Here we are Royals and Rebels; the final chapter! :D This started out a small-scale fic I didn't think would go very far, but today – with over 19'000 views – it's now the 4th most followed and three-way-tied for 5th most favourited story of the entire EAH Archive, and one of my own most popular fics. Thank you all for your support and encouragement throughout this story, especially considering all the hardship I've faced behind the keyboard. I could never have made it this far without you. And now, without further ado, on to the chapter! ;)

fringeperson: The Good King needs more love; he's awesome. ;) Thanks for the review!
MusicGirl456: Thank you, I truly appreciate it. (:
FireRuby: I know. I can't even remember the last time I saw the Good King in a fic. It's a shame people don't write him more, especially since he and Raven are so close. Anyway, hope you enjoy the final chapter. :)
The Byzantine Knight: Thank you so much. Long reviews are definitely my favourites. :D Glad you enjoyed having a more relaxed chapter. I did enjoy writing it.
moonlightdreamer1: Me too; Dexven is best. ;) Thanks for reading.
Trekrider: Thank you so much. (:
HunterHero416: Yeah, I'm afraid so; here's to hoping it's a good one. I'm truly honoured to have received such high praise for this fic. The response has been astounding and it makes me so happy. :D Thank you for sticking around.

PLEASE NOTE: It's been brought to my attention that some people didn't receive an email when I uploaded the previous chapter. Be sure to double check that you have indeed read Chapter 8 before reading this one. :)

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Chapter 9 ~ End of the Chapter, But Not the Story

The walk to Headmaster Grimm's office was a quiet one, consumed mostly with observing the hextensive damage that littered the hallways. The mere sight of it was proof in spades that her mother was indeed a force to be reckoned with; so much so that Raven could only imagine how long it would take to restore Ever After High to its former glory.

Yet somehow, in spite of everything on top of her near demise, the blooms of change had already begun to emerge from the ashes left in the Evil Queen's wake. Students smiled and waved to her as she passed them in the halls, pausing in their own conversations to wish her good health. The young sorceress felt her cheeks flush at the sudden attention, but couldn't help but smile regardless. 'Funny how Fate works sometimes…'

Finally reaching her destination, Raven opened the large oak door. Headmaster Grimm sat at his desk, engrossed in various piles of paperwork. Every so often, he'd hold up a single sheet of paper, compare it with the others, then set it down and scribble a note in the margin, his eyebrows knitted together. 'Because of Mum I'll bet…'

Raven waited a moment more, then sauntered into the room, "Headmaster?"

Milton Grimm straightened at his desk, his fitful eyes never quite meeting hers. "Miss Queen…"

There was so much he wanted to say; so many mistakes he had yet to make right. He sat there for a moment, lips slightly parted, but the fragments of words caught on his tongue. The headmaster eventually cleared his throat, settling with a simple, "What can I do for you?"

Raven stood in front of his desk, fiddling with the edge of her nails, "I know it's not Visiting Day, but would it be ok if I checked on Mum? Just so she knows I'm ok after the whole… ugh, apple thing…"

"Y-yes, certainly." Still slightly shaken, Milton took a clipboard out of his desk, then held it up for her to sign the familiar form. "Need I remind you, do not touch the glass."

Raven put the pen down, rolling her eyes in amusement, "Oh please."

The headmaster pushed the button under his desk, and she began the familiar trek up the school's tallest tower, comforted at least by the glass shield that restrained her mother. However, no sooner did she step away from the stairwell, her mother's beaming face appeared in the mirror.

"There's my little blackbird!"

Raven was – to say the least – taken aback by the greeting; a greeting far far too cheerful for someone who'd just been put back into the near-impenetrable prison that was the Mirror Realm.

"Hey Mum."

"Oh, how beautiful!" the Evil Queen gushed, eyes shining with pride. "Not even a poison apple can keep a Queen down for long."

Raven shifted uncomfortably, but not from embarrassment. As much as she'd rather avoid mirrors than gaze at them, she wasn't against being called 'beautiful'. Her father had done so her entire life, and she wasn't a stranger to her friends complimenting her wicked style. Though they were few and far between, there were times before they started dating when even Dexter had worked up the courage to tell her as well, and each time had her smiling for hours. Coming from her mother, however, it was completely different. Unlike her father, her friends and her boyfriend, her mother didn't simply say she was beautiful. She said she was beautiful, then followed it up by mocking others – especially Apple – or trying to prompt her down the path of her destiny. Given the choice, she'd rather neither…

Hesitant to respond, she decided to change the subject. "Are you… ok in there?"

"Oh, it's not so bad, I suppose," her mother admitted, before adding enthusiastically, "Somebody left a sandwich in here."

Raven could only blink, baffled to see her mother – her evil, conniving mother – get so excited about a discarded sandwich. Her enduring sanity was truly a testament to her brilliant, albeit scheming, mind.

The Evil Queen's face softened, her voice suddenly tender, "I'm… royally proud of you, Raven."

Something about those words caught Raven off-guard, a hopeful smile tugging at her lips, "Seriously? After all that?"

"You demonstrated that your powers are even stronger than before." Her mother's eyes seemed unusually bright, her excitement growing with every word, "Why, I didn't even know it was possible to break your own sleeping curse!"

And just like that, her face fell in dread. No wonder her mother was taking everything so well; she was utterly clueless. Raven vaguely heard her mother's voice as she continued – likely praising her 'natural talent' for trickery and deceit – but she had long since stopped listening. If she knew nothing about the kiss, then she knew nothing of Dexter. Suddenly the mirror's thick glass window was less of a comfort than it had been mere moments ago. In time, she would learn the truth one way or another, and when she did…

"– You're more like me than you realise. Like it or not, you can't escape your destiny."

"We'll see… I have to go, Mum. I'll visit you soon."

With that, the young sorceress turned and walked away, but her mother's voice was quick to follow.

"I love you, Raven. Now go show them what an evil queen can do."

Raven stopped in her tracks, taking a moment to process her words. It was a bittersweet goodbye; a promise of love, tarnished by the same disregard that had been straining their relationship for years. She wanted to tell her about the match, but something held her back. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Dexter was there, or maybe the slightest bit of resentment at her inadvertent poisoning… Whatever it was, she needed time to heal. She was, as always, open to the idea of a relationship with her mother, but she wasn't waiting with open arms. 'Only time will tell…'

"I love you too…" She finally replied, before disappearing into the shadowed stairwell.

Raven all-but counted her footsteps as she made her way down to the Dragon Games arena, briefly noting how each stair had been so perfectly carved from the cliff-side. The sound of her mother's voice seemed to echo in her mind, each word blurred into the next in one infernal tone. 'You broke your own sleeping curse!' Those hadn't been her exact words, but the implications were there; implications that churned and knotted in her stomach, ached in her chest, and drew a thin layer of sweat to her palms.

A sudden rumble of thunderous applause shocked her from her thoughts. The crowd had noticed her arrival even before she did, and were even quicker to welcome her. Restless dragons lined the centre of the field – a single spot left vacant for Nevermore – and chirped in excitement as they waited for the final rider. Apple smiled warmly at her, holding Braebyrn at the ready. And just above her, in the centre of the stadium platform that linked the field to the grandstands, Dexter was down on one knee, tending to a certain purple, Labrador-sized dragon.

Raven released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, her shoulders suddenly looser than they had been mere moments before. Waving to the others as she passed them, she walked across the field and up to the grandstands, her lips tugging into a smile when she saw what her dragon was eating.

"Fire apples, huh?"

Dexter blushed a little, "I remember you saying they're her favourite. Did everything go ok with your mum?"

"Uh, yeah… Yeah, she's fine… I'm fine…"

The prince's eyebrow instantly arched, his eyes deep and focused. For a moment, he simply watched her, then stood up and took her hands in his. "Come on, Rae… You know I know you better than that…"

Raven sighed, not quite meeting his gaze, "Mum doesn't know about our kiss. She thinks I woke myself up with my magic."

"Ah... I take it she isn't going to be too happy when she finds out the truth…"

"Yeah…"

"Hey…" Dexter tilted her chin up, and looked her in the eyes with an intensity that threatened to melt her like a fire in the Snow Queen's castle, "We'll get through it. We've made it this far, haven't we?"

Raven chuckled, giving his hands a gentle squeeze, "Yeah, I guess we have…"

Dexter smiled back, and pressed a tender kiss on her forehead. "Come on; everyone's waiting."

Letting go of his hands, Raven walked over to her dragon. "Ready girl?"

Nevermore answered by bounding round in circles, then transformed to her full dragon size, leaving her rider to laugh at her antics as she climbed onto her scaled back.

Dexter chuckled as well, before handing the reigns up to his sweetheart, "Ok, is that everything?"

Raven smirked – that playful, tell-tale smirk that never failed to steal his breath. "Hm, almost everything…"

"Huh? Wha- Whoa!"

With no further warning, the young sorceress levitated him to meet her eyes, her hands glowing a pale lavender as he hovered in mid-air.

Dexter opened his mouth to speak, only to be met with her amethyst eyes and softened smile. Her hold on her spell never wavering, she reached out to grab his scarf and pulled him to her lips. A collective mixture of 'ooh's and 'aww's rippled across the grandstands, yet the noise was muffled by the pounding in his chest. He floated there for a moment, frozen in time and space, then softly deepened the kiss, briefly forgetting about their several-hundred-strong audience. How he'd changed these past few hours…

Her aching lungs pleading for air, Raven reluctantly pulled back, then carefully lowered him onto his feet. Dexter took a step back as his feet touched the ground, his smile a mixture of love and pride. "Go get 'em."

The young Queen smiled back at her boyfriend, then flew her dragon onto the field beside the rest of her team, coming face-to-face with a certain beaming opponent.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Apple teased. "Let's do this."

Raven grinned in response, a newfound fire in her eyes as she got into position, "Ready when you are."

The other riders followed suit, urging their colourful steeds to the air. One by one, the dragons left the ground. The sound of a whistle echoed across the stadium, and the ball pierced through the air mere moments behind it. Raven tugged on Nevermore's reigns, closely followed by Apple, then caught the ball with ease as it began its decent.

Back on the ground, Dexter watched from the stands, his lips curved into a soft smile as he whispered affectionately to his one true love. "That's my girl…"

His words never reached her ear, but somehow she could almost sense them. Raven spared a quick glance at her roommate, the ball still firmly clasped in her hands, and almost laughed at the simple irony. Somehow, by some ludicrous twist of fate, the poisoned apple that had haunted her darkest dreams had granted every wish from her lightest ones. The light and dark had finally unified, and as she and Apple flew into the sunlight, a brilliant new chapter in her story began.

From the reserves' bench, Maddie spat out her drink in a dramatised fashion, and gave a pointed glare upwards. Wait, upwards? Oh dear…

"You're ending it there?!"

*groans* Madeline Xylophone Hatter, you know you're not supposed to talk to the narrator.

"Hey! I've been good as golden geese up until now! Faybelle poisoned my best friend and I said nothing."

You were half asleep. You didn't even know it was happening.

"That's not the point!"

*sighs* Honestly Maddie, can you really not wait until the sequel?

"No!"

*chuckles* Well friends, the Hatter has spoken. Looks like we've got a party to go to. ;)

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Ok, so I guess this isn't going to be the last chapter. Thank you Maddie… XD

I won't make any promises as to when the epilogue will be up, especially since we're still waiting on a place for Mum. Considering it'll be based entirely on my own imagination, it may take longer to write than the last 9 chapters. But, then again, not having a set framework I need to be mindful of might make it easier to piece it all together. Either way, the epilogue will be up eventually. ;p

I have a few things planned, but right now I'm still brainstorming. Is there anything in particular you guys would like to see? Certain characters, interactions? Or perhaps a little foreshadowing for the upcoming sequel? (; Be sure to let me know in the reviews.

That's all for now… As always, see you over the page! :)