Princess of Hearts

Chapter 1: Enchanted

"Which one do you think will fit Mal's hair best? Midnight Purple or Precious Indigo?" I say, laying down a bunch of color palettes on the table. Looking up, I see my brother's face changing to an expression of pure confusion.

"What?" Ben said while taking a step back to sit in his chair. A minute ago I had entered his dorm room with a bunch of papers he had to decide and sign off. 

"Remember when you said you wanted the wedding main colors to match you and Mal's? I thought we could go with a dark blue or purple for her, and maybe Royal Blue or Sweet Lemon for you." I point to the color pallete I'm holding. He looks like I had just slapped him in the face. 

"I am sorry, Izzie. I'm a little out." My brother apologizes, taking one of the palettes to analyze. "I like the Precious Indigo for her, and the Royal Blue for me. Her blue, my blue." His expression changes to a dreamy one, his eyes not looking at anything; he always has this face when talking or thinking with or about Mal, his future queen. 

"Ew, you're ruining blue for me." I take the palette out of his hand, smiling at him. "Great, I like that too." Ben smiles with my approval. After Mal revealed that Hades was her father, her colors changed from the usual purple to a dark blue, which I think looks even better on her; the crown of the Queen of Auradon, all crusted with sapphires, would appear like it was made just for her. 

"I'll take these to Jane later so she can take care of the flowers samples for you two to approve." I say, putting the things back in my bag. "Then I need to get Evie so we can talk about your suit and..."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He interrupts me, laughing. I'm running back and forth with wedding planning since Ben told me and our parents he was going to ask Mal to marry him, so I was forgetting things more than I usually do."Like, the first day of school? Which starts in a few hours?"

"I'm not forgetting, just conveniently not thinking about it." I joke, and he looks all serious now. Like I could ever forget it, since we have been back to our dorms on Auradon Prep for the past two weeks now to get ready for the new school year. I mean, I was getting ready for the new school year. Ben graduated last summer, but he did the way back to the school with me to welcome the students along with Fairy Godmother. 

"Don't give me the big brother eyes, you know I'm not serious."

We laugh together now, I'm really excited about all this. School is back and I truly missed it; my brother is going to be married soon and I was going to have Mal as a sister, which made me even happier. 

"Can I ask your help on something?" he suddenly changes, his eyes filled with apprehension.

"Sure, Benny. Unless you're asking me on romantic advice. In that case, I'm afraid can't help you. Maybe I can interest you with unnecessary jokes and an awkward punch on the shoulder?"

"You know, Jay has been a terrible influence on you." My brother roll his eyes, not really serious, but not really playing. "I have been working all summer with Fairy Godmother since we brought the barrier down so we could include all the VKs on Auradon Prep. Mal and Evie helped me, but I really wanted you to lead this. You were my right hand when I decided to bring the first VKs to Auradon. Now there's more of them, and they will need help to fit in, like Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay needed, and there is no one else I would trust to do this. Please, Izzie?"

"Why you always have these big and flowery speeches? I'd have said yes on the spot, Benny Ben." and it's the ultimate true. 

Because when Ben started to advocate for the VKs, saying they deserved a second chance, I was the first to back him up. I helped coordinate everything, I almost drove him insane asking to bring more kids when it was clear that the first four ones had proven themselves to be good, lovely people. I knew there were going to be more kids after the barrier went down, but I was happy that my brother, the king, chose me of all trustworthy, competent and helper people he had around him. 

Me, the younger sister, who at the age of seven used to scare him with stories of him becoming a beast when he reached sixteen. 

"Oh, thank you Izzie. Mom said you're very deep on the wedding planning, but she'll help you more so you don't get too much. Carlos and Jay said they will be ready to help you, too." He is relieved now. "I knew I could count on you."

"You can always, always, count on me, big brother." I assure him. "So, when do I start?"

"That's the best part. They are waiting for us right now."

👑

Excitedly, I almost ran down the stairs so we can reach the gardens, where the new students are. Ben said the younger ones will be assisted by Fairy Godmother herself, and they'll be joining later in the week because they are still adapting; a lot of kids were practically starving, scared and abandoned, robbing here and there to survive. 

For now, my task was to explain everything about Auradon and the school to the older ones, take them to their dorms and classes and stuff like that.  

We reached their group, all of them looking around with suspicious eyes. There was about fifteen teenagers, maybe two or three preteens. Ben came forward to start talking.  

"Hello, good morning to you all. As you know, this is Auradon Prep, our school. I'm Ben."

"Look if it isn't our great King." I see Uma stepping closer to us, a mischievous smile on her face. She was, as always, absolutely beautiful, with her hair was braided back and loose, matching the bright teal on her clothes.

"Hi, Uma." Ben is a little uncomfortable, but his smile doesn't fade. "I welcome you all to our school, your new school. We will give you all your dorms numbers and directions, your classes times and everything else you need."

"We?" She asks curiously. Behind her are two boys I presume are her seconds, Gil Gaston and Harry Hook; they both smile like they're thinking about how they can steal something from my pockets. 

"Yes, we." I smiled, taking a step forward. Uma looks more attentively and finally laid eyes on me; her eyes shine with recognition. 

"Oh, it's the little princess, I remember you."

We only met briefly on the Cotillion when she spelled Ben because when Mal ran away back to the Isle, my brother, Lonnie and the VKs went to bring her back they did not told me their plan, so I was left to make up stories for our parents and Fairy Godmother about why our King and Auradon Prep students were missing. After that, I was put asleep by Audrey when she went all evil queen so I also missed when Uma and her crew came to Auradon to help.  

"Not so little, thank you. Actually, we'll be sharing the same classes." I say to her. "Wait till you see me blowing things up in the chemistry lab."

"You're cool." she takes a lock of my blonde hair, and smiles again. "Don't ya think, Harry?" He steps forward, interested.

"This is my sister, princess Isabelle" Ben introduces me before he can say anything "She will do the school tour with you, show the dorms and make sure you all have everything you might need."

Harry bowed a little, so our eyes were on the same level; I wouldn't admit it, but the contrast between his light blue eyes with the heavy eyeliner mesmerized me. 

"Aren't ya something, princess?" 

I put a leg behind my body to do a curtsy. "I'm enchanted to meet you all." I say, not particularly answering him, but giving my best smile while looking into his eyes. "You can call me Izzie, if you like. Here are your schedules with all you classes, including Remedial Goodness 101, Basic Chivalry and the boring stuff like Math and Chemistry. Also includes all electives you can take." Ben looks at me sideways, while I hand all the VKs the papers with the informations. 

"Alright, I'll leave you with the best hands in Auradon." he clasps his hands nervously, lowering his voice to talk with me. "I have a meeting now about the reformations on the Isle, but if you need anything..."

"Everything is fine, Ben." I tap on his back trying to reassure him, even though Uma's look is rather unsettling.

"Yeah, Benny. I'm sure we'll have fun." Uma laughs, putting her arm around me.