After what felt like a very tortured eternity, even though it was in fact forty five minutes, the door of the family room opened and when we all looked up we watched as Doctor Cameron entered the room.
"So?" I muttered as I slowly stood up as he closed the door behind him. "What's wrong with Mal?" I asked for the room.
"I don't really know how to say this your Majesty" he said nervously as he scratched the blonde hair on the back of his hair with his right hand.
"Just say it" I urged him.
"Ok" he nodded as he dropped his right arm down. "There is nothing wrong with Dame Mal" he confirmed.
"What?" I exclaimed as everyone gasped in the room.
"She won't wake up" I reminded him harshly.
"I know that" he answered sincerely. "But given the MRI scan she has just had there are no breaks, no bleeds on the brain" he added. "All observations are fine," he advised.
"So why won't she wake up?" my mother asked.
"I don't know" he shrugged. "It pains me to say that" he admitted. "But I really don't know," he added. "Everything is how it should be. Apart from the fact that she won't wake up. I don't get it" he finished as he shook his head in disbelief.
"How can she be ok but not awake?" Evie exclaimed.
"Something must be wrong," Jay quickly interjected.
"We are going to do some more tests," Doctor Cameron explained.
"Hang on!" Carlos interjected.
"What Carlos?" I questioned.
"Medically she is ok?" he asked as he looked over to Doctor Cameron.
"Yes" he nodded.
"Magically she might not be" he advised and all of our eyes widened at this.
"What?" I exclaimed as I froze at this. This was down to the magical side of Mal, which had taken quite the beating today - given her transformation this afternoon. Everything seemed to be falling into place, now that we had understood why Mal was unconscious we were one step closer to waking her up. However as I looked up to my parents we all shared a stern look, which unfortunately went unnoticed by Evie, Jay and Carlos.
"What was that look for?" Jay questioned.
"What look?" I asked innocently as I looked over to them to see confusion on all of their faces.
"You know something" Evie insisted as she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "And we want to know" she stated as she took a step forward.
"Ben?" Carlos questioned.
"If you would excuse me" Doctor Cameron said nervously, before he quickly turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. After the door closed with a snap the room fell into silence as Evie, Jay and Carlos all continued to stare at me and my parents, so after we had been stood like this for a few moments I nodded. Yes I was going to tell them some things, but other things were up to Mal - I wasn't going to take that away from her.
"I don't want to go into all of the details-" I began. "There is plenty of time for that later" I stated and I watched as they all nodded at this. "All I will say is that a situation happened today which caused Mal to use a lot of magic" I admitted and I watched as all of their eyes widened in concern at this. "Her body must have reacted when she touched the water" I sighed.
"What water?" Jay questioned. "How would magic have anything to do with water?" he added.
"Because there is a place that me and Mal go" I stated. "And it has an enchanted lake," I told them.
"Oh" Jay muttered.
"Right" Evie nodded.
"I see," Carlos noted.
"Ben I know you don't want to go into details-" Evie began, which made me purse my lips together. "But we need to know," she stressed. "Mal is our sister" she urged and I nodded as I made a decision. I decided that I would tell them about the proposition that was currently over us and about Mal's fight with Leah. But everything to do with her changing into a Dragon was always going to be Mal's decision, and I never was going to take that away from her.
"Ok" I nodded. "Queen Elsa came to see me and Mal today-" I began to explain.
"Queen Elsa?" Evie asked in confusion.
"Why?" Carlos asked. "You just saw her yesterday," he stated in confusion.
"She brought some paperwork" I advised.
"Right?" Jay said slowly. "Go on" he prompted me.
"The 'Order' seemed to have an ace up their sleeve" I muttered as I bawled my fists together.
"What?" Evie asked for the three of them. It was at this point in which I had to take a couple of deep breaths before taking a quick look at the ground, part of me didn't want to say it out loud. As saying it out loud meant that it was real. I didn't want it to be real, I wanted this whole sorry mess to just a nightmare that I was about to wake up from - but I knew that this wasn't meant to be.
"A proposition that suggests that me and Mal are not to have any unsupervised time alone until our wedding day" I muttered as I slowly looked up at them.
"What?" I heard the three of them gasp.
"Why?" Evie urged.
"To protect our reputations" I shrugged.
"That is ridiculous!" Jay exclaimed in disbelief.
"Tell me about it" I sighed.
"Well you can just overturn it surely?" Carlos suggested. "This is a different time" he told us all.
"It's more complicated than that" my father interjected, obviously wanting to help me with this difficult conversation. "There needed to be ten signatures from different council members for it to stand" he advised.
"How many did it have?" Evie enquired.
"Eleven" my mother replied. "But some signatures are going to need to be questioned," she suggested.
"Why?" Carlos asked.
"Because the 'Order' members signed for their constituency" I advised.
"So it doesn't stand?" Evie questioned hopefully.
"I don't know" I admitted and I watched them all throw a look of concern at me. "I haven't had the time to look at it yet" I stated. "I hope not," I stressed. "But until I investigate it we need to follow it; as the consequences aren't worth thinking about" I shuddered as the thought of me and Mal having to look for other lovers came to the forefront to my mind. I knew that in my heart that it was only Mal for me, and no one was going to dictate to me about who I got to spend the rest of my life with. It was and has always been Mal, and even if the council tried to pull away their support I knew that Leah would have been behind this. I knew that the members of the council fully supported my relationship with Mal, they loved Mal and wanted to spend time with her. So part of me hoped that I would always be able to find a way out of this mess for me and Mal - but even the threat of it still scared me to my core.
"What consequences?" Jay asked, which thankfully pulled me out of my tortured train of thought.
"If we are caught alone then the members of the royal houses will withdraw their support of mine and Mal's marriage-" I started. "They will then petition that all other plans will be disbanded and-" I started as tears started to form in my eyes.
"Yes?" Carlos prompted me.
"We will both be forced to find other people" I muttered.
"What?" Evie gasped. "That is stupid" she implored.
"I know" I sniffed as I used both of my hands to wipe away the tears in my eyes. "Which is why I can't risk anything" I gulped as I looked back at the three of them. "I can't risk being with Mal" I said sadly. "She is my soulmate!" I exclaimed as my mother placed her right hand against my left shoulder.
"What I want to know is why did the other council members sign it?" Evie questioned.
"Because they probably thought they were doing the right thing," my mother replied. "Yes it is a different time now; but all the heads of the royal houses had this proposition put to them when they were engaged" she explained. "They probably thought that it is the norm" she stated, obviously defending the rest of the council members.
"I see," Evie noted. "So what happened after that?" she questioned, obviously wanting to know about what happened rather than fixating on what the council may or may not have thought about mine and Mal's situation. "Did Mal have an EI?" she implored.
"No" I quickly answered. "We went to confront Leah" I continued to advise as my mind started to relieve what happened at Beauty Castle. "And Mal and Leah argued," I said.
"What?" the three of them gasped.
"Yes" I nodded.
"It was quite the argument" I told them. "Leah spat in Mal's face and slapped her" I muttered.
"WHAT!" the three of them shouted in shock.
"Why didn't you do anything?" Jay glared at me.
"Because I didn't need to" I stated simply. "Mal can fight her own battles" I told them and I watched as they all pursed their lips together. "She put Leah in her place" I added. "But not before slapping Leah herself" I finished.
"Whoa!" all three of them gasped.
"That escalated," Jay noted.
"Yes" I nodded. "Things are going to change at home though, Leah threatened Mal's life" I explained. "Which is only going to lengthen her punishment if I'm honest" I admitted further.
"What did she say?" Evie dared to ask.
"That it wouldn't take much to send some silver or iron her way" I told them.
"What?" the three of them exclaimed.
"Ben you need to do something!" Carlos stressed.
"I will" I promised. "But right now I'm more concerned about Mal!" I stressed.
"Yeah" Carlos nodded.
"So what happened after that?" Jay questioned.
"Mal stormed out. We got in the car" I began to explain. "She asked us to stop the car halfway, she said she needed to be sick" I continued as my mind started to relieve what happened this afternoon. "She got out, and all this-" I started but stopped as both of my parents threw me a concerned look. "Magic came from her," I decided. "When Mal calmed down I talked her into going to the enchanted lake with me, not enough people know about the proclamation to cause trouble so I thought that was the right thing to do" I added. "To cut a long story short-" I continued. "We made out, which caused my crown fell into the water" I said as my mind remembered the secret moments that me and Mal had managed to share this afternoon. "Afterwards Mal went to get it" I gulped. "And when she did she flew backwards and hit a tree" I advised as a lump started to form in my throat once more. "She hasn't been awake since!" I sobbed as tears began to form in my eyes.
"Oh Ben" Evie sighed sadly. "She will pull through" she told me as I used both of my hands to clear my eyes from tears. "After hearing the story it only confirms that Carlos is right," she continued. "This is a magic thing, not a mortal thing" she stated as I hoped that this was true. As if this wasn't the case then I didn't know what other options we were going to have left to save my perfect Dragon.
"We need to get Fairy Godmother" Jay implored.
"On it" I heard my father say and when I looked up I watched as he pulled his phone out. As he quickly rang Fairy Godmother and put the phone to his left ear I just couldn't help but feel so overwhelmed at everything that was currently going on. I needed Mal, and I just hoped and prayed that Fairy Godmother was going to be able to bring my beautiful fiancé back to me.
After watching my father quickly giving a brief summary of what had happened, we all watched as he hung up, seconds later a loud pop erupted into the room and Fairy Godmother appeared. And when our eyes met, I was then met with another problem, of course I knew that Mal wouldn't mind me telling Fairy Godmother about her changing - but I couldn't do this in front of her family.
So, after I quickly explained to the Fairy Godmother everything that had happened (apart from Mal transforming into a Dragon) I couldn't start to fill with hope when she confirmed that Carlos might be right. It was at this point when the Fairy Godmother advised that she wanted to look over Mal and I offered to go with her which she accepted. It was at this point when my parents, Evie, Jay and Carlos stated they would come with us and they were all shocked when I said no. They all threw me a confused look and Fairy Godmother obviously picked upon my current panicked nature and she stated that she would just take me for now - given the bond that me and Mal share. Everyone reluctantly agreed to this and before anything else could be said or done the pair of us quickly turned and left the room, closing the door behind us.
"Fairy Godmother-" I started as we began to walk down the corridor to Mal's room.
"Yes?" she answered politely.
"There is something that I didn't tell you-" I started. "Because I don't know whether Mal wants her family to know yet, "But I know she won't mind you knowing" I stated and we both stood still.
"Ok" she replied in confusion. "Go on" she prompted.
"When Mal climbed out of the car and her magic surged" I muttered so we wouldn't be overheard.
"Yes?" she said.
"She changed," I advised.
"She what?" she asked in shock.
"She changed into a dragon" I replied, and I watched as her face dropped at this information.
"Right" she nodded. "Well, that does actually explain a lot" she told me. "And I understand why you didn't want to say that in front of Evie, Jay and Carlos as that is Mal's decision" she continued. "When Mal comes around she is going to need more magic classes with me" she advised.
"I thought she might," I agreed. "Are you upset with her for doing that?" I enquired as we started to walk back down the corridor again.
"No," she said as she shook her head. "Of course not," she added. "She can't help it," she continued. "We just need to make sure she has the right support, like we did with you" she reminded me, and I watched as a warm look entered her eyes.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"This only shows you two are more alike than I initially thought" she advised. "Yes, your Majesty" she smiled warmly. "She is the woman for you," she grinned.
"Thank you" I grinned back. Of course, I knew that Mal was the woman for me and I didn't actually think of the fact of the fact that as we were both now shapeshifters made us even more compatible. I really couldn't believe that I had been so lucky and found Mal, she was my world, and I couldn't wait for all this sorry mess to be over so we could start to enjoy the rest of our lives together.
As we walked into the private side room that Mal had been moved into, I noticed that Doctor Cameron was already waiting for us. I quickly walked up to the left-hand side of Mal's bed and dropped into the seat and I didn't take my eyes off her as Doctor Cameron and Fairy Godmother talked about everything. I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying, all I could concentrate on was watching Mal peacefully sleep in the bed in front of me.
Fairy Godmother then told me not to touch Mal as she was doing magical tests on Mal, and to be honest I found this very difficult to deal with. All I wanted to do was to hold her hand at the very least, but I knew that I had to be patient - I had to let Fairy Godmother do everything that she needed to do, no matter how hard it was for me.
I watched as Fairy Godmother muttered spells under her breath and Mal started to glow bright green for a few seconds and when the glow faded, I watched as Fairy Godmother nodded to herself. She then asked for Doctor Cameron to go and get the others so she could explain everything in one go.
The room fell into silence as we waited for everyone to walk into the room, and when the door opened, I couldn't help but note everyone gasping at Mal's unconscious state.
"Now that everyone is here, I will explain-" Fairy Godmother started as Adam closed the door behind everyone. "Carlos is right," she stated. "Nothing medically wrong with her, she is stunned" she confirmed.
"How do you fix that?" I heard Evie asked.
"There are many ways-" Fairy Godmother began. "Like true love kiss," she suggested. "But we need-" she started but stopped when I quickly leaped forward and pressed my lips against Mal's. I did find it a little unnerving at the fact that she didn't kiss me back, but when I pulled back, I couldn't stop a smile spread across my face. "You probably shouldn't have done that" I heard Fairy Godmother say, which made me look over to her.
"Why?" I asked as my face dropped.
"We don't know how bad-" she started but we all froze and looked over to Mal as she started to stir. I took in a deep breath in, but my face dropped when I watched as she groaned in pain.
"Mal I'm here!" I called out to her. "Please open your eyes?" I begged as I reached over and cupped the right-hand side of her face with my left hand. I then watched as she opened them slightly and I went to say something to her, but I stopped when her eyes rolled shut once more. "Come on Mal!" I pleaded as Mal returned back to her previous state. "Why didn't that work?" I questioned as I looked over to Fairy Godmother. "Is Mal not my one true love?" I dared to ask as my stomach started to burn. How could true love not work? I think that Mal was my soul mate! Because true love's kiss didn't work does this mean we are not meant to be together? I then felt a sudden wave of guilt as I pushed away these questions. Of course, me and Mal were meant to be together, I had imprinted on her after all! She was my mate! I heard the Beast part of me roar within me at my stupidity at questioning such a thing! Thankfully however I heard Fairy Godmother call out my name, which broke me out of my train of thought.
"Of course, she is," she told me. "What I was about to say before you jumped the gun" she smiled. "Is that this might be stronger magic, like DNA deep" she suggested. "And by the fact that true love's kiss didn't work proves it" she confirmed.
"So, what does this mean?" Evie asked for the room.
"As she is part fairy, I will try to wake her up" Fairy Godmother said as she looked over to Evie.
"And what is that doesn't work?" I muttered and I watched as Fairy Godmother smiled meekly at me.
"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it" she stated.
"Ok" I nodded as I removed my hands from Mal as she pulled her wand out of her inside blazer pocket. We all then watched as she waved her wand and Mal began to glow a bright green once more and I had to work on my breathing as I watched as the glow became brighter. We all then watched as Fairy Godmother pulled her wand away and looked over to Mal and I couldn't suppress a sob as Mal still lay peacefully asleep.
"Hmmm" Fairy Godmother hummed. "Right" she nodded to herself. "There is only one more thing I can think of," she stated.
"Which is what?" I questioned.
"I don't know how you are going to accept this, your Majesty," she answered.
"Fairy Godmother I will do anything to get Mal back!" I stressed.
"Ok" She nodded meekly at this. "Well as we all know magic got Mal into this, we need strong magic to get her out of it" she stated simply. "When a person is stunned magically like this it is either on their maternal or paternal side. I know I am not Mal's mother, but I can cater to the fairy part of her" she continued as she looked over us all. "But this looks like the goddess part of Mal is stunned" she clarified. "Thankfully we know Mal is part goddess due to the trial as this would have made this situation very difficult" she added.
"Hang on" my father interjected in shock. "Are you saying what I think you are saying?" he questioned slowly in disbelief.
"Yes" she nodded, and I watched as both of my parent's faces dropped at this. "Yes, I am King Elder," Fairy Godmother added.
"We need Hades"