It'll Be Us

by WanderlustandFreedom

Mal worked eight years to be queen and gave up countless experiences in the name of love. But Auradon never seems to like her, and things only get harder instead of easier. Revolt is coming to the palace and her mom's name has been branded on top of hers. And not only are people out for her blood, they're out for her family's, too. In the end, all she wants is her own Happy Ending.

4. Chapter 4

The room felt like a battlefront. Preset sixty-degree climate with crisp fall weather drifting in through the window and a large mahogany Armageddon stage prepped with sixteen chairs and fifteen pairs of eyes on her.

Mal set her things down at the head of the table, where the conductor of the meeting was supposed to sit and picked up a purple pen from behind her ear. "Good afternoon," She greeted the people in the room. Glancing around, she could easily recognize representatives from Arendelle, DunBroch, Ariel's seaside, and Motuni, which made sense because this was supposed to be a meeting regarding climate control in Auradon.

"Good Afternoon, Lady Mal," The room chorused back. Mal pulled out her chair and sat down. She opened a manila folder that had appeared in her room earlier with the details of the meeting and carefully glanced over the agenda.

"How is everyone?" Mal murmured, making a quick note on a bullet point and then looking back up. Everyone looked rather stiff and formal. She carefully put her elbows on the table and glanced around, examining each person's face.

"With all due respect, your highness," A red-headed woman in braids from Arendelle began cautiously, "Why are you covering this meeting and not the king?"

Mal swallowed. Her palms felt a little sweaty. "Ben is in a meeting with representatives from Powhatan at the moment," She explained. "They're doing some training with Ka-Okee before her first meeting as a court member next week and asked Ben to come as part of the demonstration." Which, if she recalled, was only a few short hours before the palace would come out with details regarding her 'wedding day'. She bit back a smile at that thought.

"Are you qualified to conduct a royal meeting?" One of Moana's sons asked, glancing around the room nervously.

"No, I just thought I'd try my hand at it." Mal rolled her eyes. She clicked her pen a few times and then exhaled. "Yes, I've been permitted by the palace to oversee this meeting, along with several others leading up to when I'm coronated."

"That's allowed?" One of Eric's nephews muttered with a frown, glancing to his left and right.

Mal chortled. "Well, obviously," She proclaimed, folding her arms across her chest, crossing her legs under the table, and leaning back into her chair. "Are we ready to begin?" She asked.

No one said anything, so Mal flicked her eyes down to the list and began the meeting.

---

Mal was absolutely blown away by all the fast-paced changes occurring in her life. She was far, far busier than she'd been, of course, but suddenly Ben had free time and after three weeks they would have everything balanced out so that he could take Sundays off. Ben, take Sundays off. The thought was astounding.

They released details for a coronation ceremony on December 15th on the day Ben had assured Debra that details would be released. Auradon was getting hyped for a royal wedding, not realizing it had already happened and been cleared with the law. Ben advised her to not wear the wedding ring a ton lest the public start investigating, but in private it never left her finger.

Belle finally stepped down from the last of the palace duties she had kept up in the absence of a queen to manage the household, and suddenly Mal was allowed to make any changes she wanted to the palace. She considered turning the room next to Ben's office into an art studio but decided against it based on the time she'd have to dedicate to that project.

And then came the problems.

One of the lesser royals(She wasn't allowed to know who based on privacy laws), filed an investigation claim on her based on fear of corruption. Mal was subjected to a long few hours of private interviews and interrogations before she was deemed safe and everything continued. The same knight people who'd tried to meet with Ben after her engagement to him finally managed to procure a meeting that ended in disaster. They'd been asked to leave his office after about a half-hour of arguing, and then reports had appeared in Auradon that the palace was ordering people with concerns about Mal to stay silent. That escalated, and suddenly it was being said that the King had ordered someone who'd overheard a conversation about the downfall of Auradon between him and his fiancée to stay silent under threat of death.

On Friday, October 16th, Mal had just gotten off of a phone call about the upcoming Halloween holiday where kids were usually allowed to come up onto the ground of the palace for trick-or-treating and to attend a children's fair in the gardens when a soft knock came at the door of her office.

She glanced up and saw Adam standing in the doorway. He smiled at her as she brushed her hair out of her face and got to her feet. "Adam," She smiled. "What's going on?"

"No as much as what you have going on," Adam laughed. "May I sit with you a while?"

"That sounds lovely," Mal nodded. "You can close the door if you want."

Adam closed it and took a seat beside the door. "You've been doing very well with all the publicity and everything that's been going on," He told her. "Are you okay?"

"I am," Mal smiled. She looked down at her hands and moved her finger to see the two rings sparkle together. "I'm not going to run to the Isle again if that's what you're asking."

Adam laughed. "Well, that's good," He suddenly pounded a little hand against his chest and cleared his throat. "Sorry," He huffed. "Has Ben been treating you well then?"

"Of course," Mal laughed. "He's Ben. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body."

Adam laughed with her and winced. Mal's brow crumpled in concern and she got to her feet. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Cold sweat had appeared on Adam's brow. His breath came out in short puffs. "I'm fine, I just feel a bit lightheaded all of the sudden."

"Should I call up some water?" Mal asked.

Adam shook his head and straightened up. 'I'm fine," He assured her. "But perhaps… would you care to take a walk with me?"

Mal hovered over her father-in-law as he got to his feet and reopened the door. She took her cellphone off her desk carefully and slipped it into her jean pocket as she carefully followed him.

They took the elevator down to the ground floor and began to wander out, past the ballroom, to the gardens. Mal opened the door for her father-in-law, who thanked her and took a deep breath. "See now?" He told her. "I just needed a bit of fresh air." He offered her his left arm and began to lead her through the gardens with a contented sigh.

"Just let me know if we need to go back," Mal reminded him as they began to meander around Belle's garden.

"It's almost time to start preparing the gardens for winter," Adam hummed. "You'll want to tell the gardeners that it's time to start clipping things back and preparing snow covers.

"I will," Mal assured him. "Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"I wanted to ask how things are going in your life. Ben's treating you right, you're balancing things well, and I've heard many people talking about how capable you seem in your meetings," Adam told her, patting her arm with a small smile.

"Things are going well," Mal nodded. "I don't particularly like the meetings, and I'm a bit bored or annoyed with all the new things that keep popping up, but at the end f the day Ben and I usually have a few hours where we can just talk, and that's very nice."

"I remember that feeling," Adam nodded. "Belle and I used to talk for hours after getting off work. And hopefully, things will stabilize after your coronation. You'll stop having to juggle and it'll be more just going through the motions." He stumbled over something in the path and Mal quickly moved to support him. "Thank you," He whispered, rubbing his arm where their elbows were linked together with a wince.

"I'm just doing things for Ben at this point," Mal sighed. "Nothing else matters enough."

"I was the same way," Adam nodded. He took a heavy breath. "Ben's very relieved you were willing to step up so soon. It's not easy, balancing the work on one person."

"I remember," Mal nodded. "And he only got busier as the years went by. I'm surprised he was still able to take care of himself with everything that happened."

Adam was still rubbing his arm where Mal's was linked. She wondered if she'd hurt it when he tripped, and she'd caught him. Beads of sweat had reappeared on his forehead. "Are you enjoying life as a married woman?" He asked.

"I am," Mal nodded, eyeing him carefully as his steps began to slow down and he leaned heavily on her. "Adam, are you alright?"

Adam's legs started to shake, but he waved her off still. "It's just a passing sickness. Sign of age. Don't worry about me." He cleared his throat and straightened up.

"I think we need to call someone," Mal disagreed. "You don't look well at all."

"Here's a bench," Adam showed her. "I'll just take a moment to sit down and then all will be right."

Mal helped him sit down on an iron-wrought bench with a deep frown. Adam's breathing stabilized again, and the sweat disappeared. However, a deeper sense of dread was setting into her as she watched Adam continue to rub his arm.

"There was one thing I do need to remind you," Adam huffed. He pressed a hand to his chest and then removed it again as if nothing had happened. "Ben noticed you've signed a couple of papers as 'Lady Mal' instead of just 'Mal'. Your title was technically removed the night you married, and you'll be given the title of queen when you're coronated. So right now, you're either a 'Mrs.', or you don't use a title. That paperwork you've done recently that has 'Lady Mal' on it will need to be revisited."

"I'll start on it when I get back to my office," Mal drawled, carefully examining Adam's slumped posture.

Adam took a deep breath and winced. "Maybe I ought to get back to the castle after all," He sighed, standing up carefully. Mal carefully helped him back up. She watched his hand, rubbing circles into his arm. And it suddenly occurred to her that it was his left arm.

"Wait, Adam, sit back down-" She started to say, but Adam's entire body suddenly went rigid. He straightened up, eyes wide, and stumbled back a few steps. He dropped his arm and clutched at his chest.

"God!" He yelled, crumbling to the ground. "God!" He yelled one more time and then fell silent. Mal dropped to her knees and rolled him onto his back in panic. His eyes were wide, frozen, and unseeing. She leaned down and pressed an ear to his chest. She couldn't hear anything past her own rapid heartbeat. Mal quickly pushed two fingers against the artery in his neck and felt nothing at all. There was no blood pressure and no heartbeat. She fumbled as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and called the Auradon Emergency line. She ripped Adam's shirt open and angled herself beside him. As she waited for someone to pick up, she braced her hands, one palm spread out and the other wrapped around her knuckles and began CPR on the former king of Auradon. She pressed down and winced internally as she heard ribs snap out of place.

Her phone clicked and the line came to life. "119, what's your emergency?" A young man asked on the other end of the phone.

"I need an ambulance to Beast's Castle, residence one in Auradon City," Mal commanded, carefully counting out chest compressions. "Former King Adam has just fallen, and there is no heartbeat."

"Stay on the line," The voice commanded. There was a rustle, and Mal heard him raise the call: "Emergency at the royal palace, page an ambulance there right away." He returned to the line: "Do you know CPR?"

Mal leaned down to listen for a heartbeat and upon finding none, resumed work. "I'm already performing CPR. He's been down for less than a minute."

"Is there anyone else in the area?" The man asked.

"No, we're located in Belle's Gardens, only about five minutes from the ground level West Entrance," Mal rehearsed. She paused again to listen for a heartbeat as the information was relayed to an emergency squad. Her phone buzzed suddenly with an incoming phone call. It was the royal palace guard station. Mal's heart sank. She'd forgotten that her phone calls were tracked. The guards were probably curious about why she was calling Emergency Services.

"Okay, has his heartbeat started back up at all from the CPR?" The emergency responder asked.

"No," Mal shook her head.

"I'm assuming you don't have an AED on hand either?" The responder continued.

"No," Mal grit her teeth. "And I've never used one anyways."

The line went a bit silent. Then: "Is this Lady Mal?" Echoed through the phone.

"For god's sake, does it matter?" Mal yelled. "He's going to die – he's dead already if help doesn't get here fast enough." She stopped compressions to cancel the still-incoming call from the guards, knowing that they'd hack her phone and start listening in on the message. Sure enough, a red bar appeared at the top of her screen, letting her know a listening bug had been activated. She groaned.

"Help is on the way," The responder assured her. "Do you know why he fell?"

"Cardiac Arrest," Mal huffed. "And Palace guards are listening in on my call, so, you know, watch your language?" She let loose a series of swear words and dropped down to listen to Adam's chest. She held her breath and focused. To her relief, a beat had started again, thrumming carefully against her cheek. "I have a heartbeat," She announced to the phone. The responder let out a breath.

"Okay, that's good," The responder assured her, quite needlessly. "Keep a close eye on him. The ambulance is five minutes away."

Mal let out a breath and covered her face. Suddenly, alarms were blaring in the palace and she could hear doors opening and closing. It wasn't the sound of the ambulance – it was the sound of a household emergency. That meant that whatever meeting Ben was in, he was going to be escorted out by armed personnel and back to his room for safekeeping. Her phone buzzed once, twice, and three times. The first notification announced the household emergency and directed that all members of the royal family were to return to the palace. The second informed her that Precise Location Tracking(PLT) had been activated on her phone, meaning she was basically a beacon for the guards to follow. The last informed her that her phone controls had been seized by the guards, meaning her phone was effectively useless aside from calling, texting, and access to her emergency medical details from her lock screen. Mal groaned.

The sirens of the ambulance appeared in the distance as Mal plugged one ear and pressed the other to Adam's chest to focus on his slowly beating heart. Shouts appeared in the distance. Mal saw a boot turn the corner before she squeezed her eyes shut and focused on keeping track of Adam's heartbeat.

"Over here!" Someone bellowed. Mal clenched her eyes shut. The ground shook as an entire battalion of palace soldiers appeared, fully armed and fingers resting on the safety of their guns. They surrounded the entire area and two shoved their guns back into holsters to crouch beside her. "Out of the way, Lady Mal," they commanded.

"No!" Mal snapped at them, waving them aside. "God, are the palace gates open? I want you to make sure the ambulance can get through without a problem."

"We'll take it from here," One of the guards assured her, wrapping an arm around her bicep.

"Hands off!" Mal snarled, snatching her arm away. "You do as I told you. And the rest of you, be quiet." She pressed her ear to Adam's chest. The guards stilled. The heartbeat was still slow, but it was growing steady and stronger with every beat. Color was slowly returning to Adam's face. Mal's phone began to buzz on the ground. The sirens grew louder and louder, and she heard tires screech on the nearest road. One of the guards raised his hand to signal the truck, and Mal forced her anxiety to quell.

Paramedics rushed on the scene and two guards fixed their hands on Mal's shoulders and helped her to her feet. Men and women in white uniforms took her place beside him and began treatment. A stretcher was being carried towards them.

About twenty guards filled the courtyard, which struck Mal as immediately strange. She was only required to have five assigned to her in emergencies, at least until she was queen. Ben had ten, Belle, Adam, and Mal had five. It must be because she had sent up the call.

Men surrounded her, all with guns braced in their arms. One picked up her phone and skimmed the messages. "King Benjamin has been messaging you," He informed Mal. "You will be allowed to see his messages when the situation has been resolved."

"The situation is resolved," Mal gasped as she watched paramedics load Adam on the stretcher and begin to carry him away. "And I'm going with Adam to the hospital. Give me my phone."

"You are not permitted to leave palace grounds during an emergency," The guard informed her flatly. "You will receive your phone when the situation has been resolved."

"Listen to me!" Mal growled in frustration. "It's my cell phone and I'm going with him to the hospital. Let me go." She tried to wrench the guard's hands off of her shoulders, but they grabbed onto her arms to hold her back.

"You are not permitted to leave the palace and you are most certainly not allowed to ride in a car we haven't searched," The guard reminded her. "You are to return to your room now."

"What?" Mal gasped as the guards turned her around and began to march her in the direction of the palace. Eight others surrounded them with weapons at the ready, making ten soldiers. The other ten followed the paramedics with Adam to their hospital car. At least two would ride with him, and the other eight would take up garrison around the hospital and around his room. The head guard with her phone began to march back to the palace by himself.

They took her up to Mal's old room, which was her first real sign that she was in serious trouble. They searched the room, locked the windows, and then shut her up inside with three of her standard guards locked inside with her and two outside, standing guard at the door. All three guards inside had the safety off their guns as they stood at attention, one by the door, one by the largest window, and one by the bathroom entrance.

"This is ridiculous," Mal announced, flopping on the bed she hadn't slept on in almost three weeks and glaring at each of her supervisors. "You guys know that there isn't any threat to the palace, so why are we being detained?"

"There is protocol to be followed, Lady Mal," The guard by the windows informed her coolly. The insignia on his breast pocket identified him as the senior official in the room.

"He had a heart attack," Mal grumbled. "Or Cardiac Arrest, rather. The royal family should be down at the hospital figuring out what went wrong, not locked in their rooms up here."

The guards exchanged icy looks. Mal felt cold creep down her spine. The guard cleared his throat again. "The palace emergency situation has already been resolved. King Ben's meeting was rescheduled, and he and Queen Belle were escorted down to Auradon Hospital by armed guards to await King Adam's diagnosis." He lowered his gun a fraction to point at Mal. "You were the only witness to the accident, and as such you are suspect to sabotage until we receive confirmation of what happened. This isn't emergency protection, Lady Mal. You're under arrest."

"What?" Mal sputtered. "I called Emergency Services and revived him!"

"So, you say," The guard shrugged. "He was already breathing when we arrived on the scene. We have no confirmation as to whether you revived him or not."

"His shirt was torn open and there were already bruises from where I'd broken his ribs, performing CPR." Mal stared at the guard in shock. He tossed his head in amusement as if she were a small child who'd just said a particularly funny thing.

"I wouldn't say it like that, if I were you," He advised her and raised his gun back up to position before he fell silent. Mal laid back on her bed in shock as the room remained still except for the three pairs of eyes shifting around the room, examining everything for danger and making sure, not that she was safe, but that the royal family was safe from her.

---

An hour later, the general of all the palace services came down to see her. They escorted her using her own squadron down to a palace hearing room that was filled with twenty more guards, Belle, Lumiere, and Ben. Poor Belle looked like she'd been through a ringer. Her hands were shaking as Lumiere patted her back comfortingly. Ben was irate as he scribbled through hospital forms. His phone had been removed and searched, and then returned to him. Mal still had no idea where hers was.

When they marched her in, guard's hands on her shoulders and guns held ready, Ben looked up and a fierce expression passed over his face. There were five clicks as all the safety features of the guard's guns were reactivated. Guns were not allowed to be off of safety mode in the king's presence.

"Did you detain her?" Ben asked, putting his pen down with a snap on the wood that echoed around the room and made a few of the guards tense. He stood up, frowning.

"Of course, we detained her," The general rolled his eyes. "You know how these things work, your majesty. Witnesses are always detained."

Ben looked angry enough to curse. He took two steps forward and immediately, nine guards moved to stop him. "Oh my goodness," Ben growled, waved his hand aside to brush them all out of the way. "Let me through." He continued to walk towards Mal until the general held up a hand to stop him. The general was an imposing man, about seven feet high, who had broad shoulders and large limbs. He looked down on Ben like her husband was a child.

"She hasn't been interviewed yet," The general informed him in a gruff tone. "And she's still under investigation."

"Investigation?" Ben repeated, rolling his eyes. "No. Cancel that. I don't know who ordered her investigated, but I'm overruling that. Her official statement will be on file tonight, just like mine and the overseeing guards' will be."

"Sir!" The general sputtered. "Are you not even going to consider that she could have had something to do with your father's accident?"

"Preposterous," Ben declared. "Absolute tosh. Release her now." He directed this at the guards who were holding onto Mal. They withdrew their hands but didn't stop surrounding her.

"Your Majesty," The general hissed through clenched teeth. "I insist we interview her prior to releasing her."

Ben let out a long-suffering sigh. "Mal," He directed his attention to his wife. "Did you have anything to do with Dad falling today?"

Mal's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe she actually had to answer this. "No!" She exclaimed.

"Great," Ben snapped at his own general and making Mal jump a little as his head turned away from her in a motion so fast she almost missed it. "I believe we're done here."

"You're going to let her off with one measly question?" The general exploded, balling his fists up and actually moving to block Ben's path. "We have protocol to follow!"

"Your protocol can go stuff itself," Ben declared. "You heard her; she didn't have anything to do with it. Mal's not going to lie to me."

Mal pinched her lips together to fight a smile as Ben side-stepped the general, looking pissed, and the general turned around, looking shell-shocked. Ben reached for her hands and squeezed them. "You okay?" He whispered. Mal nodded. His brow furrowed. "Why didn't you tell me they had you under arrest?"

"I, um, don't have my phone. They took it when they noticed you were texting me," Mal explained. Ben turned his stormy gaze back to the general.

"And why would you do that?" Ben asked in a deathly tone.

"Her phone contains transcripts of her call to Emergency Services," The general replied stiffly. "We have orders to search the device."

"Well your new orders are to retrieve the transcript and return her device before the hour is up," Ben decided. "That's coming from the King of Auradon, so all your other orders are null." He guided Mal up to the head of the table and pulled a chair out for her beside his. Then, he pulled a piece of paper out from his stack and put it in front of her. "We need your official statement on this," He sighed.

"Is everyone gone from the meeting?" Mal asked.

Ben grumbled. "Yeah, they added a reschedule on the end of my workday Tuesday. Everyone in there was locked in and then escorted off the property," Ben sighed, shaking his head.

"Is Adam okay?" Mal whispered, picking a pen from where it lay abandoned by Ben's stack and examining the paperwork.

"Cardiac Arrest. They're thinking it's coronary heart disease." Ben rubbed his hands up and down his face and smiled a sarcastic, painful smile. "It's a good thing you were there because he was dead for almost two minutes before you started his heart again."

"Isle skills put to use," Mal sighed half-heartedly. She began filling out the statement, taking care to explain why she'd been the only person on the grounds with the former king at the time of the accident. The general leaned over her shoulder and sneered at her as he skimmed every word she wrote. When she finished, she slid it across the corner of the table to Ben, but the general snatched it out from underneath her hand before she could draw her hand back. A long line of blood appeared on her hand from his nails and Ben pinched his lips together dangerously.

"We can't accept this report," The general announced after several seconds. "The top portion hasn't been filled out correctly." He slammed the paper back down on the table before he looked at Ben and felt strangely silent. Ben picked up Mal's hand, rotated it around to see the length of the cut, and turned his gaze of fiery steel back on the general, who retreated a few steps.

Mal withdrew her hand and glanced at the top of the paper. "I see no problem with it," She announced wearily. "Today is the sixteenth, yes?"

"Your name isn't correct," The general informed her in a careful tone, taking careful glances to where Ben sat, still silently fuming.

Mal blinked and raised an eyebrow at the guard. "You are aware my full name is Maleficent, yes?" She asked. "I just go by Mal."

"Your title," The general snapped. "You forgot to include your title, therefore, the paper may not be accepted." He crossed his arms with a sneer. Ben closed his eyes. He looked like he was about to break something.

"Upon accepting Ben's proposal a few weeks ago, my title changed. I'm now the official queen-in-training, but there isn't a title which comes with that. The only title I'm permitted to use at this time is Ms, but that title's purpose is negated as it asks me for my gender down here," Mal lied. She pointed to the different pertinent parts of the paper and grit her teeth. "On top of that, this is the format I have been instructed to use by the palace. All is correct."

The general looked very, very annoyed. "Now, see here!" He announced with a growl.

"Sir," One of the soldiers hissed from the other side of Ben. The general looked up to his subordinate, who made a desperate gesture at his throat with his hand. "Shut up," The soldier hissed. "You've already made him mad."

Ben bit his lip and exhaled through his nose. He pointed to the soldier and looked at the general. "Promote him," He commanded the general. "He may very well save your hide the next time you reach my last nerve."

Ben carefully took Mal's hand. The blood was leaking all over her hand as she carefully tried to angle the cut away from the table. Ben hissed as everyone stared at the red coating her skin. Ben cleared his throat. "The emergency situation had been resolved and none of us require guards anymore. You may all be dismissed at your nearest discretion."

The doors opened and one by one, the soldiers all stepped outside. The general hung his head and left without even bowing or acknowledging Ben's presence in the room.

Ben swallowed hard and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. He handed it to Mal, who began to expertly wrap it around her hand. "I'm sorry about him," He muttered fiercely. "He gets rash when I don't let him have his way," Ben grumbled and rubbed a hand down his face. "I'm sorry you were detained. If I'd known, I would have called for you sooner."

"You called for me?" Mal frowned. She hated when he did that, sending servants to pick her up like she was some sort of delivery.

"Well, you weren't picking up your phone, and you hadn't come to see me yet," Ben grumbled. He ran a hand through his hair. Mal rolled her eyes.

"Glad to see I was missed. How was your meeting?" Mal asked.

"Oh, fabulous," Ben rolled his eyes. "Midway through listening to Chad Charming complain about how Cinderellasburg is being neglected, the security systems engage, I'm deafened by the blaring of the alarm right behind my head, the bars engage on the windows, inciting panic from almost everyone in the room, and I'm informed via casual notification my cell phone is being tracked. Guards burst into the room, order everyone to the ground with their hands covering their necks, I'm escorted out by armed personnel and since I happened to be trying to text you when everything went down, my phone was confiscated as well. After sitting in my room for twenty minutes wondering what's going on, I'm informed my father died and was revitalized, after which I have to see out all of my guests who were locked in the meeting room without me before I'm rushed to the hospital. All in all, it's been a fabulous last three hours of my life."

"I bet my story can rival yours," Mal rolled her eyes. "I'm sitting in my office, finishing some paperwork, and my father-in-law knocks on the door. We exchange words, and he asks if I want to take a walk with him out into the garden. Outside he seems tired and short of breath. We sit down for a spell, he asks me to escort him back into the palace, stands up, and promptly dies at my feet. I call Emergency Services while bringing him back to life, guards start listening in on my phone call, and suddenly all of the castle is on lockdown, my phone is seized by Auradon Guards from a distance before they arrive on scene and physically take my phone away, I'm escorted to my room via execution squadron, three of which are locked in my room with me with no safety on their guns, I'm informed I'm under arrest for sabotaging the former King of Auradon's health despite the fact I'm the person who brought him back to life, and then I sit in boredom for almost an hour and a half until I'm finally 'summoned' by his highness himself."

Ben sighed. He reached across the table and took her hand. "Thanks for saving my dad," He whispered softly. "If you hadn't been there, we'd be planning a funeral now."

Mal shrugged. "Of course," She whispered.

Ben squeezed her hand, and then glanced over at his mom. "That being said, lots of things were leaked to Auradon today. And it's not looking too good for you. We need to start mopping things up."

"Not looking good for me?" Mal frowned.

Ben nodded, mouth twisting into a sneer of disgust. "Get this: All of Auradon knows the Former King was hospitalized, that the palace went into lockdown, that 'Lady Mal' was escorted inside by armed guards and did not appear at the hospital beside me and mom, and that you were the only person with dad when everything went down. Guess what the rumors are?"

Mal winced. "Please tell me you're kidding," She groaned.

Ben pulled out his phone with a sigh. "Top Story of the day: Lady Mal attacks Former King Adam, future father-in-law," He announced, turning the phone around. Pictures of her on Ben's arm from the night he'd proposed filled the screen. "I've already posted something on social media, but that was before I found out you were being detained."

"Oh my gosh," Mal pushed the phone away with a pained expression. "That's so unfair. I saved his life, and all that got out was that he almost died, and I was the only person around?"

Ben shook his head. "We need to review our detainee policies," He mumbled to his mom. "Every time this happens… it's ridiculous."

"Do you usually imprison everyone in the area until the guards know exactly what happened?" Mal frowned, scrunching her eyebrows together.

"Yes, actually," Ben rolled his eyes. "Did I ever tell you about the time my entire sixth-grade class was detained after I broke my arm at school?"

Mal stared at him, waiting for him to take it back, but he didn't. She turned away, shaking her head. "That's preposterous," She sighed.

"It was three teachers, two or three hundred students, and one parent with her little baby that had been walking to the school to check her kid out. They were all detained for an hour until my dad realized what had happened and put a stop to that," Ben recalled, shaking his head. "But anyways, all of Auradon believes you're under arrest, which was unfortunately true."

Mal swallowed. "Can I go see Adam? I want to go see him, and if I'm photographed walking in or out of the hospital then…" She trailed off as Ben began to nod along to her plan.

"That sounds inspired," He hummed. "Yeah, let's do that, but not right now. I forgot to ask: are you alright?"

"I'm bleeding, and my father-in-law died in front of me," Mal laughed dryly. "I'm peachy."

"The doctors told me that he was only gone for about two minutes. You work fast," Ben complimented her, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand again.

"I've had to resuscitate people before," Mal shrugged. "I just… wasn't expecting my father-in-law to drop to the ground in front of me."

"Well, thank you," Ben whispered again. He stood up a little and leaned across the table to her. He pressed a kiss to her cheek before the doors opened to the room and a palace guard entered and stood at attention.

"Your majesty," He began in a firm tone. "The hospital just paged to inform the royal family that Former King Adam has woken up."

Ben exhaled and stood up with a nod. "Can you please arrange for a car to take three down to the hospital? And, if you can," He set a hand down on Mal's shoulder, "Please find out where her cellular device went. I want it returned to her as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," The guard nodded, turned at point, and walked out of the room. Ben glanced at his watch and sighed.

"I have to go," He whispered, which was a normal statement. He put his hands down on Mal's shoulders and squeezed them briefly before he turned and left the room too. Mal watched him go expressionlessly, wondering what Adam would have to say to her when they next saw each other.

---

At least five different news crews had gathered outside the palace and were speaking energetically to cameras whilst citizens who, apparently, didn't have anything better to do with their lives waited outside the doors for news. The palace car pulled up alongside the hospital entrance and palace guards who were still standing garrison outside the entrance immediately moved to clear a path. People began to scream in excitement as one of the guards opened the door and helped Belle step outside. Reporters scribbled away on notepads but didn't yell any questions at her as she passed by on the arm of one of the armed guards.

Ben stepped out to mass hysteria and raised a hand to the crowd before he turned and offered his hand to Mal inside. As she stepped out and looped her arm through Ben's, the crowd fell an odd, eerie sort of quiet. People exchanged looks and whispers among the crowds. Mal could see cameras zooming in on her face as she and Ben began to walk towards the hospital.

"King Ben!" A reporter shouted. "Have you received any word on King Adam?"

Ben stopped and turned Mal towards the reporter with him as he tried to face her. "The hospital paged us almost an hour ago and told us he'd woken up. We're not sure if he still is, but we wanted to be down here with him."

"Have you determined the details of his accident?" The reporter asked with a shifty glance towards Mal. Ben opened his mouth to answer, then paused and looked at Mal.

"Do you want to tell them, darling?" He whispered.

Mal swallowed. "I don't have any medical details," She told the reporter nervously. "But I was there when it happened. He was rubbing his left arm and was having trouble breathing when he asked me to take him up to the palace. I'd previously been asking if he needed me to call someone for him when his entire frame went rigid and he hit the ground in front of me. I hit my knees and he wasn't breathing, so I began CPR as I called for an ambulance."

"If Mal hadn't been there, we would be planning a burial now," Ben added to the camera. A muscle in his jaw twitched. He was clearly still annoyed that the blame had immediately been heaped on her.

"Why was Mal not present at the hospital earlier when you arrived?" The reporter asked.

"The palace personnel had to screen my phone, get my official statements on the matter, and ensure nothing was going to happen to me," Mal told them. "In short, I was tied up with paperwork while Ben got to come down with his mom for family time."

Ben snorted and nodded in agreement. He looked over his shoulder to the doors, where the guards were still waiting with weapons at the waiting. "We're going to go see him now," He announced to the crowds. "Thank you for your concern during this time." He raised a hand to the crowd again, and then he and Mal turned and headed inside the building.

As they passed the threshold, a wave of cleaners and antiseptics hit them. A guard inside the inner doors gestured firmly to a canister of disposable hand sanitizer. Ben and Mal both obliged and, rubbing the foamy liquid into their skin, continued inside.

Armed personnel surrounded her and Ben as they walked through the waiting area. Other patrons looked up and watched in amazement as the royal family began to trek through the halls of the hospital. Belle didn't have to be surrounded, and neither did Mal, but something about having the King out in public was a very, very bad thing.

They were led to a private ward by the guards. As they passed, even nurses who worked there weren't allowed to speak to them. One of the guards opened the door for them and then stood at attention as they walked inside.

Adam lay on a long, white bed with dozens of IV's and monitors attached to him. Mal flinched when she heard the tell-tale sound of a heart monitor and examined the sickly pallor of Adam's skin. He opened his eyes when he heard Belle's heels clicking against the floor and a smile immediately broke across his face. "Sweetheart," He whispered, his hand twitching like he wanted to lift it.

Belle leaned down and wrapped her arms around him as best he could as Ben and Mal stood at the foot of the bed. Ben wrapped his arms around Mal as tears began to roll down Belle's cheeks. The two older adults shared a kiss as Ben laid his chin on Mal's head and waited for the two to look up and acknowledge their presence.

Belle eventually straightened back up, still crying, and squeezed Adam's hand as he looked around the room. His gaze landed on Ben and Mal, and a smile spread across his face. "Son," He whispered.

"You doing good, Dad?" Ben asked, unwrapping his arms from around Mal and rubbing his arms up and down her arms instead as if he were trying to keep her warm.

"Been better," Adam laughed. He looked to Mal, who began to bite her cheek. "Thank you, Mal. I think we all know you're the only reason I'm here now."

Mal swallowed and shrugged. "Well, I figure it's about time I returned the favor. Without you guys, I wouldn't be here either."

Ben hummed as he leaned his head, this time, on her shoulder. She could feel his breath on her ear as she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry about your ribs," She mumbled.

Adam laughed. "Yeah, you did a number on them. Nurses said they were all clean breaks through. Easier to heal. You certainly knew what to do." He looked up to Ben. "How long was I down? A minute?"

"Almost two," Ben reminded him.

"How long do you have to stay?" Mal asked.

Adam tried to roll his shoulders and a series of very loud popping noises emitted from his neck and back. "I think another two or three days," He groaned. "And then they'll have things up at the palace to help me." He looked around to his family. "But I hope you all know what this is."

Ben's hands stilled on Mal's hands as all the hairs on her body stood on end. "What what is?" Ben asked.

"Coronary Heart Disease," Adam began in a grave tone, "Is a lifelong diagnosis."

"They're sure, then?" Belle asked. Her lower lip jutted out.

"Almost one-hundred percent," Adam sighed. "It can't be cured. This will, probably, kill me one day."

Mal stared at the flooring and nodded along to his words. Ben's arms dropped off of her frame and she knew, without even looking at him, that this was going to be hard on him. She spun on her heel and immediately put her arms around him. He leaned into her and took a deep, ragged breath. "It's gonna be okay," She whispered.

He nodded and took several more breaths before he put his arms back around her. Belle was crying openly as she patted her husband's hand, completely devastated.

Adam cleared his throat and whispered: "Mal?"

Mal carefully let Ben go, reached up, and brushed a few tears out of his eyes before she turned to face Adam and walked to his other side. Adam tried to lift his hand, and Mal put her hand in his, squeezing gently. Adam cleared his throat and leaned onto his side a little to focus on her. Mal got to her knees on the floor beside him as he searched for the words he wanted to stay.

"When I'm gone," He began softly, "Which, hopefully, won't be for a long time, I know I will leave Belle and Ben. And Ben will take care of Belle because that's the kind of person we raised him to be." He paused, and Mal's mouth went a bit dry as she realized what he was about to say. "But Ben will need someone to look after him too, and Belle is only going to get older. Mal, will you take care of Ben, after I'm gone?"

"Of course, I will," Mal answered immediately. "You know I'm not going to let him fall off. Someone's got to make his life interesting."

Adam laughed and squeezed her hand. "You're a good girl," He whispered. "Someone brought you up right." He let go of her hand and looked up at Ben. The ghost of a smile passed over his face. "I still don't know what we did right with you," He laughed. "Dang kid practically brought himself up."

Belle, Mal, and Adam all laughed, but Ben simply stood at the foot of his father's bed with tears falling down his face. Mal stood up and outstretched a hand to him. He took it, and she returned him to her embrace as he sniffled and tried to stay his tears. "Want to step out?" She whispered.

Ben looked down at his parents and nodded. "We'll be back," He whispered.

Ben and Mal stepped towards the door as Belle and Adam began to whisper together. She opened the door for him, and immediately the guards held their guns aloft. She waved them off. "We're going to walk down this hall together," She told them firmly. "You're going to stay here. We have our phones on us, and you've secured the entire area. We're not going to go out of sight, so you might as well stay here." She squeezed Ben's hand, and together they began to walk down the tan-carpeted hallway.

"He's not going to die for a long while," Mal whispered in Ben's ear. "You have time."

Ben nodded and used the base of his palm to wipe away a few tears from his eyes. "It just occurred to me that that time is numbered," He murmured. He exhaled. "I'm okay."

They stopped in front of two large windows. Outside, the crowds were still gathered, waiting for news. She took his other hand and leaned up towards his face. The moment her lips graced his, she felt all of the worry and stress of the day fade out of her system. Ben relaxed into her grasp as he deepened the contact and began to kiss her out in the hall. All of the pain, all the sadness, everything healed itself. They only stopped when they started to trespass into the beginning stages of drunkenness. Mal smoothed out his suit and noticed that the clotting on her hand from her cut had completely healed itself. She turned her hand around and then looked up at Ben.

"You're going to be okay?" She asked.

He exhaled and nodded, and she squeezed his hands. Outside, the sun began to set, and they stood in the sunlight, staring at each other as they considered everything that was about to happen.

---

"There's an unfulfilled need for a head of court," Mal announced to the meeting room. "I'm stepping down, and I'd like to nominate Anna of Arendelle in my stead."

Down the table, Princess Anna stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of her skirts.

"You're still eligible to work on the courts until you're married and coronated," The son of Tiana and Naveen frowned. "Why step down so soon?"

"She's taking over more palace responsibilities," One of the nephews of Eric announced, who had been there at Mal's first meeting after marrying Ben. "Therefore, she's not supposed to be interfering as much."

"As much," Ben echoed beside Mal, taking her hand and squeezing it with a laugh.

"Exactly," Mal laughed. She leaned forward to the table in dramatic humor. "I'm going to be interfering more on the palace side. Get this: me taking over some palace responsibilities took one of Ben's workdays from eighteen hours to ten."

The room let out a breath. "Eighteen hours?" Someone gasped down the table.

"That's not the amazing thing – the amazing thing is that his workday went to ten hours." Mal rolled her eyes. "That was Tuesday the third. And then lately, he's only had nine-hour workdays. The longest he was in the office this entire week was eleven and a half hours on Monday."

"How long was he usually in office?" Tiana's son asked. He'd set his pen down incredulously.

"Oh my goodness, let me tell you!" Mal proclaimed, setting her pen down with a thud. "The longest day ever was twenty hours and forty-one minutes. He's taken off one Christmas Eve and all eight of my birthdays, along with, I think, three actual Christmas days. His average clocked-in time was seventeen hours and thirty-two minutes. Now, since he and I split responsibilities, it's been seven or eight-hour averages, but really nine because we have such short workdays on Saturdays and Sundays and that messes with the averages." Mal waved her hands about her head as she spoke.

"You work on Sundays?" Chad Charming asked from down the table.

"I have worked every single day the last two years except for Mal's birthday and one Christmas Eve," Ben informed the table. "But now that Mal's helping balance meetings, we're hoping we can start taking Sundays off together."

"That's insane," Chad shook his head. "Okay, I'm going to support Mal stepping down. No one should be working that much. And Anna will do a good job." He nodded down the table at the red-headed senior member of the council. Anna smiled and brushed a braid behind her ear like she was still a teenager instead of an almost-sixty-year-old with wrinkles and grey roots.

"Let's take a vote," Ben proclaimed. He made several markings on his paper and then glanced to Mal. "You want to conduct?"

But Mal's head suddenly felt a bit full and her mouth felt a bit dry. She shook her head and waved him onwards as she leaned back, head spinning. Ben turned to the table and called for a show of hands as Mal's stomach suddenly rebelled against her body and began to churn inconsistently. Anna was approved as leader of the official courts, and Mal was officially free of her court duties.

"We need to proceed now with a quick overview of last time," Ben announced. He set a hand on Mal's leg, which would have felt quite nice if not for the fact her throat and windpipe were constricting on her. "Mal?" Ben asked. "That's you."

Mal stood up and straightened her notes from last time. "Last time we approved Ka-Okee to the council, welcome by the way, and the July 31st law was…" Mal stopped, and swayed, holding a hand to her chest. She abruptly shoved her papers into Ben's hands. "Cover me," She told him and slipped to the door quickly.

"Cover you?" Ben asked behind her as people rose out of their seats, asking if she was okay. Mal slipped out of the doors and sprinted down the hallways. She found a bathroom around a bend about thirty feet from the meeting room and locked herself inside. She dropped to her knees in front of the toilet about twenty seconds before she felt her stomach rush up her throat.

A horrible smell filled the bathroom, like burned cloth or hair or something. Mal felt something like fire spill out of her mouth and gagged on the charred taste. She leaned over the toilet bowl, doing her best to get nothing on her clothes, as everything rushed out of her.

What filled the toilet was thick, black, and sludge-like. Mal groaned when she saw it. Magical sickness. It occurred periodically whenever she let her magic go too long without using it. What she was seeing was the result of underused magic remaining in her system. She wiped her mouth and then slowly stood up. Using the sink, she carefully washed out the rest of the burnt taste from her mouth, flushed the toilet, and left the room.

By the time she'd made it back to the courtroom, her hands were shaking, and her head was spinning still. She slipped back in and returned to her seat as Ben finished up the notes from the previous meeting and turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Where did you go?"

"I need help," Mal sighed dramatically. She leaned down and quickly kissed him, and immediately the churning in her stomach and head stopped. Ben jumped back.

"Ew," He exclaimed. "Why do you taste burnt? Oh-" He frowned. "Magical sickness again?"

"I'll take the medicine for it when we get out," Mal waved him off. "I'll be fine for a while longer." She sat down and took her packet of papers back from Ben. "Alright, where were we?"

They worked slowly, precisely. A few of the recent laws Ben had created were appraised for effectivity and then general budgets for the court were examined. Since it was November now, it was time to start wrapping up yearly summaries and getting things ready for the new, coming year. Throughout the meeting, Mal's head slowly got foggier and foggier. Occasionally, when attention was focused on the far end of the table, Ben would turn to press a quick kiss to her mouth, but even with the True Love's Kiss mostly holding her back from misery, she was growing more and more obviously sick.

The meeting adjourned around four in the afternoon. However, Mal still had to meet with Princess Anna to discuss her new Court responsibilities, so she stayed in her seat as Ben stood and shook hands with everyone as they slowly made their way to the doors.

"How is your dad, Ben?" Chad asked, clapping Ben on the shoulder in a friendly manner. Over the years, Chad had mellowed out considerably. He and Mal still didn't speak much, but he and Ben were back on friendly terms.

"He's okay," Ben assured Chad. "He was released from the hospital two days after the incident and has been here ever since. They've got him on some treatments – pills and such – but there's not anything we can do to fix the problem. Mal and Fairy Godmother are looking into something magical that might help him, but I'm not holding my breath on that one." Ben put his hands on Mal's shoulders and began to massage the tight muscles there, but there was no comfort in the motion. Mal immediately slumped forward and laid her head on the table.

"And it was what, heart attack?" Chad asked.

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "Mal thought it was Cardiac Arrest, but we're thinking heart attack now." He ran his fingers through the hair at the base of her neck and Mal closed her eyes. It had been three weeks since Adam had almost died. Since then, he'd spent most of his life in his room or with Belle in her library. Their vacation to Camelot had been suspended until Adam's doctor, who was scheduled to come to check on Adam at least once every month, approved him for travel.

"Well, I'm glad to hear he's okay," Chad rehearsed. He looked down at Mal – Mal could tell this because she felt his eyes land on her – and cleared his throat. "How are wedding plans going?"

"They're going," Ben laughed. Mal rolled her eyes – everyone kept asking and it was becoming a point of irony between her and Ben. "Evie's coming up… tomorrow?" He briefly paused in rubbing Mal's shoulders so his wife could nod.

"Eleven," Mal hummed. "She wants to do the final fitting for the stupid dress and then she needs to fix my shoes because the two shades of white didn't end up matching."

"You're shooting for the sixteenth, right?" Chad asked.

"Fifteenth is coronation day," Ben nodded. "And after that, everything will be official, and she'll need to be escorted everywhere." He laughed as Mal let out a grumble. He patted her shoulder sympathetically and began threading his hands through her hair. "Want me to run and grab your pill before my next meeting?" He asked.

"Pill?" Chad asked, confused.

"For Magical Sickness. It's when she doesn't use her magic often enough," Ben poked her in the side. "You're supposed to be doing your exercises at night," He reminded her.

"I'm doing different exercises," Mal grumbled, batting his hand away. She suddenly remembered Chad was there and corrected herself. "That was sarcastic, by the way," She assured him. It wasn't.

"Sure," Chad rolled his eyes, looking a bit awkward. "Well, I'm sorry you're not feeling well. Say, Ben, are you coming to Cinderellasburg next week or the week afterward?"

"You have a business trip?" Mal sat up, pouting her lip as she turned and frowned at Ben. He nodded and leaned down to kiss her brow, which didn't do much for her sickness.

"Just for two days," He told her. "And, Chad, it's the week after. I'll be in your palace over the twentieth and twenty-first, and then be gone before you get your family together for Thanksgiving."

Mal groaned and buried her head in her arms. "I hate your work," She announced loudly to the ten-odd remaining occupants of the room, who all raised eyebrows over at her. "You should quit, and we could buy a beach house somewhere. Just the two of us."

"One day," Ben laughed. She could feel him rolling his eyes behind her.

"Lady Mal? Or, Ms. Mal?" Anna spoke up from across the table. "When do you want to start?"

"Oh, soon," Mal sighed, sitting back up and rubbing her eyes. "Alright, boys, my successor and I need to have a conversation, so you're going to have to take it outside." She stood up to share a quick hug with Ben. Then, as she withdrew, she stole a slightly drawn-out kiss, hoping to stave off her sickness. It helped tremendously, and she sat back down with a clear head.

"I'll bring up your thing," Ben sighed, running his hand through her hair.

"Thanks," Mal sighed. "I'm okay. It's only a briefing." She opened her file to find the papers she'd set aside for Anna as Ben and Chad and the rest of the room's inhabitants moved towards the door.

"Does your sister get magical sickness at all?" Mal asked Anna as she found the papers and set them out. Anna shook her head with a slightly amused smile. Mal sighed. "Lucky lady," She declared, and without another comment, began the meeting.

---

"Oh my goodness, you're showing," Mal gasped when Evie appeared in her office holding three heavy-looking dress bags over her arm. Her best friend was wearing slim-fitting slacks with boots and a blue shirt with a neckline modified to hang over her chest in multiple layers. Her hair was brushed straight back and sleek against her skin. Evie smiled and nodded as she wrapped an arm around herself, drawing even more attention to the small swell she was sporting. Mal covered her mouth with her hands, half in horror and half in shock. She counted back dates in her head… Evie had to be at least three, almost four months along now. That was insane.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Evie laughed. "Doug was worried about me driving since it snowed last night. I had to battle him for the right to my car."

"You… look good," Mal trailed off. In truth, Evie's frame seemed a bit grotesque. She felt the remnants of yesterday's sickness kick back in as she stared at Evie's middle. To Mal, Evie looked a bit disfigured. She didn't like seeing her best friend looking like she had stuffed a folded blanket under her shirt.

"I feel good," Evie laughed. "I'm not sick anymore." She laid the bags across Mal's empty desk and held her hands out. "Where are your shoes?" She asked.

Mal pointed wordlessly across the room, where the shoes sat hidden on a side table along with a picture of her, Ben, Belle, and Adam. Evie examined the picture as she walked to pick up the shoes, one hand still curled around her stomach like she was protecting a delicate treasure. Mal wanted to throw up to get rid of the churning feeling in her stomach.

"Adam still okay?" Evie asked, examining the photo and rubbing her knuckles on the side of her stomach.

"Uh… yeah," Mal snapped back to attention and focused on the garment bags on her desk. She picked up the heaviest one and unzipped it. "Yeah, he's okay. Ribs are healing nicely." She swallowed as she withdrew the dress. It was the dress – the big one. It was white, unlike her actual 'Wedding' dress. The sleeves were different from anything Mal had worn. They hung completely off her shoulders and were held together by some very intense, detailed embroidery of roses going around her arms. They started around her armpits, wrapping around from the back, and ended a few inches above her wrists. The neckline was scooped into a semi-sweetheart neckline, and the bodice was short to give Mal as much skirt as she could get. Dozens of layers of white, shimmering tulle hung to the floor with the back of the dress being designed to trail along behind her. It was embroidered all over the skirt, but especially on that little train of skirt behind her. "It looks good, E," Mal stated, glancing up at her friend and then quickly averting her eyes again. "Auradon will love it."

"Yeah, they will," Evie smiled. "I put the roses in for his mom, and on the back, there's actually…" Evie used her free hand to flip the dress over and gesture to where the embroidery for her sleeves started. "Beauty and the Beast. I thought it was fitting for you and Ben."

"There's no back to the dress," Mal examined the outfit aloud.

"That extends to the sides. All of this –" Evie brought her hands to her sides and traced her fingertips down her waistline, making Mal shrivel internally. "-will be uncovered."

"Okay," Mal mumbled, zipping the dress back up. She lifted the neck one and unzipped it. "Ben's suit?" She asked, withdrawing a mess of navy-blue fabric. "Oh, no, this is dress fabric. What's this?"

"Belle's dress," Evie explained. "Ben's suit is still in my office. I'm embroidering things on it."

"Oh," Mal chorused emotionlessly. "Okay." She examined the dress. It was a pretty, four-part bodice with a long, swishy skirt and long sleeves. Belle was going to like it a lot. Mal set it back in its bag and lifted the last one.

"That's your evening dress," Evie explained as Mal dragged the zipper down. "I know you won't want to stay in the gown all day, so here's your out."

Mal couldn't stop a smile as she lifted out the dress from inside. It was mid-sleeved, down to her knees, made of soft, creamy lace on top of a cream slip inside. A brown woven belt was around the waistline. She hummed, drawing a hand down the skirt, and smiled. "It looks great, Evie. I honestly can't wait to wear it." She looked up at her friend, and her smile fell a little tight again. She slipped the dress back into its bag. "Did you leave your price in here?" Mal asked, checking the bag.

"I left it with the gown," Evie explained, closing her eyes and wrapping both hands around herself. Mal resisted the urge to throw up. "I'm going to sit down," Evie sighed, taking a chair against the wall and slumping into it. "My feet and my ankles have already started to swell, and no amount of Epson salts can get them to go back down."

"That sounds awful, E," Mal frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Evie shrugged, hugging her belly protectively. "It's honestly pretty cool. I mean, I hurt, but I'm so excited for everything that it doesn't matter."

"Yeah?" Mal asked softly, not wanting her friend to continue.

"Yeah," Evie affirmed. "I think this will end up being one of the best experiences of my life."

"I mean, if you're into disfigurement," Mal scoffed dryly. Immediately, the temperature in the room dropped fifteen degrees. Her tongue felt black as she realized her slip. Evie opened her eyes and straightened up, looking hurt. Mal winced. "I… didn't mean that," She tried to salvage the situation.

"Oh, no, go on," Evie frowned. "Tell me what you really think."

"No, Evie, I'm sorry," Mal stepped out from around her desk. "I mean – I meant…"

"You think I'm ugly?" Evie asked.

"Evie, please, you're one of the most beautiful people I know-" Mal started, but Evie cut her off with tears growing in her eyes.

"You think I'm making a mistake, don't you?" Evie cried. "You think it's a bad thing that I decided to do this and that I want to have kids and-"

"What?" Mal deadpanned. She had no idea why Evie was crying so hard all of a sudden. But her friend got up with shaking fists and flashing eyes.

"Just because you're paranoid about dying doesn't mean the rest of us normal people who want children are misled," Evie shouted with tears streaming down her face, ruining her makeup. "Some of us actually find motherhood and raising children appealing to selfishly staying alone your entire life!"

Mal's mouth dropped open in shock. "That's – what?" She exclaimed. "That's a low blow, Evie."

"But it's true, isn't it? You don't care about the kingdom, about Ben, it's all about you and your life and your happily-ever-after as Queen of freaking Auradon! Ever since you moved in with Ben you've been caring about us less and less," Evie yelled.

"Since when have I stopped caring?" Mal shouted back. "It's not like you guys have been an important part of my life every time something important happened. Geesh, I'm sorry I can't drop everything and go on girl's days with you anymore, E. It's not like I can just decide to close up doors for a day and finish all my projects tomorrow like you can. An entire country is depending on Ben and me, Evie!"

"There you go, making it all about you!" Evie sobbed. "I have the kingdom, Evie. My husband is the most important person in my life. My work is so much more important than yours. Did it ever occur to you that I worked for what I have! It's not like I'm just marrying the king to make all my wishes come true."

"I'm making it all about me?" Mal asked incredulously. "Yeah, you know what, balancing a kingdom is way more important than making dresses for all of Auradon. Why? Because my work keeps your shop open. And it keeps money in the community, and it gives you Palace Certified bonuses. And for god's sake, Doug is the most important person in your life! And I worked long and hard to get to where I am. I dealt with the courts and all their loopholes and casual hate for years! You've had your dreams accomplished for years, am I not allowed to be happy now that I've finally gotten my one wish!"

"You're shallow!" Evie howled. "All you care about is marrying the king!"

"All I care about is marrying Ben!" Mal shouted. "And it's not like I'm the person who grew up making plans to swindle princes of their fortunes and castles!"

"Yet look where you are now!" Evie snapped. "Swindling an entire kingdom!"

"I don't want the freaking kingdom!" Mal yelled. "The kingdom can go away for all I care. I just want to be happy with my true love, just like you have yours!"

"So now you're attacking my husband?" Evie shrieked, wrapping her arms around herself to guard against Mal's words. "Well, I'm sorry we're actually normal and can kiss without getting drunk like we're some kind of anomaly of nature! Maybe it has something to do with how you spelled him to get him to love you in the first place!"

"You helped!" Mal exploded. "And you're talking nonsense. Some of this stuff hasn't happened in years and you never had a problem with it before, so I don't know why you're all up in a tiss right now when you've got your perfect life with your husband who you can kiss normally and who doesn't have to work twenty-four seven so the two of you can take off work whenever the heck you want. And you've got your ring, and your baby, and your business, and you don't have everyone examining every move you make, always accusing you of sabotage, so I don't know why you hate me so much right now. Any day of the week, Evie, I'll trade you!"

Evie picked up her purse and hurled it at the wall, scattering lipstick, identification, money, and receipts everywhere. "But only the days I'm not pregnant because you think I'm ugly and delusional. You're selfish!"

"How am I selfish?" Mal shot back. Her eyes were sparking. She could feel power rising behind them.

"Because you're only marrying Ben to get in his bed, and you won't even have a baby for him even though we all know he wants one!" Evie claimed, rubbing her hands around on her stomach as she screamed incomprehensibly at Mal.

Mal snapped. Tears were suddenly falling down her face just as fast and hard as they were on Evie's. "That's not true at all!" She screamed. "You-you're just like the tabloids! But fine, I guess I'm a selfish wench for waiting eight years and working my rear end off and taking off court duties early to help Ben with his work and every meeting I had to ditch something fun for and letting my own mother be locked away and being arrested and everything!" Mal picked up a mug of pencils and pens off of her desk and flung it to the ground beside her desk with both hands, completely shattering the porcelain artifact into dozens of tiny pieces. "Get out of my office!" Mal demanded, throwing her finger out to the door. Magic surged out of her hands like electricity and the door blew off of its hinges as it tried to open the wrong way. Green flames like lighting bolts blew out of her fingertips and slammed into the wall, causing a minor explosion that ripped sheetrock and baseboards off of the wall, exposing plumbing and electrical work in the hall. The lights shivered, and then flickered out. All that was left were the luminescent sparks of Mal's magic.

"You make a mess everywhere you go!" Evie howled. "They're right; you're only going to make a mess of Auradon. Have fun being the last queen of the country ever!" Evie snatched up her empty purse and her identification and marched out with tears running down her face.

"Why would you care?" Mal screamed after her. "You obviously understand nothing about me!" She picked up another jar, this one empty, and slammed it into the carpet. There was no response from down the hall as Mal sank to her knees beside the desk, sobbing unashamedly. There was a pause where there was no sound except for Mal's crying, and then alarms started up in the palace. Red emergency lights started flashing in her office, and Mal let out a strangled groan. She pawed around on her desk for her cell phone as it started to vibrate, informing her another palace emergency was taking place involving the electrical unit being suddenly destroyed. Due to the palace-wide power outage, she was required to stay where she was.

She'd broken the palace breaker system; great.

---

"Mal," Ben greeted her in a terse tone as she walked in for dinner that night. She looked up at the angry tone in his voice. Belle and Adam were sitting in silence on the other side of the table, refusing to look at her. Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket and began pulling something up with a curled lip.

"I'm sorry about the wall," Mal sighed, taking a seat beside him. "I can explain. Evie… she and I-"

"Had a fight," Ben finished. He heaved a heavy sigh. "Yeah. I heard all about it."

Mal stopped and stared at him for a few seconds. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Ben set his phone down in front of her. It was displaying the symbol for an audio-only file. He hit play, and Mal's voice from earlier filled the area. "I guess I'm a selfish wench! Waiting eight years and working my rear end off and taking off court duties early to help Ben with his work and every meeting I had to ditch something fun for and letting my own mother be locked away and being arrested and everything!"

Evie's voice joined in, highly distorted and slightly blurred from the tears in her voice. "You're only marrying Ben to get in his bed, and you won't even have a baby for him! You're selfish! You spelled him to get him to love you in the first place!"

"You helped!" Mal's voice echoed back. Mal frowned. The recording had completely jumped back in time. It had been edited.

Evie continued screaming blasphemy in the recording. Mal's voice didn't reappear much more amidst Evie's claims of: "All you care about is marrying the king! Swindling an entire kingdom! It's not like I'm just marrying the king to make all my wishes come true."

Suddenly, the recording became even more distorted, and every word was being said in a different tone. Mal listened to herself speak with absolute horror. "All I care for is the kingdom. My own mother helped for years. I'm making plans to swindle princes of their fortunes and castles!" She clapped her hands over her mouth. The recording finished with her screaming at Evie: "Get out of my office!"

Ben took his phone back and threaded his fingers together, looking very tense. "Explain that," He demanded softly.

"That's not the full conversation!" Mal gasped. "They cut out all of the… and that last part isn't even real!"

"I know the last part isn't real. I can hear audio clips being reused. But I can't deny that that is you screaming about how you let your mom be locked away. And Evie…" He shook his head. "What happened?"

"I… I… we were talking about how Evie's pregnant," Mal squeezed her eyes shut. "Because she's showing already. And I said that she looked disfigured, and she went psyco on me and started screaming that I was attacking her and her lifestyle, and then she started taking digs at me and insulting me… I don't know what happened or what got into her, but she screamed at me that I was selfish for not wanting children and then we were both yelling at each other and…" Mal pressed her hands to her forehead.

Ben's expression softened as he listened to her explanation, and he nodded solemnly. "Okay, I believe you," He whispered. He took her hand and squeezed it before he turned to his dinner and used his fork to pick at his food. "Evie's pregnant," He reminded her. "Her emotions are wonky. She probably was just experiencing a massive mood swing."

Mal dropped her hands from her forehead and closed her eyes as she winced internally. "I never want to be pregnant," She sighed, hanging her head and heaving a heavy sigh.

Ben pinched his lips back together but said nothing on the subject. Instead, he tapped his phone with his index finger. "That audio clip is trending. Fifteen million people have viewed it in the last hour."

Mal's mouth dropped open. "Please tell me you're joking," She whispered.

Ben shook his head. "Whoever put it up first has taken it down, but it's already too late. Almost all of Auradon is convinced you're scheming to seize the crown, and we've been forced to issue a pause on coronation day plans."

"But it's not what they've made it look like! And most of what Evie said-" Mal sputtered, staring at Ben in horror.

"Evie already paged the palace and revoked the statements online," Ben sighed. "But I'm not sure what to do for the rest of this mess." He slumped back into his chair and exhaled. "I'm sorry for doubting you."

Mal swallowed. "How… how did they get the clip?"

Ben shrugged. "I have no idea," He whispered.

The doors Mal had entered through opened and Lumiere appeared, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Miss Mal?" He called. "Someone is here to see you."

"If it's the general, tell him to go away and I'll sort out my own national security problems," Ben grumbled.

Mal stood up. "Who, Lumiere?"

Behind Lumiere, two figures moved. Evie stepped into the light with Doug at her side, looking ashamed. "Mal…" Evie whispered.

Mal sat back down and closed her eyes. She turned away from her two friends and put her elbows on the table and her chin on her fists. Ben set his hand on her shoulder. "Yes, Evie?" He asked.

Evie wandered to Mal's side and dropped to the ground despite the extra weight on her. "Mal, I'm so sorry," She whispered. "I just… got angry, and…"

Mal sniffled and immediately, tears pricked at her eyes. She turned away from Evie and began to scrub furiously at her eyes.

"I didn't mean any of those awful things I said," Evie promised. "And I swear I didn't mean for it to get out."

Lumiere pulled the doors closed and walked away. Doug stood awkwardly beside them. Ben sighed as he stood up and put his hands on Mal's shoulders again. Mal covered her face and began to sob.

"She'll be okay," Ben promised Evie. "She just needs more time. And in advance, she didn't mean the things she said to you either."

"It was my fault," Evie declared softly. "I overreacted when she said pregnancy was cool if you were into disfigurement."

"That's the line?" Ben asked, hands stilling on Mal's shoulders. He let out a sigh. "Ouch."

Mal felt her heart descending into a little black hole in the pit of her stomach. She wiped her eyes but still couldn't find the strength to look at Evie.

"I didn't mean any of it," Evie whispered. "You're not selfish, you're not cruel. You're already an amazing queen and Auradon is luckier than they realize to have you. I'm sorry I attacked you and Ben, and I took advantage of your fears that you'd told me, and I'm sorry." Evie took a ragged breath. "I don't know how to make things better."

Mal took a deep breath and finally turned her feet back to face Evie. She focused on Evie's shoes, looking past her bloated stomach, as she sniffled the last of her hiccups away. "I'm okay," She announced to the table. She cleared her throat. "Was there anyone in the hall when you left?" She whispered.

"No," Evie affirmed. Mal turned to look over her shoulder at Ben. "Does the palace have tapes in my office?"

"They shouldn't," Ben shook his head. "Office conversations are strictly private. But… someone else might have bugged it." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll have the guards search your room for bugs. In the meantime, be careful what you say in there."

Mal nodded and reached for a glass of water on the table. "I'm sorry for what I said. I'm glad you're happy. I am. It's not the choice I'd pick for me, but you already knew that."

"I know," Evie nodded. "And I shouldn't have used that against you. I just got so worked up and then… I was angry and…" Evie suddenly burst into tears and collapsed on her butt on the floor. "I'm a horrible friend," She sobbed. "I don't deserve to know the queen. I don't deserve to be married. I should sell everything and go back to the Isle and never show my face again."

"Good grief," Doug mumbled by the door. He walked over and took Evie's arm. "But Evie, the nursery is in Auradon." He tried to reason with her.

"I shouldn't even be having children!" Evie dissolved into misery. "I can't even treat my best friend and my husband right!"

Mal finally got the strength to look at Evie as Doug patted her back gently. It was obvious this had happened several times already. It was probably why Evie was coming up to apologize so late in the evening instead of earlier in the day.

"She's not usually so on-edge," Doug sighed as Evie covered her face in self-wrought shame. "Today's just been long."

"Want a chair?" Ben asked, standing up and walking to the doors. He opened them up and grabbed a chair from the end of the dining table. Doug helped Evie up as Ben brought the chair back, and the blue-haired beauty took a seat as she finally began to calm down. Mal gave Ben a pained look as he retrieved a second chair for Doug.

"Was it like this for you?" Mal leaned across the table and whispered to Belle as Evie's sobs began to quiet down. Belle shook her head in the negative while Adam nodded in affirmation. The double response was not all that comforting to Mal.

Ben sat down beside Mal and put an arm around her. "So, 'disfigurement' and what else? How did you get around to swindling castles and talking about your mom?"

"Evie started attacking my character. She called me selfish for not wanting kids, just like I told you, and started going off on how I was going to take over the kingdom," Mal explained, closing her eyes to rest them. She took another sip of her water.

"Mal, I'm so sorry," Evie mumbled, rubbing her eyes sadly.

"Me too," Mal whispered. She sniffled. "I'll be okay. It just… hurts." Evie hung her head in shame at Mal's words.

Ben squeezed Mal's shoulder. "We need to talk about that. If it's that big of a problem for you, then-"

"I'm fine," Mal snapped firmly. "I have time to figure it all out. Just give me a year or two." She ran a hand over her face and sighed. "It's not like I need to deal with it tomorrow or anything."

"We need to talk," Ben repeated, shaking his head. "You know we do."

Mal stared at the food covering the table. Belle and Adam were squeezing each other's hands, knuckle white, above the table. Ben's fingertips began rubbing little circles against her arm, and Mal couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, gathered something random onto her plate, and stormed towards the doors. "I'm doing dinner in our room tonight," She announced. "Goodnight."

---

The door in their room thudded closed, but she didn't turn away from the window. Her hands were shaking as they wrapped around a large, warm mug of something – the windows were open and frigid November night air was filling the room.

Mal listened to Ben set something – his coat, probably – down on a chair. She shivered as a gust of wind blew in from the outside and made her shirt billow out a little. She didn't move, though, as she continued staring at Auradon City, twinkling around the palace. The view made it seem as if she were stuck inside of a Christmas tree.

People lived down there. People who hated her, and who feared her, or who, at the best, didn't care about her. And this was the future she'd been working towards – forever pleasing a nation that really wouldn't care one way or the other if she died.

Heavy footsteps fell behind her and strong arms wrapped around her waist. A hand brushed the collar of her shirt down, and then Ben began to bite and kiss the area of her neck he liked to go for. Mal relinquished one of her hands from around her mug to reach up and thread through his hair. Her wedding band sparkled in the dark light on her finger. She dragged her fingers down his neck and onto his shoulder as she leaned her head to the side to allow him better access to her skin. His shoulder was bare. He'd removed his shirt.

"Do you think I'm a horrible friend to my friends?" Mal whispered as Ben pulled her against him.

"No," Ben shook his head. "At the very least, you're a better friend to your friends than I am to mine. I only speak to them when we're in meetings together."

Mal hummed in acknowledgment. "Are we calling off coronation?" She asked. It didn't matter terribly to her since she was already acting as queen and was already married, but she knew that the longer they dragged this out the more likely it would be that someone would announce she'd already married Auradon's core ruler.

"No," Ben shook his head. "I showed Evie and Doug out and then called off the pause without comment. Guards are searching your rooms for bugs. I don't know what we're going to tell the public yet, but I trust you." He sighed and his warm breath drew goosebumps down her collar. "I'm sorry about getting upset at you tonight. I should have trusted that you wouldn't be scheming against me."

"To be honest, I'd be more concerned if you hadn't been concerned," Mal hummed. "The way they mixed it… it was pretty incriminating."

"I'll trust you next time," Ben promised. "No more of this… paparazzi swaying our opinions. I know who you are."

Mal hummed and stepped out of his grasp. She shut the windows and let the chill in the room start to warm as central heating worked its magic. She yawned and began to remove her shoes and socks as she sat down on the bed. "We'll figure it out," She yawned. "Let's just go to sleep and worry later."