Royals and Rebels

Chapter 3

"...alone is such a nebulous state when one is queen."
-Rae Carson
The Crown of Embers

'Alright princess, you're gonna have to get comfy, it's an hour ride from here to the city, which is where we're based.' Niall tells me as we get onto the road. It seems that the guards haven't noticed the car's absence and if they have, they're taking the wrong route.

'Niall, what were you going to do with me if I hadn't co-operated?' I ask, breaking the awkward silence that was beginning to creep in with the question that had been on my mind most of the night.

'Simple really, I would have chloroformed you, tied you up and put you in the boot of the car. I know it sounds harsh, but the thing is that Felcia is in desperate need of a change. When you and I got to HQ, you would have been tied to a chair and interrogated for any useful information. We would have sent a picture or video of you to your father telling him that the only way we would release you was if he steps down from his position as king. We were pretty confident that your father would agree.'

'Wow. I'm so glad I asked you to take me. The sad thing is, that your plan wouldn't have worked. My father does not care as much for me as he use to. I sometimes go days with him not speaking to me. It all started after my mother was killed. Even when my brother, Harry, died my father did not put all his effort into searching for his body. He let the guards search for a few hours before declaring him dead.'

I stare out of the window as I tell him this, not wanting my brief moment of weakness to be seen on my face. In the silence that follows, I occupy myself by watching the street lights flick by. Each globe looking like a star that dropped from the night sky.

'I never knew you had a brother.' He tells me, breaking the silence that once again, crept into the car. I smile, remembering my big brother.

'He was two years older than me. Braver as well. He ran into the middle of the battle when he heard my mother cry. In the confusion that followed, he was lost and never seen again. I still have nightmares about that day, and I still cry over losing him. We were inseparable, two peas in a pod. Cook Nancy once told me about how we used to cause mayhem in the palace and our nanny, Rose, used to run after us yelling that we were depriving two villages of their idiots. I don't remember much about him, but I do remember his eyes and his hair. I always called him the Green-Eyed Mop-haired monster and he would call me the Red-Headed freak. We had a strange relationship.'

Niall laughs at my story and description.

'Your brother sounds an awful lot like our leader. Green eyes, mop like hair and a brave fool, only difference is the name.'

'Oh, and what's his name?' I ask.

'Edward.'

'I've always fancied the name Edward. If I was ever going to get an animal, I'd get a pug and name him Edward.'

When I say this, Niall bursts into a fit of laughter that is rather contagious, soon I find myself laughing and cackling along with him like a hyena on crack.

When we finally calm down, I ask him what was so funny about what I just said.

'I'd love to hear what Ed would say if I ever told him that you are going to name a pug after him. The ferocious Rebel leader compared to a pug. I mean, of all things, why would you want a pug? Those things have weird squished faces!'

I gasp at his accusation.

'Pugs are not weird, they are cute. Their faces are what make them so adorable!'

'Yeah right, you child, are suffering from insanity.'

'I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it thank you very much.'

'That just proves my point darlin' He tells me rather pointedly.
I just shake my head and laugh at him

'Hey, I've been wondering ever since you first spoke to me, where are you from? I can tell by your accent that you're not Felcian...' I ask him.

'I'm originally from Mullinger, Ireland. I moved here when I was 10 because my mum passed away and my dad didn't want to take care of me. The first thing I did was run away from my foster home, bleached my hair blonde and join the Rebels. I was raised as one of them. There were other kids around my age. I'll introduce you to them when we get there. We used to call ourselves the Lost Boys and pretend that the Rebel territory was Never Land.'

'That's so sad, yet so cute.'

From the far away look on his face, I can tell that Niall is lost in his own world, in a world where the young grow up too fast and the only fairytales are in books. We ride in silence for about another ten minutes before I feel the need to break it. I have, for once run out of things to say, so I go with a last, resort.

'Hey Niall, where are the Seychelles?' I start

'Um, somewhere in the Indian ocean, off of Africa's East Coast. Why?' He asks

'I'm sorry, that was the wrong answer, the correct answer is "on the sey shore" you are the weakest link goodbye.'

Niall stares at me for a few seconds with a straight face before bursting into laughter, yet again.

'Oh.....My.......God! That........was.......possibly one of............the worst.......jokes I've........ever heard! And I've........had to listen........to some of........Harry's........Knock knock jokes!' He manages to spit out in between laughs.

We banter back and forth like this for the rest of the drive. As we get closer to the hour being up, I notice us getting into a rather bad part of the city

We get many stares - it's obviously not everyday that a Ferrari drives through here.

'Niall, we're going to die aren't we? They're going to attack the car, kill me and only then realise who you are. I'm not ready to die! I'm too young! All I can say is I better get a seat at the table of Mount Olympus!'

With this outburst, he looks at me as if I've grown two heads. I suppose I am jumping to conclusions a little too soon...

'Princess, you're being an idiot, shut up.'

'Right, sorry'

Niall pulls the car into an underground garage which looks like it hasn't been used in years. There is graffiti littering the walls, an eerie green glow is transmitted from old lightbulbs half hanging off the ceiling. A heavy smell of mould hangs in the air.

I follow Niall as we make our way towards a very rickety looking elevator shaft. I daren't question how safe it is.

He pulls the door of the rickety elevator (which looks like something straight out of a film from the sixties) open and steps inside, gesturing for me to follow. The elevator shudders to life as the door closes and we start our ascent.

We reach our destination and the grid on the elevator slides open.

I was expecting to see the same scene from the garage up here. Graffitied walls, eerie glows and broken lights. Instead I see something that looks like it comes out of a James Bond movie.

The floors are polished and clean with harsh white lights fixed firmly to the ceiling. The room is rather big. It has a row of computers in the middle with people sitting at them. A giant computer screen sits at the front of the room and has the Rebel's mark floating on it. There is a door going off to the side into what I can only guess to be an office of some sort. Instead of the mouldy smell from the garage, I am hit with a wave of a sharp, metallic smell.

'There are two more stories above us, the one directly ahead is the gym and the top floor is where our living spaces are. Only the Rebels who grew up here live here. The rest go home at the end of the day to their families. There is also a section underneath the garage where we keep our prisoners. The door you see leading off there is an interrogation room.'

I try to take in all this information that Niall is throwing at me whilst watching the flurry of people moving in and out of the room.

'It's time I introduce you to the team. I think they're all waiting in the interrogation room'