“Mother, this is Mal! I told you all about her!” said Allie, who pulled Alice away from admiring the students’ artwork displayed on the walls.
Mal shook so many hands and smiled so much her dimples were starting to hurt. People in Auradon were so nice, it was a little exhausting. She wished Ben were back already. He was still out of town, and he’d let her know he was sorry, but he wouldn’t make it back in time for the tourney game or the dance after all. Mal was surprised to find that she was actually quite disappointed about it, but at least she and Evie would still have fun. Mal would never admit it out loud, but dancing with her friends was nearly as good as going on a date with the King of Auradon.
“Mal, over here!” Evie called from the other end of the hall. Mal joined her side and they walked together to the tourney stadium. The band was already playing the Auradon fight song as they found their seats.
Evie handed her a piece of white silk.
“What’s this for?” Mal asked, noticing that everyone else in the nearby crowd had one. The stands on the Auradon side were full of people holding the white silk streamers, waving them gaily about.
“To cheer on our knights, duh,” replied Evie, waving hers.
Mal inspected it closely. “Hankies?”
“It’s what ladies used to wave at their knights, you know, back when they had real tourneys, with horses. They used to call it ‘waving their colors.’ Don’t you remember? We learned it in class.”
The Royal History of Auradon, Mal recalled now. She waved her white hankie, though really, this practice probably should have stayed behind in the Middle Ages. The crowd cheered when the Auradon Knights took the field; Mal and Evie hooted loudly when Jay and Carlos were introduced.
Carlos waved, smiling behind his helmet, and Jay gave them a thumbs-up. Chad was nowhere in the starting lineup and pouted from the bench.
The game was a close one. Without Ben to help Jay with the tourney plays, the Lost Boys nearly defeated the Knights on their home turf, but in the end Jay set up Carlos for the winning score, and the stands exploded in celebration.
“I’m glad we decided to stay for the game,” Mal told Evie. “Jay was right, we needed to be here.”
The girls went back to their rooms to change into their dresses for the dance. “Remember, we’re only staying for a little bit, then we leave and change into Lonnie’s and Audrey’s gowns, and meet the boys in the parking lot,” said Mal as she fluffed up her lavender skirts in the mirror. The dress had just enough volume without being fussy, and the dark leather cap sleeves were embellished with tiny black crystals, which meant they shimmered in the light but didn’t look princessy.
“Right,” said Evie, sounding doubtful.
“Evie!” Mal said. “What’s the matter? This is the plan.”
“But let’s not go so soon, okay? Can’t we have a little fun at least?” she wheedled, until Mal had to agree. “I promised Doug we’d dance the Heigh-Ho Slide.”
“Does he know about our plan?” Mal asked. She hadn’t forbidden the group to tell anyone, but had assumed they wouldn’t.
“No, I didn’t tell him. I don’t want him to have to lie for me.” Evie straightened her tiara and took a deep breath. “Plus, I don’t want him to worry. As far as he’ll know, I’ll be leaving the dance with a bad stomachache and then I’ll be in my room with the flu all weekend like we agreed.”
“I’m sorry we have to go so soon,” said Mal. “I know how much you love dances. You really do look like—”
“The Fairest?” asked Evie with a cheeky grin.
“Let’s just say every princess at that dance is definitely safe from a huntsman tonight,” said Mal.
“Okay, let’s do this,” said Evie. They linked arms and headed out the door.
The ballroom was festooned with so many balloons that it was hard to see the top of the ceiling. Gold bunting and blue ribbons hung everywhere.
“It’s perfect.” Evie sighed.
“That is a whole lot of balloons,” Mal said.
“You think? I was worried it wouldn’t be enough,” said Evie. “I doubled the order.”
They waved to Lonnie, who was manning the turntables up at the DJ booth. The Auradon tourney team trooped in, handsome in their formal wear, and Jay and Carlos found them, exuberant and smiling. They were the stars of the evening, surrounded by a group of admiring friends and teammates, while Chad skulked by the punch. Evie left to dance with Doug, and Jay and Carlos headed for the buffet tables. Mal picked at her food and checked the clock. She was impatient to get going and was relieved when it was finally time to gather up her team.
She elbowed Jay, and he reluctantly put down the plate of desserts he was holding.
“Let’s go,” she said. “I’ll grab Evie, you get Carlos, and we’ll meet you at the car.”
Mal felt her stomach flip as they set their plan in motion. Sure, she had faced down Maleficent and won once before. But who knew what kind of darkness awaited them this time? Alas, there was only one way to find out.
Carlos had never thought of himself as much of a dancer, but during the celebration after Maleficent’s defeat, when all of Auradon had danced on the school steps, he’d enjoyed shaking a leg with the group. Who knew he had it in him? And he was enjoying dancing with Jane, who looked pretty with her hair back to its original color and neat style instead of the long, glossy mane Mal’s spell had created. Carlos thought Jane’s normal hair suited her better. Some people didn’t really need makeovers, just more confidence.
He was spinning her around when Jay tapped on his shoulder. “Uh, I’m headed out,” Jay said. “I’m not feeling too well. What about you?”
Carlos was about to say he felt great when he remembered the plan. “Right! I, uh, I’m not feeling well either. Sorry, Jane.” He clutched his middle and pretended to double up in pain.
“Oh!” she said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I think I just have to lie down now,” he said. “Thanks for the dance.”
“No, thank you!” said Jane, a little wistfully.
Carlos crouch-walked out of the ballroom with Jay, who also made a show of looking ill. When they were outside the building, they straightened up and broke into a run toward the parking lot. They could still hear the music wafting from the dance as they made their way noiselessly across campus. They stopped uneasily when the ground rolled beneath them with a little tremor, but it faded away and they kept going.
Jay placed a chauffeur’s cap on his head and Carlos stuck in a fake earpiece. Since they were both already wearing black suits, Evie decided that was all they needed to complete the disguise as driver and bodyguard to the royal princesses. Now all they could hope for was that no one who saw them would know that Audrey and Lonnie were still at the dance.
They found the limousine, which had Auradon flags on each side of the hood. Jay removed the keys from his pocket and unlocked the car doors. He got in on the driver’s side and Carlos climbed into the passenger seat.
“Bridge remote?” asked Jay.
“Check,” said Carlos. “Found it in the glove compartment.”
There was a rustle of skirts from behind them, and the girls appeared out of the darkness. Mal had spelled their hair so that from far away, she and Evie really looked like Audrey and Lonnie. Actually, the disguise was so good that Carlos almost had a little panic attack thinking the real princesses were headed their way.
Mal opened the back door and they climbed in. “Hurry,” she said. “We need to get there before midnight.”
“Your chariot awaits, my ladies,” joked Jay, who revved up the engine.
“Um, Jay? Where did you learn to drive?” Evie asked, peeking out from the partition that separated the front of the car from the back.
“Street rats!” Jay cursed, hitting the steering wheel in frustration. “I was hoping you’d forget that I don’t, technically, know how.”
“Oh, for fur’s sake,” said Carlos. “Switch places.”
&
nbsp; “Carlos, you know how to drive?” asked Mal, impressed. “How?”
“I taught myself,” Carlos said. “My mom has a car, remember? She would make me drive her to the Queen of Hearts’s salon all the time.” He placed the chauffeur’s cap on his head and handed Jay the earpiece.
“Thank goodness!” said Evie.
“I don’t think goodness had anything to do with it, actually,” said Carlos with a smile. He eased the long car out of the parking lot. “Hey, if there’s any candy back there, you guys have to share.”
Mal threw him a huge lollipop that bonked him on the head, and they were off.
They had only traveled a few feet and hadn’t even left the school grounds when a flood of light covered the darkened driveway, and the limousine had to stop in its tracks. Mal squinted against the light to try to see who was blocking their way.
“It’s the royal carriage!” said Evie. “Ben must be back!”
“What do we do now?” said Carlos nervously. “I can’t go around it, it’s too big.”
The royal carriage was an imposing behemoth, resembling not so much a pumpkin as a giant squash on wheels. A footman opened the door and Ben stepped out, shaded his eyes against the light, and peered into the limousine.
Carlos switched off the ignition, resigned. “Oh, well, looks like we’re not going anywhere now,” he said, trying to sound disappointed, and failing.
“Let me handle it,” said Mal, stepping out of the car to meet Ben.
“Audrey?” Ben asked, when he saw her.
“No, uh, it’s me, Mal,” she said, feeling shy and a bit silly at the whole getup and embarrassed that they’d been caught sneaking out of Auradon. After all their careful planning, this was a bit anticlimactic.
“Mal?” He gaped. “What’s going on? What are you wearing? Is that a dress of Audrey’s? It’s so pink and blue. And is that the royal limousine?”
The windows rolled down, and the rest of the group waved cheerfully at Ben. Ben waved back, a bit confused. “Why does Evie look like Lonnie and why is Carlos driving? Does he even have a license?”
“I can explain,” said Mal. She quickly told him about the mysterious messages they’d received, the Anti-Heroes thread on the Dark Net, and the missing villains.
Ben listened carefully, rocking back and forth on his heels, taking it all in. “So now you’re all headed back to the Isle of the Lost?”
Mal nodded. “We have to, we have to see what’s going on.”
“I see.” He wasn’t frowning, which was a good sign, but he wasn’t smiling either. “And you weren’t going to tell me; why?”
“We didn’t want to get you in trouble—with your subjects, I mean,” said Mal. “Everyone’s a little nervous ever since the Coronation, and we didn’t think it would look good for you if you knew we were going back to the Isle of the Lost, especially with the embargo and all.”
“Hmm,” said Ben. “Okay.”
“Okay?” asked Mal. “You’re not mad?”
“No, why should I be? You’re not doing anything wrong…well, except maybe Jay shouldn’t have tricked Jordan out of the keys, you and Evie shouldn’t be pretending to be Audrey and Lonnie, and Carlos shouldn’t be driving without a license,” he said mildly, but he had a hint of a smile on his face.
“But you’re not going to stop us?” asked Mal.
“No. You guys should definitely check out what’s happening back there. I don’t know if I would have agreed to it if you’d asked me beforehand, but now that I do know about it, I think it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “Tell Carlos to send me the link to the Dark Net, and I’ll keep an eye on this Anti-Heroes thread in case it looks like you might need backup.”
“Definitely. And we’ll be back in time for class on Monday,” she told him. “We just wanted to check it out. Although if something is going down, we might be delayed longer. But I don’t want you to worry.”
“I won’t. I know you can watch out for yourself,” he said, taking her hand. “I’m glad I caught you, though. I wanted to tell you, strange things are happening, and not just on the Isle of the Lost. In Auradon too.”
“You mean like the earthquakes?” she asked.
He raised his eyebrows. “Not just the earthquakes, but lately there have been unseasonal hurricanes down by the Bayou, and giant sandstorms in Agrabah too.”
“What do they think is causing it?” she asked.
“We don’t know yet. But that’s not all.” He hesitated.
“What is it? Where were you, by the way? What’s wrong?” she asked, his somber expression making her feel anxious.
“Camelot Heights,” he said. “It’s why I took the carriage; their roads are hard on cars over there. Merlin came to the council with Artie on Monday, to ask for help with a strange creature that was attacking their town.”
“What kind of creature?” Mal asked, dreading the answer already. “What kind of attacks?”
Ben held her gaze. “One that was burning forests, stealing livestock, and scorching farms. A real menace,” he said. “Everyone’s really scared. All of Camelot Heights is under lockdown right now.”
“Oh no,” she said. “That’s awful.”
“Mal, it was a purple dragon,” he said quietly, letting the words sink in. He told her about how he had set up camp with Camelot’s knights on the edge of the forest and waited for days for the creature to appear. “Artie was on watch that night and woke us all up. It came out of nowhere, but I saw it before it vanished. A huge purple dragon, with bright green eyes.”
“What. No. You can’t think…” she said, her heart racing. This was madness. There was only one purple dragon in the world. Maleficent.
“I saw it,” he said. “It looked just like her….I’ll never forget how she looked during the Coronation. Her face was right in front of mine and she was going to roast me alive, until you stopped her. I’m telling you, it was her.”
Mal crossed her arms and kept shaking her head. “No, just no. It can’t be. I just saw her this morning. She’s trapped under glass on her pedestal. Tiny. Helpless. And you know as well as I do that her Dragon’s Eye scepter is safely locked away in the museum. She’s powerless and can’t wield any magic without it.”
“I know what I saw,” said Ben, his face drawn. “I know how crazy it sounds. But just in case, I’m going to place more guards in the library, and keep cameras on her 24/7. If she is getting out, we have to know how she’s doing it.”
“I’m sorry I can’t stay here to help you,” she said, upset to hear this new information.
Ben smiled. “As much as I’d prefer that, I think it would be the wrong move. I’m going to stay here in Auradon to see if we can track the dragon down before it does more damage. We’re keeping it off the news; I don’t want to cause a panic. You guys go find out what’s going on in the Isle of the Lost. Maybe this is all part of a bigger scheme. Let me know what you find, and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.”
“I will,” she said, giving him a tight hug. “Thanks, Ben.”
“Is there anything else you need?” he asked.
“No, I think we’re good.”
Ben hugged her one more time, then helped her into the car. The windows were still open and the four villain kids waved goodbye, nervous and hopeful expressions on their faces.
“Good luck,” Ben told them. “And good game, by the way. Nice work. I caught the highlights on TourneyCenter,” he said to Jay and Carlos.
“Thanks, man,” Carlos called from the driver’s seat while Jay bumped fists with Ben through the passenger window.
Ben reached for Mal’s hand through her window. “I’ll see you on Monday,” he said, before reluctantly letting go. He motioned to the carriage driver to get out of the way so the limousine could pass and leave the school gates.
“Monday,” she echoed as the car pulled away. Then something occurred to her. “Ben!” she called.
He raised his eyebrows.
“If y
ou do catch the purple dragon…” She hesitated, even if she knew Ben of all people, would understand.
“Yes?”
“Don’t hurt it, okay?”
He nodded. “You have my word.”
“It’s up to you how
far you go.
If you don’t try,
you’ll never know.”
—Merlin, The
Sword in the Stone
The streets of Auradon were empty as the royal limousine made its way to the very edge of the coast, practically at the shoreline. They finally reached the southernmost point by the bay, where they knew an invisible bridge connecting the island to the mainland was standing. Mal bit the edge of her thumb as she told the rest of her team what Ben had told her about the purple dragon that had been spotted in Camelot. They agreed it had to be impossible—there was no way that creature was her mother. Yet who or what else could it be? There had to be an explanation, but for now, nothing seemed to make sense.
“I sure hope we don’t run into this dragon on the Isle,” said Carlos as he steered the limousine toward the end of the road. The lights from the Isle of the Lost pierced through the fog. “Wow, it actually looks almost pretty from here.”
“Home,” said Evie softly.
“There’s no place like it,” said Jay, with forced cheer.
“Let’s hope not,” said Carlos. “One island full of villains is quite enough.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Mal, who knew they had to do this before they all chickened out. “Hit it, Jay.”
Jay removed the remote that controlled the bridge from the glove compartment and pointed it at the air in front of them. “Here goes nothing.”
There was a spark, and through the haze, Mal could almost see the dome opening up as the bridge slowly manifested before their eyes. Carlos drove the car forward, and the four of them pressed their faces against the windows, watching the bridge materialize in front of them as they drove over the water. Mal knew they were all thinking of the first day they’d left the island. Now they were returning, very much changed from the rotten hellions who had left not too long ago.
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