Brighter Than the Stars

Annabelle - Adventures With Yours Truly

Nicole came back from wherever she'd been a few minutes later, already pulling her hair into a quick ponytail. "Okay," she said. "I'm ready now. This should only take the day, right? If we check and he's not here, do we just come back?"

I probably should have thought to ask those, but, instead, I hadn't asked anything at all. Which probably said a lot about my planning skills. Madeline nodded. "It shouldn't take you more than a few hours. Just check everything out thoroughly, and if there's nothing there, come back here and report to me."

Nicole nodded, and I mock saluted Madeline. "We'll probably be back by around dinnertime, then. Make sure James doesn't eat everything."

Madeline smiled. "I'm not sure I can do much about that. If you don't make it back in time, though, I'll have Mrs. Dayal or one of the cooks set aside something for you."

"Thanks," Nicole said softly. I had already started pulling her toward the door, ready to start. It wasn't every day you got to break into a building on the hunt for someone leading a poorly thought out revolution. I might never get this chance again, and I intended to take it.

Nicole and I headed out onto the street, and I had to nearly run to keep up with her. She may have been several inches shorter, but she walked fast. I figured she would head to the palace stables, where we could get a carriage or just horses, but she kept walking, straight for the gates.

"Where are you going?" I asked. I gestured back down the path. "Because I'm pretty sure you just missed your turn."

She glanced back for a moment. "Oh. I thought we were going to walk. It's not far."

"It's probably half an hour or more away if we walk," I said.

"Right. Not that far."

I stared at her like she'd lost it. "That's pretty far, especially when you insist on practically running there. Has anyone ever told you that your walk is a normal person's jog?"

"Yes. You. A couple times. Also, Star. Except Isa walks at my pace."

"Well, both of you are always running. Anyway, can we please go back and get a ride? I do not want to walk for nearly an hour at the speed of light."

"You're so dramatic." She turned back toward the stables. "But fine. If we have to, I guess."

We walked back to the stables, and I immediately went around to say hello to all the horses. I frequented here–always with sugar cubes or some sort of treat for them. Clara often came along, too, as she'd finally been given the chance to learn when she'd come to live at the palace, but Maddie was almost always too busy, and Nicole just didn't like riding. The first time she'd been on one, almost four years ago, when we'd had to ride out of town, I'd thought she was going to be sick. Now, she just avoided it all the time, no matter how many times I tried to convince her that the horses really weren't that scary, and all the ones at the palace were super docile.

Now, she hesitantly looked around the barn, and I found it hard to believe this girl had been raised in Aeloni. "Didn't you used to ride?" I asked. "They're all super sweet–really."

"Like, ten years ago! And then I had a...not-so-fun experience, when I was around twelve. Maybe eleven. I don't know–I stopped after that, and then I wound up here. And I know these ones are all fine and nice and all that, but..." She stared at the ground. "I don't want to get, like...attached."

"You don't want to get attached," I repeated. "That's why you've been refusing to ride for the almost four years I've known you? You didn't want to get attached." She sounded crazy to me, but it was Nicole–I didn't understand half of the reasonings she had for things. I didn't see how Leo seemed to anticipate them or make sense of them, either.