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There were few things Mal hated more than makeovers. Even back on the Isle, she would watch grainy footage of Snow White hosting a show dedicated to all the pretty little slips of girls who wanted nothing more than to look like princesses. Mal? She could have barfed with how ridiculous it all was.
She had done the princess thing once before, and it had nearly driven her to madness.
The only time she ever allowed herself to be picked at and primped was under the hands of Evie or Dizzy. The royal stylists? Hell no. They were about as fashionable as wooden boards slapped with colorful fabrics.
“It’s your wedding,” Evie pleaded with her one day. “Can’t we do something about this?” She picked up a frayed lock of purple that grew from Mal’s head. “Maybe we should do something more subtle to go with the dress?”
Mal might have said yes at any other time, but it hadn’t even been a month since her engagement and everyone was already going nuts with planning – Evie included. “I’m not a Cinderella doll,” she said, and Evie frowned at her, brow furrowed. “I want to feel like . . . me.”
Evie just nodded along. “Okay, I get it, but at least let me give you a new hairdo. Dizzy needs the practice.”
Mal had to hold back a yawn. “You’re the maid of honor, so I’ll leave that to you. Just tell me where and when to show up, and I’ll go.”
The evil queen’s daughter brightened at the words and clasped her hands together. “Oh, really, Mal? Eeee, I’m so excited!”
Whatever Mal’s own quibbles, she couldn’t deny Evie her fun.
As Evie flipped through books of hairstyle shots to decide on different options, Mal watched the flat screen television in Evie’s living room. She blew out a bubble from the gum she was chewing – and then nearly choked as she saw her own face appear onscreen. It was a head shot from the day the Isle barriers had come down, right before the epic dance party that had left her feet aching for days.
”Former villain kid Mal has been spotted by her lonesome for the last few weeks, and we have to wonder: can it be that there’s trouble in paradise? Royal stud King Ben has been making the rounds for his upcoming nuptials by personally inviting the royal attendees from surrounding nations, but Mal has been MIA. What does this spell for the young couple and their budding future? A little bird told us that Mal is in meltdown mode, quite the Pampered Princess Bride, and has shrugged off her royal duties for—“
Before Mal could even think to throw something at the screen and shatter it, Evie shut off the television with a flick of her remote. “Enough of that,” she said tersely, but the damage was already done. Mal stared at the now-black screen, a disgusted look on her face.
“Did you hear what they said about me?” she asked, dumbfounded.
Evie patted Mal’s hand. “It’s a tabloid news show. Nobody takes it seriously.”
Mal eyed her best friend with what only could have been a Are you kidding me?-kind of look. “That’s broadcast all over the kingdom – and beyond! No one’s going to take me seriously at all because of this!”
“Don’t overreact,” Evie said. She patted Mal’s cheek. “You don’t need to have wrinkles added on top of your other problems.”
The urge to roll her eyes had never been stronger. “Evie, I know you love weddings and true love and the idea of epic romances, but – is it really worth all this? At the end of the day?”
There was a long pause. “But Ben is your true love, Mal. How can you not want to tie the knot with him? And become queen on top of all that?”
“I do,” Mal admitted, “but sometimes I don’t. Like right now. Right now, I just wish I was in a rave on the Isle or something so I could forget everything else.”
“You don’t mean that,” Evie said gently. “Why be nostalgic for a place you hated?”
Did I, though? Did I really hate living on the Isle?
Mal may have hated the Isle, but that didn’t mean she loved Auradon instead. Both places had their own flaws and quirks and stressors. Mostly, she just wanted to feel a sense of home with someone – and she had Ben, Evie, Carlos, and Jay for that. As long as she had them, she didn’t really care where she lived.
“I don’t know, Evie,” she finally said. “I just feel like I’m not cut out for all of this.”
“So you’ve said,” Evie replied, “probably about a thousand times. I’m so used to it that I just try to let it pass like the phase it is. Sometimes I think you forget how fortunate you are. Auradon could have rejected us all and sent us back to the Isle, but we’re still here. We got to stay — and now we can pursue our own happily-ever-afters.”
Mal blew out a sigh. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “I guess I’m taking things for granted again.”
“As long as you have me as your compass, I’ll set you straight every time,” Evie said, and Mal grinned at her.
“How did I get a friend like you?” she wondered aloud.
“I don’t know how, but you better appreciate me! I’m working my buns just to get the perfect wedding planned for you!”
Mal laughed with her best friend – and all felt right. For now.
*
That night after leaving Evie’s, Mal sat in the apartment Ben had chosen for them to stay whenever they wanted to get away from the eyes of his parents. She had picked out all the furniture, the paint colors, and even the pictures on the walls. It reminded her of her old warehouse lair, a place that had always calmed her on the days when everything else felt like too much.
Today was one of those days.
Before she could think better of it, she took out her cell phone and dialed Ben’s number. She thought it would go to voicemail – it was pretty early in the morning in Camelot – but before she could hang up she heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.
“Can’t sleep without me?” Ben asked, and she could hear the smile in his voice even without being able to see him right then.
She laughed. “Hardly. You know I don’t sleep well anywhere I go.”
Ben made a hmm noise on the other end. “Wedding planning getting to be a bit too much for you?”
“No, it’s not that,” she said as she began to pick at her nails and their gel polish. “Evie handles all the hard stuff. I just need to give my sign of approval.”
“You’re lucky to have her,” he said, and she nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “So what’s the matter then? You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”
Mal stifled her laughter. “Oh, I think my feet are nice and toasty right now.”
“Good,” Ben said, “because you had me a little worried. You’ve been so quiet lately. But then all this traveling came up, and – I don’t know, Mal, I didn’t realize it was so complicated to get married.”
“Neither did I,” she admitted. “The fairy tales always made it seem so easy. Meet your true love, break a curse, have a magically quick wedding, and then, boom, happily ever after secured. But this is pretty exhausting."
Ben was quiet on the other end before saying, “If it’s too much, we can elope. It might be tricky, but I can book a ticket right now to Corona – or Arendelle! It can be just the two of us, enjoying the sights and the time out of the spotlight, and we’ll get hitched in a little alcove somewhere. Sound any good to you?”
Mal smiled, but it was a hollow smile on her lips. Ben was just trying to make her feel better, but he was the king of Auradon: no one would let him get married unless it was in front of thousands of spectators. And she had to deal with that, because they had agreed to compromise for each other. This wedding was one such compromise.
“No way,” she said. “I want that strawberry and buttercream wedding cake Evie found for the wedding. I’m not giving that up.”
It was a small lie, but she couldn’t be the reason Ben turned his back on the traditions that formed the foundation of his kingdom.
It was quiet for a moment before Ben said, “Okay, if that’s what you really want. But are you sure you’re fine? Be honest with me.”
Mal squeezed her forearm and thought of all the things she wished she could say without worrying him or making him feel guilty.
”I don’t know if I can be queen.”
”You’re my true love now, but will that change someday?”
”Why are you so good about everything, but I struggle with just the simplest things required of me?”
”I wish I could hold you right now.”
But instead she settled for this: “I’m doing the best I can. As long as I have you and my friends, I think I can manage.”
“We’re all on your side, Mal,” Ben said. “Don’t forget that. You’re not alone.”
Her eyes nearly filled with tears, but she drew a steadying breath before they could fall. “I love you so much, Ben.”
She could sense the grin even before he spoke. “I love you too, Mal. We’re going to have a fantastic wedding, and then we’re going to have an even better honeymoon. Trust me, you’ll never be able to forget it.”
And just like that she was laughing again. “Oh, no, should I be worried?”
“Not when you’re with me,” he said. “Never when you’re with me.”
It sounded like a promise that she was all too ready to accept.
“I’ll hold you to that,” she said after a moment. “I fully expect to swoon – a lot.”
“Oh, you’ll do more than swoon,” Ben said, and she nearly laughed at his bold attempt at seductiveness.
“Whoa, boy, we’re not married yet,” she teased.
“Soon enough we will be,” he said. “And then I’ll let everyone know I have the most beautiful, smart, and funny queen of all.”
“Watch it; you’ll give me an ego that’s too heavy to carry.”
“We’ll have someone carry it for you then,” he said, “because I won’t stop telling you how wonderful you are.”
Be still, my heart.
“Okay, King Ben, I think your queen-to-be needs to get some beauty sleep,” Mal said, glad for the distance because she would have been so embarrassed for him to see her face right then.
“Good night, Mal.”
“Have a good day, Ben.”
Then the phone call ended, and Mal felt more at peace than she had in a long, long time.