This chapter :T I feel like I'm kind of fobbing you guys off this it, but these scenes kinda need to get out the way. The next chapter is the climax, I promise! Now if only I would stop getting inspiration for random AUs with all the wrong genderbends and in the wrong time setting! Blarghh!

Okay, please read and enjoy. AND VOTE ON MY POLL.

Chapter 13 - Plan

verb

a specific project or definite purpose

February

Dreams are exceedingly powerful things. They can make a person, or break them. They can inspire or discourage, heal or hurt.

When Princess Madeline woke up from a dream, she realised something that she felt had been staring her in the face for months, if not years.

The war must be ended. And a mad, brilliant plan was beginning to form in the young woman's mind.

Francis was slumped over his desk. Papers were scattered around him, along with an open inkwell and several dripping pens. His hair was disheveled, his shirt wrinkled, and his eyelids drooping.

His father was a step away from meeting his Maker, and all he could do was plan a fight.

But that was all he could do. Ever since that fateful dinner, Francis had felt – out of place. Like he wasn't himself.

One more battle, he vowed silently. One more.

"King Francis is readying himself for the biggest battle yet," muttered Ludwig, studying the reports from the battlefield. "So many men…"

"Tell me what's happening!" demanded Gilbert, who was sat opposite his brother in the meeting room, sketching birds on a blank sheet of paper.

"They say that Francis is preparing the mother of all battles, and he is even planning to lead it himself." Setting the pages down and making sure they were neat, the blond King propped his elbows up onto the table and rested his forehead on his hands. "If he leads his battle, it is only right that I lead the Deutsch army."

"What?"

Gilbert was many things, but one of his most defining features was his protectiveness of his younger brother. He would freely admit that he would go to the four corners of the world to keep Ludwig safe, and this was the perfect opportunity to make good that promise.

"Lutz, you can't go."

"Brother, I must. I can't just exist as a figurehead – I need to prove that I am a true king. Especially since I led Deutschland into this mess," he added downheartedly.

"You're too important!" insisted Gilbert, keeping his cocky smile even though panic was beginning to creep into his tone. "Make a lesser man go."

"Which lesser man? There are none suitable."

"'Which lesser man?'" Gilbert stood up, puffed out his chest, and gestured heroically to himself. "You're staring right at the lesser man, Lutz!"

The younger man was suddenly lost for words. His brother, lead the army? It was true that Gilbert was a genius at that sort of thing, but could Ludwig really allow him to go?

"Come on," cajoled Gilbert. "Your life is just beginning! You're young, happily married with a child on the way, and you're brilliant. Look at me. I go on about how awesome my life is, but everyone knows the truth. I spend my days pining after a girl I can't have, who I probably will never see again, and I drag you down with me. I don't have a life. If anything, you should be forcing me to lead the battle! At least I could be of some use, and if I'm struck down – it won't be such a loss, eh?"

"How could you say something like that?" Ludwig's voice was trembling with barely-controlled rage. "How could you say that if you were killed, it wouldn't be a loss? You're a self-centred idiot, but you're my older brother! Don't you think that means something?"

All Gilbert did was smile ruefully.

"Think about it this way. If you died, it would devastate Felicita, your baby would grow up without a father, Deutschland would lose their king, and the household would collapse. Isn't it selfish of you to cause all of that when you could send someone with no such ties?"

With one final look at his brother, Gilbert left the room, leaving that thought hanging in the air like a cloud heavy with rain.

Amelia and Xiang sat speechless, staring at Madeline with a mixture of admiration and disbelief. The entire library seemed to be holding it's breath, waiting for somebody to say something.

"You think you'll be able to do that?" Xiang asked incredulously.
"It's heroic, but… crazy!" agreed Amelia.
"I have to do it," Madeline sighed, staring at her hands in her lap.
"Why? Why are you prepared to risk so much?" Xiang was using his 'interrogation' tone of voice – the one which made it seem like he had the right to know the answer to whatever he asked.

"I…" Madeline ducked her head, letting her hair fall between herself and her companions, and chewed her lip, debating whether or not to tell them. On one hand, it wasn't really their business, since she wasn't asking them for anything other than their confidence, and she was rather embarrassed. But on the other… "Alright, I'll tell you. I'm… in love with Prince Gilbert."

"What?"
"Be quiet," Xiang cut Amelia off sharply. "Continue."
"I've loved him since the night I met him," confessed Madeline, suddenly unable to hold it in. "We continued our correspondence in secret even after Arthur forbade me, and we grew so close on paper that since I haven't been allowed to hear from him –" her voice cracked, and she had to pause and draw a shaky breath. "Of course, I'm also worried about Papa Francis, when I saw him on our birthday he looked very ill…"

She trailed off awkwardly.

"A worthy reason."
The twins both looked at Xiang. Madeline had no idea that she was being tested, and Amelia seemed to still be processing her sister's proclamation. Xiang's lips twitched upwards very faintly.
"I can provide access to a train for you," he said. "When Her Majesty returns, the wheels of your plan can begin turning."

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