Her Royal Highness

Chapter 50

Hours later, Mal woke up on her cheek with her right leg splayed out beneath her and her busted arm twisted almost entirely around her back. Every muscle was screaming in pain, even though she hadn't even moved anything yet. She rolled over, got to her knees, and threw up all over the cold sandy floor. Green flames spilled out of her mouth, making her gag. It was likely a magical sign that she'd overdone it, tenfold.

Mal had no idea how she was still alive, or how she was on top of the sands instead of Eris dragging her body out like she'd naturally assumed would happen. She had no idea where her enemy was, or what was about to happen to her. Everything was quiet, and she was alone.

For what felt like several hours, Mal lay on her back and stared up at the sky. She heard the wind on the sand nearby and watched the sky above. The sands around her were colored vibrant green with magical staining. The entrance to Tartarus had sealed completely, which meant that Eris was somewhere around here, and at full strength. She blinked as she watched the sky change colors, seemingly random, and slowly moved her hand over her stomach as she remembered what had happened. How Ben hadn't been able to save her.

What had happened while she was out?

Was she even pregnant anymore after that strain?

Mal was completely alone in the dead silence. She was aching and melancholy. Ben was gone. She was trapped. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to go. She was sitting in the open, waiting for Eris to happen upon her. Every muscle was taut, overworked, and sore. The end was surely near.

Mal forced herself to her knees. She felt sick again. She curled up around her stomach, closed her eyes, and wished to sleep forever. She knew it was inevitable that Eris would find her. Sooner or later, she would die. Eris would scatter her blood across the sands and the world would continue on without her.

She would be forgotten, eventually. After all, there was only so many times Auradon would recall the queen who'd ruled for a little more than a year. And the moors? They'd have Madison, and Madison would be around longer because now the world was out of danger. Belle and Adam would raise her to be good and who knows? Maybe Ben might decide to marry her once she got old enough. Probably not, since Ben had been hung up on her age difference with him after he'd married her, and they were five years apart, not twenty-three years. Maybe he'd marry someone else from the Isle who would take over her place? Or maybe a full-blooded Fae or Fairy from the moors. If he did marry a Fairy, maybe their children would have sand powers and wings.

Mal closed her eyes to shield from the light and tried to remind herself that it was inevitable and that Ben should get remarried after she was gone. That had always been the plan anyway.

Then, she rested her hand on her stomach and for the first time, let a little smile rest on her mouth. Still, they had had something amazing. They had created kingdoms and families and magic and life. She had a life inside of her.

It was a thought she'd considered, but never before had it come with such force to her mind.

Mal sat up a little taller and wrapped her good arm around her belly. Right underneath her ribcage and above her pelvis were the faintest signs of growth. The smallest hints that there was someone else inside her. Someone without a name, or even a gender. At this point, they'd scarcely be more than a plum-sized blob with fingers, toes, and a tiny little body, all their own. And while the chances seemed slim, something told Mal that they were very much still alive.

She was supporting someone inside her. If she died, they'd be gone too. No one would ever know what they'd have accomplished, and their story would be lost. It would be like if Ben had died before he and Mal had ever met, and she with him because her mother's curse would take her out. Nothing would have changed for the Isle, Audrey never would have learned what she could be, and the moors would have suffered and wasted away until the magic had been depleted and lost. Sure, Belle and Adam might have had another kid, like Ben might have another wife one day, but the story would have faded out and the curse left unspoken, never to be written or remembered.