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Ben’s head was starting to hurt as Cinderalla started screaming in his defense, pointing out the fact that she had family on the Isle at the same time King Triton screamed his own profanities at him, not so quick to forgive the evil sorceress that tried to exact her vengeance on him through his own damn daughter. Ben sat there, Mal at his side, listening to the constant screams across the Council table.
When he finally stood, he shouted, “Enough!”
“Ben,” Mal placed a calming hand on his sleeve as he fumed.
The young king took a moment to calm down before he spoke again, “I understand why the need to bring anyone off the isle is a risk just as I understand the reason why any of you would be upset at any opportunity a villain might have to escape from the isle, as minute as it might be. But This. Is. Happening. There are children on the isle, and I fully intend on getting them off, starting with Cinderella’s niece.”
“Then you better damn well hope the Seas don’t rise to destroy that limo the second it crosses the barrier,” Triton growled.
“Is that a threat?” Mal asked, eyes already glowing green.
“It is, my Lady. Unless you plan on using your dark magic to attack me,” Triton said. “Go ahead. You’ll only be proving my point.”
“Why don’t we all just calm down,” Esmerelda finally stood. She was a firm believer in isle relocation, but she was also one of the smarter Council members. “We’ll reconvene tomorrow to discuss matters further.”
Ben shot the older woman a grateful smile, “Lady Esmerelda makes a fair point. We’ll all meet here again in exactly 24 hours to have a more civil discussion. Unless anyone wants to object and spend another few hours arguing.”
When no one did, Ben dismissed them, waving Mal off so he could talk with some of the other Council members about more mundane duties and listening to their ideas. He even made an effort to speak with King Triton and develop a more civil discourse so they wouldn’t be bitter for the next day, but the Sea King still seemed angry when he left with the others. As soon as the door closed, King Ben plopped down into his seat, rubbing harshly at his tired eyes.
“No one ever said it would be easy,” Ben whispered to himself. Even with the relatively lower caliber of villains that these kids came from, it was like pulling teeth to get any of them to agree on safety measures and parameters. He couldn’t believe the Council was blocking his attempt to instill an orphanage for the kids that are suffering the most on the isle. Nothing he did seemed to be good enough. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
It was with that thought in mind that Ben left the castle, waving off the guards who made to follow him. He even passed Mal, assuring her and the other VK’s she was with that he’d be fine before he kept walking towards the woods. He wandered for a while until he came along the rope bridge on the edge of the canyon leading up to the Enchanted Lake.
He looked off to the side where the bench he and his dad had built when he was young stood, and sat down against the hard wood, sighing heavily into his hands. He was about ready to give up this project. Perhaps it just wasn’t the time for it. He’d gotten four kids off the Isle, and maybe with time, and a different generation of Council members, his son could try for more. Maybe it was time to pick a different fight. Ben leaned forward and put his head in his hands when he heard someone sit beside him.
“Mal, I told you I’m—” He looked up, shocked to find Carlos sitting where he had expected his purple-haired future queen to be sitting.
“Believe me, she wanted to,” Carlos laughed softly. “I talked her out of it. Figured you might need a friendly ear instead of an opinionated one.”
Ben laughed softly, “You’re not wrong about that.”
“So do you wanna talk about it?” Carlos asked. “I’ve been told I’m a great listener.”
“I just don’t know when it’ll be enough. Hell, I don’t know if it’ll be enough. Triton may be the most vocal, but the majority of Council members don’t want to move forward with the plan. I’ve got maybe three on my side, and so many of them… I think they’re ready to call for my resignation,” Ben sighed, surprised to find his cheeks wet. He felt pressure against his hand and looked down to see Carlos locking their fingers together and squeezing gently against his hand. That simple gesture of pure, unadulterated caring forced a sob from the young king.
“I just don’t know if I can do it!” Ben yelled, suddenly furious at his own weakness. He pointed to the crown sitting atop his head, “I’m the fucking King! I should be able to help these kids!”
Carlos just nodded sadly and squeezed his hand as he fell against the younger boy and sobbed, “I’m the king… I’m the fucking king.”
Ben held onto Carlos like a lifeline until hiss breathing began to even out. When it finally did, Carlos looked up at him and smiled before reaching up, and pulling the golden crown from his king’s head, “There. That looked heavy.”
Ben let out a startled chuckle as Carlos sat the crown down beside them and pulled Ben a little closer. He was much smaller than the king, so it wasn’t like he could envelope him in a hug, so he just pressed his side against the kings, hands held on their laps while Carlos let his head drop to rest on the King’s shoulder.
“I don’t know if I can do it, Carlos. But I have to be strong. For Mal. And for the kingdom,” Ben sighed.
“You don’t have to be strong for anyone, Ben,” Carlos smiled sadly. “least of all me.”
“I know,” Ben smiled. “It’s the only reason I can talk to you like this. But I don’t know what to do. Triton literally threatened war today. What am I supposed to do?”
Carlos didn’t have an answer for him, so they just sat in silence for a while until the younger boy finally spoke, “You and your dad built this bench, right?”
“Yeah,” Ben sighed at the memory, running his fingers across the old wood.
“Did it take long?” Carlos asked.
“Half a year. My dad wanted me to learn how to do it on my own. So he handled the power tools, but I had to tell him where to drill and everything else.” Ben beamed with pride. Carlos nodded, and that was all for a while.
After about an hour, Carlos finally spoke, “My mother taught me how to do things too. She taught me how to clean her furs, scrub her floors…how to take care of her feet, and how to be silent.
“But when I couldn’t do it, she didn’t ground me or anything,” He said it without any bitterness, but Ben could tell he was thinking about the kids of Auradon and what they had growing up.
“What’d she do?” Ben asked.
“She beat me. Swiped at me with a belt, kicked me, ordered her henchmen to do any number of things with, and then she threw me in my room,” Carlos laughed softly before he met Ben’s gaze with a tear filled eyes, “my room was her fur closet. It had bear traps all along the floor and cleaning chemicals fitting wherever there were gaps in the spacing.”
Ben’s eyes widened in horror, but Carlos waved him off with a friendly smile continued, “Ben, what you’re doing is worth it. You can’t stop fighting.”
“I don’t know if I have a choice,” Ben whispered. Carlos nodded sadly and bent over, picking up the golden crown with both hands and looking down at it. Ben used his now-free hand to wrap it around his friend’s shoulders.
“It’s a heavy crown,” Carlos said before turning and resting it on the King’s head. “They chose you to wear it.”
Ben let out a small gasp before smiling. “I’ll try not to let them down.”
Carlos leaned over and kissed his cheek, “I don’t think you could. You don’t have it in you.”