Return to the Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,5
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.
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