to you as their leader."

It was a tempting idea and Gaston had to admit she was right. Hanging an entire pirate crew- his former crew at that- would be the exact demonstration he'd need to prove to his mother that his pirating days were behind him. But, in all honesty, he didn't really have anything against The Damned. They were Kida's enemies, not his. He just got dragged into it. He knew they were coming for him to avenge Hercules and they won't stop until he's dead. Especially Meg. Still, he had no desire to execute the crew. While he'd rather not die, he understood Meg's need for vengeance; as misplaced as it was.

"Are you coming to bed?" Helga asked. She was sprawled naked across his bed.

She was sexy, Gaston couldn't deny that. But, he hated her to the point where she physically did nothing for him. There were plenty of girls in the kingdom that could satisfy him; he didn't have to settle for her.

"You're sleeping on the floor," Gaston told her, as he began undressing.

Helga laughed. "Yeah right."

Gaston tossed his shirt on top of the trunk. "Just because I agreed to make you my queen, doesn't mean I actually want to be with you."

"You can't be serious."

"I am. Because not only is this just business, but the only reason my kingdom is any danger from The Damned is that you killed Hercules."

Helga sat up. "You could have prevented that by agreeing to this in the first place. Besides, you know Hercules was not the intended target, Meg was."

"I know that, but they don't. So, they're coming after me and they will destroy my kingdom to get to me, if they have to."

"They're pirates, Gaston, not an army. They're not a real threat to your kingdom. The only thing you have to worry about is what my father and I will do to you if you betray me."

Gaston climbed into the bed and straddled Helga. He pulled the knife from his belt and stabbed it into the headboard, barely half an inch from her eye. "Get out of my bed or I'll shove you on the floor myself." She hesitantly got out of bed. Gaston blew out the candle, casting the entire cabin into darkness. When he rolled over onto his back he could see Helga's silhouette standing over the bed. "And put some clothes on; it gets cold in here at night."