Once Upon a Time

The Plan - Nick

Two days after the battle, I paced outside the door, my hand on the hilt of my sword, waiting on my sister. Shailyn was always a heavy sleeper, but I never thought to this extent.

"Shailyn!" I whisper-yelled through the door, knocking lightly. Finally, I heard a moan as my sister woke up, footsteps as she got to her feet and walked to the door, and the door swung open. I was greeted by a nasty bed-head, a sour expression, and the irritated tapping of a foot.

"Good morning," I smirked, knowing how irritated she was with me.

"Shut up," she growled at me.

"That's not how a princess should speak," I grinned even more.

My sister sighed, "What do you want?"

I suddenly got serious, the grin leaving my face, "I need to talk to you. It's urgent."

"Give me a couple minutes," she half-turned back into her room, "I still have to get presentable. Should I get Victoria?"

"No," I responded quickly, "Don't tell her."

"Alright," she looked at me with a slightly confused face, then said, "Where?"

"The spot behind the waterfall. You know the one," then I turned and left.

----------------------------------------------------

"So what do you want?" Shailyn asked. The roar of the waterfall echoed around us, keeping anyone else from eavesdropping on our conversation. The 'Waterfall Hideout', as we called it when we were kids, was off through a bit of forest behind the castle. We would come play pirates, war, or just swim. Victoria only came sometimes, mom and dad were getting her ready to be queen, showing her the kingdom, letting her meet the other kings and queens that came here, things like that. Victoria was always a bit distant, even when we were kids.

"How do you think Victoria handled the battle last night?" I asked, sitting on a small stone that jutted out from the walls of the cave behind the waterfall. The sunlight shone through the water, bathing everything in a light blue glow.

"She ended it, didn't she?" She asked, not really asking the question, "Sure, in a bit of a strange way, but she ended it."

"Endangering herself in the process," I growled.

"But how many people would've been hurt or died if she didn't?" Shailyn asked, "It was courageous."

I sighed, "but she can't just go around putting herself in danger, she's a queen, we need her!"

"That's true," Shailyn muttered.

"It was reckless," I continued.

Shailyn sat herself down on a neighboring rock, "So I know you didn't just bring me here to complain. What's on your mind?"

I sighed, "Do you think Victoria was a good choice for Queen?"

Shailyn sat there for a second, caught off guard by the question. She thought, turning the question over in her head, before finally answering, "I don't know."

"I don't think so," I muttered. Shailyn quietly asked, "Why?"

"She'll be putting her nose where it doesn't belong, sticking around in places that might not be good for her," I explained.

Shailyn seemed to agree with me, then said, "I should be queen," at the same time I said, "I should be king."

"What?" we said at the same time, "No, I should be- stop doing that!"

"Work with me on Victoria," I said, "We can figure it out after she's off the throne."

Shailyn sighed, obviously not satisfied with the outcome, "Alright, I guess. What's your plan?"

"This is what we'll do," I moved a bit closer to my sister and explained my strategy, "Do you understand?"

She nodded, "I'm on it."

We both stood up, leaving the hidden area hand in hand. We now knew that there was no backing out. If we were successful, a good ruler would take over. If we failed, game over. We would die.

---------------------------------------------------

Victoria was in the throne room, saying goodbye to all the visiting royalty that were leaving today. Her sea-green dress pooled around her feet, a long white cloak behind her, white gloves on her hands, a sparkling tiara in her long brown hair. When she saw me walk in, she said goodbye to everyone quickly and made her way over to me.

"Hello, Nick," she smiled as she greeted me, "You know, I'm sorry about last night. We shouldn't have argued like that. Tensions were just running high, I guess."

"I don't know," I muttered, "Hey. I have some news for you."

"What is it?" she asked me.

"I'm going for a trip," I replied, "To Amaria."

"Why?" she asked again, "And how long will you be gone?"

"We need to keep on good terms with our allies," I explained, "Amaria is closest, so I'm going there first. I'll return home for a bit after that. I'll be gone for about a month, and I leave in the morning."

"Alri- Wait. Tomorrow morning?" she couldn't believe what I had said, "Why wasn't I told earlier?"

I apologized quickly, then said, "We know you had a lot on your mind, and we didn't want to stress you further by telling you this."

"We?" she asked.

"Shailyn knew, of course," I answered, "She helped me come up with the idea. Quite smart, really. She asked when the last trip like this was, and I realized it hadn't been since mom and dad, so I arranged it."

Victoria sighed, "Alright. I appreciate you trying to help, but next time, please tell me earlier, at least a week before you leave."

"Of course," I promised, "I'll give the king your regards," I turned to walk away, then stopped and spun around to look at Victoria again, "Is that prince still here? Alexander?"

Victoria nodded, "Oh, yes. He's been a huge help to me so far. He's not here now, going to get some breakfast. He skipped out this morning because there was a small fight in the town and went to go clear that up. He's been so kind and helpful."

"That's good," I replied. I couldn't tell why, but there was a small want to punch that boy, deep down in my stomach. I didn't like him hanging around Victoria, but oh well, "Well, I'll be off then. Goodbye, Victoria," I started walking away, the clanking of my sword and armor, which I wore at all times, echoed around the halls.

"Nick!" she called after me.

I turned around, "Yes?"

She smiled for a second and said, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too," I replied, and left. I was secretly hoping that the next time I was walking away from her like this, she was locked up somewhere, and I had the crown.

Wouldn't that be nice?