Wish Apon A Star

Annabelle - Happy Birthday and World Domination

"Wake up." I shook Nicole, probably harder than I needed to, because she was already half-awake. The room was still dark, her curtains pulled shut. The sun wasn't even up yet, but I was, and therefore the rest of the world should be, too. "We have to bake a cake."

"What?"

"A cake. It was Leo's idea."

"Not at four in the morning, it wasn't," she mumbled. "Go back to sleep, Annabelle."

I yanked the covers off her. "Nope, it's time to rise and shine. It's James's birthday, and Leo said we were going to bake him a cake, and I want cake for breakfast, so we're doing that now. Speaking of Leo, go wake up your boyfriend, because he'll probably lecture me on the importance of a healthy sleep cycle or something if I do it."

"And he'd be right."

"Just go do it."

She did, and I skipped down to the kitchen. Leo and Nicole appeared a minute later, Leo yawning. "What," he said, "are you doing?"

"It was your idea."

"It was not," he said. "Not even close."

"Was too."

"Annabelle. It's four in the morning. I said we'd make cake at a reasonable hour. Four a.m. is not a reasonable hour." I flipped the lights on, and he sighed. "Do we really have to do this?"

"Yes."

"Get your ingredients then."

I'd never been taught how to bake. Sure, I'd been taught how to make tea, just in case, but nothing else. The estate's servants had done that for me, and it hadn't been considered proper to learn. Since coming to the inn, though, I'd constantly been sneaking into the kitchen late at night, because I wanted more cookies, or the cinnamon twists I'd discovered. I'd actually gotten pretty decent, but it turned out Leo could actually cook, and hadn't just learned from messing around when he shouldn't have been.

He did most of it, with a little help from me, even though I thought it would be funny to flavour the cake with some really awful flavour. When I'd suggested pickle juice, I think he might have been seriously considering throwing me out. Which was fair, except my argument that James deserved a pickle-flavoured cake was also valid (in my opinion).

When we'd finally baked and frosted two cakes (a third had been considered, because with everyone being around it would probably be gone in about two seconds) people were beginning to wake up. Eric and Ollie smelled food and immediately appeared in the kitchen, only to be shooed off. Isa put several people in charge of decorations, and (somehow) no one broke anything.

James appeared earlier than he normally did, probably awoken by the smell of food and the noise people were making downstairs. He looked around, surprised for a moment, like he had forgotten it was his birthday, and then asked hopefully, "Is there cake?"

We ate cake for breakfast, except Leo and Isa, who insisted on eating some fruit first. They were boring people. James eagerly opened present after present, enjoying all the attention. To be fair, I liked attention, too. When he got to the shirt I'd embroidered with 'I'm a Moron' (which actually had taken effort, so he couldn't even tell me otherwise) he chucked it at my head. "Thanks so much, Annabelle."

"Anytime."

We didn't do anything the entire day, except mess around. I was glad to finally have an excuse to cause as much chaos as possible, without getting in trouble with Leo or Isa. Of course, it didn't last long.

Jack came in with a newspaper after dinner, frowning. "Um. Guys? You might want to see this."

ITARI COLLAPSING: THE QUEEN TO BLAME?

Throughout Itari's history, the Queen has been a steady source of power and influence, a beacon to our society. But as Itari weakens, relationships with other nations falter, battles and territory are lost, it urges the question: is the Queen truly still best for society? Most people will eagerly claim 'yes' for how could it be otherwise? With the royal family in power for generations, that should seemingly be the obvious answer. A long line of Queens is prominent throughout our history, and, as many would argue, a necessary part of it.

Yet, a look at Itari as a whole doesn't hold much hope for the future. In fact, it seems to be on a track towards failure, speeding up all the time. Perhaps a closer look needs to be taken, to see what is truly the cause of this rot at the center of Itari, before it's too late, and this beloved nation crumbles.

Should we truly continue to support someone who only hopes to see us fail?

"Woah," I said, once I'd finished. "That's...serious stuff. How were they even allowed to print that?"

"No idea," Jack said. "It was tucked away in the back–I wouldn't have noticed it at all if it hadn't been flipped over to that page. Found it on the side of the street," he added. "But everyone knows the Queen doesn't have any real power–it's that council, right?"

"Right," Leo confirmed. "The Queen's just a figurehead–but isn't public opinion of her generally good, especially right now? The ball was only a few months ago, and it was going to be a huge deal if she missed it."

"It is," Zoe said. "Which is why I'm confused."

"But if people start to think the Queen's bad, not the Council, it could lead to an entirely new government," Nicole said. "With enough support, I mean."

"This is why you're brilliant," Leo told her, then added, "This would support Annabelle's theory, too–"

"Not just Annabelle's theory," James said.

"Annabelle and James's theory," Leo corrected. "It's only being printed in small amounts now, but if it gets big..."

"Then people will start revolting," I said.

"And that'll mean everything could be torn down and rebuilt again," Lily said. "Government wise, I mean." She tilted her head to the side and asked, "Do we want that to happen?"

"Not with who's going to be in charge," Leo said grimly.

Word Count: 1,017