Hey guys, I just wanted to quickly mention that when writing this chapter I had reassessed some of the titles of the council members. I have also as well added some characters that weren't previously mentioned up until this point. I hope you are enjoying where I am taking us on this story; I know it has taken an insanely long time to get to you but you know me by now – you won't get the chapters until I think they are perfect. Anyway, enough of the waffle – let's jump straight back into it.
It didn't take me and Evie to get freshened up and changed; and before I knew it we were both dressed and we were waiting for Ben and Doug to come and get us. I had decided to arrange my hair in a tight bun; however I had pulled some hair down so they swept down the sides of my face; and I had also decided to keep my make up to my usual dark purple eye shadow and lip stick. For my outfit I decided to wear one of my suits; it was a dark purple skirt and light purple shirt combo. I did however add a dark purple waistcoat and decided to wear dark purple flats.
Evie had decided to wear a dark blue slim line dress with a blazer; with dark black high heels to complement the outfit. She was wearing her trademark makeup and she had neatly arranged her hair down her shoulders; but in pride of place was one of her crown hairbands.
It felt like an agonising wait before we both heard a knock on the door and when we did me and Evie grinned at each other. As I watched Evie eagerly run towards the door I couldn't help but note that even though we have been apart for only a short length of time I had missed Ben. And as I watched the door open and Ben came into my view I had to suppress a groan escape from my lips; I was yearning for Ben – not in a sexual way, I just wanted to be in his arms.
"Mal" Ben said as he and Doug both stepped into the room.
"Yes my love" I answered happily as I noticed that both Doug and Ben had their usual suits on.
"I have told me parents that we need to talk to them" he advised. "So I thought we could go now" he added. "If you are ready?" he offered.
"Of course" I nodded as I started to walk towards him. "I guess we will see you downstairs in a little bit" I smiled at Evie and Doug.
"Of course" they said together. "Bye" they added as they both turned to leave the room.
"Bye!" me and Ben called after them.
"How do you think your parents are going to take it?" I questioned nervously.
"I honestly don't know" he admitted as I slid my right hand into his left.
"If they don't like it then we won't do it" I urged as we walked out of our bedroom.
"Mal we made the decision" he reminded me as we began to make our way out of our suite. "If they don't like it then they will have to come to live with it" he said. "They understand that we are both going to start making decisions about the lives we want to lead; some decisions that they are going to like and some they won't" he rationalised.
"I see" I noted. "I just don't want to upset them" I admitted.
"Me too" he agreed. "But this is something that we both want" he stated and I nodded at this. "Can I just ask how this conversation came up with Evie?" he enquired as we began to make our way to his parent's rooms in the castle.
"Well she brought up my married name and I said maybe" I explained. "She then thought I was hiding something and when I said it was just between us two she thought that I was pregnant" I added.
"I see" he noted. "Well that's not happening for a while" he added.
"No" I replied as I quickly shook my head. "You did sound disappointed though" I told him.
"Did I?" he questioned in confusion.
"Yes" I confirmed.
"Sorry I didn't mean to" he apologised.
"Ben there will come a time when I am pregnant" I stated. "But we both said we both aren't ready" I reminded him.
"I know" he replied. "I just started to think about you being pregnant that's all" he advised.
"Are you wanting to change what we have planned?" I asked. In all honesty I didn't know if I wanted to change our plan but if Ben wanted to then this was going to be something that we were going to need to discuss.
"No" he answered. "I just can't wait to see Mammy Dragon" he teased.
"Likewise Daddy Beast" I teased back and we both chuckled as we stepped up to his parent's suite. I then watched as Ben knocked on the door; and I took a couple of deep breaths to steady myself as I suddenly began to feel nervous at how they were going to react to what we were about to tell them.
"Come in!" we heard Adam call and when Ben opened the door I saw that Adam and Belle were both waiting for us – with very concerned looks on their faces.
"Hey!" I said as Ben closed the door behind us after we stepped into the room.
"Is everything ok?" Belle asked. "Ben said their pair of you wanted to speak to us" she stated.
"Yes" I nodded. "That is correct" I smiled.
"There is a couple of things that we need to make you aware of" Ben interjected.
"Please sit down" Adam stated as he gestured to the couch that was opposite to the one that they were currently sitting on.
"I need to say sorry first of all-" I started as me and Ben quickly walked up to the couch and sat down. "To you Belle" I stated.
"Me?" she asked in confusion. "Why?" she urged and I noticed that Adam and Ben also were now looking confused at me.
"When me and you were having our afternoon tea you asked whether me and Ben had had certain conversations and I told you no" I reminded her.
"And you have?" she prompted me.
"Yes I'm sorry" I nodded. "It's just-" I began as I threw Ben a nervous look and he squeezed my right hand in his left. "Me and Ben wanted it to be private for a short time" I advised.
"Ok" she nodded as the concern started to ebb away from her face. "Apology accepted" she advised and I sighed in relief. "But you don't need to be sorry Mal" I continued sincerely. "There are things that me and Adam understand that you and Ben are going to want to only be between you two" she finished with her trademark warm and reassuring smile.
"Thanks" I smiled back at her.
"So what have you decided?" Adam asked causing me and Ben to look at each other and I nodded at him to prompt him.
"We have decided the date that we want to get married-" he began to advised. "Our living arrangements" he added and I watched as he took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself. "And our name" he finally declared after a few seconds.
"Your name?" Adam questioned in confusion as Belle pulled one brow up in confusion at us.
"Yes" Ben nodded.
"What about your name?" Belle added.
"When we get married we want to both come under a different name" Ben told his parents as he squeezed my hand again and I squeezed it back.
"Right?" Adam said slowly.
"But we don't want to upset you" I quickly interjected; and I watched as Adam and Belle slowly looked at each other before looking back at us.
"What is this name?" Adam enquired.
"Dragon-Beast Adams" Ben said clearly and the room fell silent. I felt my mouth suddenly go dry as my stomach started to flutter. I could see that they would be confused to why we would want to change our name; and I really hoped that we weren't about to have an argument – especially as all of the council members would be arriving shortly.
"Why do you want to do that?" Belle questioned, finally breaking the silence in the room.
"Well we have been together since my coronation; it's not just my rule it's Mal's" Ben said as he smiled warmly at me before looking back at his parents. "So we wanted to combine our names" he added.
"Dragon and Beast?" Adam finally said.
"Yes" I nodded. "Sorry" I quickly apologised.
"No!" Adam quickly urged. "Don't be sorry" he dismissed. "I like it" he advised.
"Really?" me and Ben asked together in shock.
"What about you Belle?" Adam questioned.
"I like it too" she admitted. "It's unique, very you" she smiled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I enquired.
"What I mean Mal is that even though certain parts of your relationship is traditional you both do things your own way" she answered. "Something I think me and Adam have come to expect of you two" she added.
"Yes" Adam agreed.
"So you're not upset?" Ben asked.
"No" they both answered together.
"We understand why you want to do that" Adam said. "And you are still carrying the name Adams" he smiled.
"Yeah" Ben agreed.
"So about the other two topics of conversation?" Belle prompted us.
"Yes" Ben nodded.
"What have you been thinking?" she asked.
"We want to get married on our next anniversary" Ben declared. "Which would be our four year anniversary" he added.
"Which would be?" Adam replied.
"The 6th of July" I added.
"I see" he noted. "Well that is plenty of time" he added.
"Yeah it is" Belle smiled eagerly. "Does anyone else know?" she urged.
"No" I answered. "Well-" I began. "Evie knows about our name" I admitted. "She just got it out of me" I stated as I pursed my lips together. "But she doesn't know about our living arrangements or the date we want to get married" I finished.
"Ok" they both nodded. "Sorry" Ben advised.
"Don't be" Belle dismissed. "So where do you want to live? Are you wanting to change a wing?" she enquired.
"Yes" Ben answered. "Yes we want to do that" he added. "But we also want to build an estate on the grounds" he advised.
"Why?" Adam asked.
"So we have our own space" I said. "Everything is public" I reminded them.
"It's nice to just be Ben and Mal when we can be" Ben interjected.
"We get that" Belle replied. "When we got married we wanted space too" she stated as she and Adam shared a loving glance before looking back at us.
"Thanks" Ben said.
"So am I right in assuming that all of this is going to be in your marriage contract?" Adam asked.
"Yes" Ben stated. "And I have an idea" he advised as he threw me a hopeful look.
"Ok?" I prompted him.
"The contract is ready" he told us all. "So I thought that during the meeting the day after the coronation me and Mal sign it" he suggested.
"Wow!" me, Adam and Belle all exclaimed. I know that I told Ben that I would sign our marriage contract after the trial but I didn't expect things to be going this quick. But I loved Ben; I only wanted to live my life with him – it didn't really matter to me when we signed it.
"Is that ok Mal?" Ben questioned and I watched as concern started to show in his usually calm leaf green eyes.
"Of course it is" I answered. "Ben you know that I only want to be your wife" I advised as I reached up and cupped the right hand side of his face with my left hand. "I don't need all these titles and estates; you are and always have been enough" I finished lovingly.
"Mally" he cooed as he dropped my hand and quickly pulled me into a tight hug.
"What do you think?" I asked my soon to me parent's-in-law's as we pulled away and cuddled together on the couch.
"I think that things are going to get very busy around here" Adam teased as Belle eagerly nodded. "Congratulations you two" he grinned.
"Congratulations!" Belle interjected as she clasped her hands together.
"Thank you" me and Ben said together.
"We better go downstairs" Ben advised. "Everyone will be arriving soon" he added.
"Ok" me, Adam and Belle nodded as we stood up to leave the room. As I let Ben lead me from the suite I couldn't help but take a sigh in relief; our conversation with his parents couldn't have gone any better – and this is all I could have asked for.
Me, Ben, Adam and Belle were only waiting for ten minutes; and in them ten minutes Ben quickly told me what was about to happen over the next couple of days. He explained that it would be similar to his coronation which made me feel better about today as I knew what to expect. I just didn't know whether Aurora and Phillip's coronation would be any different to Ben's as he ruled over the whole kingdom rather than just one constituency.
Before the first group of council members arrived Jay, Carlos, Evie and Doug had already taken to their seats. Ben also then advised me that the side kick council were coming together as they had their annual monthly meeting yesterday; I didn't find this strange but it did make me note that even more people were going to be here than normal. I had to take a couple of deep breaths to steady myself. It would appear that even after all this time I still got nervous entertaining members of the Kingdom; and I think there was part of me which would never get used to it.
Thirdly Ben then told me that Audrey, Az, Chad, Jane, Leroy, Lonnie and Nash were all outside waiting for their parents so they could be formally greeted into the event; I didn't question this. It was obviously a royal rule that we all needed to follow so I let this go. This did tell me however that the rest of our group was in the ballroom in their seats; awaiting the rest of us all to join them.
Minutes passed with members that we had just recently seen on tour; and it was amazing to catch up with them. However there were some additional guests that joined their leaders that we didn't expect but were very happy due to the fact that we were going to spend time with them.
When Queen Merida arrived (and normally she comes on her own) she decided to bring her three brothers with her - Prince Harris, Prince Hubert and Prince Hamish. They were identical triplets; all dressed in a smart dark green suit and just like their sister they had bright orange hair. Queen Merida told us that she brought her brothers as she wanted us to meet them; as now that they had come of age she wanted them to have more of a public role. Things did seem to be going very well; this was until I felt the Beast part of Ben purr when the three Princes kissed my cheeks. I was, however, able to quickly divert the situation by quickly putting my hand into Ben's and giving it a light squeeze – which seemed to reassure us both.
Next came the party of Camelot Heights, which consisted of King Edward and Queen Nancy and her children (Prince Richard and Princess Elizabeth). This was only the second time I had seen Queen Nancy since coming to Auradon. Ben told me in private that Queen Nancy had a lot of medical conditions that prevented her from travelling; she was also very frail due to her conditions. I didn't want to ask about them as I felt like it was none of my business; I did however know that when she became pregnant with the twins she nearly died in child birth. As I shook her hand I could see why King Edward was so protective of his family – as he nearly lost them all and he loved them very dearly.
Next to arrive was King Prince Charming and Queen Cinderella; and as Chad walked in with them I noticed that they had brought some guests with them as well. First of all there was Sir Lucifer and Dame Pom-Pom, I had heard about their story in my History of Auradon class. Sir Lucifer had been Lady Tremaine's cat back in the day; however he caused to the good cause when he fell in love with Dame Pom-Pom. Sir Lucifer was in fact the reason that Lady Tremaine and her daughters were on the Isle; as when they went into hiding Sir Lucifer told Adam and Belle where they were. Over the years of me being on the Isle I heard Lady Tremaine and her daughters curse, plan and scheme for the day that they finally returned to Auradon to wreak revenge on Sir Lucifer and Dame Pom Pom.
Following shortly after them were Sir Bruno and Sir Major, who I was told very close friends to Queen Cinderella. Queen Cinderella even reminded us that if Sir Bruno and Sir Major hadn't helped her she would never have been able to return to her soul mate. This was something that I loved about their story; they no matter what and against all the odds there were able to sustain their love for each other.
The main hall then got very busy as King Peter Pan and Queen Tinkerbelle arrived and they had brought a very large party with them; and after we had greeted all the Lost Boys, Indians and Mermaids we then received a shock.
As Dame Wendy Darling had travelled over from Neverland with her full family for the ball and the coronation. She then told us eagerly that King Peter and Queen Tinkerbelle was going to give her and her family a residence in Hook's Bay; which now meant that she could now retire. John Darling however was going to now take over the running of the Foundation. I was really over the moon for Dame Wendy, she had worked hard all her lives to benefit others and I loved the fact that she was now going to get the rest she deserved – well the rest she was going to get with a very eager and forever playful King Peter around.
Next to arrive was Prince Consort Eugene Fitzherbert, Princess Rapunzel, Sir Pascal and Sir Maximus. When I asked where their children were Princess Rapunzel replied that they were too unwell to travel; we all then passed on our well wishes, which were quickly thanked for and all four of them quickly walked into the ballroom. I sensed that something else was going on there but I decided to leave it – I wasn't going to start making a big deal out of whatever was going on between them – it seemed stressful enough as it is!
It was at this point when King Ferdinand and Queen Snow White arrived and I noted that they arrived on their own. It was at this point when I remembered that the seven dwarfs were part of the side kick council so they would probably be arriving with the rest of the side kick council in a few moments.
After having a brief conversation with King Ferdinand and Queen Snow White the party of Lone Keep then arrived which consisted of Prince Naveen, Princess Tiana, Charlotte La Bouff, Louis, James and Ray. They all were very lively characters and they all wished that we were going to be able to talk late into the night just like our meetings with them. Me and Ben nodded at this but we didn't know if this was actually going to be a reality – we did have to get up early for the coronation in the morning.
Queen Elsa and her party were the next to arrive she had brought Princess Anna, Prince Consort Kristoff, Olaf and Sven with her. When I spoke to Queen Elsa she told me that she wanted more of a relationship with me; which was something that I returned. It would appear that even more so now since I left college the royal members of the whole Kingdom wanted to get to know me better. I did expect this; especially given the fact that I knew that they were all thinking that me and Ben's relationship were advancing. No one wanted to be on the wrong side of the future Queen of Auradon; especially after the recent trial that we all had to go through.
Then leaders of Sea of Ariel then arrived and this party included King Eric, Queen Ariel, Princess Melody, Sebastian and Scuttle. They all greeted us warmly; it was nice to see Melody again. As now that we had finished college she had to go back home to her parents; and me and Ben probably wouldn't see her now unless we were having a meeting with her parents. King Triton arrived with them and he told us that he was going to bring his other daughters with him but they had to attend the Sick Kick Council meeting. My mind instantly went to the story that Queen mermaid Athena had told us at her lagoon. I felt sorry for King Triton as he never remarried; but saying that if anything happened to Ben (and I hope it never did) I didn't think I would either.
The Westerly Party then arrived which included Emperor Kuzco, Empress Malina, Sir Pacha, Dame Chicha, Yupi, Chaca, Tipo, Kronk, Bucky and Miss Birdwell. They were a very lively bunch; and the Emperor and Empress had promised to show me and Ben their famous dancing moves at the ball tomorrow. This only made me very excited for tomorrow; I couldn't wait to spend time with everyone and form new and close lifelong friendships.
The last constituency to arrive was Winter's Keep; we shared a warm hello from Prince Consort John Rolfe and Princess Pocahontas. They both teased that me and Ben were leading their son astray; they then however quickly added that they were glad that we had accepted Nash into our social circle. It was at this point that Princess Pocahontas noted that her son keeps himself to himself back at home and just draws. I watched as Nash started to get embarrassed at this and I quickly stated that I didn't think there was anything wrong with that – as at times I do the very same myself. Nash then winked at me and advised that he knew that I would understand the significance of drawing – which Ben put his hand in mine once more and he squeezed it. I knew that he was strained about mine and Nash's relationship but I hoped that this would get better with time – as Ben knew that I didn't want Nash or any other man apart from him.
Next to arrive was the side kick council which consists of Dopey, Grumpy, Doc, Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy, Happy, Sir Genie, Flora, Fauna, Merryweather, Pongo, Perdita, Flounder, Alana, Attina, Aquata, Adella, Arista, Andrina, Sir Jaq, Sir Gus and Dame Mary. I noted that all of their families came with them as well; so just like when King Peter Pan brought his ground the main hall filled with a loud of noise and excitement before they made their way into the grand ballroom.
Finally the Fairy Council arrived which consisted of Fairy Godmother, Jane, Silvermist, Rosetta, Iridessa, Fawn, Terence, Vidia, Chloe, Fairy Gary, Fairy Mary, Fern, Glimmer, Gliss, Ivy, Lilac, Lumina, Lyria, Marina, Periwinkle, Viola, Zarina and Zephyr. Fairy Godmother then told me that as I had no returned from the tour it would need to be discussed whether I wanted to join the fairy council. This was something that hadn't even crossed my mind; but as a hindsight I thought I should. I was going to be the future Queen of Auradon, something of which was still daunting to me but I wanted to be an effective and best Queen that I could be.
After Zephyr walked into the grand ballroom Adam and Belle walked in with me and Ben shortly following after them; so we could start our evening and our celebrations – which the whole Kingdom and council was eagerly awaiting.