“Thanks, man,” he said, stuffing the strange note in the back of his pocket.
“Then again, anyone can score off Herkie.” Chad laughed, squeezing Jay’s palm and nodding toward Hercules’s son at the goal. “All brawn but flat feet, know what I’m saying?”
Herkie was as strong as his father and had the muscles to prove it, but he wasn’t the fastest on the field. Even so, Chad was lucky he wasn’t within earshot.
“You’re saying you could have done it?” asked Jay, his hand still clasped in Chad’s grip.
“Blindfolded,” said Chad, still shaking Jay’s hand forcefully up and down and smiling through his teeth. “See, the thing is, Jay, it’s easy to dodge a cannon, but in tourney, you’ve got to watch out for what you never see coming.” And with his trademark sneer, Chad twisted his wrist and flipped Jay over, sending him sprawling on the ground face-first. Oof.
“See what I mean?” Chad smiled. “Consider it a little coaching between friends.”
“Oh, Chad, you’re too hilarious for words!” Audrey, who had come up from the sidelines to coo at her boyfriend, tittered.
“Hilarious isn’t the word I’d use,” grumbled Jay, spitting out dirt. Did he say he was tired of being lifted on his team’s shoulders? Well, he much preferred that to being thrown on the ground at the feet of an annoying prince.
“Are you okay, Jay?” Audrey asked, concerned.
“He’s fine, babe,” said Chad, slinging an arm over her shoulders, the smile on his face as cloying as the pastel sweaters he usually wore. “Come on, there’s nothing to see here but garbage. Isn’t that what you guys used to eat on that island? Our leftovers?”
Audrey gasped. “The poor things, did they really? That’s disgusting.”
“On Charming’s honor,” said Chad, leading her away. “Let’s go, Princess, nothing to see here.”
Chad used to be one of the best players on the team, but not since Jay arrived. The prince wasn’t taking his displacement from the starting lineup very well.
Jay sighed, looking up at the blue sky. He had traded a life of skulking and thievery to play good guy at hero prep. Back on the Isle, Chad wouldn’t be laughing quite so smugly if he knew how easily Jay could have swiped his watch, wallet, and keys during that handshake. But Jay was in Auradon now, and they frowned on those things, so he’d left them alone, even though the temptation had been great. It would only get him and his fellow villain kids in trouble, which is what Chad really wanted.
“Are you planning on lying there forever? The dinner bell’s rung,” said a voice. He looked up to see Jordan standing above him, holding out a hand.
“You came out of nowhere.”
“Genie trick.” She winked, looking down at him with a hint of a smile. She wore her dark hair up in a swoop, and her blue pantaloons were striking with her yellow leather jacket. She was soon joined by two other girls, the three of them looking concerned over his fall.
Jay took Jordan’s hand and used it to help himself up. “Thanks.”
“Don’t worry about Chad, he’s like that to everyone. Isn’t that right, Allie?” Jordan said to the blond girl standing next to her.
The girl nodded. She wore a blue pinafore over a white blouse and had delicate features and a genteel manner. “He’s almost worse than Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”
“Definitely worse. My dad would have things to say about him, that’s for sure,” said Jordan, whose father, Genie, was a famously talkative fellow. “Are you sure you’re all right, dude?”
“Nothing bruised but my pride,” Jay told them, feeling better already.
“Then he did us a favor.” The third girl laughed, fixing the tiny hat she wore sideways on her head. Freddie Facilier was one of the newer Isle kids, who had transferred over as part of the ongoing program to assimilate the villains’ kids into the Auradon mainstream.
“Thanks a lot, Freddie,” grumbled Jay.
“You’re welcome,” said Freddie.
“We’re not all like Chad,” said Jordan. “Some of us know that without you guys, all of Auradon would be Maleficent’s minions right now.”
“Goblins,” said Jay. “Maleficent’s minions are goblins.”
“That would be awful,” said Allie. “Green is quite a horrendous color on me.”
The four of them walked companionably over to the dining hall, bumping into Ben, who was headed the other way. The girls swooned and curtsied at the sight of the young king.
“You missed practice,” said Jay, bumping fists with his teammate. He and Ben worked well together, Jay usually setting up the shots that Ben would send flying into the goal.
“I know, I know, next time, I promise,” said Ben, looking harried. “Coach is on my case.”
“Our defense is really hurting. Offense too.”
“Yeah.” Ben sighed, craning his neck at the tourney fields longingly.
“Well, you better be back on deck when we play the Lost Boys,” Jay said. They were up against a strong Neverland team that weekend.
“I’ll do my best.”
Jay nodded. It occurred to him while talking to Ben that if his father, Jafar, was in Auradon, he would probably figure out a way to smooth-talk Ben into handing over not just the crown, but the entire kingdom. Whereas Jay only wanted to play tourney and hang out. Just went to show that sometimes the apple can fall far from the tree—or maybe in his case, that the baby cobra can slink away from the nest?
He wasn’t sure, but he hoped it was true.
“Hey,” Ben said, noticing Jay’s face for the first time. “Hold on. What happened at practice? Did Chad do that?”
Jay shrugged. He touched the skin around his eye and felt that it was swollen. He wasn’t a tattletale, but Chad must have flipped him harder than he thought. “Eh, it was an accident. I’m sure he didn’t mean for my face to meet the ground that hard.”
“I’ll talk to him,” said Ben, frowning.
“Nah, leave it. You’ve got bigger problems,” said Jay. “I can deal with Chad.” The last thing he needed was Chad telling everyone he had to go running to Prince Ben every time he ate a little dirt.
Ben looked as if he wanted to argue. He exhaled. “Fine.”
“Headed to dinner?” asked Jay, motioning to the dining hall, where the tantalizing smell of Mrs. Potts’s cooking filled the air.
“No, I’ve got king stuff.”
“Your loss,” Jay teased. “What’s the use of being king if you can’t even stop for a decent meal?”
Ben laughed. “Tell me about it. Catch you guys later. Take it easy.”
“Bye, Ben!” the girls called.
“Ladies?” asked Jay, leading the group to the building and opening the door for them like the gentleman he was. For a moment, he remembered the anonymous note he’d found in his gym bag earlier and wondered what that was all about. Who wanted him to return to the Isle of the Lost?
But he didn’t let it bother him too much as the girls fussed over his injuries. Allie promised to brew him a cup of her favorite tea as well as ask her mother for any of the Mad Hatter’s crazy cures. Jordan cheered him up with fanciful stories of traveling via carpet, and how he should really try it for longer trips sometime, and Freddie suggested ways to get even with Chad. “I’d substitute whipped cream for a tube of his hair gel. That would show him, don’t you think?”
Jay felt better already. Who cared about a cryptic note telling him he didn’t belong in Auradon? And for that matter, who cared about caves full of molten gold and treasures as vast as the eye could see? As he entered the cafeteria in the company of his friends, Jay felt as rich as the Sultan of Agrabah.
It was true what Ben had said to Mal in the library. The kingdom’s business waited for no man, not even the king. The United States of Auradon was a vast empire that held all the good kingdoms, from Triton’s Bay in the west to Neverland in the east, all the way to the mountain lands up north and Belle’s harbor village down south, and its governance was no small task.
r /> After bidding goodbye to Jay and the girls outside the cafeteria, Ben opened his locker and exchanged his plain daytime crown for the more elaborate one he wore for official meetings of the king’s council. Okay, so it probably wasn’t the best idea to keep it in a school locker—being studded with irreplaceable jewels and all—but then again, this was Auradon, and nothing bad ever happened here.
No petty theft, no grand larceny, nothing. He once lost a penny and it was returned to him immediately with a second penny for interest.
That was how Auradon rolled.
Ben also made a note to have a word with Chad. Even if he knew Jay could handle it, his black eye bothered Ben more than he cared to admit. Ben didn’t expect everyone to be perfectly good all the time, but he did expect the people of Auradon to try to do better. Otherwise what was the point of keeping the villains separated? They might as well all live under a dome.
It had been a few weeks since his parents had left for their retirement-dream-mega-kingdom cruise. King Beast and Queen Belle had gone off in the royal yacht, leaving him to deal with everything. He passed the tourney fields on the way back to his own palace, wishing that he’d had time for practice. But most of his free time went toward his packed royal schedule now—pinning awards on heroes at fancy receptions instead of hanging out with friends, welcoming dignitaries like the Fitzherberts, who were in town this week, rather than playing video games.
Sometimes, Ben felt older than his sixteen years. After presiding over the recreation center opening and shaking hands (or was it paws?) with many furry and funny little creatures—those sidekicks were actually pretty hilarious—he hoped he wasn’t too late for the meeting. Just because he was king didn’t mean he wanted to take advantage of people’s time.
“Ready, Sire?” Lumiere asked, standing sentry in front of the king’s conference room.
Ben nodded and smoothed down his lapels.
“The King of Auradon!” Lumiere announced as he opened the door with a flourish.
“The King of Auradon!” the assembled councillors replied. “Hail, King Ben!”
“At ease, at ease,” said Ben, settling into his chair. The throne had been built to hold his father and it still didn’t quite feel like his own. He looked around the long conference table, smiling and greeting his advisers. Lumiere had placed the usual plate of sugar cookies and a pitcher of spiced tea in the middle of the table, and he waited until everyone had taken a bite to eat and had something to drink before starting.
“Hello, Doc, is it just you today?” he asked, greeting his most senior adviser in the room.
The old dwarf nodded after taking a sip from his glass. “Grumpy sends his apologies, Sire, but he got up on the wrong side of bed and he’s feeling out of sorts today.”
Ben suppressed a smile and moved on to the next councillor. “And how are you today, Genie? I just saw Jordan on the way over.”
“Wonderful, couldn’t be better, Your Highness,” said the big, blue genie, giving Ben his trademark grin. “I’m glad the school allowed her to live in her lamp instead of the dorms. You know us genies, we need to be bottled up.”
Ben chuckled and surveyed the remaining seats at the table, and noticed several were empty. “Is this everyone for today?” he asked.
“Yes, Sire,” said Doc. “The Dalmatians are out touring one hundred and one colleges. Mary, Gus, and Jaq are busy since Cinderella is preparing for her annual ball, and so it’s just me, Genie, and the three good fairies today.” Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, a trio of stout, middle-aged women in colorful pointed hats and matching dresses and capes, beamed and waved from the end of the table.
“Perfect,” Ben said.
“Shall we run through the issues and updates?” asked Doc, who peered up from his scroll, and blinked behind his spectacles.
“If you please.”
Ben leaned back in his chair, listening to the regular report on every aspect of his kingdom. After the horror of The Incident with Maleficent, it appeared life had returned to its regular serene rhythm. Although the kingdom’s scientists had noted a few unusual weather patterns of late—not just the rash of Auradon City earthquakes, but unexpected frost in the Summerlands and unusual lightning storms in East Riding, among other unseasonal phenomena. Ben noted their concern, but as he pointed out to the council, it wasn’t as if anything could be done about the weather. He yawned, and as Doc droned on, he tried to keep his eyes open, and failed. He got a few winks when Doc loudly cleared his throat.
“Ahem,” said Doc. “Excuse me, Sire.” Having been trained by a life with Sleepy, he was well versed in all manner of waking up the suddenly asleep.
Ben sat up in his chair and blinked awake, embarrassed. “Sorry, what did I miss?”
“I was saying, that’s all we have of the regular business. But now, if you please, we have ambassadors from Camelot here to see you. They said it was an emergency, so I slotted them in. I hope that’s all right,” said Doc. “They’ve come a long way.”
Ben nodded. “Of course, of course. By all means, send them in.”
Lumiere opened the door again and announced with great zeal, “The wizard Merlin, and Artie, son of Arthur.”
Merlin, an old and wizened wizard in blue robes, and Artie, a young boy of about twelve, wearing a plain tunic that marked him as a squire, walked into the conference room.
Artie looked around, seemingly amazed by the sight of Genie floating next to the fairies. Camelot had its own extraordinary inhabitants, of course, but Artie probably hadn’t seen someone quite like him before. Genie noticed the boy staring in awe, and pulled one of his many ridiculous faces, sending Artie into a fit of giggles.
“Arthur sends his regards,” said Merlin, bowing to the king and shooting Artie a quick glare. The boy bowed as well, but couldn’t hide his smile. “He’s busy dealing with the problem right now, so he was unable to join us.”
“What seems to be the matter?” asked Ben.
“There’s a monster in Camelot!” Artie interrupted.
Genie startled. “A monster?”
“Well, I think it’s a monster,” said Artie, abashed and defensive at the same time.
“What Artie is trying to say is that something is causing a lot of mayhem in town, scaring the villagers and setting fires,” Merlin said. “It’s become quite a disturbance.”
“Is that so?” asked Ben.
“Yes. It’s been a few weeks now, and we’ve tried to catch the creature, but it keeps evading our traps, as if it has disappeared into thin air. Days will pass, then out of nowhere, it attacks again. Villagers have lost sheep and chickens. Gardens have been trampled. Whole rows of cabbages at a time.” Merlin took off his pointy hat and wiped his brow. “It’s been a real headache. Arthur decided to stay in Camelot in case it returned while we came to seek assistance.”
“How can we be of help?” Ben leaned forward, eager to provide aid. This was so much more interesting than the news that villagers in the province his mother was from were complaining about the price of eggs once again. Singing about it too.
Merlin shuffled his feet. “That’s why we’re here, Your Highness. We’ve come to ask for permission to use magic to track down this creature.”
“Ah, I see,” said Ben. “Magic.” He sat back in his throne.
“He means the real stuff too,” Doc whispered in his ear. “Not just turning dresses a different color or giving someone a new haircut like my nephew Doug tells me is happening at school these days.”
“Is there no other way to catch this monster?” Ben asked, frowning and tapping his pen on the table.
“We’ve tried everything and unfortunately, so far we haven’t been successful,” said Merlin. “We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“And you believe that with the use of magic you will be able to catch it?” asked Flora with a stern face.
“What if it doesn’t work? What then? Magic can go very wrong, you know,” added Fauna, adjusting her red hat as it slipped to t
he side on her curly gray hair. “As my sisters and I have seen firsthand.”
“The consequences of using magic recklessly can certainly be very dangerous,” agreed Merryweather, her face screwing up with concern.
The rest of the table murmured its agreement.
Merlin drew himself up to his full height. He wasn’t much taller than a dwarf, but he was intimidating nonetheless. He shot the king’s council a frosty glare. “Need I remind you I am the wizard Merlin? I am well aware of the dangers of magic, and it is my belief that I will be able to use it prudently to capture this infernal creature and send it away so it cannot bother us again. You have my word.”
The council turned to its king.
“I understand, Wizard Merlin.” Ben met Merlin’s glare, and tried not to show how nervous he was. He was the leader here now; his father had left the kingdom’s safekeeping in his hands. “I will consider your request, but will need to discuss it with my team before making a decision. Thank you for informing us about the situation in Camelot,” he said carefully.
The old wizard nodded gruffly. “Come on, Artie, let’s go find ourselves a chocolate chip cookie while we wait.”
When they left the room, Ben turned to his councillors. “Can I do that? Let Merlin use magic in such a manner?”
“You can do anything you want now that you’re king,” Doc said. “You have absolute power.”
And absolute power corrupts absolutely, Ben thought to himself. He needed to be cautious. “When was the last time magic of this level was used in Auradon?” he asked his advisers.
“Let’s see, probably the last time was when Fairy Godmother created the dome that kept magic out of the Isle of the Lost. After that, it’s been your father’s and Fairy Godmother’s policy that we learn to live without magic, even without a dome over our heads,” said Genie. “It was hard to adjust to at first, but we managed.”
“And we are better for it,” said Flora with a sniff. “A little hard work never hurt anybody.”
Ben agreed. Magic wasn’t expressly forbidden in Auradon—but it was discouraged, and the kingdom was more orderly for it. It would be reckless to just disregard the policies King Beast and Fairy Godmother had put into place for the sake of one issue in a faraway kingdom. Even in the hands of careful users, there had been a few incidents when magic had gone awry lately. Genie was known to accidentally grant wishes to the wrong person when he left his lamp lying around. Even the three good fairies slipped every once in a while, often letting their generosity get the best of them. They had created a massive ice castle for Ben’s birthday party one year, which was dazzling until it melted and caused a flood.