Ever After High AU: Book 2 - Hearts and Thrones

Chapter 7 - A Plan of Princely Action

Raven's POV

After making sure the door to Sparrow's tree house was latched, Raven turned to face the group that had gathered here.

All of the Rebel students were there, along with some "aspiring Rebels": Dexter, Darling, Maddie, Rosabella and even Ashlynn.

Right after the incident at the Commoner's Common Room, Raven sent out a mass hext message to the Rebels telling thy that they needed to meet somewhere without any mirrors SAT. Sparrow volunteered his tree house and Hunter asked to bring Ashlynn along since 1) she could give insight to Apple's thought process, and 2) she was basically a Rebel herself at this point.

Raven takes a deep breath, "I am sure you are all wondering why you are all here: I know by this point, everyone has noticed that Apple White has been very... uhhh.."

"Overbearing?" Ramona offered with a raised eyebrow.

"Controlling." Cerise deadpanned.

"Really weird towards you, the other Rebels and any Royal who might even be thinking thoughts of switching sides?" Rosabella pointed out.

"Obsessed with the Royal philosophy to the point where even her closest friends are starting to worry for her mental health and stability?" Ashlynn volunteered.

"Ah, so I am not the only one who has noticed," Raven thought, feeling a little bit better that she is not the only one who has noticed Apple's escalating behavior.

"Y-Yes," Raven continued, a bit more confident now that she knows she is not imagining things, "Apple's behavior has been very concerning lately. But, recently - or, well, I kind of knew about this, but forgot about it is the stress of - well uh.." Raven took a deep breath. Everyone was looking at her. Waiting. "They needed to know. This wasn't right." She looked at her oldest friends faces, their expressions ranging from worried to encouraging. To the "aspiring Rebels", looking for guidance. To Dexter's gentle smile and reassuring eyes. Raven finally found the words.

"Apple White has access to the school's security mirrors and has been using them to spy on me, and probably others. I - I am not sure who else she could be watching, but she definitely has been watching me."

Everybody's faces went white as snow, even the "aspiring Rebels" who knew this was coming.

"What.." Cedar asked, her wooden face creaking loudly as her expression goes from encouraging to absolutely horrified.

"Raven," Cerise chimed in gently, "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

She knew this question was coming, but it still felt like someone was pulling the one loose string that threatened to completely unravel her like poorly made dress or scarf.

"I... I wasn't sure anyone would believe me.. At least, no one that could do something.." Raven felt shame burn through her like hot embers as she admitted this. "I didn't even think Giles could do anything since most of the teachers and staff are Royal-aligned and I was sure that Milton would have found some loophole to exploit and because Apple's family and story is so influential I didn't think anyone would take me seriously and I didn't want to worry anyone else and -"

Raven was cut off by Cerise hug-tackling her from the front while Ramona hugged her from behind. Cedar, Hunter, Ginger, Melody and Sparrow quickly joined them and Raven felt her heartbeat and breath finally slow down. She didn't even realize how fast she was breathing or talking.

The group hug soon broke up, but it was just what Raven needed to ground herself. "Thanks guys," she told her friends, before turning to the "aspiring Rebels", "Sorry about that."