The Plan

"Think like a Queen. A Queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness." Oprah Winfrey

~~~

My brothers and I spin around, only to spot eighth brother's butler, Robert.

"You have guests, Eighth Prince?  Welcome, Third Prince, Seventh Prince, Ninth Prince and little Princess.  We would have provided you with refreshments if we knew you were coming.  Please wait a few minutes while we bring out some appetisers." Robert bows to us.

"Don't bow, Robert! You're dear to me," eighth brother sighs. "And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Eighth Prince? You're like an uncle to me...no, more like a grandfatherly figure."

"Please don't say such blasphemous thoughts, Eighth Prince," Robert gasps in horror.

"Grandpa Robert," I say with puppy dog eyes, "please call us by our names.  You did help raise us, after all."

"Princess..." Robert's face had a strained look. "...Very well, Princess." I give him a look. "...Adira..."

Smiling widely, I hug him. "You'll get used to it, Grandpa Robert." My brothers laugh at my antics.  We go through this all the time when we see Grandpa Robert when no one is around. The white-haired old man is ancient, yet he still looks young and tall, his back straight as a stick.  His sky-blue eyes twinkle at me.

"I know, Adira, but it's difficult for a servant to stop using honorifics.  As servants, we must serve our charges, and we are forbidden to use their names.  If it were your grandparent's generation, I'd be killed for this type of disrespect."

"But we're not our grandparent's generation, Grandpa Robert!  And anyway, you're like a grandfather to us, so we treat you like family. 

You've watched us grow up so far, and we hope you continue to watch over us for a long time yet to come." I look at him, a childish gleam within my eyes. After being married off to Asmodeus, I missed Grandpa Robert, Grandma Miranda, Aunty Layla and Uncle Lucas. Hanging around my brothers, those four servants took care of me, teaching me and raising me as if I were one of their own charges.  My own wetnurse Grizelda hated me with a passion, so I was neglected by her growing up.

"I don't like Grizelda...Why didn't I get a nice wetnurse like you, Grandpa Robert?  Or even Grandma Miranda, Aunty Layla or Uncle Lucas..." I lower my head with a slight frown. "Even mother doesn't meet up with me much...  Is it because I'm not a boy?"

"Don't be like that, little Princess.  It doesn't matter whether you're a young Prince or a young Princess. I'm sure your mother loves you very much."

"But I rarely heard her say it... And Grizelda is always telling me I ruined my mother's chances of gaining more of father's attention. She's really mean and sometimes hits me with a bamboo cane..."

Grandpa Robert frowns. "When does she hit you, Adira?"

"When she's in a bad mood," I say automatically.  I quickly cover my mouth.  This was one of the things she told me to never speak to others about. I still remember the times when Grizelda hit me for no reason.  All she wanted to do was release some frustrations and ended up taking it out on me. I was so glad I didn't have to bring her along when I married Asmodeus.  It was one of the very few things I was happy about.

"I think I'll have to have a talk with Grizelda," Grandpa Robert says severely.

"Please don't, Grandpa Robert!" I cry, pulling at his clothes. "It's only when she's mad, and it's not even that often.  She says she just needs to blow off some steam..."

"When was the last time she hit you, Adira?" he asks.

I frown. It's been so many years, I don't even remember the last time Grizelda hit me before my illness. It's been so long, I forgot.  I have to tell Grandpa Robert something, though.  I can't let him know how much I've changed. I'm no longer the innocent, naive child I used to be.  With my old soul resting in my childhood body, it would be difficult to explain anything. It's tiring acting like a child.  I don't know how actors do it.

"...Um...Two weeks before I ended up in hospital...?" I say unclearly.  It truly is hard trying to remember things that happened over two decades ago, though it should be only a little more than a month.  I was lucky Grandpa Robert only thought I was just reluctant to talk to him about it.

"Alright now.  No need to tell me anymore.  You go talk to your brothers now." He smiles gently at me before saying goodbye and heading out.

"Why didn't you tell us, Adi?" eighth brother asks.  All four of them were unnaturally quiet.

"I didn't think it was important..." I feel jittery when talking to my older brothers about this now.  It feels so embarrassing that I tattled like a child, yet I'm supposed to be one.

"You will tell us if anything else happens, right?" ninth brother asks.

I look away before squeaking out a small yes.  My brothers don't look convinced, but they don't say any more about the topic. "Now, where were we?" third brother asks.

"We were talking about Brutus, Clement and Murdoch," seventh brother says quietly.

"We should put up a soundproof barrier.  There are a lot of spies in the castle," says ninth brother.  My other three brothers nod.

"What's a soundproof barrier?" I ask.  My knowledge of the magics used was sparse to begin with.

"It's a barrier that does not let sounds exit the room or what it surrounds.  We should also set up an alarm as well so that we'll know when someone enters the room," third brother explains. "I know the soundproof barrier spell."

"And I know the alarm spell," seventh brother adds.  It takes five minutes for third brother and seventh brother to set up the soundproof barrier and alarm.

"Wow!" I cry. "How do you do that?" I was never taught magic, so watching it has always been a treat for me.  I try to touch the multi-coloured barrier, but my hand goes straight through it. "Why can't I touch it?"

"It's effortless, Adira.  We all have to learn it at some point in our studies," third brother says proudly. "You can't touch it because it's not a tangible object. It's just to stop the soundwaves from leaving this area."

"I wish I could do something like that..." I say mournfully.

"You will, Adi," seventh brother says comfortingly. "All members of the royal family are supposed to study magic.  Even girls."

"But I don't know a thing about magic.  All I know is that we use magic for specific tasks or for battle."

"We'll teach you then. You were supposed to learn when you were 5, but it's still not too late. You're still living in the Southern wing, but that doesn't stop us from teaching you.  I can't believe we didn't think of it earlier!  You may be five years later in learning than everyone else, but I'm sure you'll catch up in no time." Third brother rubs my head affectionately.

"Ok!" I say, cheering up.  We all sit down at the couches, and my brothers look serious.

"Now, we'll start planning.  Should we plan everything out now, or should we plan bit by bit?" eighth brother asks.

"I think we should plan bit by bit!" I call out.

"Why?" ninth brother asks.

"Because we don't know if everything will go to plan if we plan everything.  If we plan bit by bit, we can adapt easier." My brothers nod.  My thought process was already more mature.

"That's true, but if we don't at least have a framework, then we won't know which direction to go when we need to adapt..." seventh brother frowns.

"Then why don't we plan a rough framework of what we need to do and then plan in detail bit by bit?" third brother asks.  We all nod, liking the idea.

"Good idea!"

"Now, which brother shall we start with first?"

"Second brother," I say immediately. "Because second brother doesn't want the throne and isn't affiliated with any of our other brothers."

"Nice thinking, Adi," ninth brother rubs my head.

"Hehe."

"So the who is done. Next are the why, how, when and where."

"I already stated the why!"

"True...  When should we approach him?"

"He needs to be alone...maybe in his bedroom."

"He never brings girls to his bedroom, and he doesn't have any maids either."

"He's rarely in his room, though."

"He does have a schedule," I say with big eyes.

"What schedule?" my brothers ask in unison.

"I've seen it once! It's always in his pocket.  It fell out one time, and I picked it up.  I gave it to him after looking at it."

"Then we need to steal it."

"But how?"

"One of us can talk to him, and another steal it, make a copy, then put it back."

"He'll realise," I say quietly.

"He is good with magic and probably put alarms up."

"We don't have any other choice, though."

"Can't we swap papers?" I ask.

"Swap papers?"

"Yeah!  Take the schedule out of his pocket, and switch it with a paper roughly the same size and weight.  If he feels it's still in there, he won't be suspicious.  We then swap it again when we give the schedule back."

"You've got a considerable amount of good ideas today, Adi," seventh brother says happily, giving me a big hug.  I giggle, feeling a warmth I haven't felt in so long.  This is what happiness, gratitude and family feel like.  This feeling is one I want to keep for as long as I can.

"We have who, what, when and where, so that leaves us with how."

"What do you mean by how?"

"How do we get him to join our side?"

"We'll tell him straight.  We want Adi to take the throne as Queen.  If Adi is Queen, we won't have to hurt one another to take it, and we can all lead lives we want to live out."

"And if that doesn't work?" I ask anxiously.

"There's nothing else we can really do, Adi."

"Then who do we approach after second brother?"

"Hm... what about Alaric?"

"First brother? Why him?"

"Well, he is the crown prince, so we should try to get him onto our side. It'll be a much easier fight since Rai is on his side."

"Then we should talk to fourth brother and sixth brother last." My brothers nod.

"That's a good outline," ninth brother says happily.  We didn't realise that two hours had gone past since we started planning, and Grandpa Robert hadn't returned yet.