Son of Fire

Chapter Seventy Six

Mal and Ben stood in his office, both silent as the thought of their friends back in Arcadia dance around in their minds.

"Should we of sent them?" Ben finally asks as he slides into his chair.

"I know that they would of gone without your permission. Especially Jay and Josh." Mal points out as she bites her thumb. "But maybe we should of all gone, you know? We have no idea of their forces there."

"This has all gone to shit" Ben sighs as he puts his head in his hands. "I was meant to bring Auradon to peace. I never wanted to be leading our people to war". Mal looks over at Ben and walks over, sitting on the desk slightly to his right and grabs his hand, threading her fingers into his.

"You have done the best you could, Ben. This war could of turned you into a monster. But it hasn't. Most would of left Carlos and called it collateral damage. But you haven't. You care for your people. All of them. It's one of the things I love about you" Mal smiles softly, and Ben returns a small smile as he brings her hand towards his lips and kisses it softly.

"I couldn't of done it without you, Mal. You always drive me to be better. To break the status quo. You have made me a better man, and a better king. And I will always love you for it"  Ben replies with a softness to his voice.

"Well, this soppy moment was nice" Mal says and the two laugh. "But we do have work to do." She reminds him and he nods.

"Yes. Well me and Josh went over some plans not long ago and I found" Ben was cut off by a death ending siren. Mal looked utterly confused as she clamped her hands over her ears. But Ben's face falls as his golden eyes burn. After a few moments, the siren went off.

"What the fuck was that!" She exclaimed.

"I... I've failed." Ben mutters as he slowly removes his crown and chucks it on the desk. Mal looks at him with confusion and worry etched on her face.

"Ben, talk to me. What's happened?" Mal asks.

"That... That siren is to warn Auradon of imminent danger. And I think we know what is coming for us, Mal." Ben states, Mal could tell that he already felt defeated.

"Well, we won't be much good here" Mal says as she straightens up, a calm anger was etched on her face.

"Mal, we don't have any sort of army that can even battle the Dragon Empire. I thought we had more time. I needed more time. But... Its pointless. I have failed as king." Ben growls as he punches his desk, splitting it clean in half.

"Yeah, we will most likely lose this. Especially without half our best fighters in Arcadia. But, if you think I'm going to go down without a fight. That Auradon is going to surrender, then you are wrong Ben. We are going to fight." Mal tells him, a clear resolve on her face. She was at peace with the idea of dying to protect the place she loved.

"You... You're right" Ben stutters as he stands up. "I've... I've got to address our people." Ben walks over to a small screen in by the window and presses his hand onto it, and to his right the wall slides open and a small computer pops out, with a microphone poking out. He goes to press a button, but looks over at Mal who nods at him.

"People of Auradon" Ben says into the microphone, and it can be heard echoing outside. "This King Ben. You have all heard the siren. And we know what this means. We are being attacked. And it's safe to say it is the Dragon Empire. This was a battle we knew was coming. But it is a battle we are not ready for. This is a battle we will most likely lose. I won't give false hope to you all. But what I can give you, is belief. The belief that Auradon is a place where we don't run away. We don't cower. We fight. We fight in the name of our families. Our friends. Our home. We are Auradonians. And we don't not fall. We will rise against the Empire. And we will fight to our dying breath. I will be heading towards the Eastern shore to face the coming attack. If you are with me, I will be honoured to fight along side you. May Verium guide you" Ben finishes as he presses another button and stands away. Mal smiles as she walks over and envelops him into a tighy embrace.