Love, Hate Destiny and Fate.

Broken

Mal sat in the meeting room, getting more and more annoyed by each second that passed by. All she really wanted was for these people to shut up, and leave her be in her room.

"-The people, Queen Mal. They're complaining about the lack of activities that there to do for the children. They-"

"-The children need to focus on their academics Flora. All the activities are priviledges that they earn for doing good on their studies. That is much more important"

"And we understand, Fauna, but if there are no activities to motivate the children, they will have nothing to look upon and forward to. Queen Mal, please if you could just he-"

"Enough! We will add a couple more curriculars for the students of Auradon Prep to do but anything else will be taken to the board of directory and the Fairy-GodMother. I will not deal with this nonsense as I, as well as the rest of us, have other duties to attend to. Understood?" Mal snapped. She couldn't believe that they had called a meeting for all heroes and sidekicks just to discuss this.
Belle and Adam could only look as the rest of the members nodded their heads, and started getting out of their seats to leave. It would be an understatement to say that they missed the old Mal. The one who would make snarky, sarcastic remarks. Who had a bright, vivacious aura to her. Who would always sport that signature smirk of hers whenever she found something ridiculous. The Mal who was happy.
But one day was enough to make all that change. Her bright and lively spirit replaced by one that was dull, and depressing. Her signature smirks were wiped off her face and replaced with either a frown or a scowl. It still pained them to even think about, or remember months ago, the Mal who had held hope that Ben would come back for her.

~~2 weeks after Ben's death~~

Mal was stuck in her room, refusing to come out for dinner. Belle and Adam soon grew more worried that they looked for a key and opened Mal's bedroom door, only to find the room empty. It was then they realized where else she'd be.

They raced down to the Enchanted Lake, to find Mal sitting in the ruins, whispering to herself.

"Mal sweetie? Please come here, please talk to us" Belle pleaded. Mal turned and faced her body to them but kept her eyes glued to the floor. "Mal?" Adam tried calling to her. She looked up to them, and saw her puffy red eyes.

"H-he's s-still alive" she stuttered out. "What?" Belle and Adam asked, confused.
"He-he's alive, I know it! I know he is. I-if I could come back, he-he can to! He needs me" Mal kept telling them while Belle and Adam just stood there, tears in their eyes. They so badly wanted to tell her, but they couldn't. Until one day, Mal stopped hoping and believing.

~~Back to present time~~
Mal left the table and went back to her office, to sort through some papers. Belle and Adam tried to get help for her, but all their attempts resulted in Mal yelling at them and slamming doors in their faces.

Mal was filled with hatred, bitterness, emptiness, sadness, and depression. That was what her soul was now made of. There were days where she would get the job as queen done, with a straight face. And then there were days where she would lock herself in her room, staring at nothing but pictures of her late fiancé. Then there was the dreaded days, where it seemed as if the entire castle, and maybe even Auradon was filled with darkness. Those were the days where she locked herself in her room and started crying, and never stopped until there were no more tears left to cry. Sometimes she wouldn't even make it to her room and start crying at the mere mention of Ben. Any mention of the late king, directly or in reference of him, would make the current queen burst into tears. It's why the castle would have to always think of what they will say next whenever the queen was around.

She made a great queen though. Although she had none of the charisma, charm, and positive aura that a queen should embody, she had the leadership skills that it takes to lead a country. And that was enough to keep the royals and citizens quiet. For now.

A/N: OMG I'm so sorry for the long wait, if I'm being honest here, I thought I already published this chapter but I guess not. I've also been really busy in this month of March, and if you want to know why, here it is:
the reason I haven't been able to post for a while is because my festival season has just finished and I was just really busy this month. I had 7 concerts in a span of 2 weeks. In the first week, I had a choir concert which was in Visalia, so I missed school the entire day. The very next day I had an orchestra festival, which required me to miss school. Then the day after that, I had another choir festival, which also required me to miss school. Then on that Saturday, I went to go watch the Fresno Philharmonic with my friend, then had to type up an essay report on it for orchestra. The very next week, on Monday, I had my last choir concert(of the month)at night, to which I had to catch up on homework for the next day since I came home at 9 pm. This was followed by an orchestra concert in Visalia on that following Tuesday, and I also missed a day of school, then on that Wednesday, I had my final orchestra concert during the school day, permitting me from missing school. All in all I've just been very busy between festivals, concerts, practicing, and catching up on missed out homework from the classes I missed. I promise I haven't forgotten about you guys and my other book, but please understand that I too have a life I gotta live.. Thank you!

I promise I am not making all this up, and I will try to post more, since it is now Spring Break!