Playing with a dandelion in his hand, the boy was looking at the sky above, endless blue and clouds everywhere as far as his eyes could see. Nothing to worry about, just a child letting his imagination run wild while looking at the shapes in the sky. A voice interrupted his daydream and called him back to earth.
"Adel! Come down and help me move the food into the storage." Nine-year-old Adel threw the dandelion into the wind, carrying his childish dreams and fantasies into the endless blue of the sky.
"Help me and your brother move the sacks of food." His father asked him for help storing provisions. Winter was close, so they needed to make sure the provisions were stoked for the next few months.
Adel moved the small bags as his father and brother moved the large ones. Even if they were smaller, they were still too heavy for such a small child. With great effort, he managed to move the bags into the storage room.
"Man, you're having so much trouble with just that you're still too weak, hahaha." His older brother, Daru, was teasing him. He was fourteen years old, but he was already learning the trade of a blacksmith. He was the apprentice of the only old man in the village that knew how to forge things with fire.
"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!" Angry by his brother's provocation, Adel grabbed three more bags and tried to take them all at once. He ended up falling after taking a couple of steps.
"Hahaha, I told you, little bro, you're still too weak, hehe." Daru laughed at his little brother until his father called to them.
"Stop playing around and finish the work." With only those words, both children stopped and carried the remaining bags. Their father, Abel, was the chief of the village.
The village wasn’t very big. It was located in the southern part of the Kingdom, with a population of less than a hundred people. It was remote and mostly secluded from the politics in the Capital and from other nobles. Adel and his family were nobles, even if they were at the smallest step of the hierarchy.
Contrary to the nobles of high titles, the Rivale family was humble and had more in common with the poor than the rich nobles. That’s why they didn’t have servants and why the eldest son, Daru, was studying to become a blacksmith.
Abel was in charge of managing the village's needs. If the people needed food or protection from wild animals, he was supposed to send a request to the Lord in charge of this part of the land, Count Rowland. On that day, after storing the bags of supplies, Adel saw the carriage of Count Rowland.
It was a luxurious carriage adorned with beautiful paint, and at its side an escort of knights for protection. Seeing the guest approaching the house, Abel sent their sons away.
"Go play outside until your mother calls you for dinner." Daru followed the order and went to the center of the village to hang around with his friends. Adel, on the other hand, was curious. Filled with mischief, he pretended to play in the forest and instead snuck around the back of the house.
He hid around the kitchen, listening as the adults spoke. "Helen, nice to see you again. How’s life treating you?" Rowland extended his greetings to Adel's mother as he sat at the table.
"Great as always, count Rowland. To whom do we owe your presence in our house?" She bowed her head with humility and served him a cup of tea.
"Always going straight to the point, I like that about you, Helen." Rowland stared right into Abel's eyes. "I need your help to depose the current King." Those words froze the air and the tension rose.
"Rowland, what you're saying is treason. You could be executed for proposing this to me." Abel's tone changed. He wasn’t playing around. The severity of the situation was clear to even young Adel.
"Treason? Are we really traitors, Abel? You have helped me many times in the past. From all the nobles under my territory, you are my most loyal servant. You never ask for any type of reward because you devote yourself to the welfare of the people and our country. You helped me arrest Theodore when we found evidence that he was trying to kill me." Rowland looked down into his cup of tea with a grim expression.
"But our king has failed us. Gabriel Lothar the III has betrayed the nation. Our traditions destroyed, our legacy erased and forbidden. How can we let a single person destroy the history of our kingdom? Our founder, Axes Gabriel Lothar the I, founded this nation over 70 years ago. To protect the noble bloodlines of humans but without being subjected to the scrutiny and overzealousness of the followers of Los." He stood up, and his voice was shaken.
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"The prohibition of having slaves, the reduction of land owned by nobles, and the new law that forbids the existence of a local army controlled by a lord. All those laws point to a single reason: He wants to abolish the feudal system of our nation, take our noble titles, and make all of us no different than commoners. He wishes to concentrate all power in the hands of the king and rule with an iron fist. How he hasn’t betrayed us yet!" Gasping for air, Rowland finished speaking. He laid out his reason; now Abel had to answer.
"Count Rowland, you have my whole heart's devotion, but what you asked is impossible. The King hasn’t betrayed us. Everything he has done since he took the throne is for the good of the people. He isn’t looking to eliminate the nobles from the country. The fact that we have lost power is only the result of making more opportunities to help those with fewer resources-"
"Are you saying it is okay if he takes your birthright from you? What about your father and grandfather's legacy, about your children, Abel? Your family helped build this Kingdom from the ground up. That’s why you were granted a title. Not even the smallest effort was denied. Our founder, Axes, knew that, but his grandson forgot. He forgot the loyalty of the King toward his servants, us nobles."
"No count Rowland, the loyalty of the King always needs to be for the people. The Kingdom could exit without nobles, but not without people." Abel kneeled and put his forehead on the ground. "I beg you, count Rowland, to reconsider this plan. The King hasn’t betrayed you. I give you my word as your most humble servant."
Rowland stood silently watching as Abel pleaded for him to reconsider. After a moment, his eyes got soft. "You're correct, Abel. I let my fear and paranoia get the better of me. Please forget what I said." He bowed as a sign of apology.
After a while, Rowland and his father began to calm down and drink like old buddies. Talking about the past, it seemed like the talk about deposing the King was forgotten with the alcohol. Adel got bored and went to play in the forest as he originally planned.
A couple of hours later, Daru came to look for him as their mother called them back for dinner. When they got to the entrance, they saw Rowland and his Knights leaving.
"Is the old men's drinking party over already?" Daru teased his father as he came close.
"Daru, mind your manners when talking to the count." His mother was the one who smacked him on the head.
"HAHA. Don’t mind the boy; he’s right, we did drink too much. Tell me, boy, how are your studies going?"
"Great sir, I’m about to forge my very first sword." Daru had a smug and prideful face.
"I see. How about you, Adel, how old are you?"
"I’m nine, sir."
"You have grown so much too since the last time I saw you. You were a little boy, still holding onto your mother's dress. Make sure you study hard to help your father." Rowland gave him pats on the head as he said goodbye.
The reunion ended without a problem. Adel thought about the words of the count. What could he do to help his dad? No, not only his dad, but his brother and mother too.
The weeks passed, and one day, while playing with other children in the village, the topic of their future came up. "What do you want to do when you grow up, Adel?" One of the other children asked him.
Maybe he could become a knight in the army, or maybe a scholar in the Court of wizards. Or something as simple as an accountant to help manage the money his father always worries about. Or even a cook to help his mother in the kitchen and cook her delicious meals. Whatever the choice, he still had a few years to think about it. Right now, Adel just wanted to play with his friends and let his imagination take him on various adventures.
After playing until he was completely exhausted, he returned to his house for lunch. His father was fixing the roof of the house, making sure it could withstand the winter. "Adel, bring me a couple more planks of wood from the storeroom."
"What? Why can’t Daru do it?"
"He’s working in the smithy; stop complaining and bring me the planks."
With boredom, Adel complied and obeyed his dad. He went into the storeroom and grabbed the goods beside the wall.
CLANK... The sound of metal made him turn around to see the bags of food. That was weird. Why did the bag that fell sound so weird? Adel grabbed the bag and noticed the weight. It was too much to be food. He opened it and saw something that didn’t make any sense.
"Dad! Dad!"
"Abel looked down. He assumed his son had brought him the planks, but…
"Dad, what is this doing in the storeroom?"
The bag was full of swords, military swords to be exact. Abel climbed down from the roof and went into the storeroom. He began to open all the bags, and his face turned pale. Swords, shields, maces, axes, and armor, all from the military. What was the meaning of this?
The sound of horses getting closer made him leave the storeroom, and, at the entrance, he saw the army. There were at least twenty soldiers. The man in front had a star on his chest, indicating he was a captain. The man raised a piece of paper in his hand and spoke for everyone to hear.
"Abel Rivale, you're under arrest for conspiracy against King Gabriel Lothar the III. Surrender immediately and we will arrest you. If you refuse or try to resist, then we’ll use force."
Adel didn’t understand what was happening. He got scared and his mother hugged him.
"Mom, I’m scared…"
"Shhh, it's fine, your dad is going to talk with the man and make everything clear." Adel cowered in fear in the arms of his mom.
Abel got closer to the captain and, with his hands raised in the air, spoke. "I don’t have the intention of fighting. Please listen to what I have to say."
The captain looked at him and made a hand gesture to continue.
"This is all a ploy to make me look like a traitor, I know… I know who is behind this. Count Rowland, I can testify in front of the King. Please take my family to safety and you can arrest me."
"Selling your superior to the army of the King without hesitation. So much for the most loyal servant." Abel felt fear creeping up on his back. One look into the eyes of the captain and he realized the gravity of the situation he was in. A TRAITOR CAPTAIN!
"HELEN RUN!!!" Those were his last words as the traitor captain decapitated him.