The gas station had bright, vibrant green and red wooden signs hanging inside the windows, advertising a variety of drinks and snacks. There was rust on the edges of the nozzles and the button for the call attendant was taped over with brown duct tape. Mal stepped out of the car, closed the door, and pulled the green gas card out of her pocket.
The lot was empty, but it was a relatively small place she was passing through anyway. A semi-truck was parked along the length of the lot, shielding her from the highway, and two cars, one blue and one black, were parked in front of the entrance to the shop. She could also glimpse a red truck bed poking out from the side of the building.
Mal swiped the card, punched in the palace code, and then flipped open the cap on the side of the car. As she twisted to lid to the fuel tank, she heard a sound like screws rolling on a metal tabletop and then watched the car shift forward as a shadow brushed her feet. They were the spurs on someone's boots. That someone was now leaning on her car.
"Hey, honey," the person – a man – purred as she rolled her eyes, took the nozzle, and began filling up her tank. "Nice hair." He continued, ignoring how she'd remained silent. "Are you trying to mimic her highness?"
At this, Mal flipped her hair, tossing her hair over her shoulder, and stared at him incredulously. He was a large man, maybe three inches taller than Ben, and very heavy. A cowboy with a plaid shirt tucked into blue jeans and, yes, spurs on his boots. And he recognized her immediately.
"Oh, Sh-" He exclaimed, stumbling and sliding right off of the hood of the car, where he'd been leaning. "Sh-oot! Your Highness, I did not – I'm sorry!"
Mal burst into laughter as she watched him crab crawl a few feet away from her, looking whiter than paper. He tried to get his feet underneath him as he backed away even quicker. Mal wrapped her arms around her chest as her ribs began to ache and slumped against the car as he got to his feet, backing away.
Mal could barely walk straight as she locked the door from the outside and headed towards the gas station. Inside, she retrieved a bubbly, light green Auradon drink for the road and took it up to the register, pulling her new thick, dark brown gloves up her hands as she put it down on the register and brushed her bangs in front of her face a little.
"This all for you, miss?" The man behind the cash register asked.
"Yes, thank you," Mal replied as she pulled her card back out. He scanned the drink, and she extended the card for him to take. As his fingers appeared in her field of vision, green magic flared up on her skin like a faulty electrical field. There was a snap and a sizzle, and the poor man yanked his hand back with a yell, waving it as a smell of earth and the forest appeared in the shop.
"I am so sorry!" Mal exclaimed, waving her own hand as tingles ran up her arms. "I am so, so-"
"It's fine." He gasped, squeezing his eyes shut and taking deep breaths. "It's – it's – you're the queen."
Mal flinched. "I, um, how about I slide it to you?" She asked, ignoring the question as the poor cashier stared at her, still waving his arm as she put the card down with a wince. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to shock you."
"That's… f-fine." The cashier stuttered. "Happens all the time, I mean, it doesn't but – I can't believe I didn't recognize you." He picked up the card carefully with his other hand and swiped it through a card reader. "A-are you passing through?" He asked.
"Yes, is your hand alright?" Mal asked.
"It just – tingles." The cashier breathed. He made to hand her card back to her, but then thought better of it and slid it carefully across the countertop. Mal picked it up and felt more electricity crackle at the proximity of the other person. She swallowed and picked up her drink.
"Do you want your receipt?" The cashier asked, pulling it off the printer and putting it down on the counter. Mal nodded and picked it up.
"I'm sorry again." She frowned. "It… should stop tingling soon." The cashier nodded as he continued flexing his hand and waving his fingers, and then Mal stepped away and headed to the door. She replaced the nozzle and unlocked her car. As she pulled on the handle, more green electricity flared up on her hands.
It was a magical side effect, she'd been told. It hadn't been so bad in the moorlands, but now that she'd left the magical land, she seemed to be practically made of lightning. She pulled off the glove. Her fingers and the entire underlying side of her hand had black rot crawling underneath her skin. The same thing stretched up her legs and covered the backs of her ears. It didn't hurt, but it looked horrible and made moving hard. It had been on her hand ever since the third night at the moors and should – should – go away as soon as she returned to the palace. It was just her mother's way of reminding her wayward daughter that Maleficent Senior was still expecting to be released from the Isle of the Lost. The palace hadn't sent for her, so she assumed that Ben was either not dealing with any side-effects, or they were minor enough that Belle and Adam hadn't freaked out and demanded she return. The rot didn't affect her magic either. Really, it just took away from her motility.
Mal replaced the gloves, put on her sunglasses, and let out a breath. She turned the key in the ignition and smiled as a song came to life on the radio. She felt absolutely chipper as she put the car into gear and pulled out of the station. Only an hour to the palace now.
It had snowed at the moors. Some area turned frigid blue and purples where you needed coats, and other places the snow resembled tropical sands in shades of reds and oranges. She'd spent her days explaining Auradon to the outsiders and receiving stories of Maleficent in return. Species which had faded away or left were returning now, and a large anti-Auradon climate was settling in. Many creatures were angry for the barrier restrictions, and then there was the subject of the Isle of the Lost itself…. On the bright side, she'd experimented plenty with her magic, which left her feeling refreshed and happy.
She pulled back into the palace just before eight. A small crowd of people was waiting for her. She assumed they'd been tracking her cell phone. Mal shut the engine off and stowed the keys in the center console. She opened the door and stood up. Ben, who was wearing a knit vest over a long-sleeve plaid shirt, moved to walk around the car and take her hand. She felt like something was being pulled out of her hands and they became infinitely easier to move. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck to take a quick, unnoticeable inhale. Then, she dug her toe into the slush around the edge of the road and smiled up at him. He looked tired like he'd had a hard month of work, but he smiled at her. Her sunglasses made his blue eyes looked hazel.
"Hi." She smiled, and they shared a quick peck. She detached and hugged everyone else: Belle, Adam, Sophia, Lumiere, and Stewart. Ben shut her door behind her and leaned against the car, watching her.
"How was the drive?" Lumiere asked after he'd gotten his hug.
"It was great." Mal gave two thumbs-up. "Ten-and-a-half hours there and back, and now I know every single Christmas song, so Ben and I will have to have a challenge." She winked at him, and he laughed. Mal's cheeks turned a little pink as she continued: "Oh, and this guy tried to compliment my hair and was like: 'You're cute, are you trying to mimic the queen?' And when I turned around, he fell off the car and it was hilarious." Mal took her suitcase from Lumiere with a dazzling smile and began to lead them up the sidewalk. "The Fae people told me all sorts of stories about my mother, so now Ben and I really need to see Maleficent so that I can compare accounts." Mal laughed, and then suddenly remembered she'd left something in the car. "And I brought things for you all!" She stopped mid-stride and dashed back to the car, leaving her suitcase behind. She opened the passenger-side door and withdrew what looked like a leather satchel. The outside chill turned her cheeks turned red as she sprinted back to them. "Once we get inside, I'll hand everything out," She decided as she slung the strap over her shoulder.
"We should go up to the family room," Adam suggested. "So that Mal can open her own gifts. Sophia, Lumiere and Stewart, you're welcome to join us." He nodded to the three servants, who smiled. Stewart slipped an arm around Sophia's shoulders.
"Can I drop my suitcase off by our door first?" Mal asked, flexing her fingers inside the gloves experimentally.
"Yeah. We can meet you there." Belle answered. She slipped an arm around Mal's shoulder as they walked side-by-side and squeezed. "It's so good to have you home!" She exclaimed, glancing over her shoulder to where Ben was walking closer to the back of the group.
Lumiere opened the door for everyone. Belle and Mal walked in together, followed by Sophia and Stewart, holding hands. Ben and Adam followed with Lumiere bringing up the line. Most of the group continued to the family room as Sophia and Mal ran up to her and Ben's room to drop off her suitcase.
In the family room, Ben slumped into a chair. Adam sat next to him on the couch. "Doesn't seem like she lost any sleep," Adam commented.
Ben nodded wearily. "I'm not going to mention it to her right now. She's super excited about everything. She's not like that often." He smiled softly. "If it's still like this after tonight and nothing changes, I'll let her know. I'm secretly hoping its curse stuff, and everything will be normal after this."
"Didn't Fairy Godmother say she couldn't find anything?" Adam asked.
"Yes, but just because she couldn't find it doesn't mean it can't be that." Ben reasoned. "And the entire thing is so strange… the timing, the symptoms…" Ben trailed off and stifled a yawn. He'd gotten pretty good at mostly ignoring how tired he was.
Lumiere shuffled the presents under the tree into better view. They'd left the tree up, awaiting Mal's return. The snowflakes still hung, and the ornaments still twinkled. Belle smiled at Mal's dragon hanging a few inches from Ben's birds and then took a seat on her favorite couch.
Sophia opened the door so Mal could slip in. Her satchel was still slung around her arm, and the gloves still pulled up snugly alongside her sleeves. The rot had retreated but still lingered in faint shadows. The purplette went to sit beside Belle, but Ben caught her hand as she walked past and guided her to sit on the floor in front of him, where he began to massage her shoulders. Sophia sat beside Belle instead.
"Get everything settled?" Lumiere asked, sitting in a chair beside the tree so he could hand things towards her.
"No, we just dropped it off and hung up my coat and put away my shoes," Mal explained with a shrug, giving her sock feet an experimental wiggle. "I'll put everything else away later."
Lumiere nodded. "Sounds good." He said and handed Mal a brightly colored package speckled with Christmas trees. "Here. That one is from me."
Mal opened the package carefully and unveiled a pair of golden bracelets. "Thank you, Lumiere." She smiled brightly. She slid them onto her wrists as Lumiere handed her a package from Stewart.
Mal made sure to read off the name of each person before she opened them and carefully arranged the paper scraps into a pile so that she could easily put them into the furnace. Sophia gave her a pair of warm slippers like Ben's, and Stewart gave her a sketchpad for drawing, and the two mystery packages turned out to be from Aurora, who gave her a warm blanket made of plush, and the Methodist group from Andalusia, who had given her a knitted hat and a pair of socks with dragons on them. Mal liked them a lot.
When Lumiere picked up Belle and Adam's gift, he didn't read the tag off. He handed it to Mal with a sly smile and watched as she searched the paper for the names. "From…" Mal squinted and then choked. Ben leaned forward to see what had her worked up. "From mom and dad." She sniffled. "Thank you, Belle and Adam." Inside was a portable radio with a powerful speaker. Mal set it beside her thigh like a delicate treasure and took several deep breaths before continuing. Ben glanced at his parents. Belle avoided his eyes.
Ben's two gifts were opened with great trepidation and dramatic effect. One contained a pretty necklace with a rectangular pendant that rotated around to reveal a small, pointed blade she could easily hide in her hand. The other contained a pair of black leather fingerless gloves with metal decorative clips. Mal smiled but didn't put them on. She didn't want everyone to see the rot under her fingertips.
Then, she reached inside her pouch. "Keep in mind this Christmas gift-giving thing is pretty new to me, and also that I didn't have access to wrapping paper like the rest of you." Mal cautioned as she opened the top. Ben rolled his eyes as his fingertips rested on her shoulders for a quick second.
The first item Mal pulled out was a silver mirror for Sophia with her name stamped into the back of it. As she handed it to her, Mal explained: "The Pixies showed me how to enchant it. It can teach you new tricks and tips if you ask it since I know you like doing beauty stuff." Sophia accepted it happily.
Stewart received a pair of sunglasses and a pair of warm, protective gloves made of some sort of lizard's skin. Lumiere was given a watch that could keep track of things he asked it to remember and alert him when they were coming up.
The next two things Mal withdrew were two large, white, pear-shaped jewels with a cluster of rubied cherries each. These she handed to Belle and Adam with a flush. "I couldn't think of anything to give you, so I hope you'll like these?" She asked shyly.
Belle and Adam were astounded. "Are these the fruits that grow in the moors?" Adam asked as he examined his cherries. The delicate stems had been preserved with the rest of the fruit, with nary a crack or a scratch on them.
"Yeah," Mal answered. She elbowed Ben in the knee and lifted up a treasure from the large satchel to him – a black, circular river stone with an indent in the center, about as large as a plate. It was heavy and smooth from constant running water surrounding it.
"This is interesting," Ben said as he examined it. It was almost like a bowl, only a little bigger and not as deep.
"There's a catch," Mal said with a smirk. "It's from the bottom of the blue lagoon. If you fill it with water, you can talk to me in the moors, almost like a phone call."
"Blasphemous," Ben said, though a smile was stretching across his face. "You better not be lying." He warned her.
"Ha, ha." She smiled and curled into his legs as he turned it over, examining it. Belle watched his happy smile and the way Mal closed her eyes and rested her hands on his feet, and then looked away a little. Sophia cleared her throat.
"Hey, I don't think it's been mentioned that this girl is now seventeen!" The black-haired girl announced. "Happy late birthday!"
Mal opened an eye as everyone cheered a little in agreement. "Thank you." Mal smiled widely. "I feel an entire year older now."
"Are we going to sing?" Stewart asked, sitting upright in a chair by the door. His new sunglasses were propped up on his head. He winked playfully at Mal. Ben set the basin aside carefully and leaned down to take her hand.
"Sing?" Mal asked, looking confused as Ben squeezed her hand through the gloves.
"1 – 2 – 3!" Ben counted, raising his free arm above his head as if he were conducting a band.
"Happy birthday to you!" The room exploded into sound. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Mal, happy birthday to you!"
Mal laughed. She shook her head and laid her head on Ben's knees. "Beautiful." She announced. "Now I'm definitely an entire year older."
"I think I'm a year older too," Stewart said, sticking a finger in his ear with a playful wince. "Whoever was making that bullfrog noise has deafened me."
"Hey." Adam frowned from across the room, and everyone burst into laughter. Mal glanced up at Ben, laughing as warm feelings rose up in her chest. Ben yawned, leaned down, and kissed her head before he squeezed her hand tightly. Mal squeezed back, ignoring the tingling feeling of the disappearing rot in her hands as Ben leaned back into his chair. It was all he could do to stay awake.
"Want to stay up late and watch Maleficent?" Mal asked as she and Ben walked into their room early at eight-thirty. She slipped out from under his arm and went into the bedroom to change into some pajamas. Ben didn't notice her slip her glove halfway off, and then slip the rest of it off with a careful breath. Only some small black shadows remained on her finger joints.
Ben stifled a groan with a yawn. "I dunno, Mal. I'm exhausted. I just want to go to bed."
"Oh." Mal nodded, reappearing from her closet and straightening a pajama shirt on her frame. "I feel wide awake, so I might stay up in the other room for a little bit. That okay?"
Ben twisted his hands. If his theory was correct, and his sleeplessness was spell-related, then he'd need Mal nearby to fall asleep. He wasn't sure if that meant proximity of arm's reach or proximity of on palace grounds. "We can stay up and talk about the moors if you want." He sighed. "I want to hear about everything – how much magic are you learning?"
Mal frowned. "I mean – you practically saw it all in November. I get to do lots of magic, of course, but I'm mainly doing culture explaining and telling everyone about Auradon. They're really surprised to hear about the Isle of the Lost. They thought it was pretty, well – evil of Auradon." She stopped in her musings and began to chew her hair a little. She turned to Ben with downcast eyes. "One of the evilest things they've ever done." She clarified. "I didn't tell them much about what it was like on the Isle or the unspeakable punishments Auradon inflicted. They thought just the idea was evil."
Shame filled Ben. "Mal-" He started, but she brushed past him. Her good mood had evaporated. She slipped into bed, her previous idea of staying up gone. Ben had accomplished his goal of keeping her in the room, but she looked so sad he regretted it. He turned the lights down as Mal flipped her lamp on on her side of the bed. She opened her phone and sent a message as Ben sat down on his side of the bed and pulled the covers over his legs.
Mal reached down between the bed frame and the nightstand and withdrew the satchel that had held her treasures from the moors. She withdrew another mirror like the one she had given Sophia, only the back of this one was intricately engraved with mushrooms, flowers, grass and trees, all centered around a raised apple. A name was engraved in the handle – Evie.
Three rocks with holes worn through them naturally and pretty silken ribbons were withdrawn next. One ribbon was blue, the next brown, and the last red. They were magical talismans. The last offering she pulled out was three coils of copper wire and a small collection of mechanical pieces and parts in a sealed plastic baggie with 'Carlos' written on the front. Mal smoothed out the satchel and Ben glimpsed a name stitched in red in the side of the handle. It read: Jay.
"What's all that?" He asked.
Mal didn't answer for several seconds – long enough to make Ben wonder if she was trying to ignore him. Finally, she sighed and brushed a hand over the satchel. "They're gifts. For… my friends at the Isle." She paused. "I know you said not to try to contact them, but I miss them so much, and I figure if I send them things without a note, they'll have the sense to hide it from my mother and… they won't think I've forgotten them."
Ben didn't know what to say. "Will, um, they be mad that you're not going to be… breaking the barrier over the Isle of the Lost?" He asked. Mal sighed and shrugged. Be reached over and patted her shoulder. "You do what you think is best, but please – be careful." He advised.
Mal nodded. "Has there been any news on the construction?" She asked softly.
"Walls are almost done," Ben said. "Not much else. They sent a list, but I didn't examine it too much." He paused. "You know what? I need to give you something." He climbed out of bed and hurried into the other room. He bustled through the living room and quickly found his Mom's calligraphy gift where he'd left it – on a side table.
He returned and handed the denser paper to Mal. She unfolded it and smiled when she recognized the words. Then, she frowned. The air grew frosty in a way it hadn't since Mal had first come from the Isle. Two black bumps materialized out of her head, but she took a deep breath and they faded again.
"You are not a normal queen." Mal read softly. Her face twisted. Ben wondered what she was thinking. "Fear not about never seeing those you have left behind and whom you miss. You will have the opportunity to reconnect and rebuild." She set the paper down and twiddled her thumbs.
"Ben, am I a bad queen to Auradon?" Mal's question caught him so off-guard he had to hesitate for a few seconds. Was she not going to comment at all on the line: "your marriage and your strong relationship with your husband will one day be your greatest achievement"? That was the thing he was curious about….
"I don't think so…" Ben trailed off. "Personally, he didn't think he was the best king to Auradon, so he didn't see how she, the secondary monarch who was also running two separate kingdoms while also serving as acting queen to Auradon could be considered 'bad'.
"I haven't done anything for them yet," Mal said. "And, I originally thought that that line might be talking about my friends on the Isle, but I just remembered Aurora. I healed relationships with her. And this second line right after it says: You will also have the opportunity to correct many of the grievances caused by your mother, Maleficent, and the heroes of Auradon. Heroes of Auradon is probably the Isle of the Lost and the moors, but my mother caused the most damage in Auradon. The place I happen to be the queen of." Mal huffed in thought. A strand of purple hair attached to her lips as she thought, and she started to subconsciously chew it as she considered. Ben reached over and pulled it out of her face.
"Mal, it's only been three months, and two of those months you spent in the moors." Ben reasoned. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
Someone opened the door in the other room. A second later, Sophia called: "Mal?"
"In here!" Mal called.
There were footsteps, and Sophia opened the door with a large cardboard box in hand. Four different kinds and colors of wrapping paper stuck out the top. Ben recognized it – it was the wrapping supplies.
Sophia set the box down at the end of the bed as Mal swung her legs over the bedside. "Thanks, Sophia." She said with a smile.
"Do you have tape?" Sophia asked, straightening up the box's contents.
"Yes." Mal nodded. "Thank you, Sophia."
"No problem." Sophia started to edge out of the room. "See you tomorrow."
"See you," Mal answered, sounding distracted as she shuffled through bows and plastic wrapping.
The door closed in the other room and Ben fought to keep his eyes open as he snuggled deeper into the covers. It was like the cotton was reaching to pull him down into the embrace of darkness and quiet. It was nice to be fighting to keep his eyes open, rather than to shut them as he had been for the month.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Mal." He yawned. "It's only been three months. You've already done more than my parents have in the last five years. It's okay."
There was so answer, so he yawned once more and closed his eyes. He drifted off into a deep sleep almost immediately, completely missing Mal's whisper of: "No, it's not."
Ben woke up the next morning to his phone buzzing a steady stream of vibrations. He lay in bed as it vibrated. For the first time in a month and a half, he felt entirely refreshed and contented. His eyes didn't feel like they weighed entire pounds, and his muscles didn't ache. He smiled as he sat up. This proved a point, though. His sleeplessness was curse related, and that meant it could be contained.
He rolled onto his back and reached a hand to his side, searching for Mal's body. His smile faded somewhat to see that she was gone. He'd slept past her, and that rarely happened. He sat up, still feeling relieved to be wakeful and energized, and noticed the box Sophia had brought was gone. Mal's gifts for her friends on the Isle were covered and wrapped and stacked beside the door. They weren't very neat, but the effort showed clearly.
Ben picked up his phone. Doug was calling. He answered and held the phone to his ear.
"Good morning Doug." He greeted as he stretched one arm at a time. "How can I help you?"
"Hey, ah, Ben. I, just, did you just wake up?" Doug's voice came through the phone crackly and hushed.
"Yeah," Ben admitted, swinging his legs out of bed and moving to the closet for some fresh clothes. "Why?"
"Well, I'm just wondering what I should do with these letters that are coming in for Mal," Doug said. There was the distinct sound of paper sliding off a desk. Doug yelped. "Sorry- sorry, those were just my computer manuals. We're having – technical difficulties with one of our systems. Anyway, I've just got a lot, and she doesn't have a PO box that I know of."
"Letters?" Ben asked. He got lots of letters, of course. Most were handled by a castle assistant, but he didn't know of very many people who would write to the unofficial queen.
"Yeah," Doug confirmed. "There's a good five dozen."
"Huh." Ben hummed as he pulled a light blue, long-sleeved shirt off a hangar. "I can ask Mal what she wants and get back to you. She's busy, but I honestly don't know what she'd want done with them. Can you have them screened to make sure they're not dangerous?"
"Yes. Kay, thank you, Ben. Have a nice day." Doug said through gritted teeth as the thuds of heavy paperback books came through the line.
"Have a nice day-" Ben started to say before the line went dead. Ben stared at his phone for a few seconds, and then shrugged it off. Doug was one of the busiest men he knew. He could respect feeling like you never had enough time.
Ben got dressed and glanced at the clock. Seven-thirty. Not ridiculously late either. He headed downstairs, snagged two muffins and some fruit from the kitchens, and headed up to his office. He dumped all of his load on his desk except for a single muffin and began the route to his wife's office.
Mal had a headphone in one ear and an earpiece in the other as she worked. She appeared to be on the phone with someone but smiled and waved her fingers at him when she saw him walk in before her face twisted into a frown. "There should not be any Auradon children on the Isle." She told the person on the other end of the phone. The hairs on Ben's neck stood up straight and he sent her an incredulous look. Mal waved at him to come closer. He took a few steps forward and she broke off a piece of his muffin and popped it into her mouth as she listened. Ben rolled his eyes and set it down, still gazing concernedly in the direction of her earpiece.
"Okay, I misunderstood. Got it." Mal nodded. "I'm going to bring some Moorish people to help clean up the land after the barrier is modified. Can you tell me the dimensions of the beach we blocked out?" She reached for a pen, clicked it, and began scribbling. Ben looked around the room and leaned against her desk as she continued working. Mal flipped open a paper file on her desk and opened a blueprint spread on her tablet as she listened to the other person talk. After a long pause, she said: "That matches what I have here. As far as I know, we're starting with forty, nine, and twelve, right?"
There was a pause. "Great, splendid." She nodded. "I'm planning on taking a quick trip out as soon as the walls are done to make sure everything is going well and to see all the people who've been helping us."
Ben drummed his fingers on his knee as he waited. Mal broke off another piece of muffin and rolled her eyes.
"I would move it up, but unfortunately there are a few other things in my life that need to take precedence," Mal answered. She opened a word document and started typing up a quick statement. She snorted. "Believe it or not. I do have a little list, though." She picked up a piece of paper carelessly so she could transcribe it, and continued talking. "I need the moors to be open to Auradon so that the disaffiliation against magic starts to go away, I have a list of things that need to be completed on the Isle for the actual people and not just the future city site, and above all…" She met Ben's eyes. "I need to also focus on being a wife and Auradon's queen."
Silence filled the room. Ben was genuinely touched. After all, Mal hadn't exactly started out with this end in mind. He remembered for a second the short, ratty-haired girl in dirty leather who'd stepped out of the limo back when Stewart had first brought her to Auradon, and discovered he had a rather hard time putting her together with the long-haired girl in front of him, who held his gaze evenly and let a small, sexy smirk pull at her lips. Had it really only been six months? It felt like two years.
Mal laughed. "Uh-huh, sounds good. Hey, I've got to go now. His royal nerdiness wants my attention, so I've got to make sure it's not important. Let me know if anything happens, okay? Thank you. Bye."
She tapped the side of her earpiece and yanked out her earbud. A loud blaring could be heard from it. It sounded like screaming for a few seconds, and then Ben realized it was actually Christmas music.
"How can you even hear with your music that loud?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I am determined to learn every word of your Auradon Christmas songs." Mal shrugged.
"Why?" He snorted.
"Because." She chuckled. "What did you need, Ben?"
"Doug is wondering what you want to be done with all of the letters you're getting," Ben answered. He was still reeling over what she'd told the person on the other side of the phone.
"Letters?" Mal asked with a raised eyebrow as she flipped a lock of dark purple hair over her shoulder and grabbed a piece of the muffin. He watched the purple strands land over her shoulder in slow motion, and then jolted his gaze back to her eyes.
"Yeah, sometimes people write to the king and queen." He explained, folding his hands together. "Little kids and politically-driven people, the works."
Mal's hand landed on the desk. She froze, looking at the computer, and then looked up at Ben with a quizzical eye. "Little kids… write to us?" She asked softly. She seemed absolutely stunned by that revelation.
"Yeah." Ben softened his voice. "And sometimes we do little school visits and things like that." Mal bit her cheek, and Ben swallowed. "I don't actually answer most of the time, because I get so many, but I get them all the time."
Mal stared at him. "You don't answer them?" She asked.
"Oh, they get an answer!" Ben exclaimed. "The castle attendants usually send out this pre-written response of 'Thank you for writing, etc, etc'."
This answer seemed to make Mal even more cross. "I'll take all my letters." She said, shuffling a folder to find her phone underneath it. "Doug can just direct them all to me."
Ben stared. "Um, Mal, he says you already have, like, five dozen. And if they keep coming in, there's no way you can read and respond to all of them."
Mal tapped her fingers on the desk and exhaled. Then she looked up and met his gaze again. Her eyes had taken on their laser-like green tint. "Challenge accepted, Ben." She flicked his nose with a smirk and pulled a spreadsheet from a drawer in her desk.
"No, no it's not a challenge!" Ben rolled his eyes. "You actually cannot. It's not physically possible."
Mal picked up a file folder full of blueprints from the Isle and met his eyes as she recited: "Read it fast at lightning speed; remember everything I need." Immediately, the paper lit up at her words and Mal glanced down and began skimming the page's surface. Ben scowled.
"Well, not all of us have magic." He sighed as she finished the first two pages and continued on to the third, leaning over to continue typing as she worked.
"You've got your own special kind of magic." Mal hummed in response as she read.
"Like what?" Ben raised an eyebrow.
Quicker than he could blink, Mal leaned up and kissed the side of his mouth before she sat back down and continued reading. "You're cute." She told him, by way of explanation. Her strawberry-flavored chapstick clung to the right side of his mouth.
Ben took her chin and kissed her cheek softly. "I missed having you around." He whispered. "I'm glad you're back."
Mal canceled her reading spell and stood up slowly. "Me too." She smiled. "It's kind of… good to be back." Ben leaned into her as he felt her breath rush past his collar.
"Mal-" His mouth felt dry. He swallowed, and then backed off. "I need to tell you about the Christmas party. We missed having you there."
"Who else was there?" Mal asked, setting a hand on her hip.
Ben swallowed. "All my friends from Auradon Prep. Fairy Godmother's daughter Jane. Genie's daughter Jordan. Oh! Elsa, the Snow Queen's daughter."
"The Snow Queen?" Mal asked. "Sounds like someone I'd get along with."
"She has magical powers," Ben informed her with a smile. "You have lots in common."
Mal's mouth dropped open. She stared at Ben incredulously. "I thought you said I was the first royal with magic?" She asked.
"The first head royal," Ben explained. "Our monarchy is above all the other monarchies. We're the federal monarchy. And you're the first person with magic." He tapped his hands on his knees and frowned a little. "Elsa doesn't go out of Arendelle, well, ever. But Ericka, her daughter, was there. I spoke to her a little, but Ericka is really… reclusive. Like her mom. She doesn't reach out much."
"Unkind?" Mal asked with a frown.
"No." Ben shook his head. "But… it's complicated. When Ericka was eight, her mom announced her to the kingdom. It was this huge scandal. I remember it even though I was only seven or so. No one outside of Arendelle had known about Ericka, and no one even knows who her dad is or anything. She just… appeared?" He shrugged. "Anyways. All the drama left a bad mark on Ericka. She travels lots, doesn't talk to people, and is generally one of the most secretive royals out there, after her mom and, well, us."
Mal snorted. "Yeah. We don't exactly focus on being open with our subjects, huh?" And she frowned deeply as if that statement made her angry. Her fists turned into little balls at her sides, and Ben got the feeling she was wishing she could do something about it.
"Yeah, well…" Ben sighed and stood up. "I'm going to go up to my office. I just wanted to come to say good morning before I went up." He set his hands on her desk as he stood up.
Mal frowned. "Can I… can we, no, wait." She stumbled over her words and grumbled in frustration at herself. "Can I have a kiss before you head out?" She asked.
Ben smiled. "Course." He agreed. They stood still for a second, and then he leaned in, and she met him halfway. They shared a quick kiss over the desk, and then she smiled as she sat back down.
"I like doing that." She mumbled a little, brushing her fingertips over her lips like they were tingling. Ben turned a bit pink and chuckled.
"Me too." He laughed. "I'll, um, see you later, okay?"
"Okay." Mal chuckled. She watched him turn and leave, and then let out a little exhilarated breath. What would her friends think, if they saw her like this? What would her mom think? Here she was, kissing the king of Auradon, re-sculpting the Isle of the Lost, and acting as if she were some sort of star-struck princess.
Oh, her mother would kill her if she knew what was going on here.
Knock, knock, knock. She stopped what she was doing, setting the fake bugs she was planning on planting in the living room lampshades beside her latest prank – a pack of gum that had been replaced with play dough that she'd conveniently leave on the kitchen counter for one of her cousins – or better, her aunt – to find and made sure they were tucked out of sight.
"Enter." She called.
The door to her room opened and a rush of warmth entered the room as a servant appeared, shivering from the intense cold wave that had rushed out. The frost on the bottom of her door frame began to melt.
"P-princess Ericka." The servant's teeth chattered. "Your m-mother would like to see you in her sitting room. It'll only take a moment."
"Okay." Ericka nodded. She pulled her gloves on from where she'd left them on a side table and left her shoes beside the door as she walked out. The servant pulled the door closed behind her and let out a breath as warm air circulated around them. Central heating was very important to the Arendelle royal family.
Ericka rolled her sleeves up and began to walk – barefoot – to her mother's sitting room. Her cousins and their parents raced around from room to room, screaming and cheering as they went. She climbed on the banister to get past without being knocked over and then slid down the staircase on her butt to feel the wind rush through her braid.
She picked her way through the corridors until she came to the sitting room. The door was cracked open and she could see her mother's legs propped up on an ottoman with the scary ice heels melting a little with the heat of the fire in the room. Her little sister was playing on the floor.
Ericka opened the door and smiled as her mom looked up from Economics in Auradon, Volume Seven. "Hey, Mom." She smiled.
"Hello, snowflake." Elsa smiled, sitting up a little and dropping her legs off the ottoman. "Thank you for coming down to see me."
"No problem." Ericka shrugged, looking around the room anxiously. "Is dad back yet?" She asked.
Elsa's smile grew a bit tight. "No, snowflake. He's not yet. But maybe soon."
Ericka deflated. She looked away, out the window to where she could see the silver light of the moon bouncing off the thick layers of snow outside. She glared at the light as if it were the moon's fault her dad wasn't coming home tonight either. She saw her mom gesture to a chair beside her and walked over to sit down. Frost formed in her wake.
"What did you think of King Ben when you saw him last Christmas?" Elsa asked, setting her book to the side and smoothing out her icy skirt, even as the edges began to melt.
"King Ben?" Ericka's brow furrowed. "Mom, I don't need you setting me up with anyone. And Geesh, he's married!" She could swear, just because she'd split things off with Tyler didn't mean she needed any boys in her life. Unless it was her dad. He was an exception. And maybe Uncle Kristoff and Olaf. But really, she just wished her dad would come back already. Secret or no secret, she was tired of never having her family together in one place.
"I'm not trying to set you up." Elsa reprimanded in a stern tone, frowning deeply. "What was he like? Stubborn? Stuck up?"
Ericka blinked. "No. No, I've talked to Ben lots and he's just… chill. He's one of those people who likes everyone and who everyone likes." Ericka leaned back into the chair as she focused on what Ben had looked like in their brief conversation. "He was exhausted. Just flat out tired. Could barely keep his eyes open."
"Well, he was just finishing his first official month as King." Elsa reasoned. "What did he think of you? Was he hostile? Did he make any comments on your magic?"
Ericka furrowed her brow. "No, not hostile." She explained. "But he did say that… he wouldn't mind if someone started a snowstorm outside."
Elsa pursed her lips together in a deep frown. Ericka tried to remember anything else. "He asked after you. But that was it." She folded her legs on top of the seat and pulled her skirt to cover herself as her mother delved into thought.
"And you didn't hear anything else from him?" Elsa asked after a long pause. Ericka shook her head, then hesitated. Elsa raised an eyebrow.
"Just rumors," Ericka mumbled. "People talk. We know how that is."
"And what are they talking about?" Elsa asked.
"Him. His life. His job. His wife." Ericka listed, counting on her fingers sarcastically.
"Tell me everything you heard," Elsa commanded, arching her back into the sofa a little. Ericka raised her eyebrows at her mom. Elsa was known for being reclusive and uncaring about politics. She didn't understand why her mom was so into the rumors all of a sudden.
"Why?" She asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong." Elsa shook her head and hesitated. "The queen – the new one – she wasn't there, was she?"
"No." Ericka shook her head. "I heard Belle and Adam said she was visiting her other kingdom."
"And what's she like?" Elsa asked.
Ericka frowned and curled her toes a little. "Mysterious. No one knows that much about her. Beast's family hasn't really taken her anywhere though. People say she's powerful, aloof, sarcastic, smart, and funny, but no one has really had the chance to talk with her yet." She drummed her fingers in her lap. "She's magical." She added, and her mother nodded in agreement.
"What else did you hear?" Elsa whispered. "Good and bad."
"Well, there's always a lot of bad." Ericka hummed. "Rumors have it she's trying to bring her mom over, and also that she's pregnant. Some people think the reason Ben was so tired is that she's poisoning him. Other people think Ben is controlling her to gain the sympathy of the people, and some people think Belle and Adam forced the entire thing to gain better control over their son, the villains, and the future of the kingdom." She let out a deep breath and rolled her eyes, then hesitated. "His friends were talking about her. They think he's actually in love with her. That it's not a spell. They repeated something he said: 'I need my best friend back'. So, I think that it's a real thing, and they're actually choosing each other and not being thrown together. But, of course, Auradon wants their story."
Ericka sat back in her chair and picked a little at her nails, having made her points. Elsa folded her hands across her lap and frowned across the room where the painting of her parents, Ericka's grandparents, hung. "But then why did they rush it?" She mumbled. "And with Ben and Audrey?" Elsa hummed and nodded. "Thank you, Ericka. That's all I needed unless you have anything else you can tell me."
Ericka shook her head and got to her feet. She wrung her hands and hesitated at the side of her mother's couch as Elsa propped her legs back up on the ottoman, cryptic look frozen on her face. Snowflakes appeared around her mother's frame as Elsa thought. Ericka opened her mouth with a little pop and took a deep breath to begin, but Elsa cut her off. "I don't know anything, Ericka." Elsa murmured. "He'll be back as soon as it's safe. You might as well stop asking because I don't know any more than that."
Ericka deflated and nodded sadly. "Okay." She whispered, and gently brushed her braid over her shoulder as she backed up. Frost stuck in the carpet around her feet. She pushed the door to the sitting room closed as she left and stared up at the moon outside from the hallway. Big and bold and clear. Somewhere, she had to believe that that moon was shining down on her dad too.
I do not own Descendants, Beauty and the Beast(1991 and 2017), Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent, Cinderella(1956 and 2014), Enchanted, Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, or Frozen.