Malcolm
“Malcolm.”
“Malcolm?”
“Hey, man, wake the fuck up!” Derek finally raises his voice, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even realize they were all waiting on me.
Leaning back against my seat, I look around the table and grit my teeth. The seven of us have gathered in the conference room, and the atmosphere in the room is so heavy I can almost feel it pressing down on my shoulders.
After four weeks of hard work and planning, the time is finally right — we’re going to make a move. For a moment, when he felt Gladrell’s betrayal, I honestly thought that we were doomed. But then Snow pulled through, and with her help we managed to secure Stone’s support.
Snow did more than that, of course. During these past four weeks, she took an active role in the planning of operations. And, using her personal network, she secured a few more allies in the business industry. While we were once cash-strapped, even when we had Gladrell’s backing, now we have all the money we need to make this happen. Soon enough, the right person will be sitting on the throne.
Now, with all the seven together, it’s time I make the announcement.
“Okay, guys,” I start, pushing my seat back and placing both my hands on the table. The six of them are hanging on each and every one of my words and, even though there’s isn’t a leader among us, it’s my responsibility to tell them we’re moving forward. “As you all know, these past weeks we’ve been doing our best to restore democracy to St. Carlta. And to protect the Princess,” I add, and all six of them are unable to hide a smile.
It’s crazy if you think about it, but Snow stole all of ours hearts. There’s something irresistible about her, and it goes beyond simple beauty. Sure, there’s no doubt about it, she’s the most beautiful girl the realm has ever seen; but there’s a magnetism about her, one that draws everyone in. She was born to be a princess, and St. Carlta is lucky to have her sitting on the throne one day.
It wasn’t supposed to go down like this, though. Protecting a princess usually don’t involve sex, but her presence was so strong that it simply burnt away all constraints and taboos. It’s funny too — we’re seven proud guys, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that a girl would create a rift between us. Instead, the opposite happened; with Snow on our side, we’ve never been so close.
Right now, the silence in the room is deafening. Each one of the six men around me are waiting for my words, and so I take a deep breath and continue.
“The people of St. Carlta are suffering, and everyday we allow Moira to remain on the throne...” Shaking my head, I remember the last intelligence briefs I read. Food shortages, power going out all the time, inflation...Moira doesn’t give a fuck about anyone living inside the borders of our kingdom, and I don’t even want to think about the thousands of people that’ll die because of her despotic rule. “If we don’t act fast, soon enough it’ll be too late to save our kingdom. We’ve been training for this, and all our pieces are now set up on the chessboard.”
“So, this is it, uh?” Tyler asks me, drumming his fingertips on the table. Despite his tense smile, there’s a glint in his eyes — just like the rest of us, he’s aching to let all the tension out. We prepared for this, we trained for this — now it’s time to actually go ahead and do it.
“This is it,” I nod, running my tongue between my lips. Once we go down this path, there’ll be no stopping it. And there’s a chance that some of us won’t return alive. But we all knew the risks when we signed up for this — no one ever stood up to a dictator and expected it to be easy. Sure, we’ll put all our lives at risk, but isn’t that what patriots do? And, more than patriots, men in love?“So, are we in agreement?” I ask them, even though I can read the answer in their faces.
“We are,” they all nod, murmuring their assent. Once heavy, the atmosphere in the room slowly starts to ease up.
“We’ve got the guns, our network of allies is in place...all we need to do is pull the lever and kick that bitch out of the palace,” Derek pitches in, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Just another day at the office.”
“Another day at the office,” I laugh, Derek’s way of putting it somehow making me relax. “Make whatever final preparations you have to. It’s time to make Moira sorry.”
“Fuckin’-A!” Derek cries out, slamming his fist down onto the table and standing up. All the others follow suit, jumping up to their feet. For a moment, we just look into each other’s face, appreciating the solemnity of the moment. This is the kind of meeting that changes the course of History, and we’re the main players.
“We gotta tell the Princess,” William remembers me, and I just nod at him.
“Do it,” I tell him and, with a smile, he turns on his heels and leaves the room. “Alright, guys, this is it. Let’s get the ball rolling.”
No turning back now. As they all start walking out of the conference room, I sit back down on my chair and close my eyes for a second, remembering everything that’s at stake. A whole country, millions of lives on the line...And a woman we’ve all grown to love. Yes, I’d lay my life down for this country — but I won’t lie to you. The reason we’re all doing this, is out of love for Snow.
We were seven once...but now we’re eight.