AN: Hey, everyone! I appreciate the follows, favorites, and review I've gotten. :) I'll definitely be replying to your review in a PM soon, pinksakura271! I hope that this chapter lives up to the first one; I hope to have the next one written the day or two after Christmas. So happy holidays, everyone, and enjoy (and review, if you'd like)! 3
Ella would much rather stay at home the next day. She wants nothing more than to stay curled up in her bed, under thick blankets much more suitable for the winter than for the late-summer-barely-fall weather, and maybe watch her favorite show, Tales of Our Lives. She wants her mother to bring her Skolbrod, or maybe have Sven's son, Bjorn, to curl up on the end of the bed with her.
But that doesn't happen. What does happen, however, is that her mother gently wakes her up at 5:30 AM, and reluctantly, Ella gets ready for school – showers, applies makeup, picks out a decent looking outfit, stares at herself in the mirror and sighs deeply. She receives a hug from her mother, a lung-crushing hug from her uncle, and a much gentler hug from her aunt. She gets her hair ruffled from Anders (which makes her scream internally, as she just spent ten minutes brushing it), and she gets a reassuring-but-not-really smile from Kristine.
The car ride to Auradon Prep is awkward, to say the least. Elsa and Kristine try to make small talk, but Anders is quiet (as usual) and Ella is anxious (somewhat usual). Ella can see the looks her mother gives her every so often, when she thinks she isn't looking; the crinkle between her eyebrows, the frown, the worried look in her eyes.
When they finally arrive at AP, there's already a limo near the entrance. Ella's stomach begins to do somersaults, and her legs turn to jelly. She doesn't want to get out of the car, but Kristine and Anders are already out, and Kristine grabs on her arm lightly, and her mother says something, but the ringing in Ella's ears makes it impossible to hear. She can see Ben greeting someone, a group of someone's, actually, and she sees Mal, too, always by his side, always ready to pounce if someone insults him (which no one in Auradon would do, really).
Her mother drives off, now, and she's sure that her mother watched her as she left, and she feels sick, so sick. She wants to go back home, she wants to leave and never come back, but she made her decision, she's not going to be castle schooled, because that would be cowardly, and she isn't a coward, is she?
There's four of them, four new villain kids. A girl in black and red, another with thick black curls, a boy with bronze hair. And the girl in the front, the one who's talking to Ben…well, she makes Ella's heart stop.
"It's going to be okay," Kristine whispers in Ella's ear. Ella stands up straight, takes a deep breath. The ringing in her ears subsides. Anders – where has he gone? He's left. Figures. He must be nervous, too. Of course he is.
"Ella!" Ben says, a smile on his face. He's acting as if there's nothing wrong, as if the daughter of the man who tried to murder her family isn't right in front of them. "I'd like you to meet Ginny Gothel, Anthony Tremaine, Hanna Hearts, and Ingrid Westergaard."
Ginny sneers at her. Anthony waves. Hanna doesn't even acknowledge her existence.
"And they've all promised to play nice, right?" Mal says, giving Ingrid in particular a certain look. If she gave Ella the same look, she'd probably die right there and then; she doesn't know how anyone else can stand it.
"I can't make any promises, Mal." Ingrid says.
She takes a good, long look at Ingrid, now that she's spoken.
If she really wants to be dramatic, she could say that Ingrid Westergaard is her perfect foil in every shape and form. Her red hair, green eyes, and dark red lips contrasts her blonde hair, blue eyes, and pink lips starkly. She wears a patched jean jacket, paired with white jeans and a dark purple shirt – something that Ella didn't really expect, but whatever.
She starts to really regret staying outside when Ingrid saunters right up to her, a devilish smirk on her lips. Her arms are folded across her chest, one hand tapping her arm as if she expects Ella to start speaking at any moment. Her hips are swayed to one side, resting the majority of her weight on that side.
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. You must be none other than Princess Ella. It's a pleasure to meet you, your majesty." Ella feels green eyes scrutinizing her, taking up her image greedily, as if she's hungry for her, like the big bad wolf. "I must say, you're more…alluring…than I imagined you to be. Here I thought you'd be a scrawny little…well, let's just say you've already exceeded my admittedly low expectations."
There's a type of acid in Ella's voice that she's never heard before when she responds. "And you've already failed mine. Here I thought your father would have taught you some sort of manners."
Ingrid grins now, displaying perfectly white teeth (how they all manage to achieve that with the rotten diet they're fed, Ella can't explain). "When you're from the Isle of the Lost, you don't need manners, no matter if you're technically royalty or not."
"Well, you're not on the Isle anymore. You're in the United States of Auradon, and here, manners are everything." She knows she's stalling the tour for the Villain Kids with the banter she's displaying; she knows she must be irritating Ben, at the very least. But right now, Ella doesn't care.
"You can take the kid out of the Isle," Ingrid says, "but you can't take the Isle out of the kid."
"Why don't you go and –"
"How about we start the tour instead?" Ben interrupts, flashing a brilliantly charming smile that makes most ladies swoon. "If you'll all follow me…" He gives Ella a look; one that tells her that he's sorry, one that makes her feel bad for wanting to strangle Ben not twenty-four hours ago. "You don't wanna come, do you, Ella? Or you, Kristine?"
"No," Ella swiftly responds. "Not at all."
Kristine shrugs. "Me neither. Sorry, Ben."
Ben gives another smile, though not quite as big as the one he had on a few moments ago. "That's alright."
"What? Am I too hideous to bear being near?" Ingrid says.
The Tremaine boy – Anthony? – nudges her with his elbow. "When you look in a mirror, your reflection screams."
"When you look in them, they shatter," the redhead fires back.
"When you look in them –"
"Are we just going to throw insults at each other all day, or are we going to get on with the tour?" The girl with thick black curls (Ginny?) groans. She definitely looks like Gothel's daughter – her hair goes to the small of her back, and paired with her smooth, pale skin and large grey eyes, well, there's no denying who her mother is. To further prove it, the dress she's wearing looks identical to her mother's, save for the fact that it reaches her knees, and there are no sleeves.
Anthony tosses a glance Ginny's way. "Throw insults at each other." There's an eye roll from the girl as a response.
"Alright, whatever," Kristine says before the Villain Kids can continue their spat, "Ella and I are going to go now. See you later, Ben. See you, Mal."
Ben nods in their direction. "I'll see you guys later. Ella, talk to me later, okay?"
"Uh, sure," Ella replies, somewhat awkwardly.
Mal smiles (though Ella thinks it's not quite as genuine as Ben's). "'Bye, you two."
"C'mon, Ellie, let's go see Finn and Ruby." Kristine says, not bothering to give any more farewells. She grabs Ella's arm (slightly tighter than she usually would, too), and before she knows it, the blonde is half-dragged to the cafeteria, where she gets lost in the sea of chattering that her friends make.
The beginning of the school day is…interesting, to say the least. The most prominent events (besides the Arrival of the Villain Kids) are most everyone asking how she is, if she's okay, and if they can do anything to help her. Every time Ben sees her in the hallways, he gives her a look, as if he's trying to apologize, or that he wants to make it up to her.
Her classes go by in a daze; she can't even remember half of what her teachers were talking about. Ingrid Westergaard is in three of her classes; AP World History, Painting 1, and Literature and Composition. She sees flashes of red hair all throughout the day, and she makes sure to avoid the girl like the plague. When it's time for lunch, rather than go and eat with her friends, she hides in the vast library.
Not that she really minds hiding in the library. She likes it. She likes to read. She always has. Ever since she was a little girl, a lot of her free time has been spent reading books of all sorts, whether non-fiction or fiction. She'd be reading A History of Auradon and the Surrounding Areas one day, then Just Three Wishes the next. Whereas her mother's passion is in mathematics (particularly geometry), Ella's is in reading and writing.
So it makes sense to hide out in the library. Even if Westergaard decides to go searching for her, the library is so large that she might never find her.
This is why she's examining the autobiographies and biographies as if they're the most interesting things in the known universe. There's another stack of books nearby, ones that must have seemingly been hidden away by kids who found something more interesting and were too lazy to put it all back. Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall: A Tale of Daggers, Dwarves, and Apples, A History of the Lineage of Arendelle, The Complete Encyclopedia of Those Imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost…well, there's a plethora of books, to say the least.
The Lineage of Arendelle book is somewhat amusing to Ella; she gets a kick out of seeing her mother or herself in a book. So, of course, she has to read it.
It also brings back the puzzling question of who her father is; the only mention of him is in one paragraph.
'The queen has never spoken of who she met who enchanted her so; rumors, as they are apt to do, have flown around ever since the announcement of her pregnancy. A man of lower status, a king from a faraway land, perhaps even a king who is already betrothed…no one quite knows. All that is 'official' is the announcement of her being with child, who arrived into the world five months later. Nothing about the princess has given away any hint of who her father is, either; with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, she is the splitting image of her mother…'
This is, essentially, what every book that's ever mentioned her has said: blah blah blah, no one knows who Queen Elsa had a rendezvous with, rumors abound, announcement of pregnancy four months in. Not that her mom has ever told a soul, it seems; whenever Ella asked when she was younger, she'd simply get a vague answer and was reassured that her father is proud of her.
Is. Meaning that he's alive. Somewhere.
Not that it matters anymore. She's obviously never going to get this answer unless it's a tell tale confession on a deathbed or whatever. So, with a sigh, Ella puts the book back on the pile, deciding to see if there are any more interesting books on the shelves.
Turning to the thick volumes beside her, she traces the titles of the books with her index finger. She can hear the tick-tick-tick of the clocks throughout the library, and the quiet page-turning of students who are studying, researching, or reading for leisure. The books are thick, many of them bound in leather, with gold or silver lettering on the side. Some of the books were donated several years ago from Queen Belle's personal library, and as a result, are quite old. There are even some from before Auradon's conception; she's seen a few detailing the history of the countries before they had been united into one major country. They're all their own provinces, still; Arendelle, Agrabah, and Corona, for example, are all still considered royal, with their own monarchies. But all their power is still lesser than Beast and Belle's (and now Ben's).
All of a sudden, Ella's thrown out of her thoughts by a quiet shuffling of footsteps coming up behind her. She turns around, expecting Finn or Merin, perhaps giving her the homework she needs to make up for. But instead of anyone she's comfortable with, it's Ingrid. Ingrid, with a smile that would rival Ben's in its' charm. Ingrid, who's looking rather…happy, a very different stance than what she had this morning; instead of smug or malice, she looks like she's already become an Auradon kid and turned over to the 'good' side.
"I wanted to apologize for our little spat earlier today. It's clear that we got off on the wrong foot, and I want to make amends for that." She's standing up straight now, her shoulders even, her eyes earnest. "How about we have a proper introduction? I'm Ingrid Westergaard." She sticks a gloved hand out, her fingertips still peeking out from dark purple leather.
Ella hesitates for a moment. She knows that this is a trap; there's no way on earth that Ingrid truly wants to make amends. But, on the other hand, if she rejects this, the consequences may be awful. So, reluctantly, she grabs Ingrid's hand, giving it a firm shake. Ingrid's skin is warm to the touch, and when their skin meets, it feels like a zap of electricity, which makes Ella jerk back in shock. "I…" she's at a loss for words at first. Finally, she swallows, then says, "Princess Elisabet Annelin of Arendelle. But call me Ella."
"A gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl." If Ingrid noticed the spark when their skin met, she doesn't show it; she doesn't react to Ella's loss of words, either. "I wanted you to know that I'm truly grateful to have the opportunity to come to Auradon, Princess. And that I'm truly sorry for what my father has done to your family."
She doesn't believe a word of what the redhead is saying. There's no way she can turn a complete one-eighty like this. This is just another facet of her father showing through in the girl. But she can't let Ingrid know that she's onto her; that'd be stupid of her.
"Of course. What your father did wasn't your fault." Ella hopes that her smile looks at least somewhat genuine.
Ella has to admit, Ingrid really does put up a decent enough of a façade; she looks genuinely relieved when the princess accepts her 'apology'. The redheaded girl opens her mouth to say something; before she can say more, however, the ringing of the school bell interrupts.
"Sorry, have to get to Biology," Ella says, quickly walking away before Ingrid can try and keep her there any longer.
There's no more classes that she has to share with the Westergaard girl, luckily enough.
Her locker is in the middle of Finn's and Meredith Dunbroch's, so she's hearing them chatter away as she stuffs her Writing notebook into her turquoise backpack.
"Seriously, though, who cares what Chad Charming is going to be wearing to some stupid party that he's throwing next month? Honestly, after what he did to my sister, I'm surprised anyone gives a s—"
"Where is your sister, anyhow?" Ella interrupts. She doesn't like to hear anyone cussing (and hardly anyone does, luckily…save for her cousin).
"Which one? Anxelin? Probably flirting with Alex Liddel," Finn scoffs. "I'm pretty sure he's been hanging around in Wonderland too much, if you know what I mean. All those caterpillars and their hookahs…"
"Hookahs have tobacco in them, Finn, not something else," Meredith says. "Alex is just…out there, that's all."
"Whatever. Are you gonna hang out at my house or not?" Finn doesn't like being corrected, especially not by Meredith (who Finn likes to jokingly call a know-it-all).
The redhead shrugs. "Dunno. Maybe later. Not right now. I'll have to ask my mams."
Honestly, Ella thinks a lot of the reason two of the three DunBroch triplets hang out with Finn is because she doesn't make that huge a deal about them having two mothers. Apparently, this was a really big deal back in the day; according to Ella's mother, at least. There's an unspoken rule in Auradon that if you're attracted to the same gender, you either suck it up and pretend to like the opposite, or you just never date. Merida DunBroch seems to have defied the majority of expectations and social rules; she made a big fuss about having an arranged marriage when she was sixteen, and she made even bigger waves when she decided she was going to be marrying a lower class girl. A lot of people didn't seem to like that, and it seems that they've passed that distaste onto their children; it's why the DunBroch triplets have never been and will never be considered popular.
Not that Ella cares. It's none of her business, and, well, she'd be a bit of a hypocrite if she didn't like Merida for liking girls. Especially considering that she's always had an inkling she'd walk down that same path.
"Okay, that's cool, just text me to let me know." Finn brings Ella out of her thoughts (something she's finding herself doing quite often lately) by her response. The green-eyed girl turns to Ella, and says, "Are you gonna come over, too?"
"No," Ella says. "I've got…homework to do…"
Finn slams her locker shut as she slings her backpack over one shoulder. "And you're going to be thinking about Ingrid Westergaard all night, too, aren't you?"
"No!" Ella gasps. "No. I'm not. No way. I'm not gonna let her ruin my night."
"Y'know," Meredith jokes awkwardly, "My mam says she was the same way before she met my other mam. Hated each other. Do you gotta crush or somethin'?"
The glare the blonde gives her could give Meredith a frozen heart. "No. No crushes. Don't joke about that. It's not funny."
"I hear she was a real witch to you this morning." Of course Finn knows what happened. She seems to know everything that happens almost as soon as they occur. Then again, Kristine probably told her. "You gonna be alright?"
"I guess. It's not a big deal. Whatever."
Finn cocks one eyebrow. "She's in some of our classes. You're going to have to deal with her sooner or later."
"I know, Finn! Just…just stop talking about her. Ingrid Westergaard is stupid and probably evil, Ben's idea of bringing her to Auradon is stupid, and this entire conversation is stupid. If I hear the name Ingrid Westergaard one more time, I think I'm going to scream."
"Ingrid Westergaard." Finn always likes to annoy people. It's a talent of hers.
But before she really does scream, all Ella does is slam her locker, huff and puff, and storm away. She can hear Meredith chiding Finn somewhat harshly, but honestly, she doesn't care anymore.
She just wants to get away from everything and go to her room.
And definitely not think about the Villain Kids anymore.
Ingrid is much more amused with Auradon than she thought she would be.
It isn't such a bad place. The food is pretty good, the people are pretty good looking, and the classes…well, they could be better, but they aren't awful.
But that's not the most interesting thing about Auradon. No, of course it isn't. It's the girl she's been determined to meet ever since she learned she'd be going to this country and leaving the Isle of the Lost (and more importantly, her father) behind.
She wasn't lying when she said that Princess Ella was a gorgeous girl. She is, really; light blonde hair, ice blue eyes, smooth ivory skin…paired with that blue dress of hers, she's practically delicious. She wonders if Ella has a boyfriend…or even better, a girlfriend.
Hell, she wonders how many boys and girls in Auradon like the same gender, anyhow. She sure didn't see any girls holding hands (or boys, for that matter).
She wonders how Auradon feels about a lot of things, really. Premarital sex. Parties. Drinking. They're all big no-nos, probably. Everyone here is a bunch of goodie two-shoes, always wanting to do the moral and upstanding thing.
She imagines pinning Ella up against the wall, moving her hands so that they grip her hips, feeling the bones there as they kiss, pretty pink lips meeting dark red lips. She imagines the girl stiffening at first, then melting into it, her shoulders relaxing as she gets used to the sensations flowing through her.
She imagines the both of them drunk, feeling lightheaded under strobe lights at a party. She thinks of Ella laughing, of not caring who sees when they kiss, not letting go of Ingrid as they dance.
Shit. She shouldn't be thinking of these sorts of things. She came to Auradon with one goal in mind: make the royals of Arendelle feel the pain that her father did all those years ago. She doesn't care if that means all of them die.
She doesn't care. She doesn't care. She doesn't –
"So." Anthony Tremaine is leaning against the doorframe. "Not a day here, and you've already made an enemy in that blonde princess."
"Maybe not, Tony," Ingrid says.
"What are you going to do about her?" He asks. There's a smirk on his face, as if he already knows what she's planning to do.
She turns away, looking outside through the wide window. There's a bunch of kids in blue and gold, playing some sort of game out on a vast, green field. Farther away, on the stands, there are a gaggle of girls, mostly dressed in pastels. If she squints, she can make out dark purple meeting blue. It must be Mal and Ben.
Traitor.
"The same thing I've always wanted to do, you dolt. Seduce, use, then throw away as soon as she gets boring. Hurt her. Break her heart. Make her feel true pain. She deserves it. They all do." Ingrid's voice is ice cold. She won't tell him – or anyone else – about the jolt of electricity she felt when she touched Ella's hand. Or about the way her stomach churns whenever they lock eyes.
Nope. That won't do. Not at all.
"You're a bit of a sadist, you know that? Did you get that from your dad?" Even if she isn't looking at Anthony, she knows the exact look he has on his face; a goofy grin, with one eyebrow cocked up as he folds his arms across his chest.
"Shut up, Tremaine. Get out of here, before I tell Mal about your little crush on her. I'm sure that King Ben wouldn't like you trying to step in on his territory." She sneers at the word King. He looks more like a puppy than a beast. She doesn't know what Mal sees in him.
He doesn't even respond. He leaves in a heartbeat, shutting the door before she can spew more words at him.
The sunlight falls across her room in stripes. The sky outside is a light blue, gorgeous (like everything else in Auradon). The words of her father's tales of life before the Isle ring in her mind.
"Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. They sabotaged us, Ingrid. They were jealous. They wanted what they could never have; they wanted to be loved, but their hearts were so frozen that nobody would want them. Anna, especially; she pined after me, wanted me to be her prince, but she was so wicked on the inside that I knew I couldn't be with her.
"And Elsa…her powers, controlling ice and snow…She's dangerous. No one else but you and I seems to be able to get that. She'll wind up killing her entire family one of these days, and the two of us will be able to say, 'I told you so'. But until then, until they realize that I was always right…well. Arendelle was more powerful than our country, and when I told my family of the dangers of Arendelle's royal family, they turned against me. Everyone believed the Queen and princess over me, sweet child, and thus they locked me away on the Isle of the Lost."
She's always been told about the Queen of Arendelle and her wretched sister. Hardly a day went by without him asking her to recite what she can recall about Anna and Elsa. He's described them so vividly that the image in her head is crystal clear; a clingy, selfish redheaded princess, whose temper had caused her to punch her father, and an even more selfish blonde queen, with glacier eyes and a desire to harm all those who stood in her way.
And it seems that Queen Elsa's daughter is…well, she isn't entirely sure how to describe Princess Ella quite yet. But it seems that she's entirely too trusting. She fell for her apology, hook, line, and sinker. At the rate she was going, she just needed to play her cards exactly right, and, well…sooner than later, she'll be able to make Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, and even Ella pay for all that they did to her father.
Ingrid smiles to herself.
Oh, living in Auradon will bring glory to the Westergaard name once more when she finishes with her revenge. Westergaards always get the last laugh.
And she is determined to get that last laugh.