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“If you think anyone but the Heart family will rule Wonderland, your highness, then I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”
Red glanced wearily between her mother and former King Beast, pursing her lips to remain quiet. She’d been allowed to sit in on her mother’s summons with the royalty of Auradon, but only if she wasn’t disruptive. That was easier said than done. On one side of the table sat the only two Kingdoms annexed from Auradon’s vast borders: that being Wonderland and Cinderellasburg. On the other side of the table sat the leaders of the United Kingdom’s. Things had changed slightly since returning from the past. Wonderland remained open, the rabbit hole no longer boarded up and forgotten. But Cinderellasburg was no longer part of Beast’s union. They were the only two kingdoms who held out against merging into a high monarchy.
The former high king had overtaken his son’s meeting—the true king—a little while ago, being unnecessarily aggressive towards her mother. The Queen of Hearts was not taking kindly to that. It was in Red's opinion that Beast had no say in what happened in Auradon, seeing as he’d passed the throne off almost ten years before.
Naturally, Queen Ella stood by her best friend. Mother refused to allow Wonderlands' throne to be held by anyone outside of the Heart family line, something Ella supported. Chloe had begged to sit in on the meeting too but had been denied, as it was Chad’s responsibility to one day rule the kingdom. Currently he was on his honeymoon, therefore Queen Ella stood alone against the United Kingdom’s desire for another unfair merger.
“The time has come for Wonderland to come out of the dark ages,” King Beast argued, jabbing his meaty finger across the table. “We can combine our resources to make a bigger and better empire. Your unwillingness to cooperate is selfish.”
“Selfish? I think not,” mother snapped back, the pink tint to her pretty updo darkening to a more vicious red. “Wonderland’s resources are finite. Special. Opening our borders to your gluttonous masses will leave our land sparse.”
Red winced at the Queen’s harshness, having gotten used to the sweet, kind Bridget who’d taken over the Queen tyrant's place. Oddly though, Red was seeing much more of that woman now than she had in months. It made her gut twist just remembering how bad it had been not that long ago. Mother was coarse, cold, and brutal in her words. Firm in how she wrangled her throne. Certainly no longer a tyrant, but no push-over either.
Something King Beast was now learning.
“Your sanctions are too strict and your goods too heavily taxed, your majesty,” King Ferdinand of Summervale complained, his young face hardly suited to that of a king. “We cannot buy from Wonderland without going bankrupt.”
“Then stop buying our goods, sir,” mother barked. “My decisions are fair, as it protects my kingdom from your use. Such prices feed my people for months. Should you wish to have special things, then you pay the price for that luxury.”
“Queen Ella hardly pays the same amount for goods.”
“We are equal trade partners,” Ella complained, frowning at being dragged into the mess. “It is not Cinderellasburg that siphons resources into all the wrong places.”
“That’s a bold accusation to make,” King Beast growled in annoyance. “You of all rulers should’ve accepted our merger when it was first made.”
“To what end? To bully my ally into folding to your demands?” Ella shook her head. “Cinderellasburg stands with Wonderland, not Auradon. That will not be changing anytime soon.”
“And what if Auradon stops buying from Wonderland?” King Beast prodded, his brows deeply furrowed. “How will your people fare?”
“My people have been self-sufficient for decades,” mother sniffed. “It is not Auradon’s dollar that supports my Kingdom, but rather the other way around.”
“How dare…!”
“Father! Enough.” Red sighed deeply at Ben’s interference, his hand taking his father’s arm and giving it a firm tug. “This has gone too far.”
“You’re as stubborn as you were when you were a teenager, Bridget,” Beast accused. “Nothing has changed.”
“And my threat to go to war with Auradon over my borders remains,” mother snapped back with a cruel jeer, leaning dangerously over her hands as she glared down the table. “Push too far, Beast, and Auradon will be no more!”
At the sudden rise in volume and deepening of her voice, something horrible shivered through Red’s body.
You’re such a disappointment. Again. What is your sentence, Red?
Clutching the arms of her chair, Red was physically quaking under the memories of her childhood. She’d nearly killed Chloe’s mom, all because she folded under the pressure. And though they went back in time, apparently that part of her mother that she knew so well had always been there.
“Wonderland will not merge with Auradon, is that correct, your majesty?” Ben asked hastily, lifting a flat palm to try and quell the tension. Mother hissed past her teeth, her long pink nails digging into the table. Queen Ella had a firm grip on her arm, though it appeared to be doing very little.
“No, King Ben. Wonderland will not be merging with your weak and pathetic union.”
“Ok.” Ben waved to the scribe, who wrote down the answer. He turned to Ella. “What of Cinderellasburg?”
She scowled. “No.”
“Fine. Then this meeting is adjourned. Good day, your majesties.”
All Red heard was ‘adjourned’. She was out of the chair faster than she thought possible, running from the room. She saw a familiar head of blue curls waiting in the foyer and made an immediate turn, practically slamming into Chloe who nearly fell over in surprise.
“R-Red! What happened?” Chloe’s grip was strong as she took hold of Red’s arms. “You’re shaking.”
“I—I can’t…I can’t breathe…” Red huffed, clinging to her girlfriend in desperation. “I can’t…”
“Ok. Ok, ok. Come on.” Still clinging to Chloe’s shoulders, Red didn’t even flinch as she was suddenly picked up, swinging her legs around her companion’s hips as she was physically carried away from the conference room. Thankfully, what with all the ROAR training, Chloe was crazy muscular and could hold her off the ground no problem. Red was set down in a window seat, the hallway dark and quiet with seemingly no one to be found. “Red, you need to breathe.”
“T—trying, I’m trying.” Tucked into the corner between the wall and window, Red closed her eyes tight, closing her mouth to force air in and out of her nose. Chloe kicked off her shoes, sitting cross-legged on the bench across from her and running a hand over her kneecap.
“In and out, nice and slow.”
“Mhm…” huffing, Red’s mind whirled in a million different directions. She held the front of her jacket, pressing the heel of her palm where her heart drummed behind her ribs. Chloe eventually grabbed onto her face, rolling both thumbs across her cheekbones.
“With me, Red. In for three…” Red inhaled deeply, holding the air in her chest. “Out for four.” She released the air again, hiccuping slightly. Following Chloe’s instructions she found her balance again, swallowing hard as she quivered. “Hey, look at me.” Peeling one eye open, Chloe’s brows furrowed. “What happened?”
“I saw my mom, Chlo.” Red could barely get the sentence out. “She’s…she’s still there.”
“I thought Bridget was nice now?”
“I thought she was too. But I saw her. She sounded exactly like what I remember.”
“But she hasn’t been like that since we got back.”
“I know! I know, that’s—that’s why I freaked out. I wasn’t ready.”
“I understand,” Chloe mumbled, raking both her hands up and through Red’s hair. She leaned in, giving her a very quick peck on the lips. “It’ll be ok. We’ll figure this out.”
“O—okay.” Releasing another sticky breath, both red and blue turned their heads as footsteps hurried down the hall.
“Red!” Mother’s alarmed cry echoed up the hall. Bridget’s voice was so much different than it was just a minute ago.
“We could try and get away,” Chloe whispered. “The window isn’t that high.”
“No. No, it’ll just freak her out,” Red whispered, leaning into Chloe’s hand. “I should talk to her.”
“Ok. I’ll be in the foyer; come find me later.”
“I will.” Giving Chloe a very brief kiss to the palm, the girl stood, leaving the alcove. She briefly spoke with Bridget, who asked where her daughter had gone, and then was on her way. Pulling both knees to her chest, Red leaned over them, feeling oddly vulnerable as mother’s head of pinkish-red hair appeared from the hall.
“Red, darling. There you are.”
“H—hi, mom.” Failing not to stutter her words, the Queen of Hearts sank down onto the window cushion beside her.
“What happened, love? You ran out so quickly.” Feeling mother’s hand gently brush against her leg, Red couldn’t help but flinch. Mother immediately stopped, her eyes going wide as she retracted her fingers. “I…it was me, wasn’t it?”
Red swallowed and lied: “No.”
“I scared you.” Mother—Bridget—curled her fists as she sat back against the window. “I knew I shouldn’t have allowed you into that meeting. King Beast always brings out the worst in me.”
“I’ve…I’ve never seen you like that before,” Red croaked, though the lie tasted bitter as she swallowed a painful hiccup.
“My temper,” Bridget hissed under her breath, closing her eyes as she mentally hit herself. “It’s always been a bit close to the surface. I’ve done what I can to keep it from boiling over, but that man. Ugh, I just want to take his head off sometimes.”
Red winced at the analogy, something Bridget caught as she removed her crown, setting it on the windowsill. She let her hair down, shaking out the pomegranate strands so they fell loosely over her shoulders in waves. It helped a little, seeing as mother tended to keep her hair rod straight. But her voice in the conference room still made Red’s bones rattle. “My love, I’m so sorry,” the woman apologized. “I don’t ever want you to see me that way.”
“I had a nightmare once,” Red managed, furrowing her brows. “One that’s stuck with me. A—and I always wake up thinking that…that it’s true. Today reminded me of it, and I just…I wasn’t ready to face it.”
Bridget tilted her head. “What kind of nightmare?”
“A nightmare where you were…cruel.”
The word hung heavy; stale, like a morning fog. Cruel.
“Did I hurt you in this nightmare?” Bridget asked. Red hesitated but nodded, pulling her knees even closer to her chest.
“You wanted me to be cruel too,” she whispered. “You’d do things to try and make me that way. B—but I could never be what you wanted. And you hated me for it.”
“I would never ask you to be cruel, Red,” Bridget insisted, though her voice was suddenly tight, as though she struggled to whisper the air from her lungs. “My own mother was,” she continued. “She hit me sometimes when I didn’t do what I was told. There was a madness in her, just as there is in me. And—though I hope it’s not true—there may be madness in you, too.”
“Madness?” Red asked wearily. “What do you mean?”
“It’s something that boils just under the surface,” Bridget explained, staring down at her lap. “Something inside us that makes it easy to be less than kind. Mother never tried to contain her madness…she didn’t have someone like Ella or Chloe to keep her grounded.” Bridget smiled a little. “We need people in our lives who aren’t afraid of our vices, Red. You’re lucky to have one that you’re willing to keep so close to your heart.”
“But why did you sound so different?” Red asked. “You’re always so kind.”
“Hearts are a bit like candy, my love,” Bridget mumbled, reaching into her pocket to remove a cherry red ball. She rolled it between her fingers, plastic wrap and all. “Soft, sweet things are lovely. They bring people smiles and make them feel warm and safe inside. But there are some, like Beast, who take advantage of kindness like that simply because it’s easy.” Bridget crushed the candy between her fingers, breaking its hard outer shell. “A hard shell helps protect the interior, but under enough pressure it’s bound to bleed.” Setting the candy aside, Bridget sighed, opening her arms. “Come here, my love.”
Red did, crawling across the bench into her mothers arms. The woman wrapped her up, setting her chin on the crown of Red’s forehead. It felt safe here. “I will never, ever do anything to hurt you, Red,” the woman whispered, pressing a kiss to her scalp. “I love you, dear. More than anything else in the world. Don’t let that outer shell scare you into believing there’s something other than sweetness inside.”
“Ok.” Red swallowed hard, closing her eyes to enjoy her mother’s embrace. Her anxiety melted away as she leaned deeper into her arms, taking advantage of the position for a much needed cuddle. After a beat of quiet, she glanced up at her mother curiously. “That voice you used,” she said. “It’s only reserved for idiots, right?”
The Queen of Hearts chuckled. “Quite so, my love. Now, let’s grab Chloe and Ella and go get ice cream, hmm? That always makes things better.”
Red grinned at the thought, but didn’t feel keen on moving just yet. She smiled as the woman ran long nails through her hair, twirling the strands.
“Mom?”
The Queen hummed in her chest. “Yes?”
“I’m glad you’re…well…not like I dreamed you were.”
“Me too, Red….me too.”