Brighter Than the Stars

Annabelle - New Plan

Madeline got answers to her letters back quickly–which was a relief, because I may have gone crazy otherwise. I was so sick of waiting–waiting for bad news, waiting for good news, waiting for any news. In my opinion, we did way too much of it.

She came into the dining room with a small pile of papers, and set them beside her plate when she sat down. "I realise this would ordinarily be rude, but I figured it would be best to speak to you all before you headed off for the day. I've received replies, and they're generally favourable towards us, as it seems."

"No one cares about being rude," James said, his mouth full. I glared at him, and he shrugged, not even having the decency to look a little ashamed of himself.

Clara wiggled upright in her chair. "Can I stay?"

"I don't see why not," Madeline said. They both glanced at Leo, who gave her a tiny nod, though he didn't look exactly thrilled by it. Madeline tapped her papers. "These are mostly from Atalese nobility, which may result in a slightly biased view. While they all tried their best to give me an account of commoners' opinions, as I requested, I'm not sure how accurate they'll be."

"Does it matter?" James asked, and everyone turned to stare at him. "What? I don't mean their opinion doesn't matter! I just mean that even if it's only a rough view of what that opinion is, isn't that enough?" He grabbed another raspberry tart from the platter, still more concerned with the idea of food than the discussion that was taking place. I didn't blame him. Food was always important.

"I'd like to have more of a rough view," Madeline said. "A 'rough view' as you put it, could be entirely inaccurate, which is unlikely, or just missing several pieces, which is more likely. As unimportant as it may seem, I'd like to have those opinions. You've seen the revolts for von Vikas first hand–how they've continued, even though they're far and few between now. Even one opinion like that can start something much bigger, and I'd like to know what, exactly, I'm working with before we try anything."

"Fair enough." James went back to his breakfast.

"According to these, public opinion about M.C. isn't good, nor is it showing any sort of promise of looking up. My mother wrote that he was a 'crude and impolite man, with no hope of winning over the Atalese nobles.'" She smiled. "She's a bit outspoken, and I'm hopeful that it'll serve us well when it comes to influence in the Court. She may be outspoken, but she's generally well-liked, and she has plenty of influence there."

I immediately liked Madeline's mother.

"Other people said much the same thing: he's not well-liked, as of now. This should work in our favour, however, I'm not sure exactly how we'll use it. I don't want to outright declare war against them, nor do I want to agitate tensions between us. The tricky part is figuring out how to do that, and still get a new ruler on the throne–or the princess back. I suppose we could sponsor a rebellion, but one would have to begin in the first place, and become public, and I'm not sure we have the time to wait for that."

"Still," Leo said. "That might be our best bet. Lie low until we either have an actual reason, or wait for rebellions to spark and attempt to aid them more discreetly. I'd rather we not go to war at all–I don't think the consequences would be worth it, in the long run."

A butler rapped at the door. "Pardon the interruption, Your Majesty, but there's a message for you. From Atala."

Madeline read it quickly, then looked up. "It seems as if he wishes to meet. I suppose that might clear up the problem of our next step."

...

Clara had somehow convinced Madeline and Leo to let her go (though, she was barred from the actual meeting), and then wheedled Nicole and I into helping her pack. Or, Nicole helped her pack, and I lied on the floor and stared up at the ceiling, contemplating life.

"Are you sure they won't let me into the actual meeting?" Clara asked. "What if no one will even notice I'm there? I'll be super quiet."

"That's not the issue," Nicole said. "I'm sure you would be, but Leo doesn't want you there, and Madeline agrees that it wouldn't be appropriate. Hence, I don't think you're getting into this one. I'm not going, either, though."

"You're not?" Clara looked like she'd just been told that Nicole thought that grass was orange. "Who's going to tell me what happens, then? Leo won't."

"Leo will tell me, and I'll tell you," Nicole said. "To a point."

"I'll tell you what she doesn't," I called.

"No, you won't," Nicole said. "Seriously. I think we should listen to Leo. I know you never do, Belle–" She shot me a look. "--but he doesn't want you to go to the meeting for a reason. It wouldn't be fair to go behind his back."

"Fine," Clara relented, clearly not happy about it. But she kept packing her things, anyway, still not deterred in the least from going on the trip. I was curious, too, and had managed to convince Madeline to let me go to the meeting–mostly because she figured it wouldn't be fair to involve me in everything except that, if James and Leo (and Nicole, but she declined) were going to be allowed to go.

"You care too much about morals," I told Nicole, who rolled her eyes at me.

"I'd prefer not to go behind someone's back more than I have to. I think, seeing as you're playing a pretty major role in running a country, you might want to care a little bit more about morals, too."

"Maybe. Sounds boring, though."

She shook her head, but didn't say anything else–probably realising neither Clara or I would respond very well to a speech on ethics. Not that I liked lying to my friends, or lying in general, and it wasn't like I did it often, not when I could help it, but I didn't feel like being lectured on the subject.

Maybe that made me a horrible person. Maybe it just made me someone who was too tired to think right now.

Word Count: 1,078