They were all used to early mornings. Maybe not as early as Jay, but they were used to it. Sleeping in on the Isle made survival even harder. All resources were first come first serve. But there was something about Monday mornings that seemed to drain Jay and Mal, and Carlos wasn't sure what it was. If he had to guess it was because it meant classes were starting again. He'd never admit it to anyone except Evie that he actually really liked school. The professors weren't always great and he could live without the homework, but he loved being able to spend his day learning.

Philosophy was the only class he hated. Everything else was fascinating. While he didn't really have any use for Math, English was opening up so much of his world. He was starting to read and understand things a little faster. There wasn't a lot of time to read just for fun, but he'd convinced Evie to check out a few books for him; he was pretty sure the librarian didn't like him after he checked out the books about dogs. It kind of sucked. He'd love to spend more time there.

Speaking of Evie… He watched their princess quietly rearrange the food on her plate after each bite. Something wasn't right. Her reaction a few days ago when she'd forgotten to get food had been… off. As if she'd been caught doing something.

"Good morning."

Blinking, Carlos looked up. Ben stood at the head of the table, smile wide and a little awkward. That was weird. Lately the prince had seemed more comfortable with them. Had something happened? A quick scan through his memories turned up nothing and he poked at his oatmeal. What had he missed? Did something happen with Jay when they were sparring? Or had someone said something to Ben? Wait. He couldn't remember Ben saying anything to them about the rumors. Had he only just heard about them?! The rumors had been dying out. Why was Ben hearing about it now? Was he going to change his mind about them? Send them back? Leave them to fend for themselves?

"Morning," Mal yawned around a mouthful of pancake, earning herself a sharp kick under the table from Evie. "Need something?"

"Kind of, actually," Ben laughed, running a hand through his hair.

When Carlos glanced at Evie, her mouth twitched. She didn't know what this was about either.

"My mom wants to invite you four to have lunch with us on Saturday."

The world spun and Carlos leaned against the table to keep his balance. Lunch. With Ben's mom. No. With the Queen of Auradon. The Wife of Beast. Under the table, Evie rested a hand on his leg and squeezed.

Eyes sharpening, Mal straightened. "Who's 'us'?" she asked.

Please gods don't let it be the Queen and Beast. There was no way they could refuse that. Not that they could really refuse just the Queen. But it would be so much worse to have to eat with Beast. Carlos still remembered the way the king looked at them the day they arrived. Too many teeth in his smile, as if he saw them as nothing but prey. And he knew the rest of his pack was thinking the same thing. Jay's jaw clenched as he crossed his arms. Evie's formal mask was back in place and Mal's head tilted just a little higher.

As if sensing their unease, Ben held up his hands as he said, "Just me and my mom. My dad… has a lot of meetings he has to attend so he can't join us."

A lie. Definitely a lie. But Carlos wasn't going to complain. The Queen was intimidating enough on her own. Not for the first time, he thanked the gods no one in his pack was related to Gaston.

He watched Mal and Evie exchange looks. None of them wanted to actually have lunch with Ben and his mother. Why would they? She was part of the reason they were fucking born on the Isle of the Lost in the first place. If it wasn't for her and the Ascendancy… The scar on his hip ached and he pressed his hand to it. A small shiver rippled through him.

"Lunch sounds great," Mal said with a smile just a little too bright.

"We'd be honored," Evie agreed.

To Carlos's surprise, Ben barely relaxed, shoulders still tense as he smiled. "Great. We're looking forward to it. Oh! And don't worry about dressing up or anything. Mom said that this will be really casual."

As if Evie would ever let them appear before royalty in anything but their best. Knowing their princess, she was going to dig out the outfits they'd been given on the first day. Hopefully she could alter them to be a little more comfortable.

"Cool," Mal nodded.

"Cool," Ben echoed. After a moment of silence, he ran a hand through his hair and said, "I should get going. See you later."

"Yup."

Once the prince was out of earshot, Mal swore. "What the fuck? What the fuck? We've been here for weeks now and she never showed any interest in meeting us. Why now?"

"I don't know," Evie admitted, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"A test?" Jay suggested, but Evie shook her head.

"It doesn't make sense as a test. They know we don't have the proper experience to eat with royalty. Ben said it would be casual and lying about it wouldn't benefit them," she said. "It's possible Her Majesty simply wants to observe us and make her own judgments."

Stomach churning, Carlos pushed his bowl away. He wasn't good at that kind of thing. He wasn't useful. He wasn't charming. Nothing about him made a good first impression. And he had to go in front of a queen.

"Right. Okay," Mal sighed, fingers tapping the table. "E, what do we need to know to make the best impression?"

"Let's see. We'll need to go over appropriate and respectful responses. We should probably go over the correct usage of silverware as well," Evie replied. "And we'll need to review bowing and curtseying. There wasn't enough time to go over that before we met Ben."

As Evie continued to speak, Carlos couldn't help but smirk as Jay groaned and slumped in his seat.