Rebel Children

“Ow, dammit, Rose!”

Rose pressed her lips together to keep from laughing as Tobias, who had been her sword fighting instructor the last few years, cursed and fell backwards down a small incline. She hadn’t meant to knock him down but it was pretty funny watching the big man flail his arms in the air before sprawling on his back in a pile of leaves.

“I’m sorry, Tobias,” she said. “You told me to show you my offense.”

“No, no, it’s alright,” Tobias grumbled, pulling himself to his feet and brushing leaves off his pants. “Your footwork was quite immaculate. Your training is really paying off. My bruised backside is proof of that.”

Rose smiled, sheathing her blade. Tobias had been a constant presence in her life since she was a baby; he was one of only three people who knew that she was Rosalie Antonia Margaretta Charmant, Princess of Norterra. Everyone else simply knew her as Rose Bristol, which was both safer and easier to say. Princess Rosalie was supposed to have died in a tragic and “accidental” fire almost six years ago. Everyone knew that her stepmother, Queen Lorena, had set the fire with the intent to kill Rose, who had been fourteen at the time. Rose had sustained some burns and nearly died of smoke inhalation, but Tobias and his wife had rescued her. Maria Bristol was a mage; a fairly low level one but she had a talent for healing magic and had healed Rose’s burns. All that remained of them were a couple of faint marks on her left leg and hip that looked like birthmarks, but her recovery had taken nearly a year.

Tobias had been a member of the Guard. Maria and Tobias pretended Rose was their niece; and they had spent the last several years keeping her identity a secret and teaching her everything she might need to know to take her throne back from Lorena. Maria was doing her best to teach Rose what magic she knew; though it was hardly enough at this point to combat Lorena. Maria’s primary use of magic was healing, not fighting. Tobias handled her physical training, like putting her through grueling sword fights.

Rose kept the secret of who she was because Lorena, like everyone else, thought she was dead. If she knew Rose was alive, she’d tear the kingdom apart looking for her. Rose stood a better chance of finding a way to beat her if Lorena didn't know she was a threat. Tobias patted her on the shoulder affectionately as they trekked back to camp. After fleeing the summer estate where Rose had nearly died, the four of them had eventually joined up with a troop of people who helped protect travelers and townspeople from the vicious royal enforcers and the creatures summoned up by Lorena’s dark magic. The vast woods and mountains that surrounded Norterra on every side had always been full of strange creatures and magic, but Lorena’s excessive use of twisted spells had called up a number of monsters, and created some that were entirely new. The woods were often treacherous now. Even most of her “knights” weren’t entirely human; she was too paranoid to keep too many people around who might betray her.

Rose didn’t know how yet, but she was going to put an end to her stepmother’s reign. Rose was a bit tired from all the practice with Tobias today; he was a great teacher but he drilled her hard. She preferred the archery practice, since she’d been doing that since she was little. It was a custom for all the members of Norterra’s royal family to use a bow. She was rolling the stiffness out of her shoulders when she nearly ran into Philip, who looked disgruntled as usual.

“Rose, we had two more people leave,” he said. “Harold and Pauline left to go to the city. Not even just moving into Brimsey, right on the edge of the forest. They’re going all the way to Savoy.”

“Of course they are, Phil,” Rose replied calmly, still working the knots out of her shoulders. “They want to get married. Pauline is pregnant.”

“Pregnant!” Philip looked scandalized. “When did that happen!”

“About two months ago,” Rose said, amused. Philip made a “hmph” sound.

“Well be that as it may, our numbers have considerably dwindled lately. I don’t know how we’re going to keep protecting Brimsey and this stretch of the Alden Wood with so few people.”

“It’s getting more dangerous out here,” Rose sighed. “Too many monsters. In some places even the trees are going bad. Eventually no one is going to be able to travel in or out of Norterra at all, if this keeps up.”

“Well it’s just seven of us now,” Philip grumbled. “I don’t see how we can make any difference out here anymore.”

Rose was quiet, lost in thought as she began sorting out some meat and vegetables to prepare dinner. Philip was right; there wasn’t much they could do out here in the woods anymore. Rose had stayed hidden out here to better hide who she was while still trying to help her people as best she could. Now she might have to venture closer to the heart of the kingdom. She was reluctant to travel into the capital city yet; she was too likely to be recognized in Lumafell. Even if Lorena had made an effort to let Rose out of the castle less after her father’s death, people would still remember her. Not to mention the striking resemblance Rose had to her mother. She doubted she could step foot in Lumafell without causing a commotion.

But she was going to need a real plan to return there soon. She didn’t know if she had the capability to fight Lorena yet, but the woman had driven Rose’s father mad, nearly burned her alive, and was poisoning Norterra from the inside out. Even if Rose died in the effort, she had to confront her stepmother before long.

Rose was still lost in her brooding when she heard some scuffling, and she looked up to find that Tobias was marching a young boy into the camp. She paused in her efforts to prepare rabbit stew and raised her eyebrows as Tobias nudged the boy toward her.

“Found this one lurking about in the bushes,” Tobias explained. “Seems he wants to become a rebel.”

“Is that so?” Rose looked the boy over. He was clearly quite young, with a smattering of freckles on his cheeks and curly dark brown hair. He squared his shoulders under her appraisal.

“Yes,” he said with an air of confidence.

“Does the young rebel have a name?” Rose asked.

“Charlie.”

“Mmhm. And how old are you, Charlie?”

“Sixteen,” he replied and Rose gave him a look to convey she absolutely didn’t believe that.

“Thirteen,” he sighed.

“Thirteen year old boys should be at home,” Rose said. “Not wandering around in monster-infested woods or joining rebellions.”

“I ran away from home. My family treats me bad,” Charlie replied. “Yeah, it’s terrible there. I had to get away.”

“I see.” Rose wasn’t sure she believed that either. But she could hardly send him off alone back into the woods; she had just been saying how they were growing more dangerous. And if you weren’t familiar with the area, it was easy to get lost. Eventually they’d need to travel back into Brimsey anyway; maybe by then she could talk Charlie into going home from there. She had heard some scattered talk about rebels, but she didn’t put a lot of stock into it. People were terrified of Lorena, and she doubted very many wanted to incur her wrath. It was likely a handful of idealistic young people like Charlie and would die down in a month or two. Rose’s little band of forest dwellers had been called rebels, but she wasn’t sure that was a fitting title.

“Well, Charlie. I’m Rose, and this is my uncle, Tobias. And I suppose you can stay with us for a while, but you’ll have to pull your weight around here.”

“O-okay,” Charlie said, perking up when she said he could stay. Rose handed him a small knife.

“You can start by helping me peel and chop these carrots.”