Her Royal Highness

Chapter 11

The skies over Auradon were an ugly, chalky grey, and the air smelt like overcast and rot around the gardens, which had withered away and been cut back by the royal gardeners. Ben and Mal rode up to the front circle instead of out the secret way, but there were no protestors and no sign that they had ever been there the month before. Mal hoped it was because they had accepted her, not because they'd gotten cold or decided to wait until she returned. Lumiere was waiting for them. He quickly took their suitcases out. Mal took hers this time, Ben took one of his, and Lumiere took the last one as they all scurried away from the carriage and inside. No sooner had they reached the porch when a clap of thunder echoed outside, and a light rain started to pour from the heavens. As they shut the doors to the entryway, it turned into a horrific downpour.

The castle was drafty and seemed exhausted. If a building could be exhausted, that is. Exhausted and in a foul mood.

"Queen Belle and King Adam are in the living room together with the fire blazing. I can let them know you've arrived." Lumiere explained as Mal flipped the water out of her hair and Ben wiped his face off in his shirt.

"Thank you, Lumiere," Ben said. He shivered in his wet clothes. "How cold is it outside?" He asked.

"Only fifty-seven," Lumiere informed them. "Not cold enough to snow for at least another day or so. The temperature drops every night."

Ben grinned at Mal. "We made it just in time."

Mal listened to the clatter of the rain on the palace. It occurred to her it had never rained on the moors. She missed it already.

"You should get changed before you catch a cold," Lumiere said. "Let's get you up to your room." He began to wheel his suitcase to the stairs, and Mal and Ben followed.

Lumiere left the suitcase at the door and went to inform Belle and Adam that they'd arrived. Mal snagged her phone from where she'd left it plugged in on the nightstand. Ben fished a sweater out of his closet and found a pair of thick socks. Mal stood in front of her own wardrobe for a few seconds before she started to look for a not-wet outfit of her own. It was clear that Belle and Sophia had been at work while she was gone. They'd found her tons of new clothes and organized everything. To her immediate right were four ballgowns for special occasions, followed by less dressy but still nice dresses. There were dressy skirts and blouses paired up beside each other, and then a shoe hanger gave Mal the option between five different types of heels. On the other side of the closet was a much denser casual-wear area. Long-sleeved to sleeve-less shirts in various shades of purple, black, white, grey and green, pants and shorts of various types, warm overcoats and fuzzy sweaters, converse shoes and slip-ons for when the weather turned warm again. And to top it all off, her old Isle clothes were hanging beside the rest, finally here. However, Mal thought as she ran a finger down a pair of extremely thick pants, they seemed much too small now.

Mal snickered as she pulled out an ugly purple sweater with fuzzy bobbles on it and found a pair of socks that were knee-high and seemed to be made of fuzzy white fur. She pulled on a pair of leggings and then pulled the socks on over them. Then, she turned and leaned against the doorframe to the closet until Ben finished shoving his feet into a pair of slippers and looked up at her.

"Ugh!" He complained upon glimpsing her outfit. "You're burning my eyes out."

Mal chuckled and strode across the room to where Ben was looking at the ceiling with a playful smile. She stood on her tip-toes and put her arms around his neck. "About time I did something this evil, huh?" She laughed and gave him a quick peck.

Ben laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go talk to my parents." He said, leading her to the door and out into the hall. They began to wander down the corridors as Ben continued to make jibes at her choice of apparel. "Maybe Sophia will be there too, and we can complain about how awful your fashion sense is."