Mal plopped on her bed, completely spent. That fireball that she had let loose after Ben gave that revelation had been bigger than she had been able to produce on the Isle.
Yeah, they claimed that the barrier suppressed evil magic but there was no way to tell if a fireball was being conjured through evil intent or if it was just to keep warm. Besides, she needed a way to keep Zevon and Freddy at bay didn't she?
Gods I hope Gil is okay, she thought as she rolled over onto her back; having plopped onto her stomach. I'll check on him once I'm not so tired. I'm sure Carlos has him covered right now though, him and Dude.
Her exhaustion wasn't helped by Natalie's tirade at her being late to the meeting either. Apparently, having a meeting with Ben didn't matter. A princess was never late to a meeting. Mal sighed as she thought back on some of what Natalie had said.
"You threw a dagger at her? A dagger?! What in the Gods name were you thinking? What if that had hit her?"
"Natalie, I...hang on, how did you even find that out?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow. "It literally just happened."
"She texted me," Natalie said, waving her hand as if to wave off that fact. "But that's not important. Mal, do you know what that would do to King Ben if the tabloids found out his girlfriend nearly killed Princess Audrey with a dagger?"
"Honestly Jay was in more danger of being hit than Audrey was, if he hadn't ducked in time—"
"That doesn't matter Mal!" Natalie snapped. "Honestly, I'm surprised King Ben isn't more embarrassed to be around you if you're pulling stunts like this!"
It was those words that stuck with Mal the most. Was Ben embarrassed to be around her and he was just too polite to say it? Did Natalie have a point?
Mal was trying, no one could say that she wasn't. She had put more focus on her studies, making sure to get to class on time. She made friends outside her VK group and other than throwing the dagger, she hadn't done anything 'wicked' in weeks.
Oh sure, she still did her spray painting but she kept it to canvas rather than spraying it on the lockers or the walls of the school. She kept her style, but Maleficent didn't have a monopoly on dragons.
...did she?
It wasn't a lie to say that, with the exception of Lonnie and Ben, most people in Auradon immediately thought of Maleficent when they thought of dragons. Lonnie's first thought was always Mushu while Ben had started telling people that Mal was the first thought that came to his mind when dragons were involved.
That always earned a good natured eye roll from his Tourney team mates, a chuckle from Jay or Carlos, or a smile from Mal depending on who was around to hear it.
That hadn't stopped The Gazelle, nor did it seem to stop the comments from Audrey and her lackeys. Not that Mal cared about what Sleeping Brat or her gormless sheep thought but if The Gazelle kept printing articles like that, someone at school might send it to their relatives. Adults with the power to actually do something.
The last thing Mal wanted was for Ben to get hurt because of her. Because people thought he was dating a villain.
After all, someone in Auradon had made it so that kids were denied access to decent food just based on where they were born. Mal honestly wouldn't put it past them to try to rise up against their teenaged king just because of who he was dating.
"Mal?" Evie's voice broke through her thoughts and Mal lifted her head to see the blue haired VK walking into the room.
"Hey Evie," Mal said softly as she set her head back down onto her pillow. Honestly, after the whole Coronation debacle, there wasn't any need to put up a front around her roommate. Besides, with their history, Evie wasn't really a pusher when it came to wanting to know information.
"Bad day?" Evie asked sympathetically.
Mal sighed. "You could say that. But you don't want to hear me rant. How was the hospital with your dad?"
"They think they're going to wake him up soon," Evie said and the excitement in her voice was honestly so infectious that Mal couldn't help but smile.
"That's great," she told Evie, happy the exhaustion she was feeling didn't come through in her voice. "I'm happy for you."
"I'm so grateful to you and Ben," Evie said, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I honestly didn't think there was a chance I'd see my dad again. What with him being in Maleficent's clutches and the food issues on the Isle..."
"You don't need to be," Mal said, sitting up. "Grateful that is. I know we had our differences but I wouldn't have let anyone linger in Maleficent's dungeon if I could prevent it. Plus Ben...well he's Ben. If he can make life better for someone, he'd do his best to do it."
"Well regardless, I am," Evie said and pulled out her sketchbook. "I have a design for your dress for cotillion if you want to go over it. I really think you'll like it Mal."
"Oh right," Mal sighed. While she was surprised by the subject change, she probably should have expected it. Evie would need time to sew the dress after all, so the sooner she had a design nailed down, the better off she'd be in terms of making the freaking thing. The last thing Mal wanted to do was make it so Evie had to rush like she did for Mal's dress that she wore to Coronation.
"What's wrong?" Evie asked, softly biting her lip as she looked over at the purple haired VK. "Did...did you change your mind about my designing your cotillion dress?"
"No, no!" Mal said as Estelle plodded over and hopped onto Mal's bed. Mal smiled and scratched Estelle behind the ears. He must have followed her from the gym to Ben's office before making his way to her room when she ran out. "Evie, I made a promise to you that you would design my dress. I would never take that away from you."
"Oh," Evie said and Mal could tell there was a faint smile to her lips. "Then...is something the matter Mal? I...I know we're not the closest so if you'd rather talk to Uma, I'd understand. I mean..."
Mal sighed again. While she would love to talk to her cousin, she knew that there were two things that would happen. One, Uma would throw a fit and march down to Natalie's room, maybe smack her before going on a Gods' knows how long rant about how it was none of her business what Mal wore. Two, her mom would get involved somehow.
As much as she loved her mother, the last thing Mal wanted was for her to know what was going on. She was on the Isle anyway, all knowing would do would hurt her.
"Evie, could...I was thinking of maybe moving more toward Auradon styles instead of regular Isle styles?" Mal said and Evie's eyes got wider before she nodded, flipping to a blank page in her sketchbook.
"We could totally do that Mal," she said, her eyes growing bright at the chance to design some new options for Mal to wear. "What were you thinking? Less leather? I'm thinking we're still going to keep the purple right? And the dragons?"
Mal bit her lip. "Um...yes to the purple. But maybe no dragons?"
"Are you sure?" Evie asked, looking at Mal in shock. Dragons were Mal's thing. Seeing Mal without dragons would be like seeing Carlos without Dude or seeing Jay without his beanie. But...Mal was the client here. Evie had to think in a more professional setting. She could worry as a friend later.
"Yeah," Mal sighed softly, nodding her head. She loved her dragons but...if it kept people from making the comparisons to Maleficent, losing them wouldn't be a bad thing would it?
After all, even her friends and she called Maleficent the 'Dragon' if they had to talk about her in public on the Isle. If that wasn't a sign that Maleficent basically had a hold on dragons, Mal didn't know what was.
Ben's safety right now was paramount and since Emir and Akiho usually joked that Ben didn't even employ guards since he was too trusting, it fell to Mal to make sure no one tried to harm Ben because of her.
"Okay, well I can work with that," Evie said, nodding her head as she jotted down some notes in the corner of her sketchbook. "Give me a couple of days, I'll have a design for your cotillion dress. Maybe even a few designs so you have a few choices."
Mal nodded and Evie tore out a page from her sketchbook, placing it in the drawer of her bedside table. It had been a design that she had thought was quintessential Mal that would have been perfect for cotillion. It'd been a semi-formal looking dress with a pattern that looked like dragon scales up the skirt and sleeves that almost resembled dragon's wings.
Mal saved the day in her dragon form, plus Ben loves dragons, she thought as she shut the drawer. But, as they say, the customer's always right. Besides, Mal and I haven't been friends that long. I wouldn't want to rock the boat here.
"Oh," Evie said, turning back to Mal. "A um...a copy of The Gazelle came for you. I didn't know if you wanted to read it or just throw it out. That's what I've been doing with mine ever since...well ever since Coronation."
Mal sighed. "Thanks Evie. Just leave it on my dresser. I'll read it later or just use it for Estelle to use to do his business on."
"Okay," Evie said softly, putting the copy of the tabloid on Mal's dresser. "Um...I'm going to go catch up with Doug. He's been helping me catch up on what I've missed since Fairy Godmother gave me the three weeks off from classes. Are you...are you going to be okay?"
Mal gave her a small smile. "I'll be fine Evie. Just a long day, we had those on the Isle and I'm sure we'll have more of them in Auradon."
Evie nodded and gave Mal a kind smile before walking out of the room, leaving Mal once again on her own. Something that the purple haired Godling was thankful for. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy being around Evie, actually the blue haired VK had been slowly growing on her ever since Coronation. Due to the fact that she had grown up being trained to be royal, she was a good resource in case Mal had any questions—not that Mal had asked of course. Not while Evie was dealing with the fallout of attempting to steal the wand and then everything with her dad.
Sighing, Mal got up and walked over to her dresser. She knew she shouldn't read the trash that The Gazelle wrote but...it was better to know what your enemies were saying than to be caught unawares.
Picking up the paper, Mal plopped back onto her bed and unfolded the gossip rag; once again rolling her eyes at seeing her own face staring back at her on the cover.
It's only because I'm dating Ben, she tried to tell herself. At some point, there'll be a new shiny object that'll catch their attention. Right?
Her eyes poured over the 'article', taking in every word that was used. Every jab thrown her way. This time, whoever wrote the article seemed intent on predicting the ways Mal would fail on Ben's kingdom tour that was coming up. Something that Mal would have to accompany him on as she was his girlfriend.
Not just his girlfriend, she thought with an inward sigh. A few days ago, Ben had told her that he wanted to bring her in as a Lady of the Court. Mal didn't know why she had agreed to such a plan but she had.
Why did she need to be a 'Lady' anyway? She technically already was one anyway, what with being the daughter of Lord Hades and Lady Persephone. Hell, even if most people still believed that she was the daughter of Maleficent, there was no arguing with the daughter of Hades part.
Mal paused as she continued to read the article, her hands slowly balling into fists as she took in each word.
Is Mal truly ready for the kingdom wide tour that King Ben had announced this past Saturday? Considering how sources claim she acts around Auradon Prep, it's hard to say for sure. This reporter has to wonder how someone so opposite Princess Audrey came to be on the arm of the King.
One can only hope that it truly is love and not something manufactured in a lab...a potions lab perhaps? After all, as was revealed at King Ben's coronation, Mal's full name is Maleficent. A love spell to take over the kingdom would be right up her alley.
"For the love of all that is bad and evil, my name is Malinda!" Mal growled. "You're going to believe Maleficent's word over mine? Over mom's?! And no wonder Sleeping Brat was going on about Ben being spelled earlier if this is the kind of dribble that's getting written! Ben can't even be spelled! You'd think that'd be something of public record!"
Okay, calm down, she told herself, taking a few deep breaths. You keep going on like this, you're going to end up letting loose another fireball. What if you hit Estelle?
Mal sighed and tried her best to force her anger down. Like Akiho's aunt's old motto, what was it again? Conceal, don't feel? I mean, sure she almost completely froze all of Arendelle but until Mal had a handle on her powers, it would have to do for now.
Thankfully, she still had her hours blocked out for her magic practice. She'd hate to see what would happen if she had to figure out what to do without them.
Getting up, Mal lifted up her mattress and put the copy of The Gazelle underneath it. Uma would ask about any ash piles or torn up copies of it in the trash bin. At least this way, there was no way for her cousin to find out—Uma had been pitching the copies as soon as they came in, not even bothering to read them.
Jay and Harry did the same, as did Carlos. Actually, the younger boy was disgusted at the fact that The Gazelle didn't even have a website and just stuck to a paper product. Meanwhile, Gil only kept his copies for when he was working on some sort of craft.
It honestly amazed Mal at how crafty the son of Gaston was but the proof was available whenever she went into Carlos' and Gil's room. One half of the room was always covered in wires as Carlos was taking something apart or building something else. While Gil's side usually had paints or wood carvings available. He had even joined the art club...but dropped it when he realized that it was mainly painting.
You know...maybe I should do that, Mal thought. It'd be a way to keep up with my art stuff and be able to show people I'm more than the biological offspring of Maleficent. I...I doubt they'll do much with spray paints but again, worth the sacrifice if it keeps Ben safe.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mal caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She sighed as she saw her leather jacket, her prized possession. The jacket that had never left her body with the exception of sleeping since she was eight. Actually, she even slept in it if it was a rare night where she slept in the clubhouse but those were few and far between after she got her room in the Underworld. They were even rarer after Jay, Harry and Uma all got rooms in the Underworld too.
Honestly, the Underworld had a lot of guest rooms considering her dad really wasn't big on entertaining.
But on the nights she had slept in the clubhouse and the one night a week she had to spend at Maleficent's, Mal kept her jacket on. She was no fool—after all she was friends with Jay of all people. She knew what would happen to her jacket if she took it off.
Like I said...this is for Ben, Mal thought as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror; her hands clutching the sides of her jacket as if unsure about the decision she was about to make.
After all, eliminating dragons on her future clothes that was fine. She wasn't happy about it but she could live with it. But going without her jacket?
It's not permanent...besides, what would be harder to live with? Your jacket for a few weeks or Ben forever because someone thought he was being spelled? Or worse, because they thought he was too hormonal to handle being king?
Before she had a chance to second guess herself for a third time, Mal quickly shed her jacket and hung it up, putting it in her wardrobe and shutting the door.
She rubbed her hands over her shoulders, her bare arms feeling a bit cold without the comforting feel of the leather but it would be something she'd grow used to. Quickly flopping back onto her bed, Mal pulled her sketchbook to her just as Uma walked in.
"What the hell?" Uma asked, staring at her. "Where's your jacket?"
"Took it off," Mal muttered, starting a sketch of Estelle.
"Why in the world would you do that? You love that jacket."
"Got too hot."
"It's like in the mid sixties Mal!"
"Yeah well with the heating in these buildings Uma, it's going to be different than a mid sixty day on the Isle," Mal shrugged.
Uma shook her head and sat down on her bed. "Mal, don't tell me this is because of what that brat said earlier is it?"
"Uma, like I said, the day I let Audrey occupy any part of my brain is the day that pigs fly," Mal scoffed. "She is no one to me. She's like an annoyance that we have to live with—you know what? She's like Quinn okay? The annoyance from the Caster gang because she didn't have any magic."
"Plus it'd be an accurate comparison since Quinn's the Queen of Heart's daughter," Uma mused for a second before pointing her finger at Mal, standing up as she did it. "Don't try to change the subject Mali! You've changed since you got here."
"Yeah. Your point?" Mal asked. "Believe it or not, not having to worry about what Maleficent's doing every minute of every day makes one a bit more relaxed. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go hunt down my brother and make sure he's doing alright."
Mal got up and walked out of the room, leaving Uma standing there with Estelle once again. Uma shook her head.
"What's going on with your human, huh?" Uma asked Estelle, the Cerberus tilting his left head in confusion as if wondering if Uma was wanting a response. Uma sighed, normally she'd reach out to her aunt but Persephone was on the Isle right now. There wasn't much she could do especially if Mal had the link muted.
Looks like it's up to me, Uma thought with an inward sigh. Thankfully I've got Harry and Jay for help. Hadie too. Plus, if things get really desperate, I can always ask Benny to bring Aunt Steph back a little early. He seems like he'll do anything for Mal.
"Hey cap'n?" Harry asked, poking his head in. "Have you done that Remedial Goodness essay yet?"
Uma chuckled. "No, not yet Harry. Honestly that class is such a waste of time."
"Agreed. But did you want to work on it together? Maybe in the library?"
"I sense you have something other than homework in mind."
Harry smirked. "Oh nothing. Other than the fact that I heard from Emir's sister that your young cousin could be seen with a blonde lass. Alone."
Uma rolled her eyes. "He's like eleven Harry. That being said...I am intrigued. Let's go."
After grabbing her notebook, the two of proceeded to make their way to the library. After all, safety in numbers right?