The Rebels

Chapter 1

Elias sat in his bed, his fists clenched and tears rolling down his face. He liked to be in control, to be the one leading the situation rather than the one with no power, and yet he had no power over whether his parents lived or died. Just an hour before, Elias had watched his own parents get hung in the village square for not paying the new mandatory tax the king had recently imposed on the village folk. Elias already knew that his parents would not be able to pay the tax months before this, his father owned a small stand in the village market but it hasn't been doing well for months. But, for some reason unknown to him, he had hope that his parents would still be okay. Though, all hope of his shattered once a group of the king's guards burst into their small cottage that they called home and dragged his parents to the town square to be hung. His parents were just two of hundreds that had already been killed for not paying the tax.

"Why?" Elias asked himself. "Why did this happen? They were good people, they didn't deserve this! No one who has been killed deserves it!"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Elias wiped the tears from his face and opened the door. A  red haired girl stood in front of him. It was a girl that Elias knew very well.

"Hello, Elias." She said.
"Marian? What are you doing here?" Elias asked.

Marian had been Elias's best friend since childhood. But almost five years ago, her parents had gotten a job in the government system of the kingdom so they moved into the noble town closer to the palace.

"I heard about what happened to your parents. I'm very sorry." Marian replied, looking down at her feet.
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault." Elias said. Almost no emotion showed in his voice.
"Can I come in? I need to talk to you, I can't risk anyone hearing."
"Sure. What do you need to tell me?"

Elias moved to the side to let Marian walk in, and then he shut the door behind her. They sat down at the small table his parents had made by hand.

"I ran away from home." Marian blurted out.
"What! Why?" Elias asked.
"Well, my mother told me about your parents being hung. I was angry because your parents had always been such nice and generous people, they didn't deserve that outcome. My mother said that them being killed was inevitable. She said that if they couldn't even make it financially, then they wouldn't be able to make it in the world. And if they wouldn't make it in the world, then they shouldn't be in the world at all. I had already known that what was happening was unjust, but hearing her say that showed me just how terrible the nobles are. So I ran away and came to find you." Marian told the story.

Elias was angry that Marian's parents had said that, but that wasn't his main concern. If people found out that he was harboring a lost noble, he would be accused of kidnapping her and would also be hung.

"Well, what's your plan now? You can't stay here, I'll get in trouble." Elias said.
"I plan on going to an abandoned house just outside the kingdom." Marian answered.
"Then why did you come here?"
"I want you to come with me."
"What!"

Elias was shocked. He hadn't seen Marian in years and now she was asking him to run away with her! It seemed way too crazy to even be true.

"Elias just listen, you don't have enough money to pay for this cottage on your own and your parents' market stand is not going to make you enough money to live off of. You will end up dying of starvation or worse if you don't come with me." Marian explained.

Elias thought about it. She did have a point, he wouldn't have enough money to live off of without his parents. Saying no to Marian's offer would be stupid if him to do. Besides, he knew Marian and he was sure he could still trust her.

"Okay, I'll go with you." Elias finally agreed.
"Great! Okay now go grab whatever you want to take and let's get going." Marian said excitedly, standing up from the table.

Elias got up and went to the dresser next to his bed. He opened the top drawer and took out a locket. He put it around his neck, stuffed it in his shirt so it wouldn't be visible, and then went back to Marian.

"Let's go." He said.

They left the cottage and Marian led him through the town. Once they had gotten through the town, there was a sketchy looking path ahead of them. Elias didn't have a good feeling about the path, but Marian led them down the path anyways. After walking down the path for fifteen minutes, they were standing in front of a run down house. It was big, much bigger than the cottage Elias had been living in. It looked like a Noble's old house.

"Here we are." Marian announced.
"How did you find this house?" Elias asked his friend, who had already begun to walk inside.
"Ever since I moved to the noble town, I would always take walks around the kingdom to blow off some steam. On one of my walks, I stumbled across this abandoned beauty. Ever since I found it, I would come here whenever I was stressed or sad or angry. It kind of became my little hideaway. Now come inside with me." Marian explained.

Elias entered the old house behind Marian. The interior looked just as rundown as the exterior, all of the wood was beginning to rot and all of the furniture looked old and dirty. Even though its current appearance didn't look very good, he could tell that when the house was in its prime it was a beautiful house. Marian gave Elias a tour of the downstairs, upstairs, and the basement before choosing her room and helping Elias choose his room.

"You know, I truly wish that hadn't happened to your parents." Marian said as Elias looked around the room he had chosen. "I wish that we could just put an end to the king and his ruling."

With that, Elias had an idea.

"Marian, you're a genius!" Elias exclaimed.
"What? Why do you say that? I mean, I am pretty smart and awesome, but why do you think so?" Marian said, a joking grin on her face.
"We can stop the king's ruling!"
"How?"
"We can start a rebellion!"