"What do you propose?" The enigmatic and low voice of Madrigal Harlev sounded. He stood poised with his hands clasped behind his back and his steely gaze set before him.

A low murmur erupted from the fellowship of Ethom leaders.

Kamber stood off the side of the dais where her father currently held residence. She was a beautiful young woman with well-shaped lips and a pale complexion to match that of Madrigal. Her green eyes were shadowed with dark makeup, and her high cheekbones set off her authoritarian but still very beautiful appearance.

"These attempts will not be easy to silence." A voice broke the muttering of the crowd

"I certainly agree. These rebels take pleasure in disturbing the city. I would suggest we silence them entirely." Master Dorian of the Newlins family spoke up.

"Exactly. We must purge the Ethom sector. Let the rebels make their attempts to disrupt another house, but we can't stand for this." Someone else agreed loudly.

"What of the hostage?" Madrigal inquired, still standing with the attention of the room.

"Execution!"

"Daddy," Kamber looked at her father as the room bustled with enthusiasm towards the idea.

Madrigal stepped off the dais so as to hear his daughter more effectively.

"This hostage may or may not have anything to do with the murder of Lord Newlins, how can we warrant his execution?" She asked in a brisk whisper.

"That is not for you to wonder," Madrigal told her. "But I see what you mean." He stepped up once more.

"I move that we question the hostage and make our decision then." He said, interrupting the loud bustle of conversation among the rest of the aristocrats.

With enough convincing, the party agreed to these terms. Madrigal told his daughter to inform the knights guarding the hostage that he was to be brought forward for his interrogation.

Kamber walked down the hall towards the secured room. She punched a few digits on the code panel and the door unlocked. She gasped at the sight of both knights collapsed on the floor covered with the telltales of a violent struggle. The hostage stood battle ready at her entrance, somehow freed from his hand cuffs.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Kamber demanded.

"I think that quite obvious." He stated.

Kamber got a good look at him for the first time. "Y—Yaron Armethe?"

"You remembered, I'm flattered." He said, sounding genuine. However, the smirk on his face read otherwise.

Yes, it was Yaron. His delectable-looking lips curved up at the corners and told of mischief, and his darting grey eyes were all too familiar to her. He'd been known among the Ethom Crown as one of the most deliciously handsome knights in the force before going rogue and disappearing. How had her father failed to specify that Yaron Armethe of all people was the captured rebel?

Kamber narrowed her eyes. "Of course I remember, you've been the only man on earth capable of breaking my heart." Her tone hardened noticeably.

"I need to get out of here." He said.

"Did you murder Lord Newlins?"

"Let me go now and I'll be back to explain everything, I swear."

"If you swore you'd continue breathing normally I wouldn't believe you." Kamber spat. But, against her better judgment, she unlocked and opened the door. "If you manage not to get caught, you're free." She said, turning away from him to return to the council meeting.

When she looked over her shoulder, he was gone into the shadows.

Kamber pulled her father aside once more. "He's gone. He attacked the knights and disappeared." She said darkly.

Madrigal look distraught, but soon returned to his regular impassive self. "All the same. Now we'll truly find out these rebel's true motives."

The banquet began an hour later, after the Ethom leaders had settled down with the news that the hostage was now on the loose once more.

"First he murders one of our leaders, now he finds a way to escape, it makes me wonder if anyone is safe in the Ethom sector anymore." Annakim stated.

"It's not just Ethom. They're after everyone in the Aristocracy, no matter what Crown their from." Damand said from nearby.

Damand was the son of Lord Newlins, the victim of the murder which had taken place only three days prior. And yet Damand socialized among the leaders and attendees of the party just as he would have any other day. But sentiment was not the way of the Ethom, and Kamber would have done the same had she been in his shoes.

As Damand and Annakim discussed different topics relating to politics, Kamber's mind wandered back to Yaron. She was disgusted at having seen him again, and the fact that she'd allowed him to escape as a conscious choice made her sick. All this conflict between the Crowns and I'm dumb enough to let him go, She scolded herself.

• • •

Yaron trudged along the street, avoiding the more commonly travelled areas. Most of the townspeople of Dema were nonviolent and some even endeavoured to help the rebels in their efforts, but many were also desperate for money and weren't afraid to come to it by means of robbing street goers.

The rebel headquarters was held in an empty apartment building that had been abandoned soon after being built on the outskirts of the city. The police force rarely patrolled it, as they were too busy working as an enforcement for whichever Crown was willing to pay the most. Yaron entered and found the lobby-turned-common-room nearly abandoned.

"You can't just run off like that you moron!" Hani punched his arm as he entered. She cursed at him, and he ignored it as he slumped onto a couch and turned on the TV. Commoners no longer had access to new shows or high quality streaming services, but reruns of old shows still played in an endless succession on forgotten channels, and these low standard, low cost satellites were popular among the very poor majority of Dema's citizens.

"We thought you were actually dead when you cut communication." Arigael appeared.

"Well I'm unfortunately still alive." Yaron said. "I didn't get any of the information you guys wanted, and Song did a great job of turning the whole operation upside down when he killed that Duke."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not even here," Song said, alerting the three of his sudden presence on one of the armchairs. "And if you'd been in that situation you'd probably just have peed your pants and gotten arrested, like you did today. I went for the quickest solution to the problem at hand."

"You're heartless." Arigael spat in his direction.

"Don't flatter me." Song said, his tone flat. "But at least I'm on your side, I could easily just hire myself out to the Aristocrats to hunt you lot down, but I've chosen to work towards the greater good instead of my own."

Yaron glared at Song. He hated that guy with every bone in his body, as did the rest of them. But, Song provided a lot of the muscle of their group, along with an IQ somewhere near 140.

"So what's next?" Hani asked, crossing her arms. "The Ethom are obviously aware of our presence by now, if we go back looking for that thumb drive, we won't get away as easily as Yaron managed to."

"Well, I would." Yaron said, glancing at her. He was, after all, reputable as an incredible escape artist. That, along with his skills in stealth, was the reason he was one of the only "field agents" of the rebellion.

Song ran a hand over his slick black hair, eyes twitching slightly as he considered their next actions. "We move to one of the other sectors of the city for a week or two, so the Ethom have a chance to settle down."

"I'm going back to Ethom tonight." Yaron announced.

Song's eyes flashed. "Did you not just hear me? I said we're moving on for the time being. Forget about that thumb drive."

"It's not the thumb drive." Yaron said, working his jaw as he held eye contact with Song.

"What else could you possibly want there?" Arigael asked, leaning against one of the sofas.

"I just have some things to clear up."

"In your old Crown? Like what?" Hani inquired.

"Never mind." Yaron mumbled. If he told them he was planning on meeting with an ex-girlfriend to clear the air, they wouldn't let him leave. But Kamber needed an explanation.

Maybe then she'd forgive him...

AUTHOR'S NOTE
welcome to the conclusion of the first chapter. i am very excited for this story, and i hope you are as well. i hope to be updating every other friday at least, but it really depends on how much inspiration i have.

so a few quick questions before i go...
1:: who is your favourite among the characters so far? i know you don't know them all very well yet, but i'm still curious.
2 (random question):: who is your favourite band/music artist?

so yeah that's about it for now, thanks for reading and if you'd vote and comment that'd mean a lot!