Always by your Side - A Descendants Story : REWRITTEN

Chapter 13

TW: Mentioning/Indication of SA!

"Any word yet?" Evie asks Ben, walking into his office.

A week has passed and there's still not even a sign or clue as to where their queen could be. The guards everywhere in the land are working everyday to try and find her, searching throughout the entire kingdom.

"Nothing," he sighs with his hands in his hair. He hasn't got any work done all week, only thinking about where she could be and if she's okay.

"This is the worst nightmare I've ever had," she sighs, sitting down on a chair. "And I'm afraid I'm not going to wake up from it."

"She'll be found, okay. She's somewhere out there and we're going to find her," he promises her.

"Don't you think it's time to tell the people?" Evie asks him.

"No, no, I want to keep this on the back burner for now," he tells her. "If we tell the people the queen is missing, there will be panic and chaos, and I really can't deal with that as well right now..."

"But- they're going to notice that their queen is gone, one way or another," she says.

"I'm just hoping we're going to find her before they do," he says.

"Fair enough," she says. "We mustn't lose hope..."

But they in fact are losing hope. Weeks are passing by and still nothing. The group of friends are also searching almost everyday, just going to places she might be or where she might be hidden.

It's after 3 weeks when the news gets out to the people, after some paparazzi got wind of it. The news spreads faster than a wildfire and soon everyone in the kingdom is shocked, to say the least.

The only person who doesn't seem to care about the situation, but rather seems to enjoy it, is Audrey. Never has anyone seen her look so satisfied and happy. Ben can't say he's surprised, but he thought she'd at least have the decency to try and hide the fact that she's happy with his wife's disappearance.

Everyone is now only talking about one thing; the missing queen. Ben can't get through one conversation with someone without it being mentioned. He can't concentrate on anything anymore, he's constantly thinking of nothing but her.

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It's now been three weeks since they'd kidnapped her, and she's barely able to move anymore from exertion and abuse. It's late at night, she's lying on her stinky mattress when Harry stumbles into the room.

"Hi, there, gorgeous," he greets her, obviously shitfaced from another day of unlimited drinking

"Go away," she grumbles, pushing herself up with difficulty to sit up on the mattress.

"Why so moody?" he asks, smirking, walking closer to her.

"It's late, I'm exhausted, and I really just want to sleep," she says, trying really hard not to sound scared.

"Aren't you in for a bit more fun tonight?" he asks. "I know a thing or two we could do..."

Mal feels a lump in her throat, having a really bad feeling as to where this is going. "I just want to sleep, Harry," she tells him again, although knowing he's not going to listen to anything she says.

"I know you want it... you've really missed me, huh," he says, pulling her up onto her feet.

He then presses her against the wall, pressing his lips onto hers, while Mal vainly tries to push him away from her.

"Get off me! What are you doing?!" she yells at him, when he breaks away from her. He doesn't answer, but just goes back in for another one.

Mal presses a hand onto his face, in an attempt to push him away. Harry slaps her in the face, making her stop resisting immediately. "Stop struggling, or you'll really regret it," he warns her, in a harsh, threatening tone. Mal could sense that the guy is wasted beyond words but that doesn't take any of his strength away, if anything, it seems to be making him even more aggressive.

She doesn't know how this is going to end, she only knows it's indeed best to stop fighting back, as it's no use anyway. She can only hope it'll be over soon.

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"How come they still haven't shown up?" Harry asks Uma. "Maybe Mal was right, maybe he's not going to sacrifice his kingdom for her after all..."

"No, Harry, they'll come," she tells him. "Just be patient, you'll see."

Harry sighs, turning on the tiny tv they'd gotten just this morning to get some entertainment while waiting for the King. The news is on, and Uma wants to turn it off, when she hears them mention Mal's name. "Turn up the volume," she orders Gil, who's standing near the tv.

"As it turns out; our new queen has been missing for 3 weeks, without a trace," the reporter says. "Everyone is in shock about the news. There is no clue whatsoever as to what has happened to her, or where she could possibly be. All search teams have been combing the entire kingdom for weeks now, without result. If anyone has any information as to where our queen could be or what could've happened to her, please contact the police immediately, or call the number on the screen below."

"Damn it!" Uma groans. "They just didn't find my note, that's why he hasn't shown up yet..."

"Are you kidding," Harry sighs, turning off the tv.

"What note?" Gil asks.

"The note, the bribe note, to tell them we have Mal and they can get her back if they bring us Fairy Godmother's wand," Uma said.

"The note you were supposed to have dropped under that bench, remember, the one in the envelope on which we had written For Ben," Harry reminds him.

"That note was for them?" Gil asks, scratching his head. "I thought it was for me, so I remembered the plan..."

"Gil! Oh my God, do you ever listen to anything I tell you?!" Uma yells at him, frustrated to say the least.

"No, that's why I always keep notes with me to remember everything," he says, taking a pile of notes out of his pocket.

"One of these days I'll actually feed you to the sharks, just write that down on your stupid notes," she tells him, threatening.

Gil takes out a pen and quickly writes that down.

"Well, then we're going to have to bring them a new note," Uma sighs. "And this time they better show up..."
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Ben walks to his room after another hopeless day of searching. He feels restless all the time, not being able to do anything, laying awake every night as his mind doesn't give him a break for a second.

When he reaches his door, he sees a weird looking envelope laying on his doormat. He carefully picks it up. It doesn't have any sort of address or return address on it; it simply states For Ben.

After walking into his room and closing the door, he opens the letter and reads it:

Dear mr. King,

As you may have noticed, Mal has not been around the past few weeks. This is because we have taken the liberty to make her stay with us for a little while.

We can imagine that you're missing her and you might want to get her back; so we have a proposal: come to the cursed wood at the edge of the river, and we will give her back to you.

We do have one itty bitty condition: you may only get her back if in return you give us Fairy Godmother's magic wand. If you're not willing to cooperate, you will never see your queen ever again.

We are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at midnight.

Sincerely,
You pirate friends