The instant the gangplank was secure, Jay sprinted for it, ignoring the soldiers' shouts. No way in hell was he spending another second on that floating torture chamber. Give him Maleficent's dungeon any day. Evil below, he refused to ever board a ship again. Absolutely nothing would ever make him do that again.
When his feet hit the dock, he whooped. Mal's cackle mocked him and he flipped her off. One day he hoped she got to know what fucking seasickness felt like. Let her puke for days while feeling like the entire world was tumbling down a hill.
"Aww," Mal cooed as she and the other two walked down the gangplank. "Is our Jay 'sensitive'?"
"Fuck off," he replied. He wished he'd been sensitive all over her clothes. Of course, then Evie would've killed him. On the other hand, death might've been a mercy. Revenge and sweet release. Not a bad deal.
"We're actually here," Evie breathed.
The princess hovered beside Mal, gaze tracking the soldiers. Back on deck, Jay could see several of them restraining one of their own. Whip marks covered his back. His fingers itched to draw his knife and kill the man right then and there. But the bastard was on the ship and Jay was never going back on The Gentle. Gentle. Fucking right.
"It's so…different," Carlos frowned.
Jay followed his gaze. Everything was so…clean. No fish guts or trash piled along the shore. No one passed out in the street. At least a hundred ships floated at docks lined up along the coast, each one almost completely barnacle free and none of them with rotting wood. If the pirate assholes ever saw this they'd be drooling.
People moved about, working instead of just milling around with nothing to do. No one stood in dark alleys waiting to snatch anyone too stupid or too drunk to watch their surroundings. Actually, it didn't look like there were any alleys, just more roads. How did anyone hide in a place like this? Where did they dump garbage? What came over to the Isle wasn't nearly enough junk to be everything.
"Welcome to Auradon," Captain Alcott said, coming up behind them. The old man gave them space, like he had ever since Evie was attacked, but he was always close enough that no one would question that they were under his what? Scrutiny? Supervision? Protection? No way it was the last one. Whatever it was, he didn't like it.
"So what now?" Mal asked, arms crossed. But he could tell she was grateful to be off the ship. Her gaze lingered on the sky a few seconds too long each time she glanced up.
The captain scanned the shoreline before nodding to two strange things on wheels. "We take the carriages to the University. The staff will take care of you from there."
Carriages? Did he mean the wheeled things? Jay knew the word too. He just couldn't place it.
"Carriage? Like from Cinderella's story?" Evie asked.
"Yes. Though these ones aren't made from pumpkins and the horses aren't actually mice," Captain Alcott chuckled.
At horses, Carlos perked up, leaning forward a little to get a better look. Jay refused to grin at the reaction. Evie didn't bother hiding her smile while Mal rolled her eyes with a huff that sounded annoyed, but Jay knew she was amused. Horses and cats. Those were the animals Carlos wanted to see the most after listening to and reading all the stories about the older villains on the island.
"Wait, what do you mean 'we'?" Jay asked. "Why are you coming?"
"I was charged with ensuring your safe arrival to the university," the captain said with a shrug.
Captain Alcott gestured for them to grab their belongings and follow him. Soon enough they were stepping off the wooden planks of the pier and onto the strange stone road. Each rock looked like it was supposed to be there. How much fucking time did these people have if they wasted it on stupid shit like that? Like someone decided that a perfectly good road wasn't enough and decided to fit a bunch of rocks together.
Stares and whispers followed them as they walked. In response, Evie's smile became flirtatious and she fluttered her lashes at several onlookers. Mal, on the other hand, sneered at anyone stupid enough to meet her gaze. Jay didn't bother acknowledging anything, too busy making sure no one was going to dart out of the crowd and knife them. Carlos made an effort to disappear at his side. Until they reached the carriages anyway.
As Captain Alcott spoke with the two drivers, Carlos cautiously approached the horses, extending a hand to let the huge creatures sniff him. They didn't look aggressive, but the clear muscle beneath the brown and white fur had Jay wary. These were powerful creatures and he didn't want to think about what it would feel like if they decided to kick him. Mal was staying a safe distance from them too, watching them closely, while Evie stared at them in awe.
A horse with a white muzzle sniffed Carlos's hand before nudging it. Lips parted, Carlos rested his other hand on the broad cheek. The beast made a strange huffing sound and Mal tensed. Carlos just smiled.
"Come along," the captain called and Carlos jerked his hands away from the horse, retreating to Jay's side. When the man saw Carlos watching the horse, and the horse watching him back, his expression changed. If Jay didn't know better, he'd say it softened. "Quite the specimen, isn't he?"
"He's beautiful," their youngest whispered, ducking his head and pressing closer to Jay's side. Jay draped his arm over his shoulders .
The drivers steered them towards one of the carriages and there was a brief standoff when they tried to take their bags. Jay glared at them, head high, daring them to even try to touch what wasn't theirs. Finally, they gave up and the four climbed inside and closed the door. When the captain got into the other carriage, Jay caught a glimpse of another man inside before the door closed again. One dressed in much fancier clothes. And then they were moving, the carriages bouncing along the stone road and Jay closed his eyes with a low curse. Please don't let this be another mobile torture chamber.
It was. At least for a while, the ride smoothed out a bit once they reached dirt roads and while his stomach protested, he didn't throw up. Opening the window helped too and he could watch the world go past.
Evie's mother had been right. The mainland was green and it wasn't just one shade of green. There were greens that reminded him of the emeralds on the bracelet he'd stolen from Drizella once. Other greens were brighter versions of the grass back on the Isle. It all looked healthy. Alive.
Trees thicker than his waist grew alongside the roads and bushes covered in berries bright as rubies clustered together among them. Flowers swayed in the breeze and Evie excitedly pointed to ones she recognized from books.
"That's lavender. And those are passion flowers. They're both good for sleeping potions. Oooo. Those are arum lilies!"
He tried to pay attention. If she ever needed any of these for potions while they were here, he'd have to know what to look for. But his attention kept getting caught on other things outside the carriage. Like the fields, huge fields, full of apple trees or rich brown dirt crowded with vegetables he'd never seen before. How could so much food exist? Was it magic? Was that how Auradon was able to grow so much and the Isle couldn't?
"They live like this and we only get their fucking scraps?" Mal hissed, silencing Evie.
"Way to sour the mood," Jay huffed. He'd actually liked the view. She could've waited to remind him that he should hate it.
The rest of the trip was spent in almost total silence, broken only by an occasional whisper between Evie and Carlos as they stared out the other window. At least that's the last thing he remembered. At some point he'd managed to doze off despite the constant motion.
Mal pushing his head off her shoulder was the only warning he got before the carriage came to a stop. After making sure they weren't under attack, Jay grumbled a curse directed at Mal and her hair, before cracking his neck and peering outside. And the curse turned to one of shock.
The building they'd stopped at was huge! At least three times the size of Maleficent's fortress back on the Isle and that was the largest construction there. Only the Evil Queen's palace was comparable.
Three stories of stone the warm color of a pale rose stood confidently against the bright blue sky, surrounded by bushes trimmed into little spheres. Windows, glass windows, gleamed in rows across each level of the building. Double doors made of a strange almost gold colored wood were open to show a hall lined with what could only be armor.
Who could possibly live here that was so important? And why were they being brought here?
"Um, is this right?" Carlos asked, staring wide-eyed out the window and Jay could tell he was calculating how long it would take to clean the place. And probably thanking the gods that Hell Hall wasn't even a quarter of the size.
"It must be," Mal muttered. "They brought us here." But her eyes were just as wide as Carlos's.
"Mother always said that nothing on the Isle compared to what was in Prurian," Evie whispered. "But I never expected it to be so grand. And this is Auradon."
As the driver opened the door, all four of them scrambled out to stare. It was only then that Jay noticed the line of men and women standing at attention. All of them were dressed in simple black and white clothing: the men dressed in black pants, a white shirt, and a black vest, the women in black dresses with a strange white section of cloth tied around their waists. Mal sneered at them as Jay moved between them and the rest of his pack.
"This is where I leave you," Captain Alcott said as he moved to stand beside them. "His Highness has provided servants to assist you in preparing for a meal with him later today."
Servants? Like what Grimhilde always longed for and Cruella…Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carlos cringe.
As if that had been their que, a man and woman stepped forward. "If you would come this way, please," the woman said, curtseying. "We will show you to your, ahem, baths."