Her Royal Highness

Chapter 22

Who's ready to start a war? Me!

Another cold wind whipped around the edge of a building, carrying the smell of fish straight into her face. Mal winced, wrinkling her nose, and shivered a little. She wished she'd brought more than just her Isle Jacket.

"What are we doing here?" Mal grumbled for the fourth time. They were sitting on a pier looking out over the Auradon bay, located just outside of Oceana, where Ariel and Eric lived. Mal could even see the clouds over the Isle of the Lost if she craned her head around the suburban-type car Ben had insisted they take instead of his/her little five-seater car, though they were so far away they looked to be about the size of a pinprick.

Normally, Mal wouldn't complain nearly as much about Ben's surprises, but this one apparently involved her sitting on a pier with the collars on her Isle jacket turned up for extra warmth for thirty minutes while she flipped through the news app on her phone.

Not that the news was particularly disinteresting. If anything, it was pretty good news. "Queen Mal Heals Isle", "Magical Queen Hard at Work", and "King Ben, I Wish I Could Do That," The footage the crew had caught was wonderful, and Mal was happy she'd let them go. Those who didn't want to be photographed were omitted or blurred, and those who had given permission had made for beautiful, striking photos. Mal herself was featured among many of them. There were pictures of her healing, lifting a bed-frame into a new resident's home minutes after she'd fixed it. There was her and Ben tag-team lifting a young man, who was looking very surprised as they all stared at the camera. The most striking photos were that of the new residents themselves, with faces lit up and smiles alight as they treasured the first glances of new homes, of whole body parts, or of healed possessions. Auradon's hearts were melting.

Mal put her phone away and pulled her jacket closer around her frame. "Isn't it supposed to be warm in June?" She grumbled as she held a hand closer to her mouth to catch her warmer breath.

"The dock doesn't get much sun," Ben explained. He, too, was on his phone, quietly looking at the castle website and occasionally glancing at his watch.

Mal huffed. "What are we waiting for anyway? We're wasting time. I could be out on the Isle right now." Ben rolled his eyes at her complaining.

"Just sit." He sighed, pulling out his watch to glance at the hands. "They must be running late."

"I don't even know why we're waiting." Mal murmured. She picked at the peeling paint of the rusted beam she was sitting on and gave Ben a pointed look. Ben let out a dejected sigh. It was clear Mal's complaining was starting to grate on him, so Mal tried to bite her tongue.

The wharf was freezing, and the smell of fish and the humid salty air was simultaneously making her hungry and nauseous.

Ben sat down beside her. "I swear it'll be worth your time." He promised. "And you'll love it. I know you will."

He took her hands and busied himself with rubbing her chilly fingers, which made Mal a little less annoyed than she was. It was a sweet, somewhat sappy gesture.

Mal smirked and met his eyes. "Yeah... well, I guess I prefer your surprises when I'm not getting cold on the pier."

"You'll love it," Ben repeated. "In fact, this is the pinnacle achievement of my career. I don't think I'll be able to top this."

"Oh?" Mal asked. "You're pretty confident in yourself then?"

Ben nodded with a smile. "Oh yeah." He nodded. "I might even get a kiss for this."

Mal laughed. "Wow, what a hefty payment." She rolled her eyes. "You get those anyways. If this is really as great as you say, shouldn't you get something special?"