Steal the Stars [REWRITING]

Annabelle - Ready or Not

The grass was wet.

It weighed down my slippers as they crushed tiny, crystalline beans of water, absorbing them into the silk. The hem of my dress was wet, too, which was unfortunate. It'd be harder to run like this, and I was planning on really getting my exercise in tonight as I ran for my life. I had neglected to bring a change of clothes, which seemed stupid now. How did you run in a ballgown? At least I would look good doing it.

The tower loomed above, and a tiny, distracted part of me wondered how Nicole was supposed to climb it. Which got me thinking about Nicole, and the fact that something was clearly very wrong. The fact that I could tell probably meant someone had died or something, because no one ever knew what Nicole was thinking. Yet, she'd looked visibly on edge, and had also been gripping Leo's hand like he was the only thing stopping her from falling to her death. Nicole didn't show any sort of affection, ever. Every time I'd hugged her, it was me, and the first couple of times, she'd flinched. She still did sometimes.

Leo looked worried, too, but he was always obvious about things like that. He couldn't lie, or hide any of his emotions. So if they were both upset...something had gone wrong. Very wrong. Yet neither of them had said anything about that. I knew I shouldn't pry, but that had never stopped me before, even when I inevitably got myself into some very hot water.

I wanted to know what was going on. And I was going to find out.

But first, I had to remove these stupid alarms, and quickly. James would be waiting for the signal soon, and he wouldn't be happy if I was late.

I contemplated the tower again, as if it would suddenly begin to change, or tell me how to get rid of all the enchantments. I could feel them, that was for sure; the air was thick with them, just waiting for me to pull. But just yanking on them was probably a bad idea, because this was an alarm. If I made the wrong move, it would probably set it off.

And that would be that.

Carefully, I reached for the threads, moving to unravel them. It was like reverse weaving, like someone had some through and woven all of this, and now it was my job to undo it. It was slower going than I would have liked, or than I'd expected. They'd be starting to get impatient now, but I couldn't rush this, no matter how much my fingers itched to.

One of the alarms fell away, silvery threads dissipating like smoke. I reached for the next web. Just a couple more to go.

But I knew my time was running out. There were still plenty more alarms to disable, but I was already at the time limit I had told them. A few more minutes, and they would start to wonder if something had happened.

I hadn't expected them to take so long. I'd never undone any spell as complicated as these, much less done them, but I should have guessed. It was the palace. Their security may have been woefully incompetent in some places, but it was clearly top-notch in others.

"Excuse me, miss," a voice shouted, "what are you doing?"

I didn't answer. I just tried to unravel faster.

"Miss!" the voice called again. I could see flickering light now, making its way towards me. The voice accompanying it sounded young, not much older than me. Maybe a younger guard, stuck with the worst patrol.

Another alarm fell away.

The guard approached. I was right–he was maybe a year or two older than me, brown hair sticking out every which was under his cap. He gripped his lanturn like it could save him, and I wondered what he was so afraid of. Sure, I could kill him where he stood right now, but I didn't usually look intimidating. According to James anyway, but he was a liar.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, trying for a dumb smile. It worked more often than not. "I was just getting some fresh air. All that dancing is getting to me."

I started working on the next alarm, trying to move my hands as little as possible.

The guard looked confused. "Oh," he said, "well, okay then."

I smiled again, more grateful to my good luck than anything else. He was young and clearly had no idea what he was supposed to do. "Thank you," I said, "you're so kind."

"Of course, miss," he stammered, and blushed a shade of raspberry.

Another alarm web fell away.

Two more to go, I told myself, you've got this.

I tugged at a silvery thread. "How long have you been serving?"

"This is my first year, miss."

"Oh really?" I tried my best to act delighted and interested. "How exciting! Young men like you are such a credit to the nation. I simply don't know what we'd do without you! Your family must be so proud."

"Well," he muttered, his face turning pink again. "Yes. My mother is very pleased. Thank you very much, miss. It's an honour to serve."

One more to go.

"Thank you for letting me stay out here," I continued, my voice syrupy. "It was just getting rather warm in there...you know how it is. As much as I love to dance, it can be rather exerting." He clearly did not know how it was, but wouldn't dare contradict me.

"Yes, miss. Happy to wait."

The last web fell away, and I nearly let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I think I'm ready to head back in. Might you escort me? I'm afraid I was almost out of my head when I left, and I didn't secure an escort. How silly of me."

"Oh." He blinked. Clearly, he wasn't expecting his duties to include all they had tonight. "Well. Yes, of course."

We walked off towards the palace doors together, and, while his back was turned, I raised my finger to one of the windows. In just a few minutes, James would set his bomb off, and Nicole would start climbing the tower. Leo and I...well, we'd be trying not to die.

But, I had to admit, I was excited, which probably wasn't a good thing. Still, maybe it was better than being nervous.

"Thank you, kind sir," I said to the guard as we reached the ballroom door. I could see Leo making his way over. "I'm so sorry to trouble you. It was so kind of you to wait with me."

"Of course." He smiled.

So blissfully unaware.

As he disappeared, Leo finally got through the crowds. "Everything alright?"

"Fine. He stopped me while I was working the alarms, but he was easy enough to lie to. How about with you?"

"Fine. Why do you ask?"

"You can't lie."

"Not now, Annabelle."

The world exploded just then.

Well, not really–but the entire palace seemed to shake. People screamed. Several ladies fainted. I giggled.

That would be our cue.

Word Count: 1,196