Daughter of the Nibrue House

chapTer 20:the nightmare squad.

"If I being followed, I don't know it," Naomi told him. "Do what you must." That took the squad by surprise again!

The squad went off to get their leader and Naomi waited. The sun rose higher in the sky and Naomi waited. The sun burned down on them from the noon position and Naomi waited. The sun started to sink into the west and Naomi was still waiting in her carriage for the rebel leader. Finally, just as the last rays of sun faded away, a bush to her right rustled. 

The bush rustled louder and louder and came closer and closer to the carriage. Naomi than realized that it was the rebel leader in a bush disguise. 

"Hello," she whispered to the bush. "Is any body there?" The leaves of the fake bush rustled and a blond head popped out from the top. "Are you the rebel leader?" Naomi asked.

"Yes." The blond head nodded. "Call me Tiger." Tiger stood up from her bush disguise. "Forgive me for letting you wait so long. We had to make sure you weren't followed."

"I wasn't followed." Naomi told her.

Tiger smiled slyly at her. "Not any more." She sang quietly. Naomi had a few things to say to Lord Arial when she got back. "So, you want to negotiate?" Tiger asked.

"Yes." Naomi said. "I'm hoping we can find a solution and stop any more deaths."

Tiger snorted. "We have tried to find a solution, but his divine Lord Arial will not listen to us. All we want is for him to know that Arial lands aren't good farm lands. The soil is hard and the rocks lay below the surface. We try to grow food, but the Arial House takes all we grow and tax us for what they buy from other lands. How can you find a solution when we have been trying for years?" 

"Because I'm a daughter of the Nibrue House," Naomi told her. "Lord Arial and I are equal in status, he'll listen to me. All I ask is that you give me a chance."

Tiger looked her over. "I may not look like it now, but I grew up not in the Nibrue palace. My mother was a servant in the Nibrue House who my dad fell in love with. Give me two days. If I don't have a solution by then, you and your army can attack to your hearts content. Do we have a deal?" She held out her hand to Tiger.

Tiger glanced down at her hand. She cautiously took it. "Naomi Nibrue, you aren't what I expected from a daughter of the Nibrue House."

Naomi smiled. "You're not what I expected either. Who would have thought the leader of a rebellion would be a blond woman?"

"Who knew blond was a hair color?" Abir said.

Back at the Arial palace, Naomi took the news to Lord Arial. She expected him to agree with Tiger's demands. But he didn't.

"Those lazy farmers will come up with any excuse to get out of work!" he shouted. Naomi stepped back. She didn't see this coming.

"But the land's not fertile." Naomi told him. "It's not good for crops. The rebel's demands are vary reasonable."

"For you maybe." Lord Arial snorted. "But I'll be the one who suffers. What the farmers don't grow, I have to pay for. If they're to get food, they have to put money in the treasury. It's all worked fine until now."

"Have they tried to talk to you about this before?" Naomi asked.

Lord Arial glared at her. "Why don't you just follow tradition. We've never negotiated."

Naomi crossed her arms. "Well, maybe you should," she said, having had more then her fill of Lord Arial's attitude. "Go right on ahead and start a civil war. But don't expect any help from the Nibrue House, well maybe a little help on the rebel's side."

Lord Arial went white. "You, you wouldn't," he stammered. "You know the story. The Magic Houses are descended from brothers. We are all family."

Naomi crossed her arms. "It's been years and I believe that the first Lord Nibrue would agree with me. Letting them keep more of the food they grow, lowering taxes, and offering new jobs isn't that bad. I had hoped you would be civilized about this, but clearly I was wrong."

Lord Arial glared at her. "Leave now!" he shouted. "And never come back!" 

Naomi and her family left that same day, but as they went through the forest where Naomi met Tiger, they were surrounded. Naomi was scared, until she saw Tiger. "Tiger!" she called. "Grandmother, this is the rebel leader. She calls herself Tiger."

Tiger smiled at Naomi. "Does this mean you have settled an agreement?" she asked hopefully. Naomi hated to brake it to her."

"No." Naomi told her. "Lord Arial's stubborn. But I won't be fighting with them. We'll send food and supplies to you and your men, but we won't fight. If you lose, we'll still send food. Is it a deal?"

Tiger smiled. "It's a deal. And who knows? Perhaps you will be the first of a long line of nobles who listen to their people."