Audrey's marriage had been hanging by a thread since the year she'd married, and she knew it.
She wasn't sure why, but they'd never quite gotten it right, he and her. She'd figured that their lives were similar and they had similar goals and they were compatible, but then he liked books and learning and quiet and plain a lot more than she did. And people - he also liked people. She had never gotten used to seeing him surrounded by others.
She'd be the first to admit that she knew he was unhappy.
In hindsight, she hadn't meant to isolate him. It had only been after he'd started changing things that she'd realized what she'd accidentally done. Ben didn't talk to his mother or his daughter or even her because she was in too much pain to entertain him for long. They'd gone to a party after one of his long business trips, right after he'd fired Belle's last nanny, and that was when she'd realized. He hadn't talked to people in years. And it was because of her, and she didn't even talk to him on most days. Ben had lost year's worths of time that she hadn't even bothered trying to fill.
This last year and a half had been awful. He'd ripped everything apart and he'd been stubborn and yes, it was all small things at a time(aside from him throwing out everything from their rooms), but Audrey had been shocked by the change and had wondered what had caused it. Why was he suddenly so obsessed with browns and greens and indoor potted plants? What was so special about being outside? Why couldn't he close all the windows?
Now, it was looking like she hadn't known much about him at all.
Belle ran by and set Molly the doll down beside Audrey. "Mommy?" She asked, tugging on Audrey's hand a little. "There's a mommy with her baby over there. A real baby. Can I go see it?"
"Be gentle," Audrey nodded. She watched Belle turn and dash away. A woman with blue hair was walking up the path with her baby in arm. Belle and a group of other kids reached her and she bent down to show them the little one. Audrey tilted her head to the side as Belle cooed and waved.
"Belle would be such a good big sister," she thought. Once upon a time, Ben had wanted a large family. He'd talked about it with her once, long ago. But that had been before Belle and before they'd stopped living together. Now, Audrey didn't know what he wanted. She didn't even know what she wanted.
"Excuse me?" a voice came from above. Audrey looked up. The blue-haired woman had come closer. Her baby was gone - Audrey glanced behind her and spotted Belle sitting in the road, holding the child. The other kids gathered around to smile and take the baby's hand. "Are you lost?" she asked.
Audrey shifted uncomfortably. The woman was very beautiful and looked immaculate. She couldn't believe someone like this had come from the Isle of the Lost. She and Mal and Uma were all gorgeous. "Sort of," she agreed and wasn't surprised when her voice broke. "I'm waiting for my husband to come back. He's… a little stressed, so he went for a walk."
"Ah," the woman nodded, examining Audrey. Audrey shifted. She was in sweatpants and a patterned tee. Her bathrobe had been shed in the carriage, but she'd been wearing these clothes for two days. She took a seat on the table bench beside her and stuck out a hand. "I'm Evie."
"Oh?" Audrey asked. "You're one of the people in charge, then."
"Not anymore," Evie shook her head and smiled. "I decided to… take a family route. There's a boy who came from Auradon… he traveled out here and we've settled down. His name is Doug, and that's our daughter." She pointed over to the small child who Belle was still possessively cradling. "Mal is in charge now, mostly because she's the most powerful and she protects us. Sometimes she'll ask Uma and me for help, but I've been a bit busy with my baby."
"She's cute," Audrey nodded at the girl and sighed. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Audrey. Queen of Auradon."
Evie blinked and her eyes grew wide, though she didn't lose much composure. "Ben's wife?" she asked.
"Yes," Audrey pinched her lips together. She didn't like all these beautiful women knowing her husband and talking to him and… she took a deep breath. "You know about me?"
"Not much," Evie said in a gentle tone. "Just… things Ben mentioned about you."
"Evie!" Someone snapped from off to the side. Both girls turned around. Mal had reappeared with a water bottle that she held out to Audrey. She kicked a plant as she walked. "Where'd Ben go?" she demanded.
Evie blinked at Mal for several seconds as if she was seeing straight through her. Audrey took a drink and then answered. "I think he's just stressed," she said. "We had a small fight before he went off to find you… did he?"
Mal looked to the side. "I saw him, but then he walked off," she said slowly. "We need to figure out how we're going to help Auradon."
"What's happened?" Evie asked, rising to stand.
"My mother," Mal informed her. "The barrier was broken again."
"It was Hades," Audrey nodded, staring off into the distance. She could feel her mind beginning to blank out, but couldn't quite stop the gradual progression. "He broke it to come and find his daughter. Ben was going to send him over here, but then Maleficent showed up."
Evie fixed Mal with another look, but Audrey couldn't read it out of the corner of her eye. She was focusing on Belle and slipping farther away.
"What does he expect us to do?" Mal asked. Her voice sounded very far away. Audrey tilted her head. She had been spoken to. She should respond, shouldn't she? How should she respond? What was the question?
Belle looked so happy with that baby girl…
Oh, right. "Ben thinks you can stop her," she blurted out and turned back to the two girls. With a start, she realized they hadn't been where she thought they'd been. They'd moved, and were staring at her in confusion. Several minutes had passed by, and she had no idea what they were talking about now.
"Sorry," she apologized. "I… just tuned out. I meant… Ben thinks that Mal is powerful enough to go against Maleficent. He's hoping you'll help us." She leaned forward imploringly. Mal opened and closed her hands at her sides as she watched Audrey's pleading look.
Finally, she swallowed. "There are a few greater things at play here, Audrey," she said. "I don't know if Ben and I can work together very well."
Audrey's heart sank. "Well, give it a while, please?" she asked. "Let him ask you. He's better with words. Please, we need your help." It was the first time in a long time she'd encouraged the idea of someone speaking to Ben.
Mal shrugged and sat down on the table with her leg falling beside Audrey. "Let's wait here for him," she decided. "Evie, can you go find Uma? Tell her I might be a while?"
"Yeah," Evie nodded and headed off.
Audrey put her head in her hands. "Gods," she moaned, ignoring the pinch in between her ribs. "Where is he?"
Mal glanced over. She picked up a knife and a long stick that had appeared on the table while Audrey had been tuned out. Audrey jumped away. Mal shook her head. "I'm not going to hurt you," she mumbled. "It just helps me think."
Audrey slowly sat back down. "Are you making anything?" she asked.
Mal examined the tip of the stick. "No," she sighed. "I just… when I'm waiting, I feel like I'm in danger. So I try and find things like this to protect myself with. It's just… we call them Isle defects. We've all got them from when we left." She turned the stick over in her hands and began carving off the top. "So," she began in a soft tone. "What's it like being a queen?"
Audrey shrugged. She still felt like shying away from Mal's point. "It's… well, I'm not very good at it, I'm afraid. Ben's been doing most of the work for years."
Mal nodded. "He mentioned that when he was here," she informed Audrey. "How did you guys meet?"
"We grew up together," Audrey shrugged. "It was kinda common knowledge among our parents that we would grow up and get married. How about you?"
Mal made an amused snort in the back of her throat and looked up from her work. Audrey skimmed the horizon, checking for Belle running amongst the other kids, and then returned her gaze to Mal as the purple-haired girl started to speak. "I, uh, kidnapped him. On his way to Charmington, I thought he was coming to invade us. We got all the way to camp before we realized he was the king. Then when we were trying to figure out how to send him back without more people coming to kill us, he decided he wanted to stay."
Audrey paused, taking in the bizarre story. A great deal of resentment was felt for Mal having kidnapped Ben, but an even greater sadness filled her to consider he hadn't even felt to confide to her. Three days ago, she didn't even know that villain kids were in Auradon. "That sounds like him," she murmured. "You know… we used to joke in high school that if he were kidnapped and held for ransom, he'd end up making friends with the perpetrators and walking free. I didn't ever think it'd happen though."
"Well, as far as things go, I never thought I'd accidentally kidnap the King of Auradon and then have him rescue everyone."
"That's so bizarre to me!" Audrey complained. "I mean… he never told me he was gone. He never told me you guys were here. He first mentioned it to me when Hades showed up at the castle looking for his daughter. I just… he gets mad at me for not always talking to him but he's not entirely communicable either!"
Mal blinked on some of the larger words and Audrey felt her cheeks heat up. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to go off on you like that."
Mal shrugged one arm. "It's whatever," she said, then hesitated. "Are you and he… okay?"
"We are," Audrey nodded, smoothing her palms out over her knees. "I made some mistakes early in our marriage, but we're fine."
Mal slid off the tabletop and sat down beside Audrey on the bench. "He… used to say things in passing," she murmured. "We met friends of his who were in the area once… Li Lonnie? She said you didn't like people talking to him and he said you hadn't talked to him much either."
Audrey slumped a little in guilt. She closed her eyes. "I… haven't been feeling well since Belle was born," she admitted. "I never really recovered from the birth. It wasn't a hard birth or anything, but I didn't recover from it. I went through a small addiction to the pain meds for about six months and when I started coming back to myself, Ben wanted me to take up a bunch of responsibilities and stuff. I got overwhelmed and started pawning things off. Belle went to a nanny, I pawned off my court responsibilities, and Ben took back some of - I mean - all of the work I was supposed to do as queen. I never really took it back up because I never started feeling better."
"And then you stopped talking to Ben?" Mal asked.
"I felt like he was trying to pressure me into stuff," Audrey explained. "He wanted me to do all these things - go hiking and dancing with him, play with Belle. He kept asking why I wouldn't share a room with him and I… kinda snapped at him after a while. It was a relief when he stopped asking things, and then I didn't notice we had stopped talking until a little over a year ago."
"You're the queen of Auradon," Mal said. "Isn't there a doctor or something you can see?"
"I saw doctors," Audrey agreed. "Back when I first started feeling the pain. They said it was just after-affects. They prescribed me minor painkillers and exercise. But it's so strange - I was always active when I was younger and I don't understand why everything changed so quickly." She huffed and pressed her fingertips to her forehead. "Ben… wants me to get over it. He's not even being subtle anymore."
"That's interesting," Mal hummed. "He seemed like a very understanding fellow."
"He is," Audrey agreed. "But he can be a bit bull-headed. He thinks he knows what's best for me and the world and everyone in it. He reads people pretty well and thinks that means he's entitled to give advice."
"I see that," Mal laughed. "I see that - one-hundred-percent."
Audrey laughed with Mal. Her ribs ached, but it felt good. She leaned back against the table and her arm brushed against Mal's. Mal looked over at her. "So," she began, "What is Ben's fix-all solution?"
"He wants me to walk two miles every day without painkillers and drink a gallon of water each day." Audrey rolled her eyes. "Belle had some stomach issues, so he made her stop eating lots of her favorite snacks and forced her to walk down to the bus stop a mile away each day. It worked for her, but it just makes me more tired and hurt. He thinks I'm overreacting because I don't want to do it. He thinks everything can be cured with sunshine and hard work."
"It always struck me as odd - how much work he wanted to do down here," Mal agreed. "Once, he wouldn't let me take down a tent with magic so he could do it without. He was pretty strong."
"He was." Audrey smiled. "He used to lift weights in high school and was on a few different teams. Tourney… Swords and Sheilds…"
"I have no idea what those are," Mal snorted.
"Me neither," Audrey shrugged. "I did cheer, so all I had to do was smile and jump around when a goal was scored. I know nothing else."
Mal laughed again and the sound sunk deep into Audrey's bones. It was so comforting to be still like this. To laugh with someone her age.
"I didn't expect you to be like this," Mal pondered aloud. "I admit, I've been wondering what happened to Ben when he went back and I figured he was just… shut in a room somewhere."
Audrey's smile faded and she flinched. "Yeah, I screwed up," she mumbled. "I need to make it up to him somehow, but…" She curled her fingers across her stomach. "How long ago did Ben leave?"
Mal's smile faded somewhat as the question left Audrey's lips. It appeared that the subject of Ben leaving the camp was an area of sadness for her. She swallowed. "Nineteen months ago, almost twenty," she shrugged.
"Ah," Audrey nodded. "Sorry, my mind has been foggy for a long time. That must have been… gosh, he had this trip that he was gone on and I remember when he got back he ripped out everything in my - his bedroom and repainted. Threw all the old furniture out and had Belle help him pick new stuff. And they did the same to her room and the living room and everywhere in the palace except for my room."
"He said he was going to go back and change things," Mal recalled. "He said he didn't like all the pink."
Audrey shook her head. "Everything is blue and brown now," she explained. "And he sleeps with the windows open. I think I get it now - he must miss being out here."
"Maybe," Mal agreed. Audrey eyed her with a narrow look.
"You're a lot easier to talk to than I thought you'd be," she said.
"Because I'm Maleficent's daughter?"
"That and you're a girl my age," Audrey twiddled her thumbs. "I haven't talked to other girls since I started dating Ben."
Mal shook her head. "More good women have been lost to marriage than to war," she mourned. "I don't understand it."
Audrey looked at the ground. That was interesting, she thought. Lost to marriage… lost in marriage. She was lost in her marriage, wasn't she? It was like she was fumbling around in the darkness, looking for what to do next… It didn't help that there wasn't any love between her and Ben still. More than ten years of marriage and nothing. He was as lost in this as she was. How were they going to get out of this trap?
It occurred to Audrey that the world felt very sluggish and dim. She'd fallen into another slump. Another dizzying, time-defying slump where she didn't know how long she'd be in it. She couldn't even close her eyes to wait for it to be done.
Audrey watched years fall off her life.
When she came to, Belle was crying at her legs and it was dark. She was still sitting on the bench, but she was alone and Mal was gone. Frost was creeping up her legs. A chilly fall breeze blew her hair over her head.
"Belle?" Audrey mumbled, then reached down to feel her daughter's icy skin. Belle jumped with a start and then began to cry even harder as she wrapped her arms around Audrey's legs.
"Mommy! Mommy!" She hiccuped and hid her face away. "I want to go home! I want to go home!"
Audrey tried to pry Belle's arms off of her legs but to no avail. She wasn't strong enough. Belle was in hysterics. How long had she been trying to get Audrey's attention? Where was Ben?
"We can't go home yet," Audrey murmured, running a hand down her daughter's icy cheek. "But we need to find a place to stay. Do you know where Mal went?"
"I'm here," Someone called through the darkness. Audrey turned and saw the purple-haired leader approaching from the direction of the giant building. "It's good to see you're back."
"Sorry," Audrey breathed, finally managing to gather Belle into her arms with a huff. Belle squeezed her ribs and tears swelled in Audrey's eyes. "Mal? Has Ben been seen anywhere yet? He went looking for you earlier, did you see him?"
Mal twisted her hands. "I saw him," she nodded. "But he walked away and I didn't see where he went."
Audrey sighed and squeezed Belle tightly. "I… hate to intrude, but I need a place I can put her for the night. Do you know one? I… don't want my baby to sleep on the ground."
Mal looked at Belle. Her hands crept to her pockets. When she swallowed, she looked like she was in some sort of pain. Did she want children? Or maybe, on the Isle, something had happened to give her some compassion. Either way, Mal cleared her throat. "It's, uh, late," she said. "Everyone turned in around when the sun went down. We don't like wasting candles and haven't gotten lights here yet. And most of these places are small… I don't know where we could put you."
Audrey's throat swelled up. "She squeezed Belle tighter. "Is there any place I could-"
"There's mine," Mal offered. She turned and nodded in the direction she'd come from. "I was kinda made to be the place where we could have a traveler or two stay, but… you might not want to stay with me."
"Actually, I would love that," Audrey sighed and closed her eyes in relief. "It doesn't matter if you have a bed or not. Just so long as I can lay her down for the night-"
"There are beds," Mal assured her. "And rooms. You can stay as long as you need. Her and you and-" Mal's voice cracked. "-Ben."
A few tears ran unbidden down Audrey's cheeks. She wiped them away. "Thank you," she hiccuped.
"Hang on," Mal held up her hands, biting her lower lip. "I… you're not the only ones there. I have a son - he's still a bit young and wakes up in the night. That may bother you."
"No, not at all," Audrey shook her head. "I remember what that was like. And we recently discovered that Belle loves babies anyways. If you need help, she'd probably love to help you with him." Audrey kissed Belle's hair. "But maybe when she's more awake."
Mal chuckled and watched again as Audrey cradled her little girl. She swallowed as if to get a lump out of her throat. "Well, you're welcome to stay. I mean… I can't imagine trying to lay my son out here. I was coming back to see if I could pull her away from you when I heard you were up. I had to leave to go and nurse and everything."
"I get it," Audrey smiled. "I was there once, too." She reached out to take Mal's hand and squeeze it. "Thank you for thinking of her."
"Of course." Mal gave her a tight little smile. Audrey assumed she was still worried about her son disrupting them. "Why don't we go lay her down, and then come back and see if Ben will show. If he doesn't, then it won't be the first time he's slept out on the ground outside."
Audrey laughed and began to follow Mal's lead back through the little village. It amazed her how different the three parts were. And the house plots seemed to be circular with curving paths and diamond-shaped intersections. Beautiful.
Mal lived in the towering building that Audrey had seen before coming into the barrier. Ben had called it 'the lookout'. The name suited the building.
"This house is so tall," Audrey marveled.
Mal shrugged. "I like to be high up," she replied.
She guided Audrey up a floor to the first room and opened a door to reveal a bed for travelers with a simple desk and a chest at the foot of the bed. Think hides covered a mattress of some sort. Audrey pulled back a few covers and Belle began to unlatch her frozen fingers from around her mom's neck. Her poor little digits were discolored with cold. Audrey kissed each one of them with Mal standing in the doorway watching and then helped Belle remove her shoes and lay down onto the pillow.
"Is dad gonna come read with me?" Belle asked. Her voice cracked a little - she'd been crying out in the cold and it was catching up with her.
"Not tonight, darling. We're going to go try and find him," Audrey whispered. "You can yell at him for not being here in the morning."
"I'll take you up on that," Mal whispered as a joke from the doorway. Audrey chuckled, but Belle was already asleep, too tired to understand the joke.
They walked back down to the pavilion. Audrey glanced up at the tall house as they left. "How could you possibly climb all those steps to the top?" she wondered. Her legs were screaming after only the one flight.
"I fly," Mal shrugged. "That's how I got to the edge of the barrier today, remember?"
Mal somehow procured two water bottles for both of them and they sat back down at the tables to see if Ben would reappear. "Thank you for helping me," Audrey murmured. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"I get it," Mal shrugged. "I used to sleep on the ground when my mom kicked me out of the house when I was younger. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."
"She kicked you out?" Audrey frowned. "How awful."
"It was only for a few nights at a time," Mal shrugged. "And I was very young. She stopped doing it when I got older."
Audrey shook her head. She couldn't imagine it. "Well, I'm so sorry. Thank you for understanding, though. And again, for helping us."
Mal took a drink of her water and focused her gaze on the wood grains in the table. She traced one with her fingertip. "I wouldn't leave you with nowhere to go," she mumbled.
"You're like Ben," Audrey laughed. "Except you don't run off, apparently."
"Oh, no," Mal shook her head. "I do." She went stiff as if she were trying to figure out something to say. After several seconds of silence, Audrey tried again to make conversation.
"You know, it's nice to talk to someone after all these years," she marveled. "Maybe we could be friends."
At this, Mal flinched away and shut her eyes. "I would like that," she said. "But maybe you should talk to Ben first. I'm not sure if you'll think the same way when he comes back. Furthermore, I'll understand if you both don't feel comfortable being in my house at all. Just know that the three of you… well, my door is always open."
"I don't understand," Audrey said with a frown. "Did you two have a falling-out? You seemed like friends earlier."
Mal swallowed. "It's complicated," she mumbled.
"I get that," Audrey shrugged. "I mean, I bet my problems are different than yours, but I understand when things don't just work."
Mal nodded along to Audrey's words. As she did, there was the sound of someone stumbling. Both girls looked up and Audrey was relieved to see a familiar shape walking towards the pavilion. It was Ben, looking half-drunk and overwhelmed. "Ben!" Audrey called, slowly getting to her feet. Ben looked up and his spirits seemed to drop when he saw both Mal and Audrey sitting beside each other. Still, he wandered over.
Audrey hugged him. He hugged her back, but softly. Audrey could feel that he was staring at Mal. She withdrew and took in his gaze. He looked defeated.
"Where's Belle?" He asked in a dry, sandpapery tone. Mal held out her water to him without comment. He took it, and Audrey sensed a correlation she didn't understand.
"She's asleep," Audrey explained. "Mal offered to let us stay in her home. There are beds there - we can rest and work everything out with Maleficent in the morning. We've been waiting for you to get back so we can tell you - you're welcome to stay there, she says."
Ben took a step back and shook his head. "No," he declined. "Thank you, but… considering the circumstance… I shouldn't be staying under the same roof as you, Mal." Mal nodded glumly.
"Circumstance?" Audrey echoed.
Ben fixed his gaze on the purple-haired fairy. "We need to talk," he muttered."
Mal nodded again. She seemed resigned.
Ben sat down across from Mal and Audrey sat beside him, slightly at an angle from Mal. Mal closed her eyes to brace for the coming conversation. Audrey found Ben's cold hand beneath the table and clenched it against her knee. Ben took three deep breaths. Then, he asked: "Why didn't you come to tell me?'
"Because it would have defeated the idea of you not ever knowing," Mal responded blandly. "I didn't want to… ruin everything."
Audrey looked between the two in confusion. She wanted to ask questions and didn't know where to start. Ben's eyes were filling with stubborn tears. He jabbed his index finger into the wood of the table as he spoke. "He is mine too, Mal. How could you have kept this from me? I could have helped you. I should have helped you. It's a responsibility to…" He tried off, struggling to get the words out of his mouth. Mal opened her eyes and looked through her bangs at Audrey. There was pain in her eyes. She slowly rose to her feet.
"Sit down," Ben commanded.
"Ben, look at Audrey. She's-"
"Sit down."
"No." Mal's eyes alit with glowing green power that looked like the smoke that had filled the palace. Audrey leaned away in shock. "Look at her. She's confused and doesn't know what's going on. You sinned, I sinned, whoop-do-doo. And yeah, I kept it from you. But can you at least not yell at me in a setting where she's going to have all the little pieces click together and hurt her even more? We screwed up. Just… spare her feelings." She shoved her hands into her pockets. "I'm going to walk around and I'll come back when you're ready for me. You need to talk to your wife, Ben."
She turned and walked away. Ben watched her go and didn't call for her back. Then he stood up and sat on the other side of the table, where he dropped his gaze to the wood grains and continued squeezing her hand in a vice-grip above the table. Audrey's skin felt chill. "Sinned?" she prodded.
Ben nodded. "Sinned," he affirmed. "Listen, Audrey, there's something… I need to tell you about this." He took a deep breath. "When I came to the Vk's and I met Mal, she wasn't like anyone I had met before. And she was confused by how kind I was to her despite the… circumstances we met in."
"She kidnapped you," Audrey supplied.
"Yes," Ben agreed. He closed his eyes. "And despite that, we shared something very intense right from the start."
Audrey's blood ran chill. "What?" she demanded, latching onto Ben's hand as if it were suddenly going to be pulled away from her forever. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't talk about you at first," Ben muttered. "But when I realized she was interested in me, I came clean. She backed off, but we were still… close. The night we arrived here-" he gestured around at the place they were sitting in the middle of, "-there was a celebration. I took a drink that was too strong for me without realizing and she did the same. And we slept with each other on the side of the river that night."
A bullet of betrayal whizzed through her. She started to cry. "Ben, I can't believe you!" She shouted. "Are you serious right now?" Her eyes were on fire as her hand shook. Ben squeezed it tighter. She squeezed back. How could this have happened? She couldn't believe it. Ben was supposed to be faithful and perfect… yet now all her worst nightmares were coming to life. She'd spent so long being terrified of being overlooked and tossed aside but now Ben had cheated and all those old fears were true. She wasn't good enough for him. She wasn't good enough for anyone, really. If Ben wouldn't stay faithful for her, would anyone?
Ben didn't say anything as she cried. She supposed he must be upset that his secret had come out. Or that he'd had to come clean.
"What did I do wrong?" Audrey blubbered and then mentally kicked herself for the question. She knew exactly what she'd done wrong. "No, wait, I mean… I just… why wasn't I enough?"
But really, she didn't want that question answered either. Ben bowed his head in shame. "We broke it off almost immediately after," he mumbled. "I chose to go back to Auradon. I wanted to make things work with you. She wanted to stay here and build things up. We agreed it wouldn't happen again and we separated."
That didn't help. It didn't help at all. Audrey wrestled her hand away from Ben and covered her face to continue crying as her eyes grew puffy and her skin sallow. He clasped his hands on the tabletop and waited until she tried holding in her sobs to hear what else he had to say.
"Today, when I was going to find her, I saw her pass a baby off to Uma," he murmured. "That's why I walked off. Because I realized…" He looked skyward. More tears were brimming in his eyes. "She had a son… and that son was mine. And I needed to process that."
"A son," Audrey gasped and wiped her eyes. "You have a son."
"Belle's brother," Ben nodded and agreed. He unclasped his hands to cover his face with them, rubbing on his tired eyes as he tried to keep from looking straight at Audrey. "I don't know his name… Mal and I haven't talked about it, but everyone else here knows she has a son and I'm sure word has gotten around since everyone could tell we had… connected."
"How could you have done this to me?" Audrey sobbed. "I just… why did you leave me? Why didn't you leave her sooner? Ben, I trusted you."
"No, you didn't," he said softly. "But you should have, and I should have acted differently regardless of how much you trusted me. I thought I would be strong enough to resist and I felt responsible for these people. That's why I didn't leave."
"And?" Audrey sniffled.
Ben swallowed. "And I didn't want to go back," he muttered. "I… life was awful, Audrey. I liked being out here because I was useful. I had a purpose. I didn't want to go home and be… shut up all the time." He drummed his fingers on the table. "I'm sorry. I tried to fix things though. I knew I messed up and I was hoping I could come back and make things better with you and move on. I didn't expect that she would-" he waved a hand off in the distance.
"What are we going to do?" Audrey hiccuped. Ben didn't say anything. That could mean one of two things. Either he didn't know or he had already thought it out and knew she wouldn't like the answer. Audrey looked up. "Ben?" she asked.
Ben turned his head. "Auradon's bill of inheritance, clause three," he mumbled.
Audrey's head spun. "What?" she asked.
Ben shook his head. "Clause three of the bill of inheritance states that male children have priority over female children. Eons old. We never changed it. Most people only have one child. And back after Belle was born, we ratified a bill that Corona and Arendelle proposed that said heir children can ascend the throne regardless of matrimonial bonds. That means both statements are being upheld by Auradon law."
Audrey felt her mouth fall open a little bit more. In her sleep-deprived and overwhelmed brain, none of those words were making any sense. Ben swallowed and rephrased them. "That means Belle isn't the primary heir to the throne anymore," he explained. "If Mal and I's son chooses to relinquish his right after age fourteen, she'll be the primary heir again. She'll be twenty-one at the minimum. But if he decides to keep his right to the throne, she'll never have the option of becoming queen. Even if I changed the law, because it was the law when he was born, his place in line wouldn't be moved."
"You've ruined her life."
Audrey annunciated every word as she spoke them. And she was sure of her conviction, too. If Ben had cheated, then fine. If there was another child, she'd somehow find a way to live with them, she was sure. But now Belle had been unfairly tossed aside as if her life didn't even matter and her spot was being filled with an accident child and the grandson of Maleficent and…
How could Ben have been so careless? How could life have been so cruel?
Ben looked down at his hands and rolled his ring - which was normal now, not the blue she'd picked out years ago - around his finger. "He'll need to be trained," he muttered. "Probably when he's a bit older. It's the same stuff I've been doing with Belle for the last few months. And he'll probably live in the palace while that happens but I don't know if he'd spend the rest of his time out here. Last I checked, Mal wanted to stay here and protect everyone. He'll need to be with his mother just like Belle needs to be with you."
"And you?" Audrey asked. "What about you? What about us?"
Ben made a motion with his hand as if he were going to reach for her but then thought better of it. "I made my decision to stay, Audrey. Yes, I made a mistake, but I wanted to correct that and stay faithful to you. And I'm sorry to have dragged Mal into a mess with me and you, but I can't abandon her now. I'm going to have to find a way to balance raising my son with her and our daughter with you. The baby… he didn't do anything wrong. I know how painful this must be for you and I don't expect you to like him much, but he still deserves to know me and Mal deserves my help. But I won't leave you, either. We made commitments, remember?"
"And a fat lot of good those did," Audrey hiccuped. She felt like throwing up. "I knew this would happen. I always knew. I knew I wouldn't be enough and that-"
"Audrey, please stop," Ben murmured. "You would have been enough if you had ever loved me. And even then, I stayed with you all these years. Even when you chased away everyone I know and took away almost all the things I loved. Even when I had to fight you for the right to see my mom. I made the mistake and I'll take that responsibility, but you shouldn't act like you were doing everything perfectly in our relationship." He drew a finger down the center of the table. "If you don't want to see me, I'll understand. And I hope you'll understand why I think I shouldn't stay in Mal's home. At least not now, while we're figuring all this out. But I think you should - you should get some rest and be somewhere warm."
"What does it matter?" Audrey wiped more tears away. "It's done. You cheated on me. Who's to say it won't happen again?"
"That's why I'm not staying in Mal's house," Ben agreed.
"You'd go back to her?" Audrey demanded. "Is that what you're saying?"
"No," Ben denied, though Audrey could hear the strain and the pondering in his tone. "I told you. I'm staying with you. I promised I would."
Audrey squeezed her eyes shut and then used the table as leverage to get to her feet. Ben got to his feet, but she waved him off. "Don't!" She snapped. "I don't want your help Ben - I don't want anything to do with you right now!" She was going to leave him out in the cold and go back to Mal's house to curl up with Belle and cry until her soul hurt less than her body. And as much as it would suck to struggle back to the building alone and climb those bloody stairs without help, it would suck a lot more to have him help her.
"Audrey, I really am sorry-"
"I don't want your apology!" She screamed. "Gods, Ben, I'm hurt! I don't understand and I'm hurt! Leave me alone - I don't want to see you!" She raised her hand to smack him but all the strength left her arm with the sudden movement. Instead, she turned and focused on breathing with her broken ribs as she walked away as fast as she could. He could have followed her, but he didn't. Part of Audrey was glad - she didn't want to see him and probably wouldn't want to see him for a long time. The other part wondered… if she had purple hair, would he follow her?