CHAPTER 18

Charlene and Antoinette waited in line as the invitations were being handed to the guards from the guests. Many were dressed men had dressed in the traditional royal blue associated with the couple, and many women were dressed in the same royal blue and gold. Antoinette fiddled with her fingers. What was she going to do when she saw him?

"Next, please," called the guard. Charlene handed the man the invitations. He glanced at them, then back at the invitation, then back at them. Antoinette raised an eyebrow. The guard handed Charlene the invitation back.

"No." Charlene scoffed.

"And why not?" Charlene asked. Antoinette stared at the guard.

"Because I said so," he replied. Antoinette smiled.

"You're new, aren't you?" The guard glanced at the redhead and then turned to look at the crowd. Dismissing them. Antoinette reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. The guard turned his attention to her briefly before ignoring their presence. Charlene was staring at her nails.

"Word of advice, let us in," Charlene commented. The guard sneered at her, and Charlene chuckled as Antoinette clicked on her phone.

"Hey, can you come and get us? Yeah, the new guard is, a bit of an asshole. Okay, see you soon." Antoinette clicked her phone shut.

The guard glanced at her curiously as he checked another guest's invitation. He didn't have long before a hand clapped on his shoulder. The guard turned as several young girls squealed. For the king had arrived. Ben smiled at the girls before turning to the guard.

"I'm just going to take these two in. Also, if anyone tries to follow with a camera make sure they're escorted out immediately." Ben then turned towards Charlene and Antoinette.

"Ant, good to see you," he said, as he kissed her cheek. Ben started leading them into the castle.

"You must be Charlene. I've heard a lot about you from Ant here," he explained. The blonde nodded as they all walked towards the ballroom. Laughter and music flowed through the hall, several members bowed to the king.

"Charlene, this is Manus. Manus, could you please lead Miss Charlene forward?" Manus nodded. The curly blonde led Charlene to the ballroom, his thick Scottish accent making it difficult for Antoinette to hear them.

"Ant, how are you?" Ben asked as he led her past the ballroom. Antoinette glanced at him.

"I'm alright. A little scared," she explained. Ben nodded.

"You haven't spoken to anyone. Every once in a while you'll text Jane, but not too often. Why are you here?" Antoinette turned to face Ben. She reached out and started fixing his tie.

"I have an assignment that I have to complete before I go any further. Part of that is speaking with Jay. You'll help me, won't you?"

Ben nodded. He then opened a door to her right and had her enter. The door led to a small balcony overlooking the hall. Dresses of gold and blue swirled around as string instruments played on. A sight of love, after all, it was the wedding anniversary of the first queen and king of Auradon. Antoinette sat in one of the chairs available.

There were only two chairs on the balcony. Wooden arms and velvet cushions showcase the wealth of the country. She heard the door close behind her as Ben left. Antoinette fiddled with her fingers as she waited.

A minute passed and Antoinette stared down at the dancers, she could see Charlene and Manus dancing. To anyone else, they would assume Charlene was steadily being wooed by Manus, but Antoinette knew better. Charlene's shoulders were too tense in the dance.

Antoinette heard the doorknob to the alcove open. She stood up as Jay entered. He stood there for a moment staring at her before closing the door.

"Nettie?"

Antoinette took a deep breath.

"Jay. Hi. I was wondering if we could talk?"

Jay took a step towards her.

"Talk?"

Antoinette nodded as Jay started approaching her slowly.

"Well, yes. I think there's a lot that we should discuss. I mean the entire situation at coronation for starters, and then there's plenty to-"

Jay's hands cradled her chin.

"We'll talk, but first I need to know you're real."

And then he kissed her. Antoinette was startled at first, but then, like all fairytale princesses, she melted into the kiss. She rested her hands against his chest. His lips were softer than she remembered, only three months and the man had seemed to have been introduced to chapstick. Antoinette wondered if anything else had changed. Jay gave her a nip, and she couldn't help but smile. She was happy that part had not changed.

Antoinette reluctantly pulled away.

"We still need to talk, Jay."

Jay nodded before they both took their seats. Antoinette took a deep breath.

"I felt betrayed, you know. You're planning to take over the kingdom-"

"Was hair-brained, and ill-planned. Our parents were desperate."

Antoinette took a deep breath in.

"That may be so, but you also went with it."

Jay shifted uncomfortably. He brought his hand to his lip, trying to think of his response.

"Have you ever done something to make your parents proud?"

Antoinette laughed.

"I learned how to walk in heels, and did nothing but for a week straight. I had found a book in my attic, it had been my mama's when she was a girl. The Rules and Expectations of a Lady."

Jay nodded.

"What was your mother's reaction?"

Antoinette glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Honestly, she wasn't that impressed. She said it was outdated, and that a girl who still went by that book should also learn how to say what her heart wanted."

Jay hummed.

"Our parents," he paused, "well, they were never impressed with us. We could have been doing anything they wanted, but we still would have messed it up. I wanted nothing more than for my father to look at me with the same happiness and pride in his eyes as he does when he looks at that stupid replica of the snake scepter."

Antoinette let the words settle around them, before speaking.

"Jay, you still manipulated me. Every day before the proclamation was made I wondered, was this the right thing? Or would Ben lose his crown because he cared? He cared about you guys before you even knew him. For days I watched him pace his study, wondering how he would present it. To his parents. To the court. To his friends. To me. Then he did, and for the first time in my life I felt I could do good."

"But you are good."

Antoinette laughed.

"No, I was raised to be good," she paused looking over the crowd before settling on Audrey. "We all have a dark side, Jay. You just saw my light side first."

"You saw my dark side, but you were never afraid."

"Because I saw the light within the dark. I saw it in your eyes the first time we met. A softness, no one else held for me."

"You will be the only person to see the light in me," Jay explained. "That was why I wanted to protect you-"

"By lying to me, or by manipulating me?"

"By making sure my father or your grandmother never laid a hand on you."

Jay took her hand gently, and Antoinette gazed down at their interlocked fingers. The dull thumping that she had been feeling for days finally subsided to blissful peace.

Antoinette was quiet, as she studied the words she had just heard. She stood up, and Jay's eyes followed her. Antoinette held out her hand for him to take.

"Answer me this one question Jay: did you mean it? When you said that you wanted to be a better person because of me?"

Jay brought her hand to his chest. Despite all of the clothing, she could feel his heart beating.

Bud-ump

Bud-ump

Bud-ump

He brushed a hair out of her face.

"Never once on the Isle did I feel my heartbeat. No matter how fast I ran. Or how much stuff I took. Never once. Only when I met you did I finally get the feeling. At first, it scared me, how was I going to stop this and make myself a cold villain when every time I looked at you I just thawed?"

Jay leaned into her and whispered in her ear.

"But I'm not scared anymore. I'm not scared to live anymore."

Jay pulled away as Antoinette searched his face for any signs of lying.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Antoinette asked. Jay grinned. "I always hated these parties. My aunt may like shoes, but honestly, they still hurt my toes."

Jay nodded before speaking.

"Let's blow this popsicle stand."

Antoinette led him to the door. She turned to look at him, making sure he was indeed real, and when she opened the door, several thuds followed.

"Ben? Chad?"

"Carlos?"

The three boys looked up from where they were laying on the floor. Ben grinned at them guilty, Chad froze, and Carlos blinked at them.

"What are you guys doing?" Antoinette asked. Carlos grinned and got up.

"Well, you see we were, what were we doing?"

Ben and Chad stood up and looked at each other.

"We were just, well you know-"

"Checking to make sure the door was secure!" Ben interrupted Chad. Antoinette stared at each face.

"You're all idiots."

"Missed you too Ant," Ben said with a crooked grin.

Antoinette rolled her eyes before a beeping caught her attention.

Southern Bell: Need some backup, boo?

Antoinette glanced around at the four teenage boys. When her eyes landed on Jay a powerful sting started to form in her head.

"You're worse than the girls," she said before going over to the balcony. Antoinette put her fingers in her mouth and gave a sharp whistle.

Charlene heard the whistle and turned. Antoinette was standing by the edge of the balcony.

"Everything alright, love?" Manus asked. Charlene bit her tongue before turning back to him.

"Oh, yeah. I just have to go," she explained. Her southern accent coming through thickly.

"Ah, givin' me the ol' Cind'r'lla treatment, aye?"

Charlene felt her eye twitch.

"No, I'm not giving you anything. Nice meeting you, darlin'."

She sashayed away from him, her hips swinging. Confidence ran through her body, after all the only thing people feared more than anything in a public setting was a confident woman. Her mother always knew she understood that.

"I have to go, but I'll see you guys later," Antoinette said to the group of boys. Several protests followed after her.

"But you just got here!"

"I haven't even gotten a dance in with you Ant!"

"Nettie, we just started talking!"

"You can't go! Jane was excited to see you!"

Antoinette turned around sharply to stare at all the gentlemen. Each had various looks of distress on them. Finally, she turned her attention to one in particular.

"Don't worry. I'm not going too far."

Just as she had finished saying this the door swung open. Charlene rolled her eyes.

"So sorry to be disturbing you, but we have to go and do girly things," she explained. However, every single person in the room knew it was a lie that came through the pretty girl's lips. Charlene's lips curved into a smile, before grabbing Antoinette's hand and leading her out.

"Ant! Why are you meeting with Fairy Godmother?" Ben asked. Antoinette stood still for a moment, then slowly faced him. Her facial expression was neutral as she stared at the teenage king.

"Ben, I have no idea what you're talking about," Charlene smirked behind her, as the two girls left. The four boys stared at the door trying to understand what had just transpired.

"You just lied to not only the king but also your childhood best friend," Charlene scolded as they walked across the grounds.

"I am well aware," Antoinette agreed as she touched her forehead. "But I don't have time to worry about that. We need to get to the council meeting. They want me there for whatever reason."

"You are one of the few individuals in this generation to be a fairy born to human parents, who both carry the recessive gene, resulting in you actually being a magical being, and you can't figure out why they want you there? After telling Fairy Godmother that you couldn't talk to Jay and then you talked to Jay!"

Antoinette stopped and looked over her shoulder. She did the math in her head to see they were close to where they were when they had opened the door when they first arrived.

"Charlene, you support my decision though, don't you?" Charlene paused and pushed her hair back.

"Darlin', if I didn't I wouldn't have taken you to see Miss Eudora." Charlene placed her hands on Antoinette's shoulders forcing the redhead to look at her.

"I want you to be happy and I knew this Jay fella, well, he was something you responded to almost every time. No matter how angry," she explained. Antoinette leaned forward until her head was touching Charlene's shoulder.

"Boys are stupid."

"Baby, that's nothing new. My mama used to say she found dad on Jupiter some days."

The two laughed briefly at the old rhythm.

"We're far enough. You ready?"

Antoinette nodded. She would have to be, and with that nod, the bright golden lights of the portal started to dance around.