Now that Ben was human and fragile again, it felt like she was running out of time. Between the trees and in the barrier, they truly had nothing but time. As much as she wanted to spend all of her waking hours with him, basking in the closeness of post sex, there were too many things to do. It was too difficult to look at him when she knew his time was shorter, much shorter than hers. The whole "God of Death" thing put a damper on a lot of things too.
There was too much to do, and no time to relax. Now whenever she saw Ben as a human, she only noticed how frail he was, how easily damaged he could be. So she spent as much of her time as she could trying to come up with a solution.
Multiple solutions.
Ben would be fine on his own. Especially with everyone so happy and joyous he had returned. It made her sick. She avoided it as much as she could. She couldn't let them think of her or call her a hero.
The idea of it all made her sick.
Instead of spending time with him, with all of his adoring fans, she kept to herself. She researched in and out of the barrier. She spent time with Edie and Doug (when they weren't busy doing other things, like each other) and learned all they knew about the barrier and the surrounding provinces and outposts. She practiced magic both on her own and with Meredith and looked for any way to overcome her mother and her dark plans. She started to come up with a plan, but wasn't quite sure how to execute it yet.
As much as she avoided Ben during the day, she always made sure to come back to the barrier and sleep next to him. It was a small gift, a small interaction with him when she could and it helped her avoid everyone else. Most of the time, when she returned, he was already asleep, and it was easy then to avoid too many questions. It was easier that way. But she knew he would want to see her while they were both awake eventually.
When she got back that night, she expected him to be asleep, even though she had shown up a bit earlier. She didn't expect him to not be there at all. She sat down on the makeshift bed and sighed. Where could Ben be?
Her hand moved against a piece of paper on the bed behind her. A stolen piece from a book of some kind, Ben's swirly scroll across some of the blank parts with a small drawing to go with it. It reminded her of the notes they had sent when things were better, when they were just starting out. She supposed it was the only way he could get in contact with her if she never showed up back to the barrier. She expected something like a confrontation, but instead it was another love note.
Meet me where we're safe. -B
Beneath that were coordinates, somewhere in the forest where they could be safe, and away from everyone else she was sure. Most likely the lake where he had told her he had been safe as the beast. She wondered when he had left it, and how long he had been waiting there, if that's where he was. She could spend hours and hours pondering it, but she knew eventually she would have to go. Ben was the type that would stay there until she showed up, no matter how long it could take.
Mal didn't take too long to prepare. She grabbed her cloak, the one she could hide between the trees with, and not much else. She would be the scariest thing in the forest, especially now that the beast was dealt with. It wouldn't take long to get there.
Still, she felt as though she should take her time.
For several moments, she hesitated, waiting outside the line of trees that she supposed made that barrier too. She couldn't see in, or through it, but she knew what was there. She knew there was the small lake and the beach where she and Ben had—
It seemed like so long ago, but it really hadn't been that long at all. She took a deep breath and took a step through, expecting Ben to be there.
Only he wasn't.
A picnic was there, or had been there before it had been trashed. The picnic basket was overturned, birds and other creatures had picked it apart and eaten what they could. The blanket was wrapped up in tree branches higher up in the trees, flapping in the wind. The bottle of sparkling wine had been smashed, the glass shining like diamonds on the beach of the lake.
What had happened there?
She picked up the shards of shattered glass, hoping to clean up the disaster of whatever had happened. As she picked it up, swirls of magic came to her, blurring her vision and making her shake. She tried to hold onto the shard of glass, but it cut through her hand and she dropped it.
Before her, the entire scene changed. She could see Ben there, setting things up, the same usual dorky smile on his face, he was proud of it, even though the strawberries were quite on the edge of freshness and the bottle of sparkling wine was older than the two of them put together.
Something rustled in the bushes, and Ben looked back nonchalantly. Nothing seemed to scare him, even though he was human again. Nothing appeared so he returned to his preparations. He set out the blanket and the bottle and the strawberries. He pulled the pendant out of his pocket and looked at it with a small smile before he put it in the picnic basket, where he knew she would find it. Then, the scene disappeared.
She moved toward the next shard of glass and picked it up. It had to have been something magical in the bushes if she was able to see what had happened. Someone wanted her to see what had happened. Someone was using the whole thing as bait and she had an idea of exactly who it could be.
Her mother had never usually been that subtle before.
Out of the bushes, Anthony Tremaine appeared, holding the same electrified device he had used on the beast before.
"Well, well, well," Tremaine said, the same sickening smile across his cheeks as per usual when he was having fun. "What have we here? Not so terrifying when you're not the beasty, are you?"
If there was anything Anthony Tremaine knew how to do, it was weild a weapon. The prong snapped to life in his hand, the arch of electricity sparking through it. Tremaine reveled in it, watching the stoic fear across Ben's face, the subtle change when he knew he'd been caught.
When he knew he was simply a man and nothing more. Still, Ben tried to play the hero.
"It's nice to properly meet you," he said, always taking the high ground, even when it was detrimental to him. "Mal has told me—"
Tremaine cracked the electrical device again. "You don't get to talk about her!" He said, his teeth barred, more wild animal than man then.
To his credit, Ben didn't show any fear. Mal watched as Anthony Tremaine took a few steps forward, the wicked smile back on his face, the electric whip still sizzling. Anyone else would have backed up or tried to run, but Ben stayed where he was. He was perfectly calm and collected as always.
Anthony Tremaine kept walking until they were toe to toe.
"What should we talk about then?" Ben asked, as if they were simply getting to know each other, simply friends. As if his life wasn't being threatened in the least. As if he wasn't the previous and future king.
Tremaine grabbed his arm hard. "You're coming with me," he snarled. "And no talking!" He snapped the electric prod and Ben blocked it with his free hand.
"We don't have to talk," Ben said, still holding onto the prod. "And I will gladly go with you," he continued. "But I have one request: Don't scar my face."
Tremaine just laughed and so did Mal. Ben was in no place to make requests. He was in absolute danger, but he never showed any fear.
Tremaine pulled him away. Mal found herself alone in the forest.
So her mother had Ben.
He could feel his eye swelling shut as he sat in his own dungeons chained. All around him the magic blocking barrier sizzled, but he held no fear for it any further. There were no more spells over him to break.
Somewhere in the darkness, Anthony Tremaine was cracking the electric prod in impatience. If Ben had to guess, he was waiting for Maleficent herself to arrive.
Somewhere between his encounter with the young man in the forest and arriving back at the castle, something had changed in him. A kind of nervousness had set into Anthony Tremaine, who he had only heard Mal talk about a few times in passing. Ben wanted to know why.
The last time he had tried to talk to the darker young man, he had gifted him the black eye with one well placed punch. Ben knew he had to simply ask the right questions and he would get the right answers. It wasn't quite a skill learned during his years of diplomatic oration, but it was an unspoken skill he had learned from the countless councils he had been invited to, the countless meetings and balls and discussions behind closed doors.
Skills he hadn't used in what felt like a small lifetime as the beast. Skills he slowly realized the villains and their children had never learned not practiced.
Suddenly, that changed how he planned to face the other man.
"When will the Mistress of Darkness be arriving?" Ben asked, hoping to distract him, and not expecting a real answer. The last time he and Mal had been there, she had broken him out with lockpicking. He didn't have the fortune of her presence so he would have to find another way. "That is who we're waiting for, isn't it?"
Tremaine still looked as nervous as ever, like he was the one trapped instead. Ben realized he was frightened of her and what she could do to him, more than Ben himself was. "Oh yes," Tremaine said, donning a wicked smile in the darkness, but his hands still shook. "I can't wait to see what she has in store for you!"
There, Ben found his in. "You mean you don't know?" He asked next. "The Mistress of All Evil doesn't share her plans with you, her second in command?" He hadn't seen many people around that were there willingly. Most of the royals were still deep under fairy magic. Except Tremaine. He was there of his own free will.
Tremaine acted just as Ben expected him to act. His face curled in frustration and anger. "Of course I know the plan!" He shouted, like an insolent child.
Next, Ben hoped he would tell him the plan. If he had planned it right, Tremaine would reveal all he knew. It was the best that Ben could hope for. He wasn't sure what good it would do him, since he was trapped, but it would be nice to know.
"The Queen of Darkness wants you so she can lure her daughter here," he said with a wicked smile, quite pleased with himself. "She's going to kill you and let me have her." He seemed quite proud of himself.
Ben was quite proud of himself too. It wasn't too difficult to get him to reveal the plan at all. He didn't like the plan in the least, but at least he knew what it was. At least he wasn't walking into it blindly.
"When is she getting here?" Ben asked next. There were so many questions, but he had to choose the right one. He had to distract Anthony Tremaine long enough to figure out a way out of the dungeons. He had to find a way back to Mal.
"Sooner than you think," Tremaine answered with a sick smile. The two of them turned toward the sliver of light from the top of the stairs.
Maleficent had arrived.