The Ravaged World (Book 2 of the Exiles Series)

Nineteen: Magnus

I literally don't see Avalon for weeks at a time. She's too busy with other things (mainly my party) to care what I'm up to.

I take advantage of the quiet, using it to do my planning. I message Max almost daily, getting information from him about the Rebellion, and giving him information about the party. He tells me that on that night, members of his group will enter in small groups with other partygoers, and will be rendezvousing near the entrance about an hour into the party. "You'll know who we are," he assures me. I can't decide whether that's good or bad--does that mean that they want to be noticed and questioned? But I trust that Max knows what he's doing.

Once the rebels make themselves known, Max says that it will be mayhem. "Ok," I say. "Just...please. Don't hurt or kill anyone, unless they hurt you." He promises, of course, that that won't happen.

The rebels will try to get ahold of me, and then we'll run to the library with the glass roof and exits. There will probably be some sort of confrontation there, but as long as I get out and Avalon is captured or at least incapacitated, everything should turn out ok.

"Where will you take me after we leave?" I ask.

Max, in a mysterious manner, replies, "Somewhere safer." But if I make it out, I can't imagine that there's anywhere at all that will be safe. Without me, the whole country will go into a state of chaos, and Avalon or someone even more heinous will take power.

I voice my fears to Max. "Look, we're going to try our best," Max assures me. "That's why we have to capture her. If we don't, well, we'll find a way."

"But what other way is there?" I wonder. "Even if you do succeed, someone else could just step in. And it's not as difficult as you think--that's basically what my grandfather did."

"Magnus, I have people working on this issue as we speak," Max tells me coolly, in a way that suggests he's thought of this much more than I have. "Trust me, it'll be fine. And you know that she has no idea what's going on?"

I don't think Avalon knows. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're safe," I tell Max. I hang up. "Hopefully," I add, to nobody but myself.

The next few weeks are filled with planning. Everyone around me seems to have something to do, whether it's cleaning or making decorations or planning the menu, among other details. I get bombarded with questions several times a day, mostly about frivolous things, like "What kind of chocolate do you want on the chocolate waterfall?" or "Do you want to invite insert-guest's-name-here?" or even "What do you want to wear?" Like I care. At least Avalon isn't doing much of the asking--she's too busy even for that, which is strange. One of her favorite things is annoying me.

But before I can worry about that anymore, I wake up one morning and realize that the party is today.

I know I'm supposed to be excited, so I act like I am just so no one gets suspicious. But when I'm alone in my room, it's not the party I'm excited for--it's Max's entrance that I'm really looking forward to. And the possibility of seeing Talia again. I plan for that more than anything, ever, including what I wear and other things that I normally wouldn't care about.

A thought occurs to me. Once the rebels enter, I'm probably going to need to change into something else--it's kind of hard to run in nice clothes.

I lay a t-shirt and jeans underneath my bed, adjusting the sheets on my bed to cover them, and then change into what I'm wearing for the party. In the few minutes after I'm ready but before I need to go downstairs, I practice a welcoming speech that Avalon handed me at breakfast, and stare out the window at the guests and reporters starting to trickle inside beneath the clear winter's evening sky.