Fate's Gift

Chapter 13: Last Break

Silence filled the room as the screen paused. No one seemed to know what to say. The adults were thinking about the way the Vk's were being treated, the AK's in Audrey and Chad's group sat ashamed at their future selves while others were wondering why they hadn't stepped in, or if they had gone to talk to Ben and the VK's but it wasn't shown.

After a few moments, Karine got up. "I'm going to go see my idiot brother." She said, stalking off towards her parents. Jane quickly got up and said, "I'm going to stop her from getting grounded."

Amir couldn't stop himself from chuckling, and that seemed to break the spell. All around the room, people began to move. Aurora and Phillip were splitting up, with Phillip leading Audrey in one direction while Aurora led Leah in another direction. Meanwhile, Jane was holding Karine back from following her parents and older brother as they, once again, began to scold Chad.

Ben took off, saying something about the council, and Reiner followed him. Aksel sighed, watching as the other boys made their way to the older royals and saying that he'd go check on Klara and Rosalind. Mal went to get up, but Elsie held her back. "Wait," she said.

"I need to check on Ben," Mal said, going to pull her arm away. Surprisingly, Elsie had a strong grip.

"Mal, Ben is gathering the royals for a reason."

"I know, but..." Elsie held up a hand and cut her off. "You haven't seen him like this yet." The brunette said, her shoulders shrinking as she continued. "He's shutting down in his own way - throwing himself into work. For the whole time I've known him, even when we were little kids, Ben has carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it's only gotten worse with the coronation getting closer."

"He's going to run himself into the ground!"

"I know," Elsie shook her head. "It's just that this is how he is. He's going to try to fix whatever he can, locking his own troubles into a box. Later, when he's alone, he'll let himself feel. That's when we go to him, even if it means camping outside his door. And I hate to say it, but..." her eyes roamed the room, over the older royals, their classmates, and family members. Her eyes would linger on some, narrowing at others. She outright glared at Queen Leah. "This isn't the place for the King to show any weakness."

Mal wanted to argue. Argue that Ben holding back wasn't good. Argue that feeling was okay. Only she couldn't, because she understood. She was raised a VK, on the Isle of the Lost, a leader of a gang. She understood. Even in a room full of allies, adversaries could be close, and even then not all emotions could be shown. She should know that better than anyone. There was already one confirmed adversary in the room, and Mal was sure that Queen Leah wouldn't hold back. Not only that, but Ben was about to become the High King of Auradon at only sixteen years old. He already had people doubting him. This wasn't the place for him to be too vulnerable.

Elsie reached out and squeezed her shoulder, giving her a soft smile. "Don't worry too much. Reiner is with him right now, and in a little bit he'll be back here with you. I know that's going to help.

Mal ducked her head, and wrung her hands. She noticed that Evie and the boys left, trusting Elsie. A sign that they thought this was a safe person, as there wasn't any question to whether they should leave or not. "I'm worried about him." Mal admitted. "Even more now that you've told me that."

"I worry about him too." Elsie told her softly. "I'm also worried about you."

"Me?" Mal turned back to her, a frown on her face. "Why are you worried about me?"

The other girl raised a brow, "Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that you are also stressed out and were attacked today, then got to see yourself be treated badly even more."