Brighter Than the Stars

Annabelle - Bonfires

"So, what exactly happened?" I asked James. "And are you sure it's over?" I grabbed a bunch of grapes off the table as we popped into the kitchen (because snacks were important). Once they'd gotten home, Leo had left to find Nicole, who I figured would have probably cooled down enough to talk to him by now. Isa and Star had immediately started talking, which meant my only source of information was James. And he was almost never reliable.

"Oh, I don't know–just some people who apparently liked von Vikas, and wanted him back in government. Or something." James crunched down on an apple while I blinked at him.

"You were there," I pointed out.

"Yeah. It's not like I was paying much attention, Belle–I was kind of busy. I had to tell people to go there or move here or stay alert and all of that stuff...blah, blah, blah. You'd be better off asking Leo or Isa–they were the ones actually running things. I was just there as backup." He said all of this around a mouthful of apple, which was disgusting. "But I'll tell you what I do know, okay? So you'll shut up."

"Hey!"

"Not that there's much chance of getting you to shut up, anyway. It was a whole bunch of people who wanted von Vikas back, like I said–I think they mainly didn't like how Madeline was foreign, though, really, they lucked out–imagine if she'd been Aelonian..."

"James! That's so rude!"

"What? I mean, Nicole is, isn't she? And look how she turned out–"

"James!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding. Calm down. Anyway, I think that was their main issue–that, and she's young, and so are so many people on the Council or in government now, and they don't like that. They'd probably die before they could do anything, so why does it matter so much to them? At least I'll probably live more than ten years." He crunched down on his apple. "Well–Leo might. If any one of us is going to live more than ten years, it'll be him."

"You're not wrong." I popped another grape in my mouth. "Okay–so they're mad because Madeline's young and foreign and all that stuff. And they just picked von Vikas because he was the last leader we had?"

"Probably because there were a bunch of guards everywhere," James said. "At least, from what I can figure. Maybe it made them feel safe; even though it seemed like all they did was beat people up. You never know. As long as you supported von Vikas and locked yourself in your house, you really had nothing to worry about. Anyway," he continued. "I think they're afraid we'll start throwing wild parties. Can we?"

"I'd say yes," I said, "but I don't think Leo or Isa would agree."

"That's true. If we can get Nicole on our side, though, we might be able to win over Leo...and then maybe he can present it logically for Isa."

I raised my eyebrows. "You want Nicole to go to a party?"

"You're right," he agreed ruefully. "Darn. You never know, though...she might."

"She left within twenty minutes of the last one."

"She stayed for my birthday, though, the second one–there's hope!"

"She stayed because it was just people from the inn," I said. "I don't think those count as 'wild' parties."

He shrugged. "Oh, well. I'll get someone–besides you–to agree with me. Take as much offense as you'd like, because your opinion counts for nothing."

I punched him in the side. "Like yours does!"

"It does!"

"No, it doesn't!"

"Does to!"

"Does not!"

...

"We have received–" James paused dramatically in the doorway, an envelope held aloft in his hand. I was tempted to snatch it from him, but figured that would just result in a fight, and then I wouldn't know for longer (also, the last time I'd snatched something from him to see, because he was annoyingly slow, he'd tried to snatch it back and ripped it). "--a response."

He placed the letter on the table with equal theoretical–something he would have told me was annoying, because he was a hypocrite–and Nicole rolled her eyes. Leo picked up the envelope and read it before he set it back down–without any of James's thearetics. He frowned as he read through it.

"It's from Annalisa, as I guess you know," he said. "She's sent along the last document, like we asked her to. It's more papers like the one's Nicole took–one's that sign over her right to the throne. It has her signature on it, too. And M.C.'s." He held the paper out to us, and James and I leaned forward, while Nicole looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, M.C.'s rough scrawl and Annalisa's loopy handwriting filled in the spots where a signature was needed.

"Yikes," James commented. "That's not good."

"Thanks captain obvious," I said. "Your observation is so valuable to us!"

"I'm just saying–"

"Enough," Leo said, cutting us off. "She also says she's sorry she lost the other one–that must be the one Nicole took–and that she's sorry it took so long for her to sign. She had some things she wanted to weigh into the equation."

"Clearly, she didn't spend long enough thinking," James muttered.

For once, I agreed with him.

"So, what do we do with it?" I asked, gesturing at the paper in Leo's hands. "I mean, we have it. That's good, right? That means she can't really give up her throne–not if they don't have this signature. So, do we burn it?"

"Burning it's a good idea," James piped up cheerfully. "Can we have a big bonfire in the gardens and burn it there?"

"No," Leo said. "That would create some attention we don't need. We will need to get rid of it, though. Burning it isn't a horrible idea, we just can't do it on a huge scale that will attract attention. If we just toss it into the kitchen fire, that'll suffice. We need to know what to do now, though. Clearly, he's won Annalisa over, and if he sends another document, she'll just sign away her throne again. We need to stop that."

"Why? She's a terrible leader," James said.

"James." Leo sighed. "That doesn't really matter. For one, the people like her. For another, M.C. would be worse. We can't keep intercepting her mail. It's ineffective, and takes too long. I would say we try to win her over, but if she's already on M.C.'s side, we may not have time for that."

"Why not try, anyway?" I suggested. "Madeline can start talking to her–meanwhile, we'll keep stealing her mail. Which doesn't exactly encourage friendly relations, but it'll buy us time." I shrugged. "It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"Alight," Leo said slowly, thinking. "I'll talk to Madeline tonight. I guess that's step one–and we'll figure out the rest as it comes."

Word Count: 1,157