Chapter 2- Plans

Sky sat in disgruntled silence as he sat once again through another of Queen Serel's speeches. Once again, the woman was targeting the royal family of Sparks. Once again she was targeting Bloom. And Sky struggled to keep from objecting.

"You saw with your very eyes what sort of creature came after her." Serel's cold gaze swept over the crowd. "She continues to anger forces beyond our imagining!"

"Bloom has returned from the Death Realm and has agreed to take her rightful place as the heiress to the Sparks throne. There is no argument for it, Serel!" Miriam said exasperatedly.

"Oritel made a foolish gamble his daughter was going to return from the clutches of death itself." Serel said calmly, ignoring Miriam's outburst.

Sky redirected his attention to Bloom. She sat quietly and diligently like the most proper of princesses. Her blue eyes, so expressive and such a lipid blue, caught his. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he knew it was of no use.

"The council had been in agreement that Danwin was the next heir for the Sparks throne before that little incident with the demon!" Serel stated angrily. "You can't just give and take the right Oritel! We need a definite answer!"

Sky sat up straight. They agreed Danwin would have the throne? Why would they have done that? "Oritel has given you the answer, Serel. Bloom is the next heiress by right, by law, by birth, and by blood. Oritel can't just tear the Bloom's right from her either. Danwin can rule the Morrcale realm once he becomes of age." Sky looked at Serel and fought shivers as her ruthless gaze pinned him on the spot.

"And you cannot blame Bloom for the creatures that have come after her. That would be like asking King Sky to politely ask Yoshinoya to leave him alone." Radius said boredly. The room erupted in laughter. "Come off it, Serel. You've been on the same subject for the last two months. Go back to your rants on martial affairs. Don't you have a war to start with some realm?"

Serel flushed and shot Radius a glare. "You dare to talk to me so while I hold the floor, Radius?"

Sky looked toward Bloom, grinning. His grin faltered when he realized Bloom didn't see the humor in Serel's embarrassment. He watched her stand up and clear her throat. "These meetings aren't held to perform stand-up comedy, King Radius of Solaria. I suggest we get back on track. We have a number of important issues left to discuss." Bloom sat down, her face emotionless. But Sky wasn't fooled by her mask. Her eyes told him everything he needed to know. Something deeper than inter-realm affairs was bothering her. Something worse was on her mind.

Stella was laughing as she walked out of the auditorium with Layla and Nabu. "Go back to your rants on martial affairs! Leave it to Daddy to turn a meeting around! I almost fell asleep listening to that woman."

"She won't give up on ruining Bloom. Bloom hasn't done anything to the Morrcale realm. What do you think her aim is?" Nabu looked at Layla.

Stella watched Layla look at the floor. "I don't know. But I think it's more than just having her son take over Sparks. She had something planned and she's trying to salvage it." Layla's eyes flashed as she looked up at Stella. "If she tries anything to physically hurt Bloom I'll hurt her."

Nabu put a hand on Layla's shoulder. "I'm pretty sure Bloom can handle herself. She's wrestled with demons before. The devil's mistress shouldn't be too hard for her."

Stella shook her head. "We can do something about the physical attacks Nabu. I mean, a Solarian sun blast here and a moon beam there would do the trick. But we can't do anything about the verbal and the emotional attacks! You know, attacks like those that Serel threw around there in the meeting? And those are what's really getting to Bloom. You can see it in her eyes."

"She can put up defenses against any magical attack thrown at her, but she allows herself to be affected by mere words." Layla shook her head angrily. "She's been handling this royal shit for two weeks now. Call for a time out I say! We should call together the Winx and the Specialists and have ourselves a day out!"

"Sounds good!" Stella flipped open her cell phone and dialed Flora. "I'll call the girls! You and Nabu call the guys. We'll meet up on that beach in front of the Fruitti Music Bar and have ourselves a good time." A real good time, Stella thought to herself as she thought of sipping a fruit smoothie with Brandon. She should wear the green two piece swimsuit for sure, but should she do something with her hair?

Nabu laughed. "It'll be great to hang out with the guys again. Not that I'd trade that for time with you Layla."

Stella lost her train of thought as she watched Nabu lean down and kiss Layla passionately. "Uh, Layla? Nabu? What happened to calling the guys?" She heard Flora pick up the phone and focused on Flora's voice. "Hey Flo!"

"Did you just use Flo?"

"Yes I just used Musa's nickname for you…what it's cute!" Stella said.

"Okay, okay, please tell me you called for a good reason."

"Yeah I called for a reason! Do I ever call for a bad reason?" Stella asked.

"Well, you usually call about shoes, or a dress, or you appearance. Even Brandon."

"No it's not shoes! It's got nothing to do with my appearance! Or those other things!" Stella snapped.

"Yeah right."

"What do you mean yeah right!? It's about hanging out! Do you want to go to the beach with the rest of the guys and girls or what? We're going to that one in front of the Fruitti Music Bar."

" So it is Brandon-related…" Stella rolled her eyes as Flora's giggle resounded from the phone. "Sure, sounds like fun. I'll meet you there."

Stella snapped her cell phone shut and turned to see Nabu and Layla still kissing. "The things I put up with…" Stella sighed.