Mal.
Twenty One.
Mal was sitting at the island in the middle of their Underworld Palace's kitchen, flicking idley through a stack of paperwork for the upcoming monsoon season. She'd decided it would be a mild one this year as population growth in that region had taken a hit recently, she could always offset it with a plague in a few years if things got out of control.
Her heart wasn't really in it today, and she knew she needed to shake herself out of her funk. Things with Ben didn't normally throw her this badly. But here she was, a week after Evie's engagement party, moping.
A Hades did not mope. If they didn't like something, they did something about it.
"This is for you."
Mal was pulled from her thoughts by her mother slamming a basket on the island triumphantly. Looking up, the first thing Mal noticed was that Maleficent had her fuck-shit-up face on.
Mal knew this look well. She'd seen it often as a child. Normally, it was followed by a lesson in evil and a trip to torture whichever OV had inconvenienced her mother that day.
Warily, Mal reached out to pull the basket over and was surprised by the sheer weight of it. Frowning, she titled it instead and was surprised to see it was full of...spoons?
"Why do I have a basket of spoons?" She asked slowly, in confusion rather than disapproval.
"Every spoon within ten miles of Beast Castle." Maleficent clarified, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Mal knew that look. Chaos. It was addictive. And it wasn't evil. "Panic and Pain have the rest. That boy hurt you, I took his spoons. Have fun eating cereal with a fork. Did you know they're having a State Dinner tonight? The menu includes soup and ice cream. So unfortunate."
"Mom." Mal choked out, her throat tight, emotion clogging her throat.
Things hadn't been easy since Maleficent got off the Isle. Her mother still split her time between her cottage and the Underworld, even though her parents were back together. Mal was still adjusting to her parents not hating each other, and her mom joining them for things like family dinners and movie nights and helping out with the soul allocations. She hadn't been putting herself out there, she knew that. Happy just to exist in the same space, without opening herself up to more hurt and disappointment.
She'd expected it to continue forever. She hadn't expected Maleficent to make the first move. Or that the first move would be...protecting her.
Your mom cares, Mallie. In her own...twisted, insane, frankly entirely evil, way.
Maleficent looked like she was struggling for a moment. Then she reached out tentatively to clasp the hand Mal still had resting on the basket. Giving it a squeeze, she shrugged, "I knew you needed to be strong to endure what was coming. I could live with you hating me. But that...doesn't mean I'm okay with people hurting you."
Mal made a noise that should have sounded like mom, but was more of a strangled sob. She was out her seat and throwing her arms around Maleficent before she could think better of it. Her mother stiffened, surprised, then reached up to return the hug. It was a little awkward. Mal knew her mother didn't know what she was doing, but she was trying, and that knowledge just made her hold on tighter.
Mal heard a door open, and felt her father's presence enter the room. She felt his pause, then the way he cycled through shock and pride into startling realisation. "Goddammit, M. The spoons? I have to go to that State Dinner."
"Pity."
...
Twenty Three.
Mal caught Audrey's eye as she grabbed two flutes of champagne off of a passing tray and inclined her head towards a quieter area of the ballroom by some decorative trees. Audrey widened her eyes almost imperceptibly from where she was pretending to be interested in the conversation with Aziz, and Mal headed across the room.
A few moments later, Audrey joined her and took the glass gratefully, "How long until we can escape?"
Mal laughed, shaking her head in wonder, "Adam and Belle aren't even here yet."
"Dammit. This feels a lot longer than thirty minutes." Audrey glanced at a delicate bracelet that doubled as a watch. No phones allowed at official events for the major royals, that's what they had assistants for. God forbid anyone got caught sending texts they shouldn't in the background of photos or filmed playing Candy Crush during the King's speech.
Chad was the reason for those rules. Unfortunately, the Heir to the House of Charming had only grown more immature since high school.
Mal was still surprised that she and Audrey had become such fast friends after leaving school. Audrey had been a working royal since she was sixteen, but she and Mal were the only people to join the Council the year they graduated. Ben had been a member since he was fourteen. They were the first people to join since the Sultan of Agrabah's death three years ago, and ignoring Ben, the youngest by a good twenty years. They'd been thrown together, and found that despite their family history, they actually quite liked each other.
Audrey hid a dark wit behind the girl next door charm. And the love-hate are-they-aren't-they thing she had going with Chad was the kind of chaos Mal lived for. Audrey was glad to finally have another girl around, having been stuck with Ben and Chad since birth, and Mal was glad to have someone who understood how hard it was to live in this world.
Ben really should have introduced them sooner.
But then...why would Ben introduce her to his friends. They weren't actually together.
"Time in the Summerlands passes slower than the Underworld," Mal shook her head, glancing over to where Snow White was holding court by a giant ice sculpture. Of herself.
It's her husband's birthday party, and the ice sculpture is of her...
EQ was by her stepdaughter's side, regaling their guests with stories of Snow White and Evie as children.
Evie was stuck in the middle of it all, playing nice. Mal recognised her best friend's humour-mother smile anywhere.
Just two hours, she reminded herself that they'd all committed to a time frame. After that they were off the hook and the three of them could go back to Evie's suite, take off the heels and breathe.
The longer Mal spent in Auradon, the more she realised there really weren't many differences between Snow and EQ. And that meant events in the Summerlands were always draining.
It didn't help that they were all flying solo tonight either.
Evie was in a mood with Doug, something about an incident with her tulips and his new ride-on lawnmower. The apple tree had survived. Barely. Chad had made an ass of himself at King Phillip's birthday party last month, and Audrey was still giving him the silent treatment. Something about being in the same room as Audrey and her family, listening to Queen Leah drone on about the line of succession, it made Chad stupid. Stupider than normal. He'd gotten drunk, propositioned Sally White, and caused quite the scene when leaving. He was her date tonight, but judging by the mournful looks he was shooting Audrey, that little fling wouldn't last much longer.
And as for Ben...they weren't talking.
Okay, that was a lie. She wasn't talking to him. And he hadn't noticed.
Evie told her that was a load of bull. And Audrey had nodded knowingly. But Mal couldn't see how that was the case.
If he had noticed, he'd done nothing about it. And that wasn't Ben.
Ben was the kind of guy who you went all in for. He was dinner dates in public and meeting your parents and kisses in the moonlight.
So if Ben wanted her, Ben would have done something by now. Ergo, he didn't actually want her. Which just made her more pissed at him and even less likely to reach out despite the fact she missed him.
Illogical, maybe. But what was the Daughter of Darkness if not a little chaotic.
Okay. A lot chaotic.
Despite having two assistant demons (much more capable than Pain and Panic...she'd worked out her father just liked keeping them around for the chaos they brought) she'd graduated from Lost Girl to Hot Mess.
She was lucky to make it to events on time. The only reason she was even dressed appropriately most of the time was because Evie controlled her wardrobe. She was always one wrong comment away from cussing out a world leader.
She was the kind of girl you took to an exorcism. Not home to meet your parents.
Despite the fact she'd already met his parents. Years ago. And it hadn't gone horribly.
They actually seemed to like her.
"Oh, here we go," Audrey perked up, noticing something over Mal's shoulder. A moment later, the gavel banged.
They both turned towards the archway, watching the fanfare unfold as King Adam, Queen Belle and Ben entered. Mal, the highest ranking being in the room, stood with her hip cocked as the rest of the room dropped into bows and curtsies.
Ben hadn't noticed her yet. He was still smiling and waving and being all...Princely.
She suppressed a sigh. She was a Hades. She did not sigh wistfully. Her parents would murder her.
So she would stand here and look...like a shiny version of herself.
Luckily Ben seemed to like both versions, even if he didn't want to keep her forever.
Mal took a sip of her drink, watching Ben and his family carefully. They probably didn't know it, but they moved as one unit. It was kind of fascinating. The way they covered the maximum amount of crowd, switching their attentions seamlessly, so everyone got a part of the Crown. They didn't even realise they did it. They just worked.
She didn't fit into that picture. Even if she did have that pesky little habit of falling into bed with Prince Ben at every given opportunity.
She'd tried to quit him. She had.
But that innocent looking golden boy was her drug of choice.
Ever since they were sixteen, ever since the first time he caught her doing something kind of evil and bet her she couldn't be good. Mal was never one to back down from a challenge, and now seven years later she was still playing chicken with him.
It was addictive.
Intoxicating.
And probably about the worst thing he could be doing with his time.
A few weeks ago she'd overheard one of the palace advisors talking to Belle about securing the line of succession. Well really, she'd put on a little invisibility spell and eavesdropped from around the corner when she heard her name being mentioned, but who was getting technical. Belle had sounded resigned. Said Ben knew what he was doing. There was still plenty of time for kids.
Then the advisor had made a comment about how not one of the second generation had got their acts together, and from his position it looked like the Houses would die out within the next fifty years, and Mal had heard enough.
She ran. And started ghosting him again.
It had hurt. But it was best for him.
And he hadn't noticed.
On a whim, Mal tried to focus on Ben's future again. Then she frowned. Whatever the brain equivalent of TV static was, that's all she saw whenever she tried to look at Ben's future. It was incredibly frustrating.
And then he saw her.
Mal braced herself for indifference. For a tight nod.
On their off swings, Ben could be petulant and cold. It was nothing more than she deserved. But it still hurt.
She was not prepared for the way his smile shifted into the one he only ever aimed at her.
Two things happened. One, Ben fell out of sync with his parents. Lingering on her just a moment too long. And she felt a little guilty at ruining the picture, even when she was trying to do the right thing.
And then two, she felt herself perk up too. She sent him a wry smirk, and it made his eyes crinkle. Then she tilted her head to the side briefly, telling him to get his head back in the game. And he smirked right back at her, making the barest scrunch of his nose. It would look like a mere twitch to anyone looking in, but Mal heard his retort loud and clear. She shook her head, properly this time, and smiled. Satisfied he'd won that round, Ben turned his attention back to the crowd and moved forward to greet Snow White and King Florian, his godfather.
Audrey huffed good naturedly beside her, "Dinner at Harry's says you two are talking again by the time Evie and I leave."
Mal rolled her eyes, wishing Audrey was wrong. Leaving things up to her obviously wasn't working, and when it was left up to Ben…
"Well, Harry's squid rings are to die for."
…
"I thought you three would have run off by now." Ben mused, stopping a respectable distance from Mal's side. They were right in the middle of the room. Anyone could see.
They couldn risk anything. That would be the case even if they were together.
No one wanted to end up in the press a la Chad.
"Evie's away to schmooze some investors. Audrey's torturing Chad." Mal shrugged, glancing over to where Audrey was flirting with Emperor Kuzco. Chad was at a table a few feet away, glaring and strangling the neck of his beer bottle, while Sally tried vainly to get his attention. Mal could feel the draw of impending chaos.
It made her a little giddy.
"You look like a kid in a toy store."
Obviously. It was like he didn't even know her.
How could he not remember all those times at school where she got the idea to go do something crazy, and he just held on for the ride.
It was the chaos. She lived for it.
And it was good for him too. Loosened him up a bit.
"In about two minutes," she whispered, refusing to take her eyes off the scene in front of her, "Sally's going to throw a glass of red wine in Chad's face. And Kuzco is going to do his hip thrust thing and give Audrey a high five." Audrey laughed breathily at something Kuzco said, leaning in, and everyone saw the way Chad's jaw twitched. Sally's left eye twitched in response. Mal grinned, "I live for this stuff."
"Hmm," Ben mused, his own eyes twinkling. Kuzco leaned closer to Audrey, and Chad gripped the bottle tighter. Ben winced. Then chuckled, "So in about a minute and a half, no one is going to be looking this way?"
"Nope. No one." Mal agreed, wondering exactly what was going through his head.
Maybe it was his turn to break? That could be fun.
He simply made a noise of agreement, and Mal grinned.
Ben could keep up with her when he wanted to.
It made her...hopeful.
She felt the air change, and tensed, leaning forward, watching Sally and Chad's table carefully. Ben chuckled next to her.
Three.
Two.
One.
"Chad, are you even listening to me?"
Sally's indignant question cut through the room. Every head that hadn't already noticed turned in their direction. Snow White clocked her daughter and her eyes widened in horror as she realised what was coming next.
Chad didn't even take his eyes off Audrey as he snapped, "No."
"Here we go," Mal sang, bouncing up on her toes. She tried not to think about the way Ben moved closer to her, letting his fingertips rest briefly on her waist while everyone's attention was elsewhere.
"Fuck you Chad," Sally pushed herself to her feet, grabbing a glass of red wine from a passing serving tray and throwing it in Chad's face. "You're an even bigger dick now than you were at sixteen."
The entire room gasped.
Ben ignored it, leaning in to drop a quick kiss on Mal's lips. It was the briefest of touches, she barely had time to respond, but it made every nerve in her body stand up and take notice. She grinned, the chaotic energy in the room giving her one hell of a high.
She glanced at Ben wickedly, taking in the way he looked far too innocent beside her. Audrey was right, there was no way she was going home alone tonight.
"Boom baby!" Kuzco yelled, breaking into his signature victory dance, complete with hip thrusts. Audrey's eyes danced with mirth as she watched it, completely oblivious to Chad's rage as he realised he'd been set up. Kuzco held out a hand to Audrey, "Give me some skin girl. C'mon. You know you want to."
Audrey smiled, suddenly embarrassed. She glanced to Mal, who nodded encouragingly, before she gave him a little one. Kuzco took it as enthusiasm, knowing his excitement always dwarfed everyone else's. Grinning, he offered Audrey his arm, "Now that that's over with, let's get some champagne and let the real fun begin. Kuzco is the King of Fun. And you deserve some fun after him."
Somehow, Kuzco always knew everything about everyone in Auradon. He was a bigger gossip than Snow White, but less in your face about it.
Audrey looked at him for a moment, thinking about it. Then she shrugged and looped her arm through his, letting him lead her from the room.
She didn't even spare a glance for Chad, sitting at his table, angrily batting away the servers who were trying to help him clean up the wine.
It was a scenario that was going to keep repeating itself until Chad got over his inferiority complex. He'd keep fucking up, and Audrey would keep punishing him for it.
Mal wasn't an expert on healthy relationships by any stretch of the imagination, but she did know that after all the shit Chad put Audrey through, her friend deserved a little fun.
Everyone knew that Kuzco wasn't really into...anyone. He put on the front of the playboy who will charm anything out of its pants. But really, he was just a big, over excited kid who liked to party. He'd take Audrey out for a night on the town, have her laughing until her sides hurt, and then drop her off at her hotel room with an 'until next time'.
A night of no expectations.
It would be good for her.
Mal should try it herself sometime.
But instead, she was too busy making eyes at Ben, hoping he picked up on her invite to help her deal with all this excess energy.
It didn't take long for him to take the hint. Before Audrey was even out the room, Ben had his palm on the small of her back and was leading her out one of the side doors. "C'mon," he whispered, aiming that winning smile in her direction, "Let's get out of here."
Mal grinned, already flying on the chaos, and made a decision.
If Ben was going to be bad with anyone…
...it might as well be her.
Even if it wasn't forever.
…
"I can't believe we got locked out of your castle!" Mal laughed, spinning away from Ben and heading off towards the gardens.
"I can't believe you won't just unlock the door?" Ben laughed dryly, following her a few feet behind.
Mal grinned back at him over her shoulder, throwing him a smirk and a wink.
She couldn't not appreciate the view.
His tie was loosened, shirt untucked and his hair mussed from their fun in the back of the limo. Her lipstick was on his collar.
He was looking at her the way Doug looked at Evie.
It made her hope...
Thankfully, they were almost entirely alone. It was Lancelot on babysitting duty tonight. He liked Mal. Thought she was cool. Always took her side when she was tormenting Ben. And that was a good thing, because Mal had a Plan, and it would make ninety percent of the Guards' blood pressure skyrocket.
But Lancelot enjoyed the concept of plausible deniability.
When he saw Ben and Mal sneaking out of Florian's birthday party, he merely shook his head and started the limo. The privacy screen was firmly in place by the time they were inside. And he took the long way back to Ben's family's holiday castle. It was just a little one. More like a mansion cottage than a castle.
It was in the middle of a sprawling country estate in the Summerlands so there was no light or noise pollution whatsoever.
The estate always ran on a skeleton staff, and any additional travelled with the family.
The only ones who could derail her plans were the private secretaries. But Lumiere and Cogsworth were back at the party and hopefully hadn't noticed Ben's absence yet. Doug hadn't travelled with Ben this trip because he was still in the doghouse with Evie.
And there would be no paparazzi with super zoom lenses on the other side of the boundary line either.
They would be completely alone, at least for a little while.
Adam and Belle would never know.
At least that's what she told herself.
And now...they were locked out.
It would have taken nothing for Mal to unlock the door. Nothing.
But she was already revelling in the chaos from earlier. She was feeling a little reckless.
And there was just something about Ben that made her want to claim him. To mark him from the inside out and make sure no one ever wanted him because he was hers. She wanted to ruin him for whoever came after her.
So she could have unlocked the door.
But she him wanted to remember tonight.
Ben caught up with her in front of the statue of his father, smiling after her with bemusement. He had no idea what was going on. But he'd follow her anyway.
Holding out her hand, Mal grinned when Ben took it instantly.
It was moments like this when she thought maybe, just maybe, he'd follow her anywhere.
Leaning up, she pressed her lips to his. Just because she could. Because for right now, he was hers.
Ben responded instantly, pulling her closer, cupping her face and angling her up so he could deepen the kiss. Just like always, Mal swore there were fireworks.
Undone by True Love's kiss...
Pushing that thought down, she smiled into the kiss. Then moved them up onto the roof.
Ben didn't even notice until she broke away from the kiss.
"So you won't unlock the door, but you'll smoke us onto the roof of the tallest tower?"
"Live a little," Mal breathed, dropping one more kiss onto his lips before turning away.
With a flick of her wrist, a blanket appeared and she dropped down. She'd already put a little safety charm on the roof - it was very steep but they wouldn't fall to their deaths tonight. That would be overkill.
Ben joined her, pulling her onto his lap and holding her close, "Stargazing. Just like when we were kids."
Mal shrugged, looking up at the stars.
She knew Ben didn't know how often she had snuck out onto the roof of the dorms, just to look at the stars. To remind herself that she was free. That there was no barrier blocking the edges of her world. That, even if she was a demigod...she was still just a speck in the universe. That there was something out there bigger than her and no matter what happened...the stars stayed the same.
"I never thought we'd still be sneaking onto rooftops in our twenties," Ben chuckled, perfectly content.
Mal a noise of agreement and cuddled closer. Ben held her tighter.
These were the times when she could admit, even to herself, that Ben wanted more. With her.
And maybe, eventually, they'd be able to make it stick.
Tonight wasn't that night.
But for now she was quite happy to go with the wind...