TYLER

The queen stepped on the stony balcony, the torches behind her shining through her silver, lacy dress that dragged across the moss and vine-covered ground. The dress left little to imagination, see-through except for white patches of cloth in flowery shapes that covered her front.

Her face was the picture of perfection; symmetrical, gentle lines, big blue eyes and soft, blond hair. She looked like an angel and Tyler knew it was on purpose. No one chose to look this innocent. She waved at the crowd and smiled, showing her perfect teeth.

Tyler gazed at people in the crowd, all staring at the queen with awe lingering on their faces. That was the point, Tyler thought, to present her like some godlike entity that blesses the land so the crops can grow.

"Lordornians!" She spoke; her voice ethereal. "These past few months have been tough for all of us..." Tyler doubted they were tough for her. "...and more trials are ahead. As you all well know, the sickness that plagued our town has been growing more severe and the infections are becoming more frequent. I assure you, our doctor," she gestured towards the man standing in her shadow, "Mr Leopold is doing everything he can to find out what sort of sickness we're dealing with."

Tyler's concentration wavered as he noticed the scientists not far off shaking their heads slightly. The small gesture and the glint in their eyes told so much. None of them knew what this was and these people doubted the doctor was doing everything in his power to find out.

The doctor remained in the shadow, nothing visible but his silhouette. Tyler thought he saw his eyes glimmering in the darkness but decided to ignore it. There were so many things to deal with right now and a possible lying, deceiving doctor wasn't one of them.

"After weighing all our options," the queen continued, her voice turning slightly robotic, like she was reading off a script, "we have decided the best course of action would be to impose a new curfew."

Shouts of disagreement and muffled grunts spread through the town. Tyler checked Mika's and Dmitri's reaction as well as the reaction of the folk around the soldiers' tables. None of them were satisfied. Their faces twisted into deep frowns and wrinkles appeared on their foreheads. Quietly, they commented something between themselves.

"We cannot be stuck within the walls all the time!" Someone shouted.

"Yes, we're actually working for our own bread!" Another voice joined in, backed up by vigorous nods.

"We need our freedom!"

"We can't work if we can't go outside."

The queen's lips began to shiver as she watched the crowd and Tyler paid close attention to her demeanour. She shrivelled, her body closed in on itself and she became so small under the light of the torches. It made Tyler wonder, who was the puppeteer behind the puppet?

"Silence." A strong voice emerged from the shadows, followed by a tall, bulky figure dressed from head to toe in armour. Dark eyes looked over the crowd, radiating sternness and determination. The man stepped forward, his presence demanding submission. Deep lines decorated his face and his lips seemed to be stuck in an eternal frown.

The crowd died down, but Tyler came closer.

"The curfew will begin as soon as the sun begins to set. No longer will you wait for darkness to settle over our land. This," he stepped in front of the queen, hiding her with his figure, "is in your best interest."

And no one dared to say a word more.

"The curfew starts tomorrow. Anyone caught breaking it will deal with consequences." The man stepped away, once again disappearing within the shadows. The queen followed immediately after, leaving Lordornians alone with their troubles.

Tyler returned to his seat and poured himself some beer. His mind went wild with conspiracy theories, the doctor purposely not working on the sickness, the royals wanting to stop the people from leaving the town. And finally, the written words he could not forget.

The queen is lying. There is a way to go home.

"Who was that?" Tyler asked, interrupting the dissatisfied murmurings of the people around his table.

"The queen's father." Dmitri answered, taking a bite of the roasted meat on the table. "Sometimes I think he placed her in front of the crowd just for appearance."

"Probably." Tyler muttered as he took in the expressions of other people. What he found interesting was how united they seemed to be in their dissatisfaction. Yet, no one did anything about it.

Fear. Always the goddamn fear.

"They gon' make us work twice as hard now, y'know?" Mika shoved some boar meat in his mouth and chewed loudly. "They gon' be expecting the same amount of food in less time. Goddamn royalty, taking the fruits of our labour."

"Someone should do something about it." Tyler decided to drop that bomb, aware it has already been said a million times. It was always the same in situations like these, everyone knew something should be done but no one had guts to do it.

"You think we don't know that?" Jeremy's voice came from behind Tyler and he turned to face his soldier friend. "What we don't know is what's going on. If you rebel, you end up on the other side of the wall and that, my friend, makes you as good as dead."

"Ah, your cowardice does not apply to us." Dmitri drank the meat down with some wine. "You lack courage and we lack weapons."

"Be quiet, man." Jeremy shushed him. "We're in the middle of the square."

"Would we be less conspicuous if we were in a secluded, dark room on the edge of the town?" Tyler smirked, but he liked the fact they were talking about this.

"You should be quiet, too." Jeremy warned. "You're new here, you don't have any credibility or friends in high places. Your word is shit to everyone in this town."

"Thanks." Tyler mumbled.

"I'm serious." Jeremy sat down, slightly looking around to check if anyone was listening. "You think there are no spies amongst us? You think they aren't listening to every word you say?"

"You seem to know a lot about spies," Dmitri interrupted, "how do we know you aren't one of them?"

Jeremy sighed and poured himself some wine.

"Do you really believe we're that much better off?" He asked. "Soldiers are the ones dying from the infection. We're the ones sent outside to deal with whatever the fuck is trying to kill us off. You spend your days in your fields and return the moment the sun sets. Us, we're out there all night."

"We're starving, comrade." Dmitri's deep voice turned harsh. "Your death is swift, but our takes years to come. Our children are ill, mal-nourished and weak."

"You're literally eating right now." Jeremy pointed out and Dmitri's face turned red momentarily, quiet rage bursting from his brown eyes.

"Summer's delight is winter's toll." Dmitri said while his nostrils flared. "We take what we can when the moon is full and the air is warm, but as nights turn longer and darker, our hunger grows. If you had any sympathy in that empty brain of yours, you wouldn't compare our struggles."

"Hey," Tyler jumped in, concluding something very important as he watched the two men bicker, "no one is downplaying your struggle, Dmitri. And Jeremy, watch your tongue. Remember that problems are subjective, they can be categorically different, but equally tough to handle. Soldiers are dying outside and farmers are dying inside, but the people responsible are one and the same." His head snapped to the balcony where the queen and her father stood minutes ago.

Silence fell over their table as men drank their wine and beer quietly, surely contemplating how they got to this point. Tyler thought of what their lives looked like before they came to this place, who they were, what were their hopes and dreams.

While they pondered their situation, Olivia came out of nowhere and sat next to Tyler. For the past week, she's been barely sleeping and it showed. Dark circles under her eyes contrasted the whiteness of her face. Her hair lifelessly fell over her white shirt that became too big for her very fast.

"Ty," she whispered, "I don't want you to mess around with this. It's dangerous." Her voice was quiet enough for no one else to here, quieter than Tyler's not so subtle sigh.

"Olivia, something needs to be done. If the winters are harsh, God knows what awaits. People have been saying boars have been difficult to hunt down lately. I... I don't want us to run out of food." Tyler briefly wondered how was it possible for a tropical island to have harsh winters, but he's seen so many inexplicable things that he just accepted it.

"I-I don't know, Ty." Olivia's voice cracked. "You're messing with something that's not up to you. Who knows what these people are capable of. I don't want to see you get hurt in the process. Just like Corinne said, it's not our place or our business."

"But it is, isn't it?" Tyler countered. "You might not get it yet, but we're those farmers that deserve equal rights. We are the people that are going to slowly starve to death because we're feeding the whole village and aren't getting enough money to sustain ourselves. It's us. You and me. And if we won't fight for ourselves, no one will."

"I don't want you to do that." Olivia shook her head, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. "It's not going to end well."

"It might not." Tyler shrugged. "But what other option do we have? We can wait for the sickness to kill all of us because we aren't strong enough to fight it off. We can wait for the lack of food to do the job the sickness started. Or, we can die fighting for the betterment of every sick child whose parents are giving up their food to feed it. Choose one, Olivia, and choose wisely. Because you might not get the chance to change your mind."

As Tyler finished the sentence, he heard nothing but the ringing in his ears. Silence around him thudded like a call to action, the beginning of a war song. He lifted his gaze from Olivia's scared eyes, only to find men around the table staring at him with some newfound determination.

"We die fighting." Dmitri's words were quiet, but that didn't make them any less strong as he put the cup down on the table.

"We die fighting." Jeremy agreed.

"Oh, we gon' die fighting, man." Mika chuckled, shaking his head.

Right then, around the small table in the middle of the square, hiding in plain sight, an idea emerged in Tyler's mind. As small as a baby, unaware of all the problems that awaited with each step. But it would grow. Oh, how it would grow.