Hope you like this chapter
*At the Tourney Field*
The days were passing by and the new VK's were getting settled pretty well at Auradon Academy, there were no further incidents with Prince Edwin and Prince Franz for Dizzy even though her classmates weren't exactly friendly with her except for Allegra and Klaus.
Evie just told Dizzy and Hermie to wait a little bit and then the other kids would be friendly, Doug wasn't so sure but didn't say anything.
Meanwhile the older kids were having almost no trouble with their classmates, with almost that meant that Audrey and her friends were throwing comments about their clothes and that Chad and his friends were avoiding including them in their sports tryouts.
But since the captain of the Tourney team was Jay and the captain of the R.O.A.R team was Lonnie, Hal and Hadie decided to try out for the Tourney team.
Two weeks had passed since they arrived, no actual qproblems so far and that had made Mal feel slightly relieved and slightly worried at the same time.
The fae didn't exactly know the kids that were invited to Auradon.
Despite being the most respected teen on the Isle of the Lost, she was mostly isolated from the others and her only friend was Jay when she was growing up. Evie and Carlos came later, just after she had tried to make her now best friend sleep for eternity. Jay kind of knew some of them, mostly the guys, since he was the one to go partying, and well Evie had formed a bond with Dizzy before they left. Carlos had grown up with the Baduns and been terrorized by Harriet and her crew while growing up.
She had talked with Ben about that and he suggested that she should make friends with them, it would be good for the future queen of Auradon to know her subjects, especially those who had come from the Isle.
And so Mal was now spending her Saturday sitting on the bleachers of the Tourney field watching the said tryouts for the team with people she didn't exactly know well, VKs and Auradonians.
She tried to breath but she was getting somewhat anxious when people started to look at her and muttered things, the fae was sitting alone while the others were in small groups.
Auradonians had accepted her but that didn't mean that most of them actually liked her and so they didn't invite her to sit with them.
(Still she had heard from Jane who had heard from Lonnie who had in turn heard from Princess Anxelin that they preferred her to be queen instead of Audrey)
She was watching and quietly cheering for Jay who was being praised by the coach, then she noticed that Chad Charming was making a face that showed both rage and sadness. A small part of her felt bad for the prince as Ben had mentioned that the blond had been eager to become captain after he left the team but the coach decided to give the title to Jay and the other teammates had voted and the half-genie had won, though it hadn't been for much 5 for Jay and 4 for Chad, the team had seven main players and 5 on bench.
That meant that two hadn't voted.
Mal wondered who didn't vote and decided that one was probably Aziz, who was friends with both boys.
"Lady Mal" She heard a voice and then felt someone sit by her side.
It was Anthony.
She felt the urge to roll her eyes, the way he was addressing her by her title was getting on her nerves and specially his tone.
"Lord Tremaine" Mal said in the same condescending tone he was using with her.
The dark haired boy rolled his eyes and said "If I had known that people would start addressing me by my title when I arrived in Auradon, I would have tried to get here sooner"
"As if someone would call you that way" She said and then added "Why are you here?"
"Making the future queen seem less isolated" He said in a very bored tone "You welcome to pretend that I'm not here"
Both teens shut up and Mal didn't find it uncomfortable, she kept her eyes on the field and watched at the boys who were trying to get on the team and three boys caught her attention.
"Hal has a real chance of getting on the team" The green eyed girl commented without looking at her "companion".
"It seems so" Anthony said uninterested while he saw his roommate and then added "Hadie won't get on the team"
"Why you say so?"
"He isn't much of a physical activity kind of guy" He shrugged dissmisively "Blue-Hair would be better off on a club"
"Which kind of club?"
"I don't know; it's not like I know much else about him, just that he never could pass Gaston class and had to go to summer school for P.E."
There was another silence, then Mal asked "Why aren't you trying out for Tourney? Is this sport too beneath your station?"
She could have sworn that there was a small smirk forming on his lips, then he said "Exactly"
Then he added trying to sound bored "I'm here to show some support to...my roommate "He was about to say friend but Hal and him weren't there yet "...and see the cheerleader tryouts, Freddie told me Harriet is going to tryout,that's going to be funny"
"What?!" Mal was surprised, if she had been drinking something she would have spat it out. She tried to remember what she knew about the pirate captain, which wasn't much, just that the dark haired girl was always taking care of her crew, that she had used a dress to her, actually Carlos', party which had not been as ugly as Ginny had thought and that she had a like for wrestling, both croc and normal.
Harriet trying out didn't make sense...
"She lost a bet with Freddie and Yzla" He explained amusedly "Something about convincing Claudine to speak to that guy...Zephyr, I think"
Oh, now it made sense.
"Why hasn't Claudine spoken to Zephyr?" Mal asked curiously, over the week she had been watching them and both blondes were looking at each other but neither walked over to break the ice with the other.
Anthony rolled his eyes and then looked at her as if she was stupid.
Then she realized that Claudine's father was Judge Frollo, if she didn't remember wrong he had been so prudish that he even prohibited her to go to Evie's birthday party when they were kids.
A small part remembered that while Frollo's daughter had been prohibited to go, Mal hadn't been invited.
She tried to shook that thought away, even if she was now friends with Evie, it still hurt a little and the fact that her mother had banished Evil Queen and her daughter for about ten years because she snitched on them made her feel worse. Trying to distract herself from her thoughts she asked "Do you think that Harriet will make to the team?"
"Everything is possible with Harriet" Anthony said sighing and craned his head a little to see the cheerleading squad and saw that the pirate had arrived with Fairy Godmother's daughter and Freddie.
If she had not known better Mal would have thought that he was speaking with a fondness that reminded her of Ben when he talked about her.
But, there was no place for love on the Isle and there was no way that it was the same.
The fae also noticed that Harriet had greeted Chad by making a comment avout something related to the color yellow, she didn't hear well, and that the blond had made a face before turning his back.
She was about to comment about the cheerleader team, Audrey was still captain, but they were interrupted by Claudine who just sat by Mal's side and said very quickly "I'm just here for support, even if my father says that sports lead to sin"
"Is there anything your father doesn't consider to be the start of going to hell?" Anthony asked with a half mocking tone.
The blonde seemed to think for a moment and said "Praying"
Mal just thought "Figures" but refrained from making a comment.
Then Yzla, Ally and Jordan arrived and Mal heard less snide comments from the princesses and others. They finally were finally silenced when Lonnie and Freddie arrived.
She felt less anxious but having them around made her feel somewhat on edge and Mal couldn't really focus on the tryouts so she just clapped when the others did.
"Hal made into the team" Claudine said in awe and clapped as the redheaded boy hi-fived Jay and patted Hadie's back.
"Does it really surprise you?" Anthony snickered while he was clapping, he was glad for the Westergaard but grimaced at the thought of having a jock for a roomate and thought about changing roomates with Henry.
"Weren't his brothers on Gaston's wrestling team?" Freddie asked playing with some cards she had on her poxket "I'm sure he has a lot of experience running..."
"He was" Anthony confirmed with a nod "Gaston the Third said that Hal was Harald's favorite punching bag"
"I wonder who they are using as a punching back now that he is here" Mal muttered, she had heard how bad the Gastons were and if Hal's brothers were in Gaston's wrestling team...well, good for Hal to be in Auradon. She remembered that the redhead was mostly ignored by his family than really bullied by his brothers.
Still, she could be wrong.
After that most of the boys who either got into the Tourney team or tried out left the field to sit on the bleachers, Chad was sat with his prince friends, sans Aziz who was with Jay, and seemed to be on low spirits.
Mal noticed that after a few moments one of Former King Adam's assistants approached the prince and Chad just nodded before leaving with him.
The fae wondered what is was about and almost followed them but decided that she could ask later.
The purple haired girl then heard Audrey calling the girls who were going to try out for the cheerleading squad, most of them were other princesses who either had friends on the team or sisters.
"Alright, girls" Audrey started to say in her "princess of the year" voice "We are going to do some simple routines since there is some knew people here" The brunette said looking up and down Harriet and some other girl with white hair.
Harriet scowled and huffed, the other girl simply shrugged and said "Let's get this done, Audrey"
"If you get into the team you will have to get along with me, Tina" The princess said checkily.
"Who is that?" Yzla asked.
"Princess Valentina Kiradakash Nedakh of Atlantis" Jordan told her and the added with a grimace"She and Audrey don't get along but since her older sister Adeline graduated and cheerleading spots are almost inherited..."
"Is everything in Auradon inherited?" Freddie asked snickering.
No one answered, then they stood watching the cheerleading try outs, it was clear that Audrey had no intentions of letting new people into her team.
*At the library*
Sometimes Jane had to answer the question that everyone made: Why was she still friend with Chad?
And the fae usually gave the simply answer: "Cinderella and her mother were friends and so we grew up together and so on"
But the answer was a little more complicated than that, when she was younger she had actually liked Chad (and his older brother Elliot*) even though most of their playdates ended with one of them crying.
She softly smiled at the memory of both of them trying to swim at one Charming Castle's fountain and then being told off by Prudence* (who still worked at the castle even after all those years).
Now she was about to tutor Chad despite her not doing so well in school, she of course kept her grades over C but she wasn't one of the best students at Auradon Prep. Still her mother had said that no one else wanted to tutor the prince.
She had protested but her mother had just decided that she was going to be the one and even though she had tried to convince Carlos to be the one to tutor the blond prince instead but her boyfriend refused, instead offering to wait with her.
Chad was supposed to be there at 4 after the Tourney tryouts, which ended at 3, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"I guess he isn't coming" Carlos said while playing with a pencil.
"He is supposed to come" Jane said and looked at the door "If not his parents are going to ground him"
Carlos raised an eyebrow and asked "Does anyone really ground him?"
The fairy nodded and said "Yes, he already had detention this week for bullying Prince Edwin and Prince Franz"
"Oh, I heard about that" The De Vil said and then added "Something about Dizzy's first day, right?He shouldn't have threatened those guys"
"He was defending Dizzy" The brunette couldn't help but defend her friend (?) and then said "When Chad tries to be a decent person, he sometimes ends up being a jerk...sorta"
The white haired boy frowned and said "I have to admit that Chad isn't a bad person...overall, but he is always a jerk even if he doesn't mean it"
"Come on, he actually likes you"
"Seriously?" Carlos asked in surprise.
"He had never said something mean to you" Jane said with a giggle and then added "Though he was using your 3D printer without permission..."
"His printer is better than mine" Chad said interrupting them and sat in front of them while putting (dropping) his notebook and pencil case on the desk "And I do like you, De-...Carlos"
"Umm, thanks?" The boy said trying to assimilate the fact that Cinderella's son actually liked him. Carlos had just assumed that he hated him just like he hated Mal and Jay, and disliked Evie.
"Whatever" Chad muttered and opened his notebook "So, what are we doing today?"
Jane blinked and then remembered that he was late and so she asked "Why are you late?"
"I had a rather heated talk with Ben's parents" The prince said playing with his pen as if it was a drumstick "They don't seem to respect the fact that he is now the king"
The faery understood, even though Ben had been doing a fairly decent work at being king, sometimes Adam forgot that he was no longer king and couldn't give orders anymore. So Jane asked curiously "What was it about?"
Chad shrugged and said "Something about bringing too many kids from the Isle...and how much Ben is actually spending on them"
"Mother said that king Adam wasn't too enthusiastic about bringing fifteen...-" Jane started to say.
"The one who complained was Aunt Belle" Chad said with some discomfort, he wasn't sure if he should speak about this topic in the library
"But Belle always treats us well" Carlos protested, the former queen had always been kind to them and Mal had been treated as a daugther, especially after the Cotillion.
The prince shook his head and said "Having 20 kids in Auradon Prep is expensive, not only the school fee but the housing" He made a pause and added "Even I know that, but did you?"
Carlos tilted his head trying to come up with a response, he knew that Auradon was probably paying for his studies as Cruella wouldn't spend a cent on him if he wasn't at home tending to her and living and studying at Auradon Prep didn't seem something that would come for free. Then he shook his head "I hadn't really thought about that"
"Ben was paying for you four" Jane explained putting a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder "It was one of King Adam's conditions to have you come here"
"Your expenses are on his expenses" Chad said with a little edge "Ben has always been generous"
"And the others?" Carlos asked.
"That's why Adam wanted to talk" The prince muttered "Frederiqua was added to Ben's expenses when she arrived but the others-"
"Wasn't Elliot working on a trust fund or something for them?" Jane asked interrupting him and realized that it was something that Chad didn't want to talk about but he nodded while saying "Yes, Elliot is working with my mother, Queen Rapunzel and Sultan Aladdin to organize that"
"And King Adam asked to speak with you?" The fae asked frowning.
"He wanted to know more about it but I told him that I didn't care nor understand about it, that the other kids' expenses are on a scholarship or something at the moment and if he had any questions he could call mother" Chad shrugged and then flashed one of his dumb smiles while adding "So...what are we doing today?"
Jane frowned but said dryly "Chemestry since that's your worst subject at the moment"
"Cool" He said "Can you explain me why there are so many letters on the formulas?"
Carlos just ignored them during the tutoring, which were going as well as he expected, while he thought about why would Adam want to speak with Chad instead directly speaking to his older brother about the matter.
It didn't make sense but the white haired boy wouldn't push for answers.
The King's Quarters at Auradon Prep *
Ben had wanted to go see the Tourney tryouts, just for nostalgia sake and to finally say goodbye to his last hobby, but he couldn't as he was in the middle of a negotiation of the terms of a new peace treaty between Tangletown and Auroria, with Prince Eugene (Flynn Ryder) and Queen Leah present, as both regions had been having some trouble with some bandits on the zone.
That hadn't happened in years and neither could agree on how to deal with the problem, Queen Leah wanted them to be dealed with and Prince Eugene wanted to get them a trial.
The young king was leaning more on the second option; he didn't want to allow dealing with on his reign.
They were reaching an agreement, if the caught the bandits they would be having a trial but Queen Leah was going to serve her justice if they were caught on Auroria, when one of his assistants entered his office and whispered something on Prince Eugene's ear and the man excused himself from the reunion.
The brown haired boy was about to dismiss the queen of Auroria when she made a gesture that invited him to stay sit.
It had been a while since someone gave him orders and he felt strange.
"I have been meaning to speak to you, your grace" Queen Leah said with a fake sweet tone.
"About why, your grace?" He asked sincerely, he couldn't fathom why the woman would not wait for another time.
"As you sure know, when tou were born seventeen years ago, your parents and my late husband made a marriage arrangement for you and my dear Audrey" Queen Leah said "She had another prospects but they choose you as you were the only prince in the realm-"
"But there were-" He couldn't help but interrupt, he knew where this was going.
"The other ones weren't real princes" She said sharply and then returned to her sweet tone "And you two were perfect for each other while growing up and then you started dating by your own accord"
Ben wanted to say that knowing that he was kind of engaged to Audrey from birth and then dating her was not exactly by their own accord. Especially since he had always dreamt of Mal while growing up but had kind of given up meeting her by the time he and Audrey started dating.
"You broke up with her without any consideration for her feelings"
"Your grace, I didn't-"
"And without any consideration of the contract made by your parents"
Ben head snapped up, he had known about a semi-informal arrangement between Auradon Royal House and the Roses but not about an actual contract. He couldn't help but ask "Contract?"
"Oh, you know something about joining houses and kingdoms" The queen said dissmisively "Keep peace"
"I didn't-"
"Don't worry, your grace" She snapped and put her hands together before smiling "I will not ask you to break up with...Lady Mal" That relieved him a little but then the queen said "I want to renegotiate a deal with you, instead of a marriage, as the representative of House Rose I'm asking for the position of Head of the Royal Household and for a suitable marriage for my granddaugthers"
Ben suddenly remembered that Audrey's younger sister was now without suitable suitors as Audrey was kind officially back to her position of heir of Auroria. He cringed a little as the thought of arranging a marriage for Briony* and Audrey repulsed him, he believed in true love.
Like the one he and Mal shared.
"I-"
"I will let you think about it, your grace" The queen said before standing up and saying "I expect and answer by the time December comes around, it would be...conflictive to try to come up with another kind of satisfaction for the broken contract, I will take my leave"
Ben just stood on his seat while trying to assimilate the small threat the queen of Auroria had made, he didn't hear when she left without his permission.
I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a comment if you did! Thank you for reading, following and favoriting!
Feel free to ask any question you may have or leave a suggestion.
Mal always seemed to me kind of a loner both by choice and by Maleficent's making as she forbidden any kind of fun or things that could lead to romance,so I assume that she knew the other kids but from a distance and not on a personal level.
Chad's conversation with Beast may be featured in a flashback later.
Ben may seem a bit of a pushover but he is actually just surprised and too polite to tell off Queen Leah.
*Aziz is Aladdin and Jasmine's son mentioned on the Isle of the Lost novels
*Prudence appeared as the Royal Housekeeper in Cinderella II and III
*Tina,Elliot and Briony are OCs
*I assumed from D2 that Ben has an office at Auradon Prep since Evie could quickly tell him about Mal leaving so in my story he has his own quarters and so no roommate.