Dark Times -2 season

Everlasting Promises

Everyone soon left, leaving Mal to rest. The queen went up to her room to get ready for bed. Even though it was very early, she intended to sleep, since waiting for Ben would be a big waste of time.

"Hey."

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw him enter the room.

"Hey." She smiled widely. She stopped applying the cream to her skin and walked over to him. "What do I owe the honor of the King of Auradon in my room?"

"The King of Auradon didn't come, Your Highness; I left him at the office, but here's your lovely husband, who apologizes for not coming to your party."

He joked with her, who came close to him.

"You don't know how honored I feel right now." She gave him a long kiss. "I loved the present, by the way." Mal suddenly felt a kick in his stomach. "Oh, that hurt! I guess it's not just me who's happy to see you home early."

"Hey, little dragon." He bent down to her belly, who pulled up his shirt, and started talking to his daughter. "I missed you today; I've been thinking about you all day."

It is true that it has been a long time since the king's thoughts were on his daughter and wife.

"Ben, talking about work." She drops the smile and takes on a serious, worried look. "Deborah brought me some documents today from the meeting with the northern kingdoms."Ben turned away, ready for his sermon. "But that meeting should have taken place last week. Do you know what she said when I asked why you postponed such an important meeting?"

"I have no idea."

He played innocent as he took off his shoes.

"That you'd forgotten twice in a row, so she thought it's best to postpone it. Ben, what's going on? You know how important these meetings with borders far from Auradon are."

"Mal, I know; it's just that I've been so busy these last few weeks. Rashid and I are..."

It was when he saw the woman interrupt him that he realized he had said too much.

"You and Rashid? Wait, are you still carrying on with that obsession?"

She knew they had spent days reading books and looking for something that might help, but the two of them had been talking, and Mal thought they had reached an agreement.

"Yes, but we're not all day." She arched her eyebrows at him, showing that she wanted to hear the truth. "All right, okay! We've been working on it all day."

"Ben!"

She screamed, which made him stop taking off his work clothes and look at his nervous wife.

"But it's only been this week, Mal; we've found some Merryweather books."

He tried to tell her, but she didn't want to hear it.

"And the part about: 'I'll respect your decision'?"

She questioned him more angrily.

"I am, but we talked about it and find a way out; I promised you that."

"You know what would be better? You're staying with me instead of looking for something that doesn't exist."

She calmed down internally and approached him, taking his hands in hers.

"Accept and give up?"

He asked, his eyes watering and noticing why she was so calm at that moment.

"Ben..."

He pulled away from her again, walking across the room.

"No, Mal! You know what it means to give up, and I'm not going to."

He looked at her sadly.

Honestly, reality without Mal is something he doesn't even consider.

"Ben, it's not giving up; it's just accepting something that's already written. Please, if you love me, stay with me and this little dragon here, because every day that goes by is one less day with you."

Mal walked over to him, running her hands through his hair and wiping the tears from his face.

"Mal, please don't ask me this." He let her come closer and put their faces together. "I don't want to live in a world where you're not."

Mal tried to hold back the tears until now. "I don't want that world, either." She confessed, brushing her nose against his. "But so far, it doesn't exist. Let's enjoy it while we can." She brushed her lips against his.

"I'm not going to make it."

He confessed, his voice already breaking.

"You will; you'll do it for the kingdom, our family, friends and especially for our little girl."

"I love you, Mal. I love you very much."

"I have a new promise for you: we're going to enjoy this time together as much as we can; we're going to enjoy every moment; and we're not going to talk about you-know-what until the end of the pregnancy."

She proposed, forcing a smile.

"Okay, I promise."

They made a promise. Ben finally kissed her without tears.

If the promise was to enjoy every day together, then so be it. She quickly tried to take off the rest of his work clothes, and he smiled at her haste to do so. He loved the sensation she always caused.

(...)

Camelot

"So, it really is the magic of the scepter?"

Merlin asked the wizard.

The two had been talking for hours about the state of the king and how they had let something so stupid happen to Mal.

"Yes, Nanny's right. I had an ultrasound last week, and there it was, the magic pulsing beautifully."

He confessed, remembering when he first saw the size of the magic in the baby.

"No magic from the Apprentice?"

Merlin asked, as he savored his lovely, sweet candies.

"No, but she's already started searching Mal for more magic, so it's likely that some of it will go to her."

Rashid is watching the lake.

"From the look on your face, you seem to have accepted the situation."

"Yeah, Mal gets weaker every day; now we just have to wait."

He's totally hopeless about saving his friend.

"Wow! What a melodramatic speech, Rashid."

"What do you want me to do, Merlin? We have no choice. Mal has decided to have his daughter, and only one of the two will survive. It's magic. There's always a price."

"There's always a choice, too. Look at it from another angle, another way. Aren't you from Wonderland? As far as I know, people there believe in impossible things."

Merlin said it enthusiastically.

"Good news for you: that place is the dream of a seven-year-old girl. Come on, she was worried about whether the cat could laugh and if it was possible to talk to the flowers."

Rashid spoke nervously about his placement. It's never been a secret that he's not a fan of Alice.

"I once knew a boy whose biggest worry was having enough magic to hide his foxtail."

Rashid stopped and thought about what the wizard was saying. It's true; years ago, he only wanted magic to hide his features acquired from being born in Wonderland. However, now he's a wizard because he knows too much about magic. Could there be a solution to the problems?