Chapter 7 – Auroria
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The day after Chad gave up Lance (for the second time), he felt substantially better. He'd been clinging to the mess that was that situation out of some kind of misplaced nostalgia or hope that he'd actually improve things for Uma, who had helped him so much, even if most of that help was unintentional. He threw himself into being Chad, collecting his evidence and placing private calls to Corona and checking on his father as surreptitiously as possible. It was going fairly well until he got a call from Audrey – a call he had missed the first time around when his phone had been confiscated by his grandfather as part of his punishment for breaking curfew.
Unlike the later calls Chad had gotten from Audrey during the masquerade, this one sounded shaky, with a timid sort of edge she mostly covered up with her usual dismissiveness, which made Chad pause.
Maybe he wasn't the only one wearing masks. Maybe he wasn't the only one hurting.
She invited him to Auroria, where she was being kept on house arrest, and Chad decided to go ahead and risk the visit, to follow along with expected Chad Charming behavior. He didn't mind the few hour drive to her kingdom. Most of the traffic was heading towards Auradon City rather than away from it, so once Chad crossed through the northern part of Central Auradon, his trip was relatively fast and uneventful, which led to him pulling up to the castle gates sometime in the early evening.
When Audrey had first been placed on house arrest, Chad had lobbied to be allowed on the list of permitted visitors. This was mostly because it was expected of him, and his grandfather had pushed for it on the basis of Chad being offered some sort of emotional closure. That said, Chad had rarely visited Audrey – too rife with feelings of failure, humiliation, and fear – and had ended up using the illusion of visiting the princess as an excuse far more often than he'd actually done it.
In hindsight, that was kind of shitty of him, but Audrey had treated him kind of shitty. He'd been hurt and depressed, but he also hadn't been the one sort of possessed by the evil scepter of his parents' villain, so…
Maybe some empathy was in order. It certainly couldn't hurt. Chad was greatly diminished on the friend-front at this point, he may as well try and preserve the few he had left.
For whatever reason, the staff seemed happy to see Chad, the guards grinning when they ran him through the security checkpoint, looking through the duffle bag he'd brought with him full of gifts he thought Audrey could use in her time away from the world. Granted, she still had access to everything in her room – still had her electronics, was still able to contact anyone she wanted – she just couldn't leave the premises without written permission from the crown, which generally included a chaperone. Before, it had been Lonnie who had pledged to watch Audrey on the last few days of the masquerade, and Ben's sympathy that granted the princess a pass to the tea party.
Chad himself had done nothing, too busy playing dress-up and reaching for things that were never his to have in the first place.
It was sort of a relief to be allowed into Audrey's suite, if only because it was a return to some kind of normality.
"Audrey!" Chad greeted when he strolled into her bedroom, the princess curled up on her window seat, drawing. "Sorry I haven't been in touch. My grandpa was really mad about the…" He waved a lazy hand, as though to indicate 'the way you pledged yourself to Ben in front of the entire kingdom'. "-so I wasn't able to contact you, but I'm glad you called!" And was even more glad to have actually had his phone. "Anyway, I brought some gifts," he explained, placing his duffle on the foot of her bed. "Clothes from my latest line, of course," he drawled, pulling out the new pink dresses one at a time. "As well as some lounging stuff. Who says you can't be fashionable when you relax?"
It had been a nice distraction, designing what was essentially luxury sweat pants and hoodies, but he'd thrown in a flowing robe that should at least make Audrey feel classy, so that could be fun.
"I realize you probably don't need them, but that was mostly to cover up the food I snuck in," he explained, unzipping the secret liner from his bag to reveal a handful of Tupperware containers. "I figured you could use some non-grandmother approved comfort food. I got a pretty nice selection - spaghetti alla carbonara, garlic bread, pizza – if you really want to slum it. Even managed to sneak in a chocolate lava cake." Chad grinned looking down at his hoard. "I convinced Jane to charm the containers for me, so it should all be hot-"
At that point he finally looked up, figuring he'd provided enough presents to mitigate the worst of Audrey's annoyance and could therefore risk it, when he was caught with an expression he entirely didn't expect.
If he didn't know any better, he'd think Audrey was about to start crying.
And then she did start crying, which indicated how small a grasp Chad had on the situation.
"Audrey!" Chad ran to her like he would have back in the old days, when he was happy to be her second choice. He settled down next to her, holding out his arm to allow her the choice of comfort, and was surprised when she all but threw herself into his side.
"Why are you being nice to me?" she croaked, shuddering against him. "I was so awful to you, but you're here bringing me presents, sneaking me food-" She sobbed. "I don't deserve it."
"Audrey," Chad said, softer now as he rubbed a hand down her back. "What happened wasn't your fault. You got possessed by Maleficent's scepter-"
"But I hurt you," Audrey sniffed, her voice thick with emotion. "I didn't- I honestly didn't think you'd come. I wanted you to come, but you hadn't- and I was so mad, even though I knew I didn't have any right to be."
"It's okay to be frustrated with your situation, Audrey," Chad said. "Ignoring your anger was sort of what set you off in the first place."
It was her grandmothers' teaching, and Chad knew that much. As though the 'Conceal, don't feel' bullshit Queen Elsa had tried to survive on was a lifestyle rather than a cautionary tale.
He hadn't come last time. He hadn't made any kind of effort for her, and Audrey had shut herself off. She'd fallen behind her own protective walls of cool snootiness because that was what was expected of her, and she couldn't afford to let Chad break her down further with his distance.
When he'd turned her down at the garden party, that had likely been the straw that broke the camel's back, even if part of Audrey had to have been expecting it.
"You're so smart, Chad," Audrey whispered, and she wasn't even being sarcastic. "It makes me so fucking mad when Mal and Jay make fun of you." She hugged him closer, nuzzling against his chest. "You pretended to be my henchman to try and break me out of it, not so you could save your skin. Even after I went crazy for Ben, you were still there."
"Ben's a good guy," Chad murmured, stroking her hair. "I don't blame you for wanting to marry him. I don't blame you for being mad at him. He broke up with you in a shitty way and took way too long to apologize for it. He got spelled by someone and thought 'You know what's a healthy choice? Let's keep dating', instead of like, sitting back and starting over, or maybe just properly ending things with you."
Chad knew why he hadn't done it, and Audrey likely knew too. Ben hadn't wanted to risk the Isle kids who were already on probation. Enchanting a prince definitely would have gotten them sent back to the Isle, would have handicapped the Isle reforms before they even had a chance to start.
Audrey shuddered against him. "That's what I thought," she murmured. "And my therapist said it was okay to be mad too, just- it hurts, and I'm supposed to pretend everything's fine. I'm supposed to move on like it doesn't kill me that they're getting married, because…" She trailed off with a wet cry, her face buried in his chest.
"You loved him," Chad said, and it wasn't a surprise. "And it didn't end well."
"I was so shitty to him near the end," Audrey gasped. "My grandmas kept- and I kept listening to them, thinking everything would be fine, thinking Ben loved me enough – but it didn't matter. I fucked up and he never looked back, but then…" She squeezed onto Chad. "But then I hurt you, and you've always supported me, always loved me. Even though I loved Ben-"
"You can love more than one person, Audrey," Chad interrupted, tensing when he realized what he'd said. "I mean, not that you love me-"
"I do," Audrey said, pulling back with a wet sniff. "I do love you, Chad. You're sweet and funny, and whatever shit your grandfather does to you-"
"Audrey," Chad gasped, his eyes going wide.
"I know it's something," Audrey sniffed. "You're always tense after your phone calls with him. Like I am with my grandmas…"
"There's no love lost between us, though," Chad said, for the first time admitting the partial nature of his grandfather's abuse to Audrey, who he'd never been vulnerable with before. He'd been too focused on keeping her happy.
Audrey's grandmothers, while strict (in the crazy, intense kind of way), did possess some amount of love for her.
Chad was not given that same privilege.
Audrey sobbed again. "And your dad doesn't talk to you," she sniffed. "Even though you pretend he does."
Chad tensed. "Audrey-"
"You deserve more, Chad," Audrey pressed. "And I um- I want to give it to you, if you'll let me. I know I don't deserve the chance after everything I did-"
"You were possessed," Chad repeated, because that stupid scepter had been kept behind a fucking curtain, like that could curtail its poisonous sway.
"I still locked you in that closet," Audrey sniffed, scrubbing at her cheeks. "I still tortured you. I still hurt you and left you and said nothing when they made fun of you for volunteering to go with me. You'd been the perfect fucking boyfriend and then I went crazy and tried to force Ben to marry me."
Chad wouldn't say he was perfect. If anything, he felt far from it, considering how Audrey used to be just another piece on the chess board of his life. But she was looking at him like he mattered, really looking at him, not at Chad Charming or Lance, and Chad realized that for all the stuff he'd messed up on his second shot at things, this was the one thing he might have actually gotten right.
"To be fair," Chad offered, feeling strangely detached. "He should have married you. Or dated you and Mal. Then you could have had a super-hot consolation girlfriend."
"Chad," Audrey hissed, her cheeks dusting in a dark flush. "Don't say that kind of shit. I don't like girls."
"Audrey," Chad said, figuring he had already come this far. "You're not going to magically stop checking girls out just because your grandmas are homophobes."
He suspected that was part of the reason Audrey had been so on edge when the VKs had first arrived, because most of their classmates were people they had grown up with, people Audrey was used to seeing and built up a sort of tolerance to. Mal and Evie, on the other hand, had broken into their lives fully formed and super attractive, setting off Audrey's natural attraction to the female persuasion before she could really prepare for it.
It was also why, he suspected, Audrey had been against Jane's sudden hair transformation. Because that took Jane from 'loveable girl next door' to 'sophisticated fashionista', and Audrey was not prepared for that either.
Audrey stared at him with wide eyes, her world seeming to be rocked.
And then, for whatever reason, she ducked her head. "You're not mad?"
What?
"No," Chad said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders again. "It's natural. Guys, girls – who cares? Be attracted to whoever you want. Love however many people you want. It's only a crime if we get creepy about it."
"Like try-to-take-over-the-kingdom creepy?" Audrey sniffed, her lips tugging up in a smile as she wiped away her tears. "Maybe… maybe I was trying too hard to just like guys. But I thought- I mean, I do like them – shouldn't that be enough?"
"Being forced to shut away part of yourself will never be enough," Chad murmured. "Look, I'm bi too, but I definitely only date girls because if I didn't, my grandpa…"
He'd beat the shit out of Chad before beating the shit out of his partner, but that wasn't going to be a problem for much longer.
"What would he do?" Audrey asked, genuinely curious, genuinely concerned.
"It doesn't matter," Chad declared. "It's not gonna happen for much longer." After a beat, he added, "That sounded a lot more ominous than I intended it to. Just- I'm gonna take care of it, and in the meantime, we can hang out together."
"Chad…" Audrey began, not seeming super happy by this concession. "Does this have anything to do with the reason you never go shirtless?"
"No," Chad hissed, slipping into his persona immediately on reflex. "You know that's because I sunburn easily-"
"Chad," Audrey interrupted, her brows furrowed in a look of supreme displeasure. "Don't do that. Don't put up that dumb guy routine you use on people who don't know you. That you used on me."
At once, Chad deflated, feeling entirely exhausted. "Sorry," he offered. "It's habit."
"I know." Audrey tangled her fingers into his hair. She nudged them carefully against Chad's scalp, trailing delicate paths because she knew he found it soothing, knew it just as much as she knew what hard contact did to him. "Can I see it?" she asked. "What you're hiding?"
Chad swallowed roughly, weighing his options. "It might be better if you didn't," he admitted. "You'd feel obligated to act, and I've already got it covered."
"Just show me," she sighed, trailing off as her expression cleared, the princess slowly composing herself.
Chad reluctantly stood up. "For the record, it looks worse than it is," he explained, untucking the back of his shirt. "I need you to not freak out about it, because I promise, things will be fine."
"None of that makes me feel calm," Audrey admitted, but she held still, watching with as much composure as she could manage in that moment.
Chad wouldn't lie and say he felt confident when he turned around, rucking up the back of his shirt just enough so Audrey could get a peek at his scars.
"What the fuck?" Audrey hissed, immediately on her feet. Her hand slid under his shirt hem, feeling at the rough skin beneath. "What the hell, Chad?"
"It's not that bad!" Chad insisted. "It maybe happens a couple times a year-"
"It shouldn't happen at all," Audrey snapped, pushing his shirt higher so she could get a better look at the rest of his back. "This is bullshit. This is such hot fucking bullshit." She drew away with a snarl, storming towards her nightstand. "I'm calling my mom."
"No!" Chad intercepted her before she could pick up her phone – the pink case an old gift from Ben. "I told you, I've got it handled. I still need time to collect more evidence and if you parents start an inquiry before then, his stupid lackies will all close ranks and then I won't be able to get rid of him."
"Chad," Audrey said, her voice very tight. "If your grandpa's been skeevy to Sardinia, what makes you think he hasn't extended that to Auroria or Ulstead? I'd bet anything that my parents have something on him that they were kind enough to dismiss as a mistake, or ignore for you dad's sake, but either way, they can help."
"How?" Chad pressed. "They don't even stop your own grandmothers from harassing you."
Audrey tensed, but didn't back down an inch. "My grandmothers are not beating me," she snapped. "Or doing whatever the fuck else your grandpa's doing to beat you down. I'm calling my mom."
"Audrey, please," Chad said, falling to his knees, uncaring if it seemed pitiful. He didn't want to obliviate her, he didn't want to lose this bonding moment, but he would if he had to.
"Chad," Audrey said, her tone melting into something softer, those delicate fingers curling into his hair once more. "I promise everything will be okay. And if my parents can't help, I promise I can make them hold their peace." Chad opened his mouth to object because that wasn't how heroes worked, kind people didn't push aside their feelings and moral obligations for the sake of logical strategy, but Audrey held a hand up to silence him. "I promise. They wouldn't want to make things worse for you, and when your grandfather's arrested, they'll immediately be able to step up and help with the public fallout."
Chad looked at her, really looked at her, and saw the strong, stubborn princess he had met in childhood, the one that seemed so sure of the next step to take in everything when Chad had been too busy struggling with his broken family. Chad had always admired Audrey (for her family, her kingdoms, her friends, her boyfriends), but mostly it had been for her strength.
Here, at this moment, he saw a glimpse of that girl from so many years ago, the one that hadn't yet been broken down by her grandmother or society's expectations of her. A princess who was strong.
"If you're sure," Chad said, wrapping his arms around her waist and shuddering when she urged him forward, letting him burry his face in her stomach. "I can't take much more of this, Audrey. He's hurting Sardinia."
"He's hurting you," Audrey said, picking up her phone. "Which in itself hurts Sardinia. We're going to stop it, you'll see."
For once, Chad hoped she was right. Hoped something good would come from acquiring a teammate, from turning to others for help. It was such a foreign thing, relying on others, and Chad had gotten better at it over the course of his relationship before things had fallen apart, and then he'd retreated to his old ways, to standbys that had served him so well.
Uma had tried to help him and she meant well, she just- she didn't understand how flawed Chad was. Audrey likely didn't either, but she also struggled in her own way. She was still dealing with public backlash, same as Chad.
They could fight together, same as they always had, and it would be equal. They would always understand that the other's first obligation would be to their duties as heirs to their respective kingdoms.
So Chad didn't say anything, simply leaned against Audrey and hoped. It was all he had left, now.
-:-:-
"Audrey?" Queen Aurora was poised and perfect in the same manner as her daughter, seeming to exude both qualities with a sort of effortlessness that would leave others breathless. "Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine," Audrey addressed first and foremost. "This actually has to do with Chad."
"Hi, your majesty," Chad said, giving a quick bow.
Queen Aurora blinked at him, as though just recognizing his presence. "Oh, Chadwick, it's so nice to see you. We were beginning to fear that your grandfather wouldn't allow it."
"That's just it," Audrey said, cutting in before Chad could respond. "Chad's grandfather has been abusing him."
There were no lies in the statement, but the blunt delivery couldn't help but leave Chad tense.
He tried to play things down. "It's not that bad-"
"It's super fucking bad," Audrey said, using foul language in front of her mother and not seeming to give a shit as she nudged Chad to turn around. "And it's been happening for years."
"I'm collecting evidence," Chad offered over his shoulder as Audrey untucked his shirt. "I've got it taken care of-"
"Look at this," Audrey said, and then his scars were revealed to someone outside of the Inspectors Office or his peer group for the very first time. He'd certainly never shown the horrible mess of his back to other royalty before, and this was his potential in-law.
"Chadwick," Queen Aurora gasped, moving forward to get a better look. "Sweetheart…"
"I know it's bad," Chad said. "I know I don't deserve it, and I have a plan to handle it."
"I don't doubt that," the queen said, her gaze fixated on the marred flesh. "But I think you need to let me and Phillip voice a concern to King Benjamin."
"No," Chad said, turning and shoving his shirt down before he could think of who he was talking to. "I mean- it doesn't involve a reigning royal, so we can voice the concern to Duke Adam so he can preside over the issue."
Technically, any problems concerning royal families should be brought to Ben's attention as the king of all of them, but Chad's grandfather was retired, and therefore it could be argued for his and Chad's privacy that the matter be brought before the previous king. They could also argue that Chad was Ben's schoolmate, thus presenting a conflict of interest should the matter proceed to court.
"That's true," Queen Aurora allowed. "Then we'll contact him immediately."
"I'm not done gathering my evidence, though," Chad said. "If you give me more time-"
"Chadwick," the queen interrupted, her voice soft. "Phillip and I have been concerned about your grandfather's behavior for a long time. Several other kingdoms are as well. We've been collecting our own evidence – things that could be played off as mistakes that are technically violations, but in light of this, I don't think we can hold our silence any longer. We have only held back this long out of respect for your father. We all know how hard it is to run a kingdom, and he has to do it by himself."
Sort of, if acting as a pawn between Chad and the Duke constituted as 'running'.
"See?" Audrey said, grinning with pride. "I told you they could help."
Chad shot her a smile that was probably weak at best before turning his attention back to the queen that was patiently staring at him. "I have a list of his accomplices – council members safely in his pocket, servants, officials, that kind of thing. I need to get my dad out before we make a move though."
He was already in such a fragile state. Realizing the extent of the Duke's abuse towards Chad had almost ruined him last time. He'd gone into a dark spiral that Chad had been entirely oblivious to, mistakenly thinking that things were fine, that he'd found his happy ending so obviously he didn't have to worry anymore, right?
What a fool he'd been.
"Queen Rapunzel agreed to invite him to Corona," Chad continued. "I arranged for it to happen after the festival."
"I'll call her," Queen Aurora said. "We'll get your father out tonight. Queen Snow could invite him to Hanover – a neighboring kingdom requesting his expertise for a last-minute paperwork debacle would not seem terribly out of place, and then I'll ask Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather to meet him there to teleport him to Corona for his safety. That way, your grandfather won't know where he is."
"Captain Anozie is loyal," Chad sniffed, overwhelmed by this sudden deluge of helpfulness. "My dad's head guard. He's not a plant."
"Then I'll make sure he's included too." The queen placed a comforting arm on Chad's shoulder. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart, I promise. He isn't going to hurt you anymore."
"Just… what if he says I made it up?" Chad asked, his voice small. "Or that I did it to myself? What if he says I was attacked and brainwashed to think it was him, or that someone was pressuring me to accuse him and I let it happen because I'm stupid-"
"Chadwick," Queen Aurora interrupted, her voice soft. "Your back tells a story of long-term abuse. No one will think it was an attack. He might try to blame Audrey for your time together when she was possessed by the scepter, but a magic scan will confirm how the wounds were inflicted. We'll track the weapon, we'll corner the Sardinia Castle servants who are loyal and get a full story, and then we'll pin him down with multiple civil infractions across multiple kingdoms. I know you feel like you have to take care of this on your own," she said, cupping his face carefully between her hands. "I know you're not used to having people look out for you, but we are here for you now, and we're not going anywhere."
The very thought of it left a stupid heat building in Chad's eyes. Queen Aurora had always been a bit of a weakness for him. Mostly because he suspected that his own mother was a lot like her – kind and effortlessly graceful, and while he didn't remember his mother, he couldn't help but yearn for a maternal presence in his life.
So obviously he started crying, though at least they weren't ugly tears this time. They were small, quiet things that had Queen Aurora pulling him into a hug, had Audrey following until he was safely nestled in their hold.
"It will be okay, Chad," Audrey said, offering the words with a wet sort of determination that Chad felt down in his bones. If it did not seem to be okay, Audrey would surely make it happen – such was her way. "We're gonna take care of it, just like you take care of me."
"I didn't, though," Chad gasped, thinking of that original timeline where he'd left Audrey and never looked back. "I didn't come."
"You came when you were ready," Queen Aurora said. "We didn't expect you to, but you did, because you are as kind as your mother, and now you're going to be taken care of."
Chad just sort of cried, wondering how a touch-base visit had blown into a full-on investigation of his grandfather, and wondering if he was sorry for that fact.
Somehow, he was pretty sure he wasn't.
-:-:-
Endnotes:
To be fair, I was also surprised that Audrey made an appearance in this story, let alone a positive one. This was a development that was entirely unexpected, but it worked, so I rolled with it :)
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! The continued support really is a gift in itself, and reading your mild despair for Chad's overreactions was a fun boost to my day ^_^
Story notes:
I don't entirely remember my logic, but I believe based on the name origin of King Stephan (Audrey's maternal grandfather), I decided Auroria was based on Italy for this story, which is why Audrey's comfort foods are all Italian.
I also don't know if I've reiterated before, but I like to think that the reason Audrey went so particularly crazy in D3 had to do with Maleficent's scepter, which had seemingly been powerless, getting reactivated by Hades' attempt to break out of the barrier. Because of that, the scepter called forth someone vulnerable to wield and manipulate it, which is why it was like, just chilling behind a curtain instead of being somewhere far out of the way.
Ulstead is Prince Phillip's kingdom, the name comes from the live action movie 'Maleficent – Mistress of Evil'.
As wondrously dumb as I think it is to crown a sixteen-year-old as king of everything, since this is a sequel to one of my earlier works, I didn't have Adam retain the crown for Central Auradon (Central Auradon being the individual kingdom that Belle and Adam ruled over while the United States of Auradon is the union of kingdoms – as of right now, Ben's king of both). I only did brief research, but for royals that give up their crowns, they usually revert back to their previous title. This is why Adam's a duke now.
Disney didn't bother naming the captain of the guard in the live action Cinderella, so I named him after his actor, Nonso Anozie. Hence, Captain Anozie.
Until next time :)