Chapter Thirty Five
A/n: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everyone else is either owned by Disney or the Greek Myths.
Woo, okay! The chapter I think a lot of you have been waiting for is here! Or at least, some of what you all were waiting for!
Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter! Thank you all for your continued support and I hope to provide the same quality in each chapter! :D
As always, special thanks to AmethystDragon14...without you acting as my sounding board, I'd have it the wall known as writer's block multiple times by now!
Mal sighed as she put her books away into her locker. Today was the day. It was the day she was going to give Ben the cookie. She didn't want to but there was no other choice—Ben seemed determined to stick his relationship with Audrey out even though any affection there was clearly one sided. Audrey only cared about one thing-the crown that came with Ben.
Said girl was currently chattering Ben's ear off about makeovers Blueberry had given some of the girls who were sitting out on the quad. Mal had to give the blue haired girl credit where it was due—she was good at the whole fashion thing.
"She did it with Jane too and Fairy Godmother's not happy about it," Audrey said.
"What's the harm?" Ben asked and unless Mal was mistaken, he sounded amused by the whole thing. "Evie's not hurting anyone and it's clear the other girls like the makeovers."
"Oh Bennyboo, don't you see? It's a slippery spiral! First it's the outfits, then it's the hair. Next thing you know it's the lips and the legs and then everybody looks good and then…where will I be?"
Mal ducked her head behind her locker so Sleeping Brat wouldn't hear her snort of amusement. Of course that would be what Audrey took issue with. Not the fact that it was Blueberry doing the makeovers but that other girls looked as good or better than Audrey.
"Listen, Audrey—" Ben started and Mal stilled. Is the cookie not going to be needed? Is Ben actually going to use his spine and break it off with Sleeping Brat?
"I will see you at the game after my dress fitting for the coronation, okay?" Audrey said, cutting off whatever Ben was going to say.
"Okay," Ben sighed. As did Mal. As Audrey walked off, Mal grabbed the baggie that held one cookie. The rest were in a locked box under her bed to prevent anyone else from eating them and accidentally getting spelled themselves. They would be disposed of after Ben broke it off with Sleeping Brat and Mal gave him the antidote.
"Hey Bennyboo!" Mal teased as she closed her locker. "You have pretty good posture for someone without a backbone."
Ben chuckled as he turned to face Mal. "Hey," he said, brightening up as he saw her and walked toward Mal.
"I just made a batch of cookies. Double chocolate chip, do you want one?" Mal asked, holding up the baggie, waving it in front of him as if to tempt him.
"Oh thanks Mal," Ben said. "But we've got the championship game later and I don't eat before a big game. Can I take it for after?"
"Doesn't the team go out for 'victory pizza' after winning a game? That's what Jay told me and something tells me that's definitely the case for if you win the championship. You won't want the cookie then."
"Oh right," Ben nodded. "But I mean, we may not win. No win equals no pizza. So I'll need something to cheer me up. I'll tell you what, if we do win I'll only eat two slices of pizza so I'll still be hungry for the cookie. Deal?"
"I mean…they are fresh from the oven," Mal told him, biting her lip. "But I guess you're being smart, not to trust us I mean. Don't eat treats offered by kids from the Isle after all. I'm sure everyone's saying it."
"No, no, no! Mal, it's not that—"
"No, no, like I said, you're being smart," Mal reassured him before sighing. "Oh well, more for me."
Before she could pretend to go for the cookie, Ben snatched the bag out of her hands. "See, totally trust you," he said as he bit into the cookie.
Mal couldn't help but smile slightly at that. She didn't know why but hearing Ben say he trusted her…Gods Ben was going to hate her when he found out she spelled him. Plus her parents were going to ground her until they figured out a way to kill a God if they ever found out about this.
"Do you like it?" Mal asked softly as Jay and Carlos walked up.
Ben nodded, humming in approval as he swallowed the bite he'd taken. Before he could say anything else, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. It was almost like he was being stabbed by thousands of tiny knives from the inside.
"Yeah…I'm um I'm really liking the walnuts and the chocolate chunks," Ben said, resisting the urge to race to the bathroom before he deposited the cookie on Mal's shoes.
Mal stared at Ben in concern, she knew the spell had the best reviews but they didn't say anything about causing the person being spelled to sweat like they had a fever. Was it Lonnie's tear? Was it the chocolate? Did he have an allergy to walnuts? Oh gods, why did she put the walnuts in? They were optional in the recipe after all!
"Excuse me Mal," Ben said softly. For once not caring about how it might be perceived by others, Ben raced to the nearest men's bathroom and locked himself in a stall. Draping himself over the porcelain throne, Ben proceeded to throw up the cookie. And his dinner from the night before.
He knew what this was now. His parents had warned him back when he was twelve and his father had the 'talk' with him. When Ben was born, his parents had a christening for him as all royals did. Instead of getting the gifts of beauty and song like Aurora had, Ben had been gifted with the gift of Goodness, the gift of Hope and the gift of being immune to love potions or spells.
Really Merryweather should have come up with all the gifts. Her's were always the most practical. The issue was the side effect of the gift—because of the immunity, anything that had been laced with a love spell or potion would cause his body to forcefully expel it.
Panting heavily as the vomiting subsided, Ben wiped his brow that still shone with sweat. Mal..Mal had spelled him. With a love spell. She had feelings for him too!
Granted it wasn't the most logical jump to make but this was the first time Ben had ever been spelled like that—plus, you know, gift of Hope. He had to be hopeful.
But there was another reason why Ben thought that Mal might have feelings for him. She had come into his office a couple nights prior, actually it'd been the same night as the Tourney practice that Mal had observed. Anyway, she walked in, brandishing Emir's phone like it was a weapon.
"Ben? Put the paperwork down!" Mal exclaimed, barging into his office. "You need to answer one question, one that could change your life!"
"Huh?" Ben asked as he looked up, working on paperwork yet again. "Life changing questions? Mal, what are you talking about?"
Mal sighed and leaned on Ben's desk, putting Emir's phone between them. "Ben, answer this question honestly. No 'yes but I should really….' but an honest answer. Do you want out of your betrothal contract?"
Ben paused. "Well I mean, does any sixteen year old really want to be in a betrothal contract?"
"That's not what I asked," Mal said as she crossed her arms over her chest and Ben sighed.
"Well I mean…look okay, honest answer? Yeah getting out of it would be great but I gave my word—"
"Then you'll be happy to know that the contract is null and void anyway," Mal said as she sat down across from him.
"How? That contract's been finalized since Audrey and I were three, though we only started officially dating last year."
"That's exactly what I mean Ben. It was finalized when you were three. A three year old can not give consent so the contract doesn't even have the consent of the concerned parties. As I told Akiho and Emir at Tourney practice, a contract or deal needs to have consent—otherwise it's a hostage situation. Trust me Ben, I know my way around contracts and deals. It's kinda my dad's thing."
"Mal, I…I gave my word I'd see this contract through," Ben said softly.
"Ben, you gave your word on a contract that was made when you were still thinking about mud puddles and thought girls were gross," Mal said gently. "Unless it's been renegotiated, you could get out of the contract right this minute and no one could be upset with you."
Ben shook his head. "Unless there's been a meeting that I'm not aware of, the contract hasn't been renegotiated. Mom and dad, they…they'd prefer to minimize their contact with Queen Leah."
"Yeah I don't blame them for that," Mal snorted. "But Ben, you're not bound to this contract. You're not a prized horse to breed, you're a teenager. If you want out, there's no legal reason to hold you to the contract."
Ben stared at Mal in shock. "Mal, I…I'm supposed to marry Audrey. Even if the contract's void, even if I wanted to get out of it, all it would do is show me as someone who doesn't keep their word. Not a good look for the king."
"Ben, every other king from here to the Underworld got to pick who they wanted to marry. Why shouldn't you? Why are you treating yourself like some sort of sacrificial lamb?"
"Mal, I'm not treating myself like a sacrificial lamb but a promise was made by my family on my behalf and I should keep it. Would I prefer to marry for love? Of course I would but—"
Mal sighed and shook her head. "Okay…I didn't want to have to play this card but…Ben you want to be a good king right? You want your people to be happy?"
"More than anything," Ben said, looking more than a little confused at the change in topic. "It's why I push myself so hard, to make sure I can get the work done for the kingdom."
"Yeah, we're gonna touch on that later. But Ben, how are you going to rule them properly or make sure they're happy if you aren't happy in the relationship you're in? Ben, anyone with eyes can see you're miserable."
"Mal, there's so much more to think about than my being happy. We're talking political alliances., trade agreements, Queen Leah not being a thorn in my side for the rest of my life—"
"So that means because some old bat can't keep her nose out of your life, you're expected to be miserable?" Mal asked. "Yeah, that seems fair Ben. Come on, even Aurora picked Phillip. If Leah's daughter ended up picking the person she ended up spending the rest of her life with, then honestly Leah has no grounds to dictate that you follow through with the contract."
Ben sighed. "I just…Mal I want the kingdom to do well, for my people to be happy and thrive. But I also...Audrey and I used to be the best of friends. I don't want to risk that friendship over a contract."
Mal bit her lip, she had heard that from Akiho and Emir. Of course she had also heard their rants on her the few times they'd forgotten Mal was with them. She had heard about how Audrey clearly only cared about the crown…about how Ben was putting in all the work in the relationship…how they were worried about what the added stress was doing to Ben…
"Ben, from what I've seen and from what I've heard from others…the friend you used to have? She's not there anymore," Mal said softly. "She was the only one to point out that you were the future king our first day here. That's all she sees."
Ben sighed. "Audrey…she does like to emphasize social standing," he muttered. "The few times we've fought were because she tried to say I shouldn't hang out with Emir and Akiho since they're only half royal and I'm 'crown prince'. Never mind the fact they've been my best friends for twelve years or the fact that I'm half royal too…"
"See?" Mal said with a sigh. "If Audrey's trying to say who your friends are and isn't taking into account that she's basically insulting you to your face at the same time…is your friendship still there Ben? Do you really want someone who has no problem insulting you ruling the kingdom that you seem to care so much about? Is that really the type of person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Not just as king and queen but as husband and wife?"
"If I'm honest? No," Ben sighed. "Audrey's more interested in the titles than the actual kingdom. She…she wasn't happy that I was bringing you guys over from the Isle."
Mal sighed. "Ben, I can't force you to do anything here but you're clearly not happy…for the sake of the kids who are still on the Isle, I…I can't just stand around and watch as you subject yourself to be miserable for no real reason."
Ben shook his head, pulling himself out of his thoughts. Mal had tried to talk him out of his contract, had tried to spell him…if that wasn't the universe telling him something needed to change, Ben didn't know what was.
Fishing his phone out of his pocket, Ben dialed his mom's number and took a steady breath. "Hey mom? Do you have a sec? Everything's fine, I'm not in trouble…I was hoping to talk to you about the betrothal contract? Yeah um…do you remember when I was twelve and you told me if I ever wanted out of it, you'd get me out? Can I take you up on that? Wait, really? All I needed to do was ask? Mom, I…I really appreciate this. I know we spent years in an agreement with Audrey and her family but..she's just..I don't think we're compatible. You'll handle it? And talk to Aurora? Mom, thank you. I don't mean to put more work on you this close to coronation but thank you. Yeah I'll eat after the game. Love you too and thank you again. Bye."
He couldn't help but chuckle as he put his phone away. Now there was only one more thing he'd need to do—officially end it with Audrey.
Gods he had a better chance of convincing his mother that she didn't need to get a book every time they went shopping. To be fair though Ben was just as bad in that regard.
Sighing, Ben stood up and went over to the sink to rinse his mouth out. Vomiting was not fun. At all.
Once he was sure his mouth was thoroughly rinsed out, he left the bathroom and went to Audrey's dress fitting. Thankfully it was on campus so Ben was able to located it easily. Fortunately, Audrey seemed to be finishing up as she was in her regular clothes and not her coronation dress. At least Ben assumed they were her regular clothes.
"Bennyboo! Did you come to walk me to the game?"
"Actually, Audrey…I was wondering if I might have a word?" Ben said as he walked into the room. He noticed that the seamstress and her assistant quietly scurried out, as if to give the royals their privacy.
"Of course Bennyboo," Audrey grinned. Ben sighed but knew he had to do this. It was only fair to Audrey.
"Audrey, I…I spoke to my mom early about our betrothal contract. I—"
"Yes? Oh, did you want to start discussing possible wedding dates? You should have told me Bennybear! We could have had the phone on speaker and I could have been there with you!"
Ben shook his head. "No Audrey. I…I called my mom to revoke my consent to the contract. We were three when it was finalized, we shouldn't be held to it when we couldn't even consent to it."
Audrey's smile became very fixed as she stared at him, obviously in shock. "Excuse me?"
"Audrey, I…I'm serious. I requested to be released from our betrothal contract as I no longer consent to it. I…I hope we can still be friends though."
"Bennyboo, you must be joking! You…you wouldn't actually ask to be released from the contract! I'll talk to Grammy, we'll get this straightened out! This has to be a mistake!"
"Audrey, there is nothing to get straightened out," Ben told her. "My consent's been revoked for about half an hour now. You can talk to your mom but I'm sure she'll call you once my mom's done talking with her."
"Wait, are you breaking up with me? You can't do this Ben! We've been betrothed since we were three! You can't just walk away from that! You can't take this away from me! I'm supposed to be queen! What, is it stress from coronation? Classes? Tourney? How can you just walk away from what we have?"
Ben sighed. "Audrey, be honest with me. What do we have? What else do we do together other than shopping?"
"We have a contract Ben! A promise we both made, not only to each other but to our families! Are you just going to walk away from that?!" Audrey exclaimed and then took a breath. "I know what this is. Professional Tourney players do it all the time to avoid distractions in important games—Chad told me. I will see you after the game Bennybear and we can go over possible wedding dates."
Giving him an air kiss on the cheek, Audrey walked out of the room. Ben stared after her in shock—while he hadn't expected she'd take it well, he hadn't expected that.
Great. What am I going to do now? Ben thought as he started to make his way to the field. It was game time.
