tw: illegal drug use and distribution

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ғʀɪᴅᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇ 20ᴛʜ
ᴏғ ᴏsɪʀᴀɴ 1219ᴀᴄ
10ᴘᴍ

The tasteful buzz of champagne was on her tongue, the music from the band was strong and thundering, and the sea of people made her feel free. It was nothing like her parties back home, no, those were mainly outside, the moonlight and torches their only source of light. The rough, unperformed ruckus of random groups that called themselves a band for a few nights provided the music. And most of the people only attended for a chance to try her latest batch of pixie dust. And of course to make sure they didn't offend the Rotten by not appearing.

Evie loved parties. Always had. Planning this one was no easy feat, Ben had made her promise it would be civil and gentle. And she promised she would do her absolute best— for five minutes. After that, well, a little extra coin for the bards to play a more lively beat, a few more heavy drinks, and even the shyest Auradoners started bouncing around and dancing.

The location was certainly an improvement upon her previous parties. They were in an intimate ballroom inside the Museum of History and Artifacts of Auradon; mainly kept for donor parties or small festivals. The room was elegant, the walls were painted sky blue and the ceiling was a gorgeous masterpiece of white and gold with crystal chandeliers dangling atop their heads. She could picture living in here for years. She had the lights dimmed down, illuminating the room with the carefully secured candles on each table lined in the back. The stage had a wider arrangement of lights however. The mood was perfect, the ambience was secure, and she managed to fill the house. There must've been over two hundred people in the building.

Evie liked the band too, the Songweavers, their lead singer knew how to keep an audience moving; she understood the type of party Evie wanted. And she wasn't bad on the eyes either. Her name was Lyra or Lyla, but it wasn't important, just that the girl could sing. She spun around the room, the sweet voice of the singer filled her ears and all Evie knew was that she had to dance. Nothing else mattered. That was the feeling she missed, she realized. The adrenaline rush coursed through her body and she let it out with every move and spin her mind thought to release.

She downed what was possibly her fifth glass of champagne and upon lowering her head from the corner of her eye, she saw Carlos at the ballroom's entrance. Evie stiffened upon his arrival. The joy she felt was gone, the heat turned to ice, and she could see her night turning into what happens when she mixes too many unstable chemicals together. They hadn't really spoken since the incident, she refused to give him the time of day and now here he was. She wasn't stupid, she made sure to let him know he was welcome to join. They were all familiar with the story of what happened when powerful people were left off the guest list.

It was still strange, from all the years she'd known him, Carlos de Vil wasn't one for festivities. He'd typically hang around close by in hopes of any trouble that he could start. But he never joined in. He began to approach her and she copied his movements, she refused to let him start anything and ruin the one time she's had any real fun in this kingdom.

"What are you doing here?" She asked once she reached the archway of the ballroom doors, the bright light of the museum hallways sobered her up compared to the candle-light they were using in the other room.

He tilted his head, not smiling but clearly happy that he was getting on her nerves, "I was invited, last I checked."

"I repeat, what are you doing here?"

He finally took his eyes off her and swept them through the wave of people from his place by the door. "Mal wouldn't be anywhere around here, would she?"

Evie checked to see what he was staring at, but found nothing of interest, "She'd better be, I need her for this whole thing to work."

He looked back at her again, his eyebrows creasing in curiosity, "Why— you know what, I don't care." He started and ended just as quickly. "Has she been acting... weird lately?"

Evie took a minute before responding matter-of-factly, "We're all acting weird, she let them dye her hair in the most atrocious platinum color I've ever seen." She'd never look at Mal the same way again, "Though it'd look better if she'd straightened her hair." She muttered loudly.

"I'm thinking more along the lines of her leaving at random times and showing up hours later." Was he serious? Mal did that even when they lived on the Isle. She learned not to ask questions a long time ago, but Carlos wasn't very observant with things- or people- that didn't call his attention. He barely spent the nights with them before, and even if he had, he had zero interest in what Mal did on her own time. Evie just assumed it was angry painting where no one could see her. That or practicing spells that could never work away from their judging eyes incase of failure.

"She's probably with Ben trying to keep up appearances. We need him on our good side otherwise it's bye-bye Auradon." But that didn't mean she had to help Carlos get to that conclusion. Though if Mal was too busy dealing with whatever plot Carlos was stirring, she'd have less time to deal with Evie. Huh, suddenly she had a whole new objective tonight.

"Would that really be so bad?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oh, so you want to go back and face the wrath of our collective enemies who'll end up believing we're a bunch of washouts who couldn't hack it? Mal might be annoying but she's right, our reputations will be dust if we go back without any upper hand."

Carlos trained his eyes on her once more. Carlos bore his gaze onto hers, staring at her deeply as though long enough and he'd be able to dig up whatever she was thinking. "What do you know?" He demanded.

"What?" She asked, puzzled.

"You're her roommate, you see her more than the rest of us, what do you know about what she's been up to?"

"Carlos..." She reached out to grip his upper arm. If it looked condecending— good, that was her intention, "I think you've been bored too long. You should find a new hobby that isn't tied to conspiracies." It was not a good look on him, he never cared what any of them did before. Why now and with Mal? She droped her arm, "Maybe go back to pulling wings off flies like when you were a baby." She didn't actually know what he was like as a baby— but Horace and Jasper were loud gossips.

Unaffected, he was still persistent, "You know something."

"I know you're wasting my time and ruining my party with questions you could easily be interrogating Mal for instead of me. And even if I did know, I probably wouldn't tell you, because this?" She gestured all over him, from his almost-snarling pout, to his tense shoulders, and his right hand itching to pull out a hidden blade. She had no idea if his hunch had any real merit to it, but either way she had to hand it to Mal, "This has to be the most satisfying thing I've ever seen. You're stumped. You hate not knowing. She's left you in the dark," she laughed at her own joke, "I'll probably kiss Mal the next time I see her."

"Keep her secrets, witch."

"Only my own, devil boy."

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Mal didn't like surprises. She disliked people jumping up from behind her, even if they knew her and thought it was funny. She still ended up punching them in the throat regardless. It was an easy lesson they would not repeat in the future. Or so she thought.

Ben had told her that he wanted to meet her for a special surprise that night in the museum. She longed for the days she could've just punched him in the throat. She'd heard of Auradon's Museum of History and Artifacts before, but had never gone in. It was a short carriage ride from the dorm rooms, and she wondered if she got the time correctly. The lights were on, but they were too low, trying to give it a dramatic ambiance. As she walked closer to the entrance, she could feel the tremors in the earth that came from the unmistaken result of a live band.

This was too loud to be a band for a date— especially with Ben of all people. Her mind went through possible scenarios of what she'd expect. Had he asked her friends for help on some ridiculous attempt at a grand date? Did her friends pull one over on him by making it to their tastes? Were they playing a prank on both of them?

It was none of the above. Ben was nowhere in sight, but Evie was. Evie, as she so often was— was the center of attention in the middle of what appeared to be some small ballroom in the museum. It was definitely intended for parties, but not ones meant for the Isle. Evie was wearing a stunning tight and dark blue dress, low enough to show off cleavage but long enough for eyes to keep searching for a hint of more skin— especially thanks to the delicious slit in her dress, showing off her left leg. Evie knew she was gorgeous, it got annoying plenty of times. But Mal found herself forgetting why it was annoying. The girl danced, sultry and with abandon, a magnet to all those around her, pushing and pulling anyone she deemed worthy for the faint hint of getting to graze her warm skin.

But the spell was broken when Mal saw her hand oh-so carefully pass a small white object, the size of a small pebble, to the guy in front of her. She turned, faced with a new person and in seconds repeated the same thing, this time a blue pebble-like thing.

Mal crossed the room quickly, shoving people out of her way until she got to her target. She wasted no time in grabbing Evie by the arm and yanking her away from the partygoers who all groaned at the loss of their beautiful dance queen. She pulled them all the way opposite of the band to the back with unoccupied tables, near a candy buffet that seemed to be for display only considering it wasn't touched.

"Evie! What the hell is this?" Mal all but growled at her.

"A party! Remember those? We used to have them all the time on the island."

"Not in one of the biggest museums on the mainland!" She could definitely hear the growl that time.

"Oh relax! I asked for permission!"

"From who?!"

"Who do you think?" She nodded her head behind Mal, directing her to the entrance where someone had just arrived. It was Ben.

The next words out of her mouth were not a real question, no, she was too angry for that. "Evie, what the hell?"

Evie noticed her dour mood, "I told him how our very important friendship anniversary was coming up, the day the four of us all met and how we had no place to celebrate."

"We don't have an anniversary! We didn't even meet on the same day!" Mal shouted at her, raving and annoyed.

"Well, don't mention that to him!" She sang teasingly, but upon seeing how irritated Mal got, Evie reigned herself in. "Okay, it's just one little party. It's been pre-approved, the little king thinks he's doing you a nice gesture, and I get to finally let loose after months of nodding and smiling. We all win." She shrugged happily.

Whatever Mal was about say— or yell at her about, she was interrupted by a sort-of cute brunette. Her hair was done half-up and she wore an expensive dress that resembled a dead butterfly. Faded and twitchy in the wrong areas. She didn't recognize her, and considering her face wasn't very... interesting, she assumed Evie wouldn't have either. "Evie! We heard your snacks are ah-mazing, but they ran out at the buffet!" The girl yelled over the band music.

Evie, the expert saleswoman that she was, shook her head with a smile, "Oh, no, they were never there, I put way too much work to just let them loose on some table. I only have a few left, but I think you're well worth it." She sang at the end, reaching into her leather thigh bag easily and handed over two of those small pebble-looking things, one blue and one white. Up close they looked no bigger than ladybugs and resembled some of those sweets Carlos usually ate during class. "Here you go, and remember only two per person, if you take three you end up with a really bad... stomachache."

"You're the best, thanks Evie!" She screeched so loudly over the music, Mal swore her eardrum rumbled.

She waited until the girl was long gone before addressing the witch again, "Tell me you did not just give an Auradoner pixie dust." She spoke calmly, making sure Evie understood how serious this situation was. Evie's pixie dust was so strong that if ingested too many times it could keep a person awake and active for over two days. Mad Maddy was on it when she met Evie, and Mal was convinced it was what lead to their entire relationship. Introducing it to Auradon was... well let's just say there was a reason their hardest liquor was rum.

"I didn't give an Auradoner pixie dust." She repeated, "I gave her a cap and bell."

"Cap?" Mal repeated. "Bell?"

She nodded, obviously proud of herself. She was excited and grinning as she went into detail, "That's what I'm calling them: caps and bells. New ingredients, new results. And a lot more safe now that I got a handle on the mushrooms and psychedelic effects. I modeled them after those gross sugar chalk hearts that they all seem to like. It's candy with a little... kick." She grinned.

"Evie, if this is a new concoction of yours... when did you have it tested?" Mal asked carefully because she was sure if she yelled again, something would catch fire. Probably Evie.

"Oh, right now." She nodded.

"So, you threw a party to test your new drugs?!" She whisper-shouted, she so desperately wanted to scream at the witch.

"No, I threw a party and I get to test my new drugs, you kill two birds with one arrow."

Mal momentarily took a second to correct her, "No, you kill a bat with two stones."

"Either way, it works for me." Carlos commented as he walked past them on his way to the candy table.

"And what happens when they take it down the wrong pipe? Remind me, how many people had long lasting side-effects from your first batch of dust years ago?"

"Like... nine." She answered, a bit sheepish before defending herself, "But I was also sixteen! I've gotten better, as long as no one takes too many, they'll be fine." She said. "Probably."

"You're risking a lot for a stupid party, E. Any one of these prats take too many too quickly and we're left with a very big problem that not even Ben will be able to get us out of it." Mal looked around at all the partygoers until she faced Evie once again. Her voice, though low, was strong and full of spite, "Don't come crying to me when it all goes wrong." With that she turned, walking to the smiling king who awaited her with flowers in hand. If Evie wanted to screw her chances here in getting... whatever it was she wanted, she didn't give a single damn.

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Evie admitted that she was pouting when Mal left, disappearing into the museum hallway with Ben. Evie also quickly remembered frown lines being terrible for your skin and smoothed her face out. She sighed, Mal had gotten so boring here. Back home there was no need to worry this often, the paranoia they had before was for anyone wanting to get too close to them (which didn't happen very often) and for any pirates associated with Uma. Auradon brought out an ugly side to her, to a lot of them come to think of it.

Carlos quickly realized the only people he could slice and dice were the same ones who couldn't say anything about it, lest they all get thrown back to the Isle.

Mal was so judgy lately and way too stressed for her liking. Evie was considering spiking her drink with some extra pixie dust she kept in her bra incase of emergency. The fey girl always had a tolerance for it, she'd barely feel it but it'd smooth her right out for the night.

Her thoughts drifted to Jay's attitude lately thanks to his special little friend. Apparently, he was staying in the Charmante prince's dorm room now. Impressive little prick knew how to rise quick, she had an internal bet with herself wondering how long it'd take until Chad just gifted the suite to him.

As fate would have it, Jay had finally arrived to the party. And he was solo, perfect.

Her mind drifted back to the conversation she and Ben previously had two days ago.

"Evie!" Ben came rushing into the newly decorated museum ballroom. "We have a problem."

Evie didn't register the intensity in his voice, frankly, she didn't really care. Two months in and the Rotten had all gotten accustomed to what Auradoners deemed 'problems'. She was not a sympathetic person by nature, but even if she was, she still wouldn't care. When their problems involved moldy food or sewing up stab wounds, then sure, they could talk.

"What is it?" She asked, her head turned down to the clipboard in hand. She checked off the decorations and the candles were finally in place. She'd need about... six? seven? Maybe eight people to light them before the guests arrived.

"Fernor Mathan is in Ivory Towers."

Then she had to worry about the band, these weren't run-of-the-mill Lost Isle musicians— if you could call them that. They were probably used to more respected jobs, less threats too. "Who?" She made notes about preparing an empty room for them to relax in before and after performances. Oh, and she should include snacks and drinks. At this point, she'd just copy the food station they provided when she first arrived here on the train.

"Fernor— Laenor's brother?"

Ben was still talking, apparently. "Oh!" She exclaimed, finished writing and did a double take at Ben who was staring at her. She rested the clipboard on her hip and faced him, "Who's Laenor?" She asked calmly as she could tell he was stressed.

Ben looked like he was about to spontenously combust, though that could just be from all the running, "They're Merida DunBroch's children." He whispered harshly, his patience was gone. "Her... out of wedlock children."

Evie blinked before replying, "Oh, right, Mal said you guys have a thing against that sort of stuff. No offense, but I've got bigger things to take care of." She turned to the clipboard once more, facing away from him and checking out the size of the buffet tables. One should have just drinks, she made a note to send someone down to that pub that knew how to brew a good ale.

"As your king, I am making it your responsibility to make sure he stays in line while here." He was channeling his father's authoritative voice that she'd heard from his coronation after-party. If only he could match it.

Evie's right eye gave an irritable itch which she immediately pressed down, she refused to let this boy-king be the reason her beautiful face became... something other than beautiful. Your king, she scoffed, she hated those words. This was no king, this was a spoiled, split-haired boy with a crown and a dull complexion. And clearly no sense on how to match belts with shoes. She pitied Mal for having to be seen in public with the guy. She sighed as she turned around to face him again, giving him a sarcastic smile, "Of course, Your Grace." He didn't even try eyeshadow or hints of glitter for his coronation, what a waste, they would've brought out his pretty blue eyes. They were pretty. He didn't deserve them.

"Majesty." Ben corrected her, not appreciating how far she was reaching.

"My mistake," She smiled, her head filled with delightful thoughts on how she'd get him to start using a hair-loss product she kept for interactions just like these. The hair wasn't important, the eyes were. She'd keep them intact for later.

Ben sighed, seemingly tired as he glanced around the decor she added, it was... rustically elegant. "You two should get along, you've got similar... origins."

Her eyebrows raised at that, and her right eye twitched once more. "Oh? He was raised on an island prison for the first two decades of his life too?" No, that wasn't it, she knew what he meant by that.

"Just make sure to keep an eye on him. Laenor's had plenty of people report back on his... respectful behavior but his brother is another story. They call him the Bloody Bear back in New Scots."

Her mind, which was occupied with a new idea of a toothache to eventual toothloss mixture was suddenly caught by the interesting words. "You don't say?" Her lips pursed in interest as Ben checked his watch, neither of them were paying attention to the other at that point.

"Okay, I've got to run, I have to make sure Laenor is present when Fernor arrives, hopefully he can keep his younger brother contained."

He must have said goodbye but she didn't hear it, she was thinking ahead for her plans tonight. So many plans, so little time.

"Jay!" She shouted at him and waved at him to approach her, "Come here." She beckoned.

He seemed annoyed for her to be the first thing he saw when arriving. He was still pissy at her for going back on their bet with the Auradoner's sleeping schedules, she liked her necklace, she wasn't about to trade it for losing a silly bet. "What do you want?" He didn't bother with a hello.

"Oh, my good friend, it's not about what I want. But rather, who you want." She grabbed his bicep to slowly turned him to the left of the room. "You see tall, dark, redheaded, and handsome?" She pointed to the spot of red hair across the room, "Take a look at his brother: taller, darker redheaded... and handsome." Okay, so not her best selling point, but she wasn't lying. "Fernor DunBroch, he's visiting from New Scots just like his brother and I need you to entertain him." The two brothers hadn't left each other's side. When they first arrived they bowed to Evie, which she did like, took one cup of punch someone brought without any alcohol— rude— and then promptly proceeded to glue themselves to one side the room for the rest of the night. She'd say they were shy but when she talked to them earlier they were charming and courteous, in another setting they'd be fun perhaps.

"Sorry, you're on your own." He turned to leave but Evie halted his efforts.

"Hold up, do you know how many favors you owe me?"

"Zero, because I don't rely on your help, unlike our friends."

She blinked, "Ugh, fine, then I'll owe you this time."

"Evie," Jay took a single step closer to her so he could say his next words as quietly as possible, making sure no one overheard. "Right now I have a very attractive and rich blonde meal ticket that this country actually recognizes as an heir. I'm trying to build a very long-lasting and very guilty relationship that'll end up helping me and my plans." He took a patronizing amount of time to fix the cufflinks on his left sleeve, strutting his arm out in his speech. "Why in the hell would I screw that up just for some Scotsman bastard who'll only bring me down by mere association?"

She narrowed her eyes, "So, you're saying you can't do it?"

"I'm not playing this game." He shook his head, already turning to leave, he knew what she was trying to do.

"You used all your tricks on the blonde?" She still teased him, trying to poke at his buttons.

"Evie," he spoke lowly, his voice deep, "Your shit out of luck, you want him entertained? Do it yourself."

"I would, but I'm in a committed relationship." She said staunchly.

"Pff, what you and Ora?" Jay laughed, his amused face already less stressful than his usual stoic one. "How long do you think that one's going to last? Hm?" He held his hand out to count fingers, "Let's see, Ginny was about three weeks, Anthony had about eight days, ouch. I think Maddy was the longest of your flings, but then again, stalkers shouldn't count, right?" He was enjoying this too much, she didn't like it one bit.

"Maddy was not a stalker."

"She dyed her hair to look like yours."

"She was in love with me!"

"She wanted to be you!"

"It's the same thing!"

"Didn't you wake up to her drawing your blood?"

"And I did the same thing to her two days earlier. Only, I needed it for an experiment, she just wanted to wear a vial of my blood around her neck." She naturally gestured to her collarbone.

Jay was about to respond, a finger raised for his next point before dropping it and ultimately turning around and walking away.

She sighed wistfully to herself, she now found herself missing Maddy. No one like her was ever as passionate as any of Evie's past lovers. Memories.

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"I am so sorry that I'm late." Ben's expression was full of regret but the way his shoulders dropped told her that he was more tired than he cared to admit. "Long dinner, longer conversation with my father." Even his tone of voice was exhausted, he looked like he was ready to fall to the floor and lay there for hours. He didn't even think to ask why Mal was leading him away from the party and into the empty museum hall that led to the gallery. She didn't think he was late, considering she arrived five minutes before him, so it all worked out for her.

They linked arms as they walked, "The ones where he's rigidly talking for long periods while you just stand there until he's done?"

"The very same." He nodded, stopping in his tracks to hand her the bouquet in his hands, "But, regardless, it does not excuse my tardiness. Happy anniversary." He said with a smile.

She accepted the bright yellow and orange flowers, "Thank you," Mal couldn't exactly rat out Evie without making it look like the girl was a pathological liar, although she was. Thus, she accepted the gift.

"They're sunflowers and yellow roses, symbols of friendship for this special day."

"They're very lovely," She wondered if Audrey liked sunflowers and roses, she should like roses, right? "So, what was the lecture about this time around?" He didn't bring up joining the others to dance or eat, though he searched her face as she took his arm again, resuming their stroll. Neither of them were in a party type of mood, there was no reason they couldn't stay out here until it was finished. She made a mental note to turn up near the end so he'd believe Evie's lie. She just had to include all four of them, didn't she?

"We've had an arrival from another kingdom."

"Oh? Wait, don't you mean that Fernor guy?"

"No, but trust me, my father had plenty to say about why the Mathan brothers haven't returned to the Borderlands." He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Jordinn Young is visiting."

Mal searched her mind to see if the name was familiar, it was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't grasp it. Besides, half her mind was still wondering if Audrey would like the sunflowers and yellow roses. She didn't seem like someone who wore a lot of yellow, but flowers were a different thing.

"Hm?" She said, interrupting Ben on whatever he was saying. "Jordinn?" She posed the name as a question.

"The Genie's daughter, from Agrabah." He answered.

Mal's eyes widened, holy shit, she could not wait to tell Jay about this. The entire time she's known him, he's talked about taking back his stolen throne in Agrabah, and now there was someone here actually from the kingdom. Would he ignore her? Talk to her? Stab her? So many possibilities ran through her mind, she could see all of it happening like pillars falling after one another in a collapsing building. She also wasn't aware the Genie had a daughter.

"What was it like, meeting a genie?" She decided to ask.

He huffed a breath, "Surprisingly normal," he commented. "Her father must have given her strict instructions on how to approach the royal family, but I expected... something else." He was surprised, almost regretful in his opinions. "There have been a lot of reports about her behavior over the years from different kingdoms. But, she only used magic once, to dry herself and her bags from the rain before coming into the castle." Ben sounded impressed, like magic was a bad habit the genie had to kick.

"Aren't genies like... made of magic or something?"

He sighed thoughtfully, "You know what, I don't know," he admitted, "Regardless, there was a proclamation written years ago for all magical creatures to conform to humanities side after the War. They had no issue with it, a lot of them had plenty of human friends, most of them rulers and leaders of the world. So, better their union with us, there was a reduction in magic-use, that way they could get used to how we do things. My mom was actually the one who started the whole thing, she wanted to bring all beings of this world to an equal footing." He sounded proud of his mother, his whole family.

Ben must have noticed how quiet Mal had gotten. She had to will her fire down, the result being that her face now had this cold look to it. They stopped once again, Mal letting go of him to glance up at a tapestry hung behind protective glass. It was a sword adorned with two pink roses, it was wrapped in green vines with thorns with a dark violet background. It looked familiar to her.

"So, to be equal they had to stop being who they were?" Her words sounded faraway, she found herself wishing she had spent time learning that dreamwalking spell, at least then her soul could leave.

"No, it's not about that, it's more like... we wanted them to understand what it was like for us, to be human in a time where magic only caused pain." He sounded like he didn't want to start a new conversation about this, he didn't want to fight. And since he just came from a long discussion with his father, he wasn't in the mood to start another one now.

What about the Fairy Godmother? What about the Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather? Merlin? The Blue Fairy? Mulan's guardian dragon? She wanted to stand there and yell it all to him, but apart of her knew it would fall on deaf ears ready to defend his stance. It was easy sometimes to forget about this side of Ben, because despite their differences he was easy to talk to. He was always so open with information she could use, ready to answer any question, but with those answers came this... annoyance that she had to hold back so many times. If all they did was fight, Ben wouldn't stick around for very long. Like it or not, he was too valuable to let go of.

She didn't respond, she instead switched the topic, a tactic he seemed to favor often. "So, she's staying with you guys?" He mentioned that Jordinn had brought bags, that meant sticking around.

He appeared grateful to talk about something else, "Only for a few days, this was merely a show of good faith. Since she's from a kingdom outside of Auradon and considering her connections to the Agrabah royal family, she's required to meet with us first and foremost. I would do the same if I were to come into their territory." This was his value, she reminded herself. Hearing him explain everything about Auradon, independent kingdoms, and customs that he performed or was aware of, helped her form a broader picture in her mind about the land she and the Rotten were living in now. Audrey's version was similar but spiteful, more observant, and far more attractive to watch whenever she ranted about some stupid family she disliked. Either way, getting two versions helped more than anyone realized. "But she'll eventually be off on her next adventure. She likes traveling and sight seeing."

She was still staring at the tapestry, she finally glanced down to read the title card on the right, it read: COAT OF ARMS - HOUSE OF ROSE. Audrey.

Ben got quiet as well, waiting for her to say something or ask something, but she kept staring at the art on the wall. He sighed, leaned down to kiss her left cheek and joined their hands together. He silently led them away from the gallery and back to Evie's party.

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Now that Jay was a no-go, she had to deal with Fernor herself. Evie groaned loudly, this party was supposed to be for fun but Ora couldn't make it, Jay wouldn't couldn't lend a single hand, and she had Carlos skulking around. Eventually he and Mal would turn up and he needed to see her interacting with the guy somehow otherwise this whole scheme will be a one-time thing. She needed to associate herself with good parties, the guests already thought so. No, for the boy king to believe it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her eyes caught the strapping young DunBroch's still chatting away in the corner. They looked like they were hiding away from the party. Despite Fernor being the younger of the two, he must have been seven inches taller than Laenor, who was already taller than Evie by four inches. Upon seeing dozens of family portraits in the museum's gallery of Auradon rulers, she saw the DunBroch clan with Princess Merida, her parents, and her three little brothers. Laenor looked just like his mother if the portraits were accurate, but Fernor didn't. His hair was a darker shade of red than his brother's, with dark brown eyes to match. Though the eldest often walked like he had a chip on his shoulder, Fernor walked like he was on high alert, defensive and watchful of anyone who stared too longly. He reminded her of the time she first saw Harry Hook stand next to Uma, surprising the Rotten when he pushed the sea witch behind himself. Both boys gave off the same energy: death wishers.

"Good evening," She approached them first.

"Good evening, my lady."

"Good evening," The boys echoed each other's greetings in unison.

"I don't believe I hear that very often," She admitted, she liked the way it sounded. "On the Isle there aren't many chances to hear it."

"It's not everyday one meets the daughter of the infamous Evil Queen," Laenor's accent was strong, his voice was deeper than his brother's. He was observant of Evie, like he was trying to read her the same way Carlos was trying earlier, though less creepily. There weren't many people in Auradon who looked like her. Stunning cheek bones, perfect eyebrows, eyes you could get lost in, incredible hair. It was probably the blue that distracted them from it all. Did she have to explain her mother's constant intake of who knew how many alchemical potions led to her unique shade? She didn't care, Evie was one of a kind, she left an impression, and no one could ever forget her.

"It's not everyday one meets a lady as gorgeous as you," Fernor twisted his brother's words effortlessly.

Evie giggled as she ran a hand through her wavy hair, if there was thing she loved, it was compliments. "I think you're my favorite." She flirted.

"I hear that a lot," He smiled, he had a very pretty smile and he liked flirting too.

"No, you don't," Laenor replied playfully, she forgot he has there.

"No, that's right, Ellie is everyone's favorite, but she's the only girl. Thus, I'm everyone's favorite brother."

"Meridor is my favorite brother."

"We haven't seen him in a year."

"Exactly, so he hasn't been a pain the arse like you."

"You wound me, brother, and you wound this beautiful creature for hearing such salacious language."

Evie only laughed at their banter, she hadn't been around many siblings before, well, other than the Brasstads. But these boys were a lot more fun than Gaston's sons. "Trust me, I've heard worse." She leaned in conspicuously to whisper, "and I've said worse too."

Fernor gasped, playing along, "My word, do not let the kingdom know that," He whispered to her as well, "Or else they'll take away those long-coveted rowboat lessons." His laughter was strong, building from his chest to the throat, she could see the veins on his neck bulging. If he got like this over a joke, what would he be like when it came to... other things? No, Evie, think about Ora.

"You two should get along well, I'm going to refill my drink," he gripped his brothers shoulder, it look awkward having to extend it so high, "Do behave yourself brother, don't do anything I wouldn't do." He patted his shoulder before departing.

"Well then I'd never get to do anything fun," he replied, but Laenor had already left. "God love 'im, he's a bit more rigid when it comes to being here." Fernor glanced back to Evie, their height difference made her head spin a bit. She couldn't remember ever meeting anyone this tall before, she liked it. She wondered what he'd look like on his knees (probably her exact height). "You've thrown a brilliant bash, by the way."

She grinned, "Thank you, how very pleasant of you, Fernor DunBroch."

Fernor became very stiff, and whatever rapport they were building was shattered as instantly as one of Cinderella's glass slippers. "Apologizes, my lady, but you may not call me that."

"It's your mother's name, it's your name too, right? Or do you go by your father's? Mathan, right?" It got confusing sometimes, typically a child would end up taking the more well-known of their parent's names.

"No, my brother and I are half-siblings, as we are to my younger siblings. Due to our status, the king would not bestow us with either our mother's nor father's family name. But they had to call us something." He explained. "People had already called us our mother's cubs once as children. Her bear cubs. Bear, Mathan, the name stuck and though it holds nothing, it is ours."

"I can still call you DunBroch if you'd like, it's not like anyone has to know." She lightly shrugged her shoulders, was it that big of a deal here? What could Beast or Ben do if they just started going by the name? If Merida named her eldest child as heir? It was just so... pointless.

He gave her what she assumed was meant to be a smile, it looked more angry than amused. "I'd rather you not." She couldn't understand it.

"I never got what the big deal was, I gave myself my own name. Azula, after my beautiful hair." She grinned, running a hand through her waves, "My mother was very adamant about it."

"I wouldn't be surprised." He responded with a frown.

Evie narrowed her eyes, "Pardon?"

"Your mother was royalty herself once, born and married, if I recall. And I should, my grandmother was quite unrelenting when it came to our studies. They knew the fate of bastards in these countries. We're nothing, nameless, aimless, unless someone else makes it so." She didn't like the way he said 'we'. "She couldn't give you her name, she needed to make sure you had your own. An empty gesture, but it grounds you." He nodded and spoke of it fondly, the way one would think of a stray cat you'd feed every now and then but would never actually take in— especially if you hung around someone who enjoyed skinning them.

Her voice turned cold, like ice and yet her throat burned as she said harshly, "You don't know anything about my mother or me."

"I never said that, I apologize." He held a hand up and even took a step back, "More than anyone, I understand these things can get muddled." She still didn't like the way he spoke to her, so gently like they were friends, like they were similar, like they were the same. No.

Evie was one of a kind.

"Muddled?" She scoffed a laugh, "No, no, it's not muddled." Her smile twisted, it wasn't amused or happy. Did people look at her and see a bastard? No, when they first saw her they saw a villain, a girl carrying her mother's legacy. They saw the twisted equivalent of what they considered an inheritance passed down. But now that the Rotten handled that, gained their trust, people didn't see a villain anymore. But she still wasn't a princess, she was the result of her mother and some man she did not marry. A man who couldn't be trusted to be a father, not after failing to kill Snow White with so many opportunities. "It's perfectly clear to me."

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sᴀᴛᴜʀᴅᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇ 21sᴛ
ᴏғ ᴏsɪʀᴀɴ 1219ᴀᴄ
8ᴀᴍ

The morning after tended to be the worst aftermath anyone would ever experience after a night of partying. But, not for Evie. She spent years developing the perfect hangover cure. The trick was to take it in strides, not all at once. And when she applied that to her formula, her brew started to work wonders. She sat at her vanity, her hair in disarray and her smudged red lipstick was still prominent. She sipped her mixer and sighed looking into the mirror once more before taking a makeup wipe and cleaning up.

Ten minutes later she applied a new coat of mascara and eyeshadow, brushed her hair, and downed the last of her drink. She winked at the mirror, grabbing her robe and heading to the bathroom.

She found herself thinking about last night when she was talking to Laenor— no, it was Fernor. Yes, it was him, she was sure of it. They got into a fight, she thought, what a pity, he would've been a fun time. At least, that's what she could remember. Her last clear memory was a large amount of ire toward the Scot. She pouted, oh dear, not again.

She felt a substancial buzz in the back of her mind, her potion should have cured that. She glanced at Mal's empty bed and then at the clock on the nightstand, it was way too early for Mal to be gone. She couldn't tell if her bed had been slept in since she never bothered to make it. The buzz was still there, louder than ever, although that could just be whoever was pounding on the door. She looked back to the empty bed and stared, ignoring the banging for a moment, maybe Carlos was onto something.

Whoever that was at her door was persistent. She groaned, tossing the towel on her bed and fixing her robe closed as she opened the door.

"Yes—" She greeted annoyed but was rudely interrupted by Ben pushing the door open and letting himself in.

"It's gone!" He screamed, his fingers gripping his scalp so tightly she was sure she wouldn't need that hair-loss elixir.

"What's gone?" She asked calmly, his yelling was not helping the buzzing in her head.

"More than gone, stolen!"

Evie blinked, paused on rubbing her forehead and lifted her head, "Wait, what?" Something was stolen? In Auradon?

"Last night, someone stole an artifact from the museum."

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WOW we certainly had a lot going on in this chapter! Evie threw her first Auradon party and- a lot went down. some quick things:

Please enjoy the following Evie moodboard for this chapter:

Quite the big Evie chapter, I hadn't done anything for her in a while and a party seemed up her alley, but we also learn a lot about her mindset and how she thinks. In particular, I find her scenes with the Mathan/DunBroch brothers very fun because had they been interacting with anyone else that wasn't from the Isle, they probably would've been a lot more rigid and used less swear words, the reason they feel so comfortable talking to Evie this was (if you didnt notice) was because they consider her to be just like them: a bastard. So, they drop their guard just a bit and we get to know their personalities better.If you wanna learn more about the DunBroch family, please check my tumblr! I made a family moodboard with names and titles! https://www.tumblr.com/valkerinyes?source=share (you can find the link in my profile too)I've got a lot more families tooWe are introduced to a gaggle of new characters: Fernor (named for Fergus and Elinor) and though we didn't directly meet them, they were mentioned: Jordinn and Lyra. Jordinn in my version is the Genie's adoptive daughter, and her last name isn't really her last name, it's just what the Auradoners take to calling her. Lyra is bard that'll be a recurring character. (she's not in the books)

I made a quick character board for you guys to get to know some of the people introduced:

Jordinn looks like a young Jasmine because that's who she wanted to look like upon seeing a portrait of her years ago. She thought she was the prettiest person in the world and wanted to look just like her.

we get mentions of Uma, Harry, Maddy, so many other people toooh Carlos, ever the investigatorMal's constantly thinking about Audrey and what kind of flowers she'd like- gee i wonder whyEvie giving out drugs as party favors, as one doesthoughts on Mal's scene with Ben?yes, Belle came up with that proclamation, BUT, we're just hearing Ben's memories of it, we haven't heard Belle's side. AND WE LEARN WHO EVIE'S FATHER IS(yes it's implied that he's the Huntsman, no, i did not base it off OUAT, i really hate the depiction of that relationship since it wasn't consensual, and i completely forgot it was even a thing till my friend reminded me of the pairing, but i already planned everything out here so... just, avoid ouat when it comes to the huntsman, k? just, yeah, no) What do you guys think was stolen? (before anyone says the wand, reminder that Mal snapped it in half and it turned into stardust) Who do you think stole it?

no mundanes allowed