Brighter Than the Stars

Nicole - Evil Plans

"You're back!" I hurried down the stairs and threw my arms around Leo, who spun me around. Anxiety had twisted in my stomach all afternoon, as I'd convinced myself that everything was going wrong, then came up with a million more scenarios of things going wrong. It had seemed more like a trap than anything, and even though I'd known there'd be security and it was supposed to be strictly diplomatic, I had still felt weird about it.

James and Annabelle left with Isa and Ollie, presumably to talk about the meeting, but I had no doubt that the three of them would soon somehow convince Isa to switch topics. "I'm back," Leo said into my hair, his arms still around me, "and it was...eventful."

"Eventful how?" I asked, looking up at him. My stomach returned to its previous gymnastics.

"Eventful in a lot of ways," he said. It was typical, vague Leo, who didn't want to worry anyone. Unfortunately for him, he was incredibly easy to read. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he sighed. "Okay. It wasn't bad, and everyone is fine, alright?"

"If you don't tell me what happened right now, Leonardo, I swear..."

He smiled. "Leonardo?"

"Don't change the subject, Leopold."

"Alright, alright." He sighed. "Basically, he has what seems like a pretty good grip on the country. He's changing up a lot of the policies–leaning towards scientific advancement. Specifically, medically. He's been working to create some sort of virus strain. Apparently, they're also working on the cure, but I don't think they're trying very hard. It was more a threat than anything else. He also tried to secure Madeline's support, if there was a war, and made it pretty clear that if she didn't accept it'd be Itari he'd be leading Atala against. She didn't accept, of course–she wants to keep Itari neutral."

My brain spun as it tried to keep up with what he was saying. The words bounced around in my head, trying to come up with some sort of solution–a way to erase everything that had happened and pretend like everything was still okay and normal. Not that anything had ever been normal. If it had, I wouldn't have been standing with Leo in the palace–I wouldn't have even been in the country.

Leo didn't say anything for a moment, letting my brain catch up to the rest of me. I bit my pinkie nail; chewed on it so hard that it bled. "Okay," I said. "Okay. So...what does that mean?"

"Nothing, right now," he said. "Madeline just wants to stay neutral. Keep the military prepared, and the country in general, but she doesn't want to directly challenge Atala, not now. He hasn't directly done anything yet, so she just wants to be on standby in case anything does happen, but...I think she's still figuring out what to do herself."

I nodded slowly. My head was still spinning. "Alright." I took a shaky breath. My mind was still creating horror stories, even though it was over, even though Leo said nothing had actually happened. "Okay, then."

Leo ran his hand through my hair absentmindedly. "It'll work out."
"You're too optimistic."

"No such thing."

"Whatever you say, then. But you are."

...

I flipped a page in my book absentmindedly, before I gave up entirely and glanced up. I'd taken it from the library, and started out with high hopes for it, but I was quickly bored of it–I couldn't focus. Everything from yesterday was still bouncing around in my head. Leo sat across from me, some history book spread across the table in front of him, his forehead scrunched in concentration.

He had several other documents in front of him, too–he'd excitedly informed me at least ten times that these were real, original copies. I didn't care much about the War of Terror, or any of that (though, I probably should have), but Leo made it interesting, at least. It was also worth it just to see the way he lit up when he was explaining something.

He turned the page, scribbling something down with a pencil. His room is filled with the history books that Madeline has said he could keep from the castle library, and a bunch he is supposed to return at some point. Mine is filled with fiction–in two languages. There's Aelonian novels, too, but I've never even attempted to read them. I've tried my best to forget the language, and I just hoped it worked. Leo's attempted several Atalese novels–I always gave him history-based ones. My own notes in the margins were in Atalese, too, and Leo kept a running list of words he didn't know that he got me to define once he'd finished a chapter.

He looked up, the sunlight catching his eyes and lighting them up almost gold. He smiled at me and asked, "What's up?"

I love you.

"You're a moron."

Nice, Nicole.

He laughed. "Thanks. Probably–but I guess I'm a likable enough moron, considering you keep hanging out with me." He reached across the table and picked up my hand, tracing the scars across my palm. "Unless that's just my spells working."

I snorted. "Spells?"

"All part of my evil plan. I use them to trick pretty girls into hanging out with me."

"How's that working for you?"

"Pretty well, actually." He smiled. "After all, you're still here."

"Guess they are, then." I leaned across and kissed him, his warm sunshine-feeling enveloping me. I leaned back and smiled at him. "Don't see you hanging out with many girls besides me or Annabelle–or sometimes a few of the other girls from the inn–though, so you might want to work on those spells of yours."

"I just use them on you now. More effective."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Positive." He winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

"You spend too much time with James. What are you doing, asking him for advice? Taking winking classes? Is he the one with evil spells, or is it only your evil plan?"

"Give me some credit. I can come up with some of my own evil plans."

"Right. You."

"I can!"

"Uh-huh." I propped my chin up on my hand. "Give me an example. How are you, Leo Dayal, going to take over the world?"

"Well, I'd have to convince everyone to vote for me–"

"See?" I said. "You're trying to do it legally! Taking over the world isn't done by trying to get everyone to vote for you. What if they didn't? Someone trying to take over the world has to really take over the world. There's got to be a backup or something. Voting works, technically, but that would take years of gaining people's trust. If you want to take over the world fast, you've got to just put yourself in office."

"Glad you're so well-versed in it," he said. "If I ever want to take over the world–fast–then I'll come to you."

"Good. Because you clearly couldn't do it yourself."

Word Count: 1,168