The conversation between me and Horatio didn't end there. How could it? I had just suggested treason, and that was not something that Horatio would have ever been comfortable with. I had known that when I suggested it, but my goal was to save Hamlet's life, not to keep the throne that was rightfully his. I didn't know what Hamlet would think of this plan, either. If Fortinbras took Denmark, Hamlet and his mother would both have to go into hiding, there was no doubt about that, and I didn't think Hamlet would go willingly.
Hamlet had a good head on his shoulders, and when he was thinking clearly, he was very smart. He could think through problems quickly. The problem now was that he WASN'T thinking clearly, and that was without knowing that his father had come back as a ghost. If this was a plan that was going to happen, Horatio would have to speak his friend about it, and convince him that it was the best option. Horatio wasn't sure even he had the power to change Hamlet's mind.
After finding out that it was possible his father had been murdered, Hamlet could think of nothing else but revenge, and traditionally in fiction, that never worked out. The only thing we could hope for was that Hamlet would come to his senses, but all that I knew about Hamlet, from both experience and the story, that it would be next to impossible to help him do. So there lay my challenge. Convincing Horatio that it was the best idea in the first place, and then getting Hamlet to believe me without him killing his uncle. No worries there. Right.
Solving things by being sneaking was not easy. I almost wished that we could do all of it by fighting. Almost. I didn't want to kill anyone, and I didn't want to hurt anyone either. But doing this, going to a foreign country and asking THEIR royalty to hurt someone, wasn't that basically the same thing, but without claiming the responsibility?
And what about Hamlet? Would he even be willing to give up the crown that was rightfully his? I mean, that was what he had grown up knowing would be his job, eventually. But this would mean not only giving up his crown, it would mean giving up his life in Denmark. There was no way Prince Fortinbras, or any invader, would be okay with the former royal family still being in their new country.
Why was there no easy answer? Why couldn't we just get rid of Claudius without any bloodshed? This WOULD be an invasion, and Claudius wouldn't give up the throne easily, not when he had worked so hard to get it. I would have the deaths of innocent people on my hands, if we couldn't find a way to end it all peacefully. We would need help if we wanted to do that, and the help would have to come from the people that were on Claudius's side, and there were, unfortunately, a lot of them. So where did that even leave us? Violence, or an impossible task?
Well going into a Shakespeare play and changing the events had seemed like an impossible and crazy task when I had first started to try. But my father had done it, and he had trusted that I could do it too. I had already lost hope once. But now I had Horatio to support me, if I could convince him, and Ophelia to help as well. I just had to be persuasive. We already knew I was a good actress, this would just be more acting. I just had to keep going and hope for the best. Isn't that all any of us can do?
Horatio was watching me, a look of disbelief on his face. I didn't blame him. We had been arguing about everything for at least ten minutes, but Horatio could tell I wasn't about to give up on the idea. "Can you think of any ideas? Claudius planned it all too well. As soon as you and Hamlet left, he brought the most powerful men at court to his side. He has an act, and he's very good at it. Now it's too late to get him off of the throne and put Hamlet there. He knew the court is fickle. They wanted security, and for some reason, they think he'll give it to them."
He sighed. "Maybe because he's older. Or maybe he promised them things. Money, places for their daughters, something."
I nodded slowly. That would make sense. Bribery, maybe blackmail, sounded like something a murderer would have no problem with. Well what I was suggesting was still pretty bad on that scale. "He's only going to respond to fear. Anything else, well right now he thinks he's untouchable, but we need to make sure he knows that he's not. That if he touches one hair on Hamlet's head, there will be consequences. If that doesn't scare him, maybe it'd be worth it to... to take everything away from him," Horatio stumbled on the last few words.
Hamlet was his best friend. I could understand why he didn't want to take everything away from him, because that was what was going to happen. If we took it from Claudius, we wouldn't be able to just give it to Hamlet. It would be gone forever.
I stretched and stood. "You're right. We can try something less... drastic first. He needs to know he hasn't won. That there are people who see through him. "Horatio joined me on his feet, nodding.
"How do we do that without putting ourselves in danger?" Good point. If we threatened him, he could just take us both out, and then Hamlet. Then he really would win. Crap. I tapped my fingers on my dress, gnawing on my lip. Horatio took the hand that was making its nervous motions. "We'll figure it out. Together. I promise," he murmured. I nodded slowly. Together. If only it could stay like that forever.
"Okay. We'll figure it out together," I murmured, pressing his hand to where my heart beat underneath my dress. I let him comfort me. I didn't want to lose myself in hopelessness like I had done once before. I couldn't do that now, not if it was still possible to save this story.
He nodded, holding me close. "Just breathe," he whispered, stroking my loose hair. Breathe. That wasn't too hard. In and out. He rested his head on mine, and I relaxed slowly against him. I had never wished more desperately than I did at that moment, to be able to bring Horatio back with me. I wanted him to be in my life forever, but I didn't know how. Not if I would be sent back as soon as we fixed everything.
We headed back up to the castle together, and I held his hand as we walked. We talked quietly about nothing important. The walls could have ears, and there was no reason to risk being heard, not when we were discussing committing treason. And not just discussing, but actively planning it.
It took a few days before we came up with an idea of how to threaten the false king without losing our heads. It was not a plan I particularly liked, since it involved separating from each other, for maybe months, again. Except this time, I would be the one going away. I had tried to argue that point, but Horatio had a very good argument against me.
We had decided not to tell Hamlet or Ophelia about our plan. The less people who knew what we were planning, the better. Now they couldn't be implicated in anything that we were doing. So we made our plans in secret.
I had to tell Ophelia something, considering I would be leaving Elsinore indefinitely. This meant that I was leaving the story, and I had no idea what this meant for me, or Elsinore. It was me that had changed things so far, and I was worried about what would change as I left. But it had been my idea, so I was going.
Horatio and I had decided that I would leave the castle, and head for Norway. If things didn't go as planned, I would talk to Prince Fortinbras about invading. But we hoped that it wouldn't get that far. If this worked, Claudius would remain king, and, when he died, he would leave a will saying that Hamlet should be his heir. Gertrude was my mother's age, and couldn't have any more kids, so we weren't worried about him leaving an actual heir, unless he had a bastard. (Not an insult, that's what kids born out of wedlock were called.) It wouldn't have surprised me if he did have more than one kid, but they would have no claim to the throne of Denmark.
I would wait for a letter from Horatio, telling me if our mission was accomplished. If I didn't receive one (with a code word that only Horatio and I knew) then I would go to the court in Norway and start talks with the prince about invading, and Horatio would work on getting Hamlet and his mother out of the country. We were worried about how Hamlet would feel about the whole plan, but we had to do something, to keep him safe from his uncle, and so it started.
Horatio would tell Claudius where I was going, and that I expected to see a letter, with a code word, so it couldn't be copied, or I would bring an invasion force, if Claudius didn't comply with our demands. Horatio would ask Claudius to speak alone. He still had some pull, even with the false king.
Horatio hadn't wanted me to speak with Claudius, and despite my protests, I was relieved inside. He had been afraid that Claudius, who had hurt me once already, wouldn't hesitate to do so again, despite any consequences. There was nothing I could do to keep Horatio safe from the same fate but hope. It was the best we could come up with, and when I started getting ready to leave, I admit, I was shaking a little. Starting a new life at Elsinore had been nerve wracking, but I had known, at least in part, many of the occupants, at least by name. Now I was going to a new country, all alone, to try and convince a prince, a supposed villain, to help me. I had already had one bad experience with a prince, and I hoped the next, if it was necessary, wouldn't be so bad. Besides, I had handled Claudius, Fortinbras should be nothing, at least I hoped.
