The Archer's Legacy

★彡02|38 - "Mal, I wish I had time to explain..."彡★

Camera shutters could be heard even before Y/n stepped onto the carpet that everyone had to cross before getting to the Cotillion which was, for some reason, held on a yacht. Her royal training kicked in immediately and she smiled, posing for the cameras as questions were shouted at her.

"How does it feel to be away from home?"

"How is the North recovering after the war?"

"Do you have a date here?"

"What happened to your neck?"

Y/n could see Carlos glancing at her worriedly from the start of the carpet, where he still stood. The girl gave him a smile, conveying I got this before answering the reporters while also resisting the urge to raise a unsure hand to her still bandaged neck. "Right now I am in no position to answer those questions, thank you."

Smiling, a tad impressed and very proud of his Cotillion date, Carlos walked onto the carpet. A few pictures were taken of the both of them, people still spewing questions they decided to ignore as they walked off of the carpet and made way for Evie.

When they got down the stairs, they were met with Asher and Jane who were smiling as they talked to Fairy Godmother. Y/n immediately spotted that Jane had decided to wear the earrings she'd recommended.

The two, however, did not walk to their friends, instead staying where they were for the sake of the situation. Y/n was feeling a little uncomfortable — the music that was the beating heart of the place was really not her type and certainly not something she could dance to.

Luckily, the music soon stopped and when the people clapped, fanfares were blown. When the attention was garnered to the royal family's announcer Lumière, he spoke. "The future Lady Mal!"

Carlos and Y/n, on the front lines, were quickly joined by Lonnie and Jay (who had, surprisingly but unsurprisingly, come together), Asher and Jane, and Evie and Doug. Regal music started playing when Mal walked, a little terrified, to the stairs. Whereas she was wearing Auradon colours, the dress had been adjusted to be more her style.

Lumière leaned over to say something encouraging and right after that the music stopped, prompting Evie and Y/n to open the applause, cheering for Mal as everyone else also called out their encouragements. The former king of Auradon met Mal halfway on the stairs, talking to her quietly until they got all the way down.

Once there, Belle took over. "I know we were shocked at first but you are exactly what Ben needs."

Subconsciously, Y/n wrapped her hand tighter around Carlos'. She hoped that her mother would see the situation the same way that Belle did.

Carlos smiled at her. He understood the slight worry on her face — she was a princess after all, one who had responsibility to a whole kingdom which right now was far out of her reach. She had every right to be a bit iffy. And, of course, there was also the notion of the fact that Carlos had come to the Cotillion with Y/n without asking for her mother's permission. Now that fact made Carlos a little nervous. But he'd at least got Asher's permission, who was Y/n's assigned bodyguard for the moment so he didn't worry too much as he averted his eyes from their joined hands to the top of the stairs, where Lumière was doing his job.

"King Benjamin!" he announced grandly, raising his voice over the blowing fanfares.

Everyone turned their anticipating eyes to the staircase of the yacht again. Ben walked forth while everyone cheered happily. He wore a pearly white smile and his hands were clasped in front of himself. He'd got better at walking before a crowd since his coronation, Y/n noted.

In the midst of the chaos, she felt dizzy for a moment. The world flashed to black and white as she saw Ben's face and then him kissing a hand, donned with a royal promise ring.

She let out a little gasp and swayed on her feet. None seemed to notice besides Carlos, who immediately steadied her with worried eyes, and Asher, who raised a brow at her, a question in his eyes, to which Y/n answered with a mustered-up reassuring smile.

Under Carlos' gaze, she looked at Mal's hands. She wasn't wearing the ring Y/n had seen in her vision. And while everyone else still wore smiles, an uneasy feeling settled in the princess' gut as she turned her eyes to Ben again.

The boy had just met Mal at the bottom of the stairs and was now saying, "Mal, I wish I had time to explain..."

The sound of a door opening cut him off and Uma of all people appeared in everyone's view, standing where Ben had been standing just moments before at the top of the stairs.

The crowd gasped and Y/n felt dizzy again as the previous vision replayed in her mind. She clasped onto Carlos' hand and the boy's worried brown eyes turned to her.

The princess tried to muster a smile again but failed as she could barely see Carlos through the flashing on-repeat images in her mind. It was almost as if her power was trying to warn her of something as she whispered to the boy, "This isn't good."

Carlos could only nod as he drew Y/n closer to himself. He could feel that her body was shaking and she'd gone pale, her eyes glazed over as if she was seeing something he couldn't, and his stomach fluttered with worry.

He swallowed, making eye contact with Asher. The other boy made no move but seemed just as worried as he was, his hand having come to rest on the handle of a dagger hidden under his jacket.

There was no doubt about it — the evening had just taken a turn for the worse.