en bent over the paper on his desk, his brow creased as he read the latest safety report from Genie, who kept an eye on all the kingdoms. The news was the same—no sign of Uma or her tentacles. Ben was writing a note advising Genie to keep an eye on the oceans, when the door to his study burst open. He was surprised but happy to find Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos talking excitedly to each other as they made their way to the front of his desk.

“We could tell them about tourney!” said Jay.

“And chocolate chip cookies!” said Carlos. “Oh, and hot showers!”

“We could stress how good the classes are. Pun definitely intended,” said Mal with a droll smile.

“And how nobody locks you up in a tower if you forget your homework!” said Evie.

“Ben! Wait till you hear this idea!” said Mal, coming to perch on the side of his desk.

“What is it?” asked Ben, grinning and leaning back on his chair, glad to have a distraction. It was his duty as king to read every document presented to him and make certain he was prepared for meetings. He liked to be just as informed as his councillors, if not more so. But sometimes, even kings needed a break. “What’s the big idea?”

“You know the VK program?” Evie asked. “The one that’s going to bring over some more villain kids to study at Auradon Prep? Well, I was looking at the applications we’ve received, and aside from Dizzy, there aren’t any.”

Ben raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t heard that it was quite that big a failure. “Really?”

“Yeah, really,” said Carlos, taking an empty seat across from Ben’s desk. Jay took a place by the windowsill, and Evie sat on a chair near to Mal.

“Isn’t that awful?” said Mal. “I think they’re scared to apply.”

“Or maybe they don’t know about it,” said Jay. “The Isle is a little…isolated.”

“So we need to drum up more interest,” said Evie. “I was thinking I could take some photos of us, and we could use them to make posters and put them all over the island. Kind of aspirational! Like, ‘You too could grow up to be Mal!’”

Ben smiled. He was pretty sure Mal was one of a kind, but he understood where Evie was going. “Okay, posters. I like it! Maybe we could put them up all around the mainland too, prove to people that anyone can be a great student here.”

Mal nodded. “We need to show them that everyone can come to Auradon Prep,” she said meaningfully.

“Everyone?” asked Ben.

“Well, yeah,” said Mal. “Right, Evie?”

“Right,” said Evie.

“We’ll definitely give everyone a chance to apply,” Ben said. “But we can’t take everyone from the Isle of the Lost. Where would they live? And who would mentor them? We need to figure out exactly how many kids we can bring over. There’s a lot to plan before this happens.”

“But we can’t waste another day,” said Evie.

“I agree,” said Ben. “We’ll get to work on those posters as soon as possible.”

Carlos leaned over. “That’s a good start”—he turned to Evie—“but didn’t you say you wanted to meet with kids to talk about the program? That the four of us should go to the Isle of the Lost?” His tone was hesitant.

“Well, yes, as long as Ben thinks it’s all right,” said Evie hopefully. “I just think if we could tell them exactly how wonderful it is here, and answer their questions, we’ll be able to get a lot more of them interested in applying.”

“The four of you? Back to the Isle?” Ben pondered the idea. The last time they had gone back to the Isle, things hadn’t gone so well. As in, getting kidnapped by Uma, and then being tied to the mast of a pirate ship and menaced by some pirate holding a hook in his hand. Ben had sympathy for the kids on the Isle, but he wasn’t sure he really wanted his friends to go back there. Wasn’t it too dangerous?

He said as much.

“Dangerous? Not to us,” scoffed Jay. “We know every trick in the book.”

“Because we wrote it,” said Mal.

“Danger is my middle name,” said Carlos. “I’m serious. Ask my mom. Or Dude. Or neither. Neither might be preferable.”

“We can handle it,” said Evie. “Nothing will happen.”

But there was also Fairy Godmother to think about. “Auradon Prep discourages student travel during the school year,” said Ben.

“But not if it’s part of my diplomatic visits…” mused Mal. “That’s it! My diplomatic visits!” She turned to Ben, her eyes sparkling. “We both agreed that the Isle of the Lost should be included on my official itinerary. And if I’m using my visit to promote the VK program at the same time, Fairy Godmother won’t be able to say no. It’s the perfect opportunity!”

“And we’ll all come too!” said Evie.

“Definitely,” said Jay. “You’ll need all the help you can get.”

“Yeah,” said Carlos. “I don’t want to see my mother. But I guess I’m in.”

“Good,” said Mal, who smiled at Evie.

Ben finally nodded. “It does make sense. We’ll present it at the next council meeting!”