Why had she been so rude to those children?

There wasn't much of a difference between her and them. Just like them, she craved to be noticed by her parents; for them to be proud of her. And yet, they were always too busy with their royal responsibilities, so her grandmother practically raised her, much to her disdain.

Maybe that's why she was so rude to those children. Maybe she thought if she did something truly awful and vicious, her parents would have to see her. They would have to scold her and give her a punishment that would teach her a lesson.

Of course, her plan didn't go as planned . . . but her punishment from the king turned out to be a reward, as she didn't want to leave the place that felt like home to her.

Most importantly, she didn't want to leave him.

Let's turn the pages of this story to the beginning—to the afternoon before her punishment began.

Princess Audrey, the daughter of Queen Aurora and King Philip, knew she went too far the moment she saw little Dizzy Tremaine—one of the four newest transfer students from the Isle of the Lost—shed a tear then proceed to run away, with Celia Facilier running after her, so no one else could see the others that were bound to follow.

Audrey didn't really mean to make the young teen cry. The princess just gave her honest opinion, though she admittedly said it quite harshly. Perhaps she could have shot down the suggestion in a nicer way.

For the rest of her school day, Audrey impatiently waited for the dreaded announcement. She just knew she would be called into the headmistress's office to discuss the situation.

Surprisingly, the announcement never came. No teacher or staff member came to get her at any point during the day. She truly believed she got away with it—

Until King Ben, the son of King Beast and Queen Belle, caught her trying to quickly head to her dorm room to hide at the end of the day.

"Nice try, Audrey," Ben complimented sarcastically, his arms crossed over his chest to contain his anger. "You know better than that. My office. My fiancé and I will discuss your punishment with you."

At the beginning of their senior year of Auradon Prep—also the same day that the four new transfer students would arrive in Auradon—Ben shocked half the kingdom by proposing to his girlfriend of less than two years, Mal: the daughter of Maleficent and the daughter of Hades; as it was discovered when the newly engaged couple traveled to the Isle that day.

Honestly, Audrey didn't really care when Mal's other parent was discovered. The princess did feel slightly envious when the fairy happily hugged her father when he congratulated her on her engagement.

Apparently, when Maleficent and Hades separated, neither one wanted to be the reason that the other's relationship with their daughter was hindered. Taking turns, Mal would stay with her mother at the Bargain Castle for one week before staying with her father in his cave for the same amount of time. Hades had been the one to instruct his daughter not to speak of him while in Auradon to avoid facing more prejudice. Of course, Mal couldn't keep her father a secret from Ben for long, having told him a day or so after she arrived in Auradon.

Everyone thought Audrey would be jealous of the royal engagement, but she didn't feel any negative emotions toward the couple. The princess had only been with the king—prince at the time—to get her parent's attention, but she only attracted her grandmother's, as suspected. The same results occurred when she briefly dated Chad Charming, who has been relentlessly asking her to go back out with him, with the repeated answer being 'no'. Why couldn't he understand that she—

"Audrey," King Beast chided, effectively snapping her out of her thoughts. "This has been the third incident in the past day alone. I've lost track of how many there were since they arrived eight months ago. We hoped things would have changed when you came back from Spring Break this week."

Audrey anxiously shifted on her feet as she stood in front of the king's desk, where he sat leaned back as he tried to process everything he knew about the situation. "I spent my break alone and miserable," she admitted as she faked a careless shrug. "I guess I needed someone to take it out on."

"So you chose the four youngest children in the school as your targets?" Mal interrogated, moving from the corner she stood at to sit on her beloved's lap, who wrapped an arm protectively around her to make sure she didn't fall. "In the matter of a few hours, you tripped Squeaky and Squirmy, causing them to drop and break their art sculptures they worked so hard on. During lunch, you 'coincidentally' dropped your milk on Celia's new tarot cards she received from her father the day before, completely ruining them. The final straw was when you insulted Dizzy's clothing design and hair style for you by calling it the most horrible thing you have ever seen."

"The drawing looked childish, like a five-year-old drew it," Audrey defended, though she knew it would do her no good. "And I don't want to bleach my hair blonde, so I look like my mother."

"First, the design has you with ash-brown hair, not blonde," Mal corrected knowingly, having seen the design herself. "Second, you could have told her in a nicer way that she didn't like the design. Dizzy worked really hard on it in hopes that you would like it and become her friend; so you would stop tormenting her and the others."

Sighing softly at hearing the new information, Audrey relented, "Fine, I'll apologize to her and the others. Okay?"

"No," Ben denied forcefully, a determined glare settling on his face. "You went too far this time and you know it. It is about time we did something about your biased behavior toward Isle children."

Audrey raised a curious eyebrow at the engaged couple. "What are you going to make me do?"

"You will be spending one month—four weeks total—living on the Isle of the Lost."

The room went so quiet, they could hear the chattering going on outside the office. The princess suspected whoever it was would spread the news of her punishment before the conversation could be finished.

"Me? Go to the Isle?" Audrey repeated with an incredulous scoff. "That is ridiculous! What did my family say? There's no way they would agree to this!"

"Your grandmother did think it was cruel," Ben informed with a sigh. "But your parents thought it was a wonderful idea. They think this will teach you to respect the people of the Isle of the Lost."

"Your punishment will begin tonight," Mal continued, taking over the verbal exchange. "Jay and I will personally escort you there. You will pack your belongings and meet us at the front entrance in two hours. That should be more than plenty of time for you to get everything you may need. Keep in mind to not pack any dresses or any shoes with heels since you have to walk everywhere; the dress you have on now is the only exception. Don't pack any tight clothing for reasons some will tell you on the island. Pack only one bag since you will be staying in two different places while on the Isle, and so you don't have to lug around so much stuff when you go from place to place. Fifty dollars should be more than plenty for a month on the Isle, but leave it at the place you are staying at, so it doesn't get stolen from you."

Sighing in defeat, Audrey pleaded, "Is there any way I can get you to change your mind?"

"I'm afraid not," Ben denied softly. "And since you will be missing a month of school in Auradon, you will attend a month of school on the Isle. Half the time you'll be attending Dragon Hall while the rest of the month you attend Serpent Prep."

"Great," Audrey complimented sarcastically. "Can this get any worse?"

"Don't be too upset about going there," Mal insisted with a light shrug. "Who knows? Maybe you'll miss the Isle when you come home."

Scoffing once more at the suggestion, Audrey stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest to prove her indifference. "Yeah, right! Like that is ever going to happen."

If only the princess knew just how wrong she would be.