Julia was confused, to say the least.
She had just come back from another trip, where she had unfortunately gotten into contact with a wolf, shaving a good chunk of her pants off. She had hobbled back to the city to buy new ones, noticing the eerie silence but not thinking much of it, before stumbling across Princess Annalisa, sobbing next to the apothecary.
"Annalisa?" she said.
Annalisa gave her a weak, almost crazed smile.
"Julia."
She collapsed and Julia ran up the steps to catch her. Annalisa sobbed into her shirt.
"Wh- Annalisa, what happened? Why are you here?"
"They're all gone," she said in between sobs. "They're all gone."
"What's all gone? Annalisa, talk to me!"
Annalisa sniffed, pulling away from her. She wiped her eyes. "The rebels. T-they came, and-"
"The rebels?" Julia felt her heart drop. "What happened?"
"They're all gone…"
"Annalisa," Julia said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes. "Annalisa, what's all gone?"
Annalisa bit her lip, her entire body shaking. "The nobles… Mary… Alex…"
"Alex-" Julia looked towards the palace. It hadn't changed one bit—towering over the rest of the city threateningly. "What happened to Alex?"
"H-he-" Tears dripped down Annalisa's cheeks. "He slit his throat…"
"Who?" Julia wrapped Annalisa in her arms again, patting her soothingly. "Who slit his throat?"
Annalisa's tone dropped.
"Paliz… Lady Domanshee… Alexei…"
"Alexei?" Julia stopped.
"... Luke…"
"Luke?" Julia repeated. "Luke? As in…"
Annalisa nodded, tears still running down her face. Julia felt a pang in her heart.
"Okay. Let's get to somewhere safer, heal… Then we can talk."
"So you're telling me that EVERYONE IS DEAD?!"
Annalisa grimaced. "You didn't have to say it like that."
Julia's heart pounded against her chest. She should have been expecting this, yet...
"Annalisa, you know what this means, right?"
"What?" Annalisa sat down on a worn-down brown couch. They sat in a small building on the second floor, looking out the window for any sign of… anything, really. Anything that could steer them in the right direction. "What does that mean?"
"Technically…" Julia paused, searching for the right words. "You're the Queen."
Annalisa stared at her, shocked, before bursting into laughter. "Ha! Nah, you're kidding…" She stopped, noticing Julia's expression. "You… you're kidding right?"
"Your parents and Alex are dead," Julia said. "Good riddance—but that means Elaina would have gotten the crown, but, you know… So…"
Annalisa was quiet for a moment before sighing. "It's not like it matters anymore. We're done for. They've won."
"Not if you still have a legitimate claim to the throne," Julia continued. "We can gather supporters. Speaking of supporters, where's Madeline?"
Annalisa shrugged.
"Okaaay… So we'll gather people and we take back the palace. Then we'll crown you queen and everything will be on track again."
Julia stood, grabbing a scroll of paper and rolling it out.
"I know a couple of people who-"
"What if- what if I don't want to be queen?"
Julia paused, looking up at her. "What?"
Annalisa bit her lip, looking ever so small under Julia's brooding stare. "Maybe they were right. Maybe it's best if we just… give up? Live the rest of our lives undercover. Get jobs. Make friends. Stuff like that?"
Julia stared at her as if she was a dolphin swimming in lava.
"You can't be serious," she said.
Annalisa flushed pink, her eyes darting to the side. "It's just that- maybe we could steer clear of the palace? There's a lot of rebels there-"
"With help, we can fight them off," Julia explained calmly, though the back of her head throbbed with irritation.
Annalisa grimaced. "I can't fight?"
"You don't have to," Julia said, sighing. "Leave all the fighting to me. You being alive is good enough."
Annalisa fell silent, her brown eyes overcast with disappointment.
Julia gave her a wide smile. "Hey. I know you're nervous. But it's alright. I've always got your back, right?"
Annalisa didn't respond. Julia rolled her eyes at her antics.
"Okay. Stay here. I'm going to get some money."
Julia ignored Annalisa's ever-increasing silence and turned away.
Annalisa sat next to the window, looking out into the brightening sky. She was supposed to be watching the streets for any activity, but she, quite frankly, didn't care anymore. Well, she never cared, anyway. But now she had a different reason for her apathy.
She shook the thoughts out of her head just as Julia walked into the room, yawning.
"Rise and shine, Your Majesty," she said playfully. Annalisa didn't laugh. "It's game time."
Annalisa turned to her. Julia took out yet another scroll of paper.
"Yesterday I met up with Katya. Apparently, she had decided to move to the capital after being eliminated. She's agreed to help us out, especially after Mercedes died." Annalisa also didn't like how casually Julia had said that someone died. Huh, there was a lot she didn't like about Julia right now. "I've tried to get in touch with Sandra, apparently the only Selected I know who wasn't murdered-"
"Wait," Annalisa said. "Murdered?"
Julia stopped and studied her face, raising an eyebrow. "So there is something that your dad never told you. Yep, your brother had them all killed. Pretty impressive."
Annalisa was silent for a moment. "What about friends outside of the Selection?"
"You of all people know that we never had any," Julia snapped.
Annalisa flinched. "Sorry, I just thought-"
Julia's gaze softened. "It's okay. You're trying to help. Remember that servant girl we used to be friends with? Yeah, apparently her dad was also in on the rebellion, so I don't think she can help us…"
"How'd you know?"
"Did some reconnaissance. Now, I think we don't need any more than five people inside the palace for the initial attack. The people are still loyal to the crown, and once they hear that we're fighting back, the rebels will have no choice but to surrender."
Annalisa shook her head. "Julia-"
"If we could get Eva and Giavanna to cooperate, that would be amazing, too-"
"Julia-"
"You don't have to do anything. You just have to follow me. Closely, alright? I can't have you wandering off at a time like this-
"Julia!"
Julia stopped. "Yes?"
She gulped, and she said, more assertively: "I'm not going."
"Don't be ridiculous," Julia said, looking back down at her papers. "It's my job to protect you."
"Exactly, and walking into enemy territory isn't protecting me!"
Julia groaned, pressing her hand against her forehead. "Please, Annalisa, I can't plan this out and listen to you at the same time. How about, if you aren't feeling comfortable with this kind of talk, I can just do this myself? I would understand that."
They stared at each other. Annalisa stood gingerly, her fists clenched. She walked past her, brushing her shoulder against hers, and slammed the door behind her.
A sob came out of her chest, even though Annalisa hadn't even been aware of it. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just listen to Julia? Why did all of this just feel so wrong?
She shouldn't have this responsibility. It wasn't her. She forced out a laugh, directed at the hollowed bedroom she had walked into, so empty and barren, withered and decayed.
"Your parents and Alex are dead," Julia said. "Good riddance—but that means Elaina would have gotten the crown, but, you know… So…"
Her parents. Their regal smiles, their fattened velvet robes.
Alexander. His haughty laugh, his bright, power-hungry eyes.
Elaina. Her quiet exterior, her cool, elegant poses.
Her parents. Alexander. Elaina. Her.
She paused. There was something missing.
Her parents. Alexander. Elaina. Her.
Her parents. Alexander.
Elaina.
Her.
She stopped suddenly, a realization striking her through the chest, mowing away her sobs with a violent slap.
Alexandra.
She knew how huge of a heart attack this would give Julia, but it wasn't like she could turn back now. She was quite literally halfway to the cottage in which Annalisa knew Alexandra lived, courtesy of her amazing father.
And she also knew how wrong it was to just steal a horse from a random merchant, but she was the princess, so it didn't really matter.
Oh. Wait.
Actually, she should probably return the horse once she gets back.
The forest around her was a sight. It wasn't like she had never rode a horse in a forest—obviously, she had taken lessons in their private trail. But that forest always felt fake, polished, too organized for what should be wild. The thick trees around her were marred with dead logs everywhere, bugs zipping around her every other minute, and what she thought was poison ivy to her right. Annalisa didn't mind, though. It was dangerous, sure, but it was beautiful, something that Annalisa had never experienced before.
Even the trail was rocky and steep. The horse she was on seemed to navigate it with no problem, but her heart dropped every time some other seemingly impossible ridge appeared.
It wasn't every day that the horse knew more than the rider.
She hummed along, appreciating the messy branches around her, when a dog-like animal approached them, growling.
"Um…" Annalisa looked over her shoulder. "Horsey? We should probably, like, gallop away from suspicious animals."
She pulled the lasso, and the horse began speeding past the wolf. Whew! Crisis ave-
CRASH
Before she knew it, Annalisa felt her back touch the ground and the horse run off into the distance without her. Pain shot up her back and she rolled over, grimacing. She didn't think anything was broken, but gosh did falling off a horse hurt…
"Grrr…"
She looked up, and her jaw dropped.
She stood up, her entire body trembling.
"Okay, okay, I'm being chased by a wolf!" Annalisa yelled to herself. "This is fine! This is completely fine!"
It growled again.
Annalisa took a deep breath and glared at it.
"Bad dog!" she said. "Sit!"
It stared at her.
"Um…" Annalisa looked around. "You should go! Because I don't think wolves eat humans anyway! You're just doing this for self-defense, right?"
It continued staring.
"Exactly! So uh… I don't mean any harm."
Surprisingly, that worked. The wolf growled a little bit more, but turned away, its tail swishing as it strutted into the leaves.
Annalisa breathed a huge sigh of relief before turning back to where she was supposed to be going.
Now to walk the rest of the way. This was going to be fun.
For goodness' sake, why did walking have to be so tiring?
Thank god her father hadn't sent Alexandra further, because Annalisa thought she was going to die of exhaustion if she had to walk any more. Okay. Maybe that wasn't the best joke to make, given the circumstances.
She knocked on the wooden door and hoped that Alexandra was home to supply her with some good cookies. Her tummy had been rumbling for at least four hours now.
The door opened, and sure enough, her sister stared at her.
"Annalisa?" Alexandra asked incredulously.
"Xandra!" Annalisa squealed, enveloping her into a hug. "You're here!"
"Wha-"
"No time to explain!" she declared. "I need cookies, right now!"
Alexandra blinked.
Annalisa rolled her eyes. "Okay, well, if you don't have cookies, do you at least have bread?"
"No."
"Okay, well now you sound like me when I denied Julia's whole plan to storm the palace with me as Queen," Annalisa said, crossing her arms. "Come on! Why?"
"I'm not even royal anymore," Alexandra said, her eyes trained to the wooden floor. "I have no right to succession."
"Oh, come on! Do you think anyone cares at this point?"
"Where's Julia?" Alexandra asked, looking up at her. Annalisa plastered on an awkward smile and coughed.
"Back at the capital."
Alexandra sighed. "Let me guess. She doesn't know you're here."
"You know how Julia is! She would never have let me come here!"
Alexandra took a sip of tea from her mug.
Annalisa took her hand, though Alexandra seemed less than thrilled to have her sweaty palms against hers. "Look. I know you loved them just as much as I did. I didn't want to go through with Julia's plan because being Queen just isn't me. But I know you, Xandra. You're so regal and queenly, it isn't even funny-"
Alexandra paled.
"-and I know you want their legacy to live on. Come on. For mom. For dad. For Alex. For everyone."
A bird chirped from outside the window. Alexandra sighed.
"Annalisa, I can trust you, right?"
"Ooooh, I sense serious talk!"
Alexandra laughed. "I- well- alright. I don't think I deserve to be Queen either, Annalisa."
Annalisa stared at her.
"I mean, we haven't even won yet!" Annalisa chirped, though she felt the end of the sentence drop off, revealing her anxiety. "I feel like we're getting ahead of ourselves-"
Alexandra raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were using the fact that we're still alive and ready to rule as a mascot?"
She blushed. "Well- um, yeah…"
"Then… shouldn't we not keep whoever's going to take the throne after they risk their lives to help us, ambiguous?"
"Then you should," Annalisa argued. "I'm just a baby. No one respects me like they respect you."
"You deserve it, Annalisa."
"No, I don't!" Annalisa shouted suddenly. She put a hand over her mouth, surprised.
"I've done things I shouldn't have," Alexandra continued, looking into her eyes. "I tried to take the crown by force, once. This is supposed to be my punishment, and… if I'm just going to be Queen anyway, I don't think that's fair."
Annalisa opened her mouth to argue, but as she stared into her sister's eyes, she stopped. She took a deep breath.
"At least you can come with me," Annalisa said meekly, straightening her dirtied dress. "Just to help. Is that okay?"
For a moment Annalisa thought that she would refuse, and that she would have to walk all the way back to Julia's hideout by herself.
Alexandra smiled. "Okay. Lead the way, Your Majesty."