Ask Princess Corazana (Cora)

For years, the Princess of Hearts had been the object of taunts in school, then later, a smear campaign (started by Audrey, she suspected), designed to present her as a crazed killer unworthy to be in Auradon itself, let alone worthy of the throne of Wonderland. She'd sat in her dorm, in disbelief as she scrolled through InstaRoyal, reading the hashtags and playing the reels, utterly despondent as she listened to the opinions of commentators on the news. Unsurprisingly, many supporters of Alice clung to Audrey's tale, and further conservative Auradonian nobility- those who had opposed the taking of Isle VKs to the mainland in the first place -ran with it. "How could we ever allow another Queen of Hearts?" Snow White had queried, "We've seen what the last one did. Sympathy for a child is one thing, but putting power back in the hands of that family- are we ready to risk that?" "How is this any different to bringing down the barrier?" Queen Leah had sniffed, "We may as well give the girl her daggers back and tell her ourselves to behead us! This is not a decision any of us can condone." Then there were the anonymous comments, supposedly from students: "I've seen her slips. Are we going to let a psycho be queen?" "How is she supposed to rule when she's falling to the floor all the time, seeing colors that aren't there? She calls it 'slipping off the edge of sanity,' but what happens to the rest of us when she's not sane?" Cora had hurled her phone at her vanity mirror at that jab, the silver shattering as she'd burst into tears. While it was true she'd cried that night, the next day she'd already realized she would have to continue. Since the reality of the situation didn't matter to these people, since everyone else's claim to their thrones- their royal blood -seemed to be irrelevant in her case, she would need to not only assert her birthright. She would have to assert herself.

~

Cora had started small, creating a Wonderland club at Auradon Prep. Ever the loyal best friend, Haylie had come with her, and Mason, ever the supportive boyfriend, had used his charm and wit to make the meetings the talk of the school until other students- some out of curiosity alone- started to show up. They studied Wonderlandian, played croquet, and prepared tea. Rarely, politics were discussed, with Cora adding insight she'd heard from her parents and Henry in order to counteract Auradon's propaganda in the textbooks, but also acknowledging the rationale of the Duchess of Spades, Kayla's mother (as for Kayla, she had an open invitation to the meetings, but Cora knew it would take time for her to feel comfortable attending given the girls' complicated friendship and feelings towards their heritage). Over time, she'd managed to get Chad to come, and Evie attended every once in a while. While Evie had never formally apologized for leaving her on the Isle, when the Evil Queen's daughter offered to help the club replicate some traditional Wonderlandian attire for their first visit to the realm, Cora knew it was her way of saying sorry. The club visited the queendom every few months (always under strict supervision from Fairy Godmother, for the land still had pockets of turmoil), but Cora snuck away far more often. The princess took care to speak to the Wonderlanders in their native tongue whenever possible, actually sang to the flowers, and went from village to village. She could not truly criticize her mother's actions while the Queen of Hearts still lived- and given the sophistication of Palaterra's old spy network along with the queen's post partum psychosis, Cora could somewhat understand Ardenzana's paranoia all those years ago -but the fact of the matter was, the average Wonderlander had suffered under the civil war. A true queen would try to alleviate their suffering. And so Cora tried, going from town to town, painstakingly rebuilding structures from rubble, taking most of her allowance (all the VKs had a meager allowance granted them by Auradon Prep, supposedly to help maintain their tuition) and giving it to the still-living families of soldiers (on both sides) who had fallen in Wonderland's civil war. Audrey had chattered this was nothing more than a PR exercise and bribery, but Cora honestly knew of no other way she could help as a student. The Princess of Hearts and the Princess of Auroria had nearly come to blows over the debate, but Audrey managed to refrain, citing etiquette, and Cora blinked as hard as she could, bidding the neon to recede from the corners of her eyes. When that didn't work, she ran into the corridors and hid until it was over. ~

Perhaps most shockingly, Cora then visited the homes of known Alicists and supporters of the White Queen. Cora did her wickedest to ignore the propaganda of her own childhood during these visits, because rebellions and wars did not flourish in a happy populace. If Ardenzana had- wittingly or unwittingly -created circumstances where war could break out, where her claim could be questioned, and where people could die like pawns on a chess board, Cora saw it as her duty to identify the circumstances and fix them. There was no other way to do this without speaking to them. "I don't like you going there alone, Angel," Mason had told her. Her boyfriend lounged behind her on his bed, one hand tugging at her curls as she leaned into his shoulder. "I know you don't, but some of them already think of me as a violent pretender. How do I get them to respect me if I see them with my mischievous, wizard boyfriend at my side, ready to turn into a dragon at the slightest hint of danger?" Mason raised an eyebrow, "There are many reasons they should respect you, and while yes, your taste in me as a boyfriend is definitely one, I worry you could be walking into a trap, Angel." "You don't think I can defend myself?" Cora asked, turning her head to face him in surprise. "I know you can," Mason reassured her, planting a kiss on her forehead, "but I don't think you should have to. Nor do I think you killing them would help you. Even if it were self-defense and you'd walked into an ambush, they'd be seen as martyrs, and that wouldn't help you in the end." Cora froze, "The end?" While she and Mason had been seeing each other for nearly a year now, the concept of having a partner to rely on was still new to her. She loved the light he brought into her life, the pranks, the playfulness, the kisses- God, his kisses -but the way he spoke was so...final. This wasn't about tests and studying anymore, or things she'd expect an "average" boyfriend to do, like helping her reputation around Auradon Prep. If she was understanding him correctly, this was about kings and queens on an international level. Which meant Mason appeared to want to stick around. And after everything that had happened with Raphael and Hakon, that was something she hadn't let herself dream about. Not truly. She'd always thought they could take on the world together, but she'd never thought he'd actually stay. Mason blinked, "You getting your throne back, of course," then, with a smirk, he added, "Plus, I am looking forward to a much larger bed in the palace." He'd kissed her as she gaped at his audacity. ~ Cora had ended up conceding the Mason could keep watch in the trees, though he was not to turn into a dragon unless things seemed truly dire. Mason insisted she ingest a potion that would depict a replica of the proceedings inside the cottage for him, and while it was not nearly as delicious as Mim's Mercury, Cora agreed. She'd downed the liquid as she sat atop Henry, slipping the vial into her pack. Her Bandersnatch friend had agreed to let her ride him to her appointment- she needed to simultaneously show that she was not to be trifled with, yet also had respect for Wonderland (with Wonderland showing her respect) -and she stroked his spotted coat once for wicked luck. Good luck, Henry had told her, but be prepared. You will hear things you may not like. Cora nodded, ruffling the fur behind his ears one more time. "Thank you," the princess whispered. "Corazana?" Cora turned to face the man exiting the cottage before her. Somehow, he managed to make her name sound like dirt. While nominally he had asked her a question, it was clearly a statement, and his opinion of her- and her family -could hardly be lower. His dark hair was flecked with streaks of gray, and his blue ears were hard as ice: "I thought we agreed there were to be no shows of force today." The princess swallowed, schooling her features into a smile as she slid off Henry, "We did-"