The Beast and the Dragon, Chapter 6

Belle was not surprised to open Ben's door and find his friends sitting on the floor against the opposite wall in the hallway. She knew from Fairy Godmother's comments throughout the past few days that they had been keeping vigil, anxiously awaiting word on his condition. She herself had not left his room since they had brought him here, for even though she knew he would most likely recover she needed to be by his side when he finally woke.

Evie, Jay, and Doug, aware of the door finally opening, met her tender gaze with an obvious question on their faces.

"He has awoken," she declared, then watched as the three visibly relaxed in relief. "He is still very weak but Fairy Godmother is working on a mild restorative treatment and says he should recover fully."

"Thank goodness for a little bit of good news," Evie whispered, eyes red-rimmed and puffy from several days of tears and little sleep.

Belle crossed to the young girl, kneeling before her and gently taking her hands in her own, careful not to jostle a sleeping Carlos whose head was currently in Evie's lap. "We will find, Mal. Even though we don't know much right now, we will find her. And we will not give up until we do," she assured.

Jay hopped to his feet. "I've asked the Royal Guard, Fairy Godmother, everyone here in Auradon and on the Isle. Is there ANYTHING else we can do?"

He held out a hand to assist the former queen back to her feet. "Unfortunately not," she replied. "We have dispatched every courier in the kingdom, have sent every tracker we can find to gather information and find this...thing," she managed. "Everything thus far has come back as a dead end, but we will not give up."

Belle flashed the teenagers a small smile, bowing her head slightly. "You know, I have to say, I was proud of my son for making such a bold proclamation to bring you all here. It showed courage much beyond his years. It also showed his unyielding faith, that everyone should be given a chance."

Her eyes were rapidly becoming moist, and she brushed a lone tear away before it could dampen her cheek. "But I have to say that I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that you four would impact his life...our lives...the way that you have. And I am ashamed to admit that I did not think it would go well. I was scared. Scared of the evil that you were all born into and what that would mean for my kingdom."

She righted herself to meet their eyes. "I owe you all an apology. Since Ben's coronation you have all been the best friends he could have possibly asked for. And he may not ask now, but he is going to need you. All of you. Whether we find Mal or not..." Her voice trailed off and she bowed her head slightly.

"Well, let's just say either way he is going to need all the friends he can get," she finished.

Jay nodded firmly. "Queen Belle, I can safely speak for all of us when I say we're not going anywhere."

Footsteps rapidly approached, and the group turned to see two members of the Royal Guard hastening towards them down the hall. Evie poked Carlos, wakening the boy as they all jumped to their feet.

"My Queen," they greeted, bowing respectfully.

"Yes, Monsieurs," the queen acknowledged the soldiers, noting their apprehensive stature. "Do you have any new news?"

A pause. "Madam. We….apprehended an unauthorized trespasser, a young girl, on the front lawn this evening. She did not seem to appear dangerous and submitted rather quickly to our guards."

"She?" Belle asked incredulously. "I cannot imagine a young girl would be any cause for alarm once apprehended."

"No madam. However...she asked for King Benjamin. She said she had information about the Lady Mal's whereabouts and who may have taken her."

Belle's eyes widened. "And you are just now bringing me this information?"

The guardsman bowed slightly. "I apologize, madam. We wanted to make sure this information was not just a ploy to draw near the royal family in a time of crisis."

"And?"

The corners of his mouth drew up slightly. "She appears to have legitimate information, madam."

The queen smiled a small smile. "Well then. Bring her to us at once. We will use the study downstairs to meet."

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Jay paced the floor, unable to sit still. Logistically he knew it would take some time to retrieve the girl from the castle and bring her here, however he was now sure each additional passing minute was threatening to kill him. After all, his sister had been missing for five days, and one of his best friends was just now healing back to normal.

"Jay, you are going to wear a hole in that carpet if you don't stop," Evie warned.

"It's alright, dear," Belle soothed. "I think we are all a bit on edge waiting for..."

Her sentence was cut off by footfalls in the hallway. Two Royal Guards appeared in the doorway, followed by two more guards with their prisoner sandwiched between them. The young girl looked to be their own age, with shockingly red curly hair, a smudged dirty face, and clothes that looked as though they were held together only by the stitches on their patches. Nevertheless, she was obviously beautiful, and the tattered clothes and dirt could not hide the brilliant blue eyes quickly assessing the room.

"That is not necessary," Belle indicated her hands, which were bound together. The guards were hesitant to release her, but the queen nodded her assent and the ropes were untied.

"Thank you, Queen Belle," the girl spoke, in a thick brogue none of them had heard before.

"You are welcome. I am told you have news of the evil that attacked our kingdom."

"Aye, my lady. Twas the same evil that wrecked havoc on mah own kingdom an' killed mah family."

Belle's face dropped, knowing all too well the pain of losing family to the evil. She moved to grasp one of the girls dirty hands, wrapping it in her own. "I'm so sorry, dear. It seems, unfortunately, that we are now bound by this creature."

The girl seemed extremely uncomfortable with the queen's outward display of affection, but also seemed to know her place was not to withdraw from a queen. "Aye, it would seem that we are."

"Where exactly are you from?" Jay interrupted, not fully trusting this ethereally beautiful young woman.

The girl's chin jutted out slightly, obviously proud of her home and her lineage. "Kingdom DunBroch. I am Morgan, granddaughter of King Fergus, daughter of Queen Merida."

"DunBroch!" Belle exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, how far you have traveled."

Morgan nodded. "When I received news that Malum had attacked another kingdom far to the south, I knew I could not rest."

Jay's brow furrowed. "Malum?"

At this Morgan's stature drooped somewhat. "Aye. Malum Magnus. 'Tis a great evil. I grew up hearin' tales of his atrocities that had been passed down for many generations. They spoke of his unimaginable power, harnessed generations ago an' still lyin' dormant in the nearby mountains. I always thought 'twas an old folktale, meant to entertain an' scare us as children. Imagine mah surprise when I discovered it was all true."

"What happened?" Evie prodded gently.

The stoic blue eyes clouded over with her memory. "I was out huntin' with mah Uncle Hamish. We were returnin' home an' were almost there when the wind became too great to continue. Then suddenly it just stopped, an' that's when I heard mah grandmother screamin'."

She paused for a long moment, desperately trying to control the still-fresh emotions. "Hamish ordered me to stay where I was an' he continued on to the village. I followed 'em anyway, an' that's when I saw the Dubh."

At their puzzled glances she paused. "'Twas a dark cloud, movin' of its own accord. Movin' from Malum's instruction an' his will."

"The black fog," Jay interjected.

"Aye, that's what I said," she narrowed her eyes at Jay. "Dubh. Means black."

"The...black fog, as you call it, killed mah grandfather, then mah mother, then mah three uncles and their children. It came over the hill searching for me, an' would have killed me without the protection spell."

At that Evie's ears perked up. "Protection spell?"

"Aye," Morgan's red curls bounced as she nodded. "Mah mother had felt something off, that something ill could be comin'. Unbeknownst to me, she had one of our clansmen cover me in a protection spell. It's the only reason I survived."

"Well that sure sounds familiar," a weak voice said from the doorway. All eyes trained on Ben, leaning heavily against the doorframe.

"Ben!" Evie jumped up and flew across the room to engulf him in a hug, almost knocking him off his feet. "I'm sorry," she fretted, reaching out to steady him. "I'm just so extremely happy to see you up and about."

"Me too, Evie." He accepted hugs from Carlos and Doug, and a huge clap on the back from Jay, before turning to address Morgan.

"Hello," he bowed weakly before motioning her to sit back down. "I am King Ben. I hear that you have traveled a long way to provide us with much needed information."

"Aye, your majesty."

Ben quickly dropped into the chair nearest his mother, not surprised when she leaned into his ear and whispered, "Should you be up and about already?"

Ben nodded, returning her hushed tone. "Fairy Godmother's restorative treatment worked wonders. I feel ten times better!" The lie did not reach his eyes, however; they reflected only pale fatigue.

"And now, not to be rude, Morgan, but what else can you tell us about this evil? We have already lost far too much time with our ignorance," Ben commandeered.

"Your majesty?" Morgan questioned. "I am not here ta just give information."

Confusion crossed Ben's face as he regarded the intense redhead before him. "Oh?"

"Aye. I'm here to help you defeat 'em."

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