Belle sank down in her seat, completely exhausted and yet exhilarated. It was Election night and some of the best news she could have ever received was currently being flashed across her television screen.
She had won. She was now officially High Queen of Auradon.
Ben, Abby, and Mal had gone to bed before the results were finalized even though Ben had tried to insist he be allowed to stay up. What if it was bad news, he tried to reason? She would need someone to help her then like he had promised his father.
Much to his surprise but to the amusement of the adults, that argument didn't work. Especially since Chip was leading him off to bed with the argument that he wasn't allowed to stay up ether so Ben honestly should have expected to be sent to bed. Belle knew he likely had stayed up reading until he fell asleep on his own but as long as he was in bed, she was fine with it.
She didn't want him worrying about the election results, just as she didn't want Mal to worry about them either or Abby for that matter but Abby thankfully was still too young to be cognizant of such things as election results. Ben and Mal were old enough though. The months the purple haired girl had spent in the castle had allowed a small fondness to grow in Belle's heart regarding Mal. And it hadn't hurt that Mal was one of the few of Ben's friends who had stuck to his side when his father had been sent to the Isle.
But at least there was one bit of stress that was removed from their lives. They wouldn't have to move out of the castle. The staff would keep their jobs. Abby and Ben would keep their status. She could start work on making the Isle more hospitable.
"Congratulations, your highness," Cogsworth said as he held a tray of tea in his hands. "I thought you might want a celebratory drink before turning in for the night?"
"Thank you Cogsworth but not right now," Belle shook her head. "I'm waiting for the call from Aurora and then I'll turn in."
"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, your highness, but do you really think Queen Leah will allow her daughter to concede to you?" Cogsworth asked as he set the tray down on Belle's desk. "Yes we're all aware that Princess Aurora is an adult with children of her own however..."
Belle sighed. "I'm aware of the concerns Cogsworth however I have to give Aurora the chance to concede. She might be putting her children down for the night and hasn't had the chance to see the results."
Just then, Belle's phone rang; the caller id showing the number for Honeymoon Castle.
"Hello, Aurora?" Belle asked as she answered the phone.
"Hello Belle, good evening," Aurora said, the smile audible in her voice. "Apologies for the delay in this call, unfortunately I was wrapped up in putting Audrey and Phil to bed. The joys of having two children as I'm sure you're well aware of."
"Oh yes," Belle nodded with a small smile, though she held her tongue from commenting further. It was rather rich that Aurora was talking about the struggles of raising two children when she had her husband by her side. Whereas Belle had to do it on her own.
Okay, and they both had a castle full of servants to help them but neither Belle or Aurora wanted their children to be raised by the castle staff. In fact, the closest it got was on Aurora's end where Leah practically was a second mother to Audrey.
Though Leah might have had her rough spots, actually it was hard to think of any good qualities the older woman might possess, Belle couldn't fault her for loving her granddaughter. After all, her father doted on Ben and Abby just as much as Leah doted on Audrey.
Well...Belle assumed that Leah also doted on her grandson but it seemed as though Audrey received more of the attention than Phillip Jr. did.
"Well I don't want to keep you any longer than I need to since it's quite late," Aurora said. "But I wanted to call and concede."
"What are you doing?!"
"...Queen Belle, please forgive my mother's outburst," Aurora said with a small sigh as Leah's voice could be heard on the line. "Mother, please stop it. You're going to wake the children."
"There's no reason to concede! Demand a recount!"
"And what would that do mother but cause massive delays when there's no reason to demand one? Queen Belle won 85 percent of the vote!"
Belle wasn't going to lie, even she was astonished that the only section of Auradon that she'd lost was Auroria. She thought for certain that she would have lost more of the 19 areas of Auradon. Well scratch that, 18 areas.
The people of the Isle weren't able to cast their vote after all. If they could, chances were Belle would have lost the Isle. Though she doubted that Aurora would have won their votes because of how Maleficent would have likely dictated the people of the Isle to vote. Likely there would have been someone written in with there being one vote for Belle, that vote being her husband's.
"Exactly! With her husband being tainted by the Isle, there's no way the good people of Auradon would have voted—."
"Queen Leah, I'm going to cut you off right there as it is late and I'm sure we'd all like to be in our own beds at this point," Belle said. Normally she wouldn't have interjected herself in a family fight but Leah had brought up Adam so all bets were off. "The election is over, the people have spoken. If you're unhappy or disappointed that your daughter is not the next High Queen of Auradon, that is your right. But you have no right to accuse me or my campaign of impropriety."
"How do I know you won't find a way to make it so you'll win the next election?"
"Oh because I plan on making it so that there are no more elections for High King and Queen," Belle said, her voice sounding sweet but there was a firm edge to it.
"What?"
"Oh yes, personally I find it a bit ridiculous that the position is up for election which only adds unnecessary stress to the lives of the castle staff and the lives of my children. After all, they should know that their positions are secure and after everything that's happened, I'm glad I don't have to take yet another thing from them."
"That'll take a council vote you know, an unanimous vote at that! And I'm not sure I approve of you changing the way our government—."
"Well then it's a shame that you're announcing your resignation from the council," Belle said, cutting Leah off yet again. She didn't mean to but the irritation she was feeling toward the older woman was pulsing through her veins. This was supposed to be a simple call between her and Aurora. Not an excuse to throw barbs back and forth.
Though to be honest, any conversation with Leah was an excuse to lob barbs back and forth. At least in her eyes.
"What? I'm not announcing my resignation from the council!"
"Oh my apologies, I only assumed that since you said you weren't sure you approved of me changing how our government was appointed that you'd be resigning in protest," Belle told her. "Though I mean, if Ben can inherit the position from me, wouldn't it make sense that we get rid of elections? That way the government is more stable as well."
There was silence on the other end and for a brief moment, Belle thought Leah had hung up.
"...I'll be sure this is brought up in the next council session!"
"You do that," Belle nodded. And I'll see if there's any way we can't call for your removal. I've had enough of you on the council just from Adam's stories alone, never mind the badgering you did about that Gods forsaken contract when I was pregnant with Abby. Thank Gods Adam somehow got you to leave me alone and we weren't pressured into signing that blasted thing. Even if I'm still not convinced you didn't have something to do with Abby being slightly premature.
"Queen Belle, I think I'm going to go ahead and end this call," Aurora spoke up. "We can talk more in the morning when there's more of a guarantee of privacy."
"I think that's a wonderful idea," Belle nodded. "I promised my son I'd tell him the results once we got word but I wanted to make sure I was available to take your call."
"Oh well do tell Prince Ben that I hope he has a good night and I'm sure we'll be hearing from him soon. It hasn't been the same without him running down the halls here with Audrey."
Belle pursed her lips, trying hard not to badmouth another child in front of their parent. But Chip had shared with her the letter Audrey had sent to Ben, about how their friendship couldn't resume now that he was 'tainted' by the Isle.
Even if she was positive Aurora had nothing to do with it (and to be fair, Belle was in fact positive of that), there was no way she'd send her son there with Leah there to potentially spew filth in his ears. At the very least, she'd never send him alone.
"I'll be sure to pass along your thoughts," Belle said instead. "Thank you for your call, by the way Aurora. I hope you and your family have a good night."
"And I hope the same for you and yours, Queen Belle," Aurora told her before the call ended. Belle sighed and leaned back in her chair—even just dealing with her indirectly, Leah managed to suck all the energy out of her.
"Are you alright your highness?" Cogsworth asked.
Belle nodded. "I'll be okay, just give me a moment."
"Of course your highness," Cogsworth nodded before pausing. "Your highness? A piece of mail arrived for you today."
"My apologies Cogsworth but did you say a piece of mail arrived for me and I'm only just hearing about it now?" Belle asked, looking up at her husband's former aid.
Cogsworth nodded. "Yes your highness, but there was a note asking that we not tell you about the mail until the election was confirmed."
He walked over and set a slightly wilted rose on the desk along with a note, a note that Belle picked up with slightly trembling hands.
Congratulations Belle,
I told you you could do it, didn't I? I am so proud to call you my Queen, my wife, and to call you the mother of our children. Nothing can stop you now because you've proven it.
I miss you and I know one wilted rose isn't much of a present but it was the best the Isle had to offer.
As much as I hate the fact that Ben will be here...I can't wait to see him. The portal call was great but I miss him, I miss Abby. And of course, as mentioned, I miss you.
Hoping to see you on the portal soon!
Love,
Adam
Belle smiled as she re-read the note and gently brought the rose to her nose. There was still a trace of scent that she could detect, much to her surprise. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Lady Persephone was staying in the palace? After all, she was the daughter of the Goddess of the Harvest and Persephone herself was the Goddess of Vegetation.
"Do...do you want me to see if I can put that in some water for you, your highness?" Cogsworth asked as Belle stood up.
"Yes please, thank you Cogsworth," Belle nodded. "I'll be in my son's room should anything come up that requires my attention tonight. Otherwise, please enjoy the rest of the night and relax. You've earned it after all, you've been by my side throughout the whole process and ran the most tight knit campaign I think I've ever seen."
"It was my pleasure your highness," Cogsworth said. "You...you saved me from a lifetime as a clock. I would have been amiss if I hadn't done everything in my power to help you when you needed it as well."
Belle gave him a gentle smile and walked over to give the shorter man a hug. "You have nothing to repay," she whispered to him. "You, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts...you've been like family all these years and family doesn't make family repay anything."
"That may be so, your highness, but even family knows to be grateful to the person who saved them from a lifetime as an inanimate object. And truthfully there is no repaying that. I just hope that what I'm able to do goes toward that in some way."
Belle couldn't help but give him another smile. "Well, family to family? Take the rest of the night off. In fact, take the week off, Cogsworth. You deserve it."
"...Yes your highness."
Belle chuckled softly, knowing Cogsworth would probably consider a day off to be too much, before making her way out of her office and to her son's room. Gently pushing open the door, she smiled as she saw her son spread out in his bed; his stuffed Cerberus from his birthday clutched to his chest while the stuffed reindeer and tiger his friends had given him stood guard on the foot of his bed.
She softly made her way into Ben's room and knelt down next to his bed.
"Ben, sweetheart?" Belle whispered. "Are you asleep?"
A light snore from her son was all the answer Belle needed. She smiled and, after slipping her shoes off, gently climbed into the bed so that she was between her son and the wall. She knew she'd be able to slip out if Abby needed her but for right now, she just wanted to be with her son.
"We won," she whispered, gently kissing Ben on the head. "You won't have to worry about anything when you go to be with your father for six months. Your home will always be here for you Ben...and so will I. You can trust in that."
Slowly pulling the blankets up over both her and Ben, Belle slowly fell asleep. Yes it wasn't the most comfortable positions around but after everything that had happened, it was the best sleep Belle had gotten in months.