Wish Apon A Star

Annabelle - Plans of Attack

Owen, Nicole, and Leo all wanted to be cautious. I could kind of see why, but I just wanted to go. I wanted this to be over, and things to be back the way they used to be. We'd just gotten a ton of money, and we should have been spending it and not worrying about anything else. Instead, we were dealing with a false king that had taken everything, and soldiers beating people in the streets, just because they could. In my mind, the sooner we got this over with, the better.

James and I had just finished up another article, when Leo caught me on the stairs. This one was perhaps one of the riskiest ones we'd done yet–for one, it outright insulted von Vikas and the Council, along with naming several members of the nobility. It also made it pretty obvious that we were operating nearby Koyia, or had at least been there recently. But I figured it kept us safe enough–it would take them a while to track us down, if they were even able, and we had taken other precautions.

"Can I see?" Leo asked. He held out his hand for the article, and I gave it to him, somewhat reluctantly. I knew he wouldn't like what we had done in this one–or that it pointed them so close to us. When he finished reading, he looked at me somberly. "Annabelle, are you sure about this?"

"Positive," I said. "It's really going to help, Leo. It's going to work."

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I know. But, Annabelle...this points them in our direction. It's pretty obvious about it, too. You've got to understand, Annie–it's not just myself I want to protect. If it was, I'd do this myself. But it's Nicole. It's my sister. It's my mom. It's James. It's you. It's everyone, and what am I going to do if someone gets hurt because of this? I know you want to get this done quickly, and I do understand, but we need to be a little more cautious about this."

He was right–as much as I may have hated it. This involved everyone at the inn, and it wasn't right to put them all at risk. Especially not without their knowing. But I was eager to make progress, eager to get something done, eager to have Itari back to how it had been, and I didn't want to have to do this slowly or cautiously. It seemed like we were always cautious, and that it always got us nowhere.

But I sighed and took the article back. "Okay. I'll look at it again with James, and we'll take the parts that are especially incriminating out. Everything that points to us, too. Alright? But I still want to publish it."

He nodded. "That's fair. Just so long as you're careful."

"When are we not?" I grinned and winked at him before I took off to go find James. With any luck, we could get this edited in time to pass it off to Owen by dinner.

...

"I vote we storm the castle." Everyone at the table turned to James with similar, horrified expressions on their faces–including me. James shrugged. "That's what people seem to want, anyway. Haven't you seen the notes we've been passing lately? What these articles are gearing people towards? I say we do it."

"First of all," Leo said, "why are you reading the notes we pass? Besides the ones that are for us, those are people's private messages, James. For the most part, at any rate."

James shrugged again. "I was curious. But really–I think we should do it. Von Vikas empire is beginning to crumble around him. The people hate him. He can't control them. The more he tries, the more people are beaten in the streets, the more control he loses. We've got to strike before they can regroup and really start locking down on all of this. If that's not now, then when?"

"He's got a point," I said. I took one of the cookies Leo had made. "I think we should. A couple more articles–a few passed along notes to spread the word–we could have this arranged in no time. And people are eager. Plus, what if James is right? Not that that's likely, but–"

"Hey!" James interjected.

I ignored him. "--what if all von Vikas and M.C. need is a little more time to get everything in order? If we miss our chance, we may never see it again. Is that really what we want? An Itari that's starving, whose people are frightened? Because if that's what you guys want, I suggest you take a closer look at your priorities. If this is our chance, we need to strike now."

Leo sighed. "Maybe not now now, but...we can start planning something. Start gathering people; passing along the word, like you said. Annabelle, would you write Owen and tell him? See if we can get his thoughts on the matter. If he agrees, I'm sure he has people who can help us. But tell him it's still in the works, that none of this is a solid plan yet, alright? Because it's not."

"I know, I know," I said.

Five minutes later, I had scribbled out a note to Owen–except not scribbled, because I never scribbled–and half an hour after that, he arrived. He walked, like always–he said carriages were too noticeable, and that they drew more attention that he would have liked. Like Nicole, he blended into the crowd easily, so that I never saw him until he knocked on the door.

"So," he said, as he sat down with us in the inn's living room, "you want to start planning some sort of attack on the palace?"

"That's the plan," James said. "Leo insists we need more time–but you of all people should be able to see how riled up everyone is getting. They're practically begging for a fight, and we could organize one. We could win, and get Madeline on the throne. This is our opportunity, and I think we need to take it."

"I agree with that," I added.

"I don't," Nicole said. It was the first time she'd spoken in a while, and we all spun to look at her. "It's going to get more people hurt. So many people have already been hurt, for no reason at all. What do you think they'll do when they catch people committing treason? Do you really think they'll show mercy to people who attacked them–righteously or not? Honour is no longer a thing here. It's greed, for power or money. Even for more violence. Giving these soldiers a reason to attack, to kill, to harm...is that really what we need?"

"But if we don't," I said, "people will suffer regardless. We have the chance to do something right, to fix this. We need to take it. Will people die? Probably. That's war. I don't like that, not at all, but if we don't stand up to this threat, we'll be crushed by it."

"For what it's worth," Owen said, "I think we need to start planning something, too. Perhaps it won't go into effect anytime soon–but I think we should start making people aware, and should start beginning to take Itari back."

"Then that's three for it," James said, "and one against." He looked at Leo. "Whichever way you vote, it doesn't matter much anymore, but go ahead, I guess." Nicole frowned.

Leo looked at her. "I...don't know. I'm going to say I vote we wait a little while longer. We need to be more prepared."

"So, you choose her," James said, his voice icy.

"James–," Leo started.

James shook his head. "No. You made your choice, and you'll keep making it."

"It's not a competition," Nicole said. "That's not fair–"

"You shut up," James snapped. She did.

"Hey," Leo said, his voice just barely below a shout. "Whatever you may be thinking, you don't speak to her that way. Leave her out of it–if you have a problem with me, then you take it up with me. This isn't about choosing somebody, James, it's about choosing something. I think I'm entitled to think what I'd like about this–you and Nicole or not."

"Sure. Whatever." James shook his head and stormed out.

"I'm sorry," Nicole whispered.

Leo touched her hand as he followed James out. "No, you're fine. I'll talk to you in a minute, yeah?"

Owen stood up. "I'll let them figure that out, then. But, when you guys are ready to start planning this, I'm on board. Let me know."

Word Count: 1,444