by Billy Miner
“Sure,” Decimus said. “But let’s make sure we stay together. It may not be such a happy occasion.”
The whole family left after getting ready and arrived at the big city square. A few thousand people had gathered. Black endermen and white natives had all come together on the grand plaza to listen to the new king’s speech, curious to see what sort of changes would be made, if any. Some people were holding signs with words like, “Long live the king” or “Finally a righteous ruler,” while others were holding signs with words like, “Away with the king” or “New government system.” It was chaotic. People were fidgety. They sensed the tension in the air. Many people weren’t satisfied, and it was a mystery how the new king had suddenly gained his status.
“Mom, are you sure we want to be here?” Felicia asked.
“Yes. This is important, sweetie,” she said. “If the king will make certain changes, it is better to know about them.”
“That enderguy over there is staring at me,” Livia whined. “He is scary.”
“Just look the other way, dear. He will go away,” Amelia said.
People were shouting. Some of them sounded angry. A few were clenching their fists and holding them in the air. Others were just waiting for the king to show up.
In front of the crowd, there was a humongous building with a balcony. The building was ancient and authentic and was one of the first things the founders of the city had built. It functioned as some kind of pulpit to address the inhabitants of the Enderlands. Many people were looking up to see if the king would show up and give them the aspired updates.
Chapter 4: The New Law
Finally, after a lot of waiting, the new king showed up. Everybody looked up. Slowly, the crowd became silent, hushing each other and expecting Entro to motivate and inspire them with his beautiful words.
Entro looked like a shady figure, not because of his black skin, but because of his sinister, purple eyes that radiated a dimmed light, his dark demeanor, his thick eyebrows, and his black crown with green gem on it. To some of the native children, he looked a little scary, but the endermen loved him.
“Men, women, endermen and enderwomen,” he started. “Many of you know me as a rebellious teenager, a licentious scatterbrain. You may think that I lack the courage and experience to lead this country, but you are wrong. Those days are long gone. I am disciplined now, and I will help this country to develop the same discipline. The king, my father, has requested on paper that I take his place. The evidence is here.”
Entro held a large manuscript signed with the king’s signature.
“I bet you that piece of paper is fake,” Decimus whispered.
“Maybe,” his wife said. “But it looks like he convinced everyone that it is not. I fear the worst.”
“Mom… quiet,” Valentina said, putting her finger in front of her mouth.
“Oh, excuse me,” Amelia said with a smile. “I didn’t know you were so eager to hear the king’s speech too.”
The king continued, “I now hold all the rights and privileges of a worthy heir. You, as citizens, are expected to obey my every command and learn from me as your rightful leader.”
He turned his head around and beckoned one of the ender servants to hand him a big scroll. Most of the scroll fell down as the new ender king held the top and started reading:
The new rules for the kingdom are:
1 From now on, every native inhabitant must address endermen with “O exalted one.” Transgressing this law will result into severe penalties.
2 All natives must yield 50% of their possessions to endermen. The possessions will be collected and divided by the national guards. Failure to obey this rule will result into imprisonment.
3 Every native who doesn’t have a valid passport will be arrested immediately.
4 Endermen will now enjoy the highest educational resources. All natives will be excluded from these programs.
5 The new tax law requires natives to hand over 90% of their earnings to the national treasury. Endermen are required to pay only 9% of their earnings. Failure to pay taxes will result into serious punishment.
6 Greetings in the street must now be in my name, saying “Hail to the wonderful king.” Any other greetings will be eliminated. Disobeying this law will result into possession of goods.
7 If any enderman has a complaint about a native, precise investigations will follow and the claims can result into the imprisonment of the said native.
8 A 9:00 p.m. curfew has been put into effect for all natives. Endermen are to stay up and roam the streets as they please. Local police agencies will ensure that this curfew will be held by the natives.
9 All native women will bow to endermen whenever they meet one. Failure to adhere to this rule will result into loss of personal privileges.
10 Relationships between endermen and natives are strictly forbidden. Disobedience will result into imprisonment.
Our royal house and the national guards will see to it that these rules and precepts are strictly enforced and kept.
The crowds became even more restless. Native white inhabitants were yelling. None of them agreed with the new rules this strict dictator was imposing on them. They wanted a new king, or no king at all. This “Entro” character was out of line. How could he do this to them?
“A little over the top, don’t you think?” Amelia said.
“A little?” Decimus asked. “That must be the understatement of the year. This guy is crazy. A curfew… 90% taxes… no higher education? What is his problem?”
“Well, it sounds a little like some of the rules the natives made up, don’t you think? Now we are getting a taste of our own medicine.”
“I know, I know. I didn’t agree with a lot of the old laws either. They were racist and demeaning towards the endermen. But this is taking it a step farther. Our laws were never that strict.”
“Daddy, does this mean we have to give half of our toys to endermen?” Valentina asked.
“I don’t know,” Decimus said. “But I think we better get out of here, before we get caught up in the violence.”
The family tried to find their way through the masses, back to the street that led their home, but they were held back. There was pushing and beating and shouting. Natives were beating endermen and endermen were beating natives. It was total chaos. Aggression was in the air; the kingdom was on the brink of anarchy.
But the new king didn’t tolerate such behavior. He immediately ordered his guards to go down and stop the madness. They dashed into the throng, stopping the white men and bashing people’s chests with their shields, after which they arrested dozens and took them to prison. Meanwhile, the fight was going on in several parts of the square.
Eventually, Decimus’ family had reached the street they tried to reach.
“Good, we’re here,” he said. “Let’s go home.”
“Wait,” his wife said. “Where is Livia?”
“I thought she was with you,” Decimus said.
“She’s still in there!” Amelia said in fear. “Please, honey. Go back and get her out of there!”
“I will. Don’t worry. Just wait here. I will find her.”
Decimus ran into the mad crowd, hoping to see his beloved daughter in a heartbeat. He pushed an enderman aside, ducked when a royal guard was trying to hit him with a club, and jumped over a knocked out body on the pavement. He listened carefully and let his eyes scan the multitude.
“Dad!” he suddenly heard.
He turned his head. It was coming from the left side.
“Livia!” he shouted back. “Hold on! I will be right there to get you!”
It was easier said than done. The violence by fierce fanatics and political protesters was all around him. He even had to punch a few outraged individuals to get through. He looked again. Where did she go? Oh, there.
Livia was squatting, holding her head down and her hands on her head, trying to protect it from the craziness that was going on. She was screaming loud
ly and crying at the same time.
“Gotcha!” Decimus finally said as he picked her up.
Fortunately, it was easier to get out of the fighting masses and he found his way to the rest of his family within minutes. In a way only a concerned parent can, he carefully put down his daughter and asked her if she was hurt.
“I think I bumped my leg, and I fell. But I covered my head so I wouldn’t get hit,” she sobbed.
“It seems like it’s okay now,” Decimus said. “Let’s go home, kids.”
As fast as their legs could carry them (and as fast as Decimus could carry two of his daughters), they ran home, relieved and well.
Finally, they were safe… for now…
Chapter 5: Underground
It had been several days since the riot. Soldiers already entered every native’s home and confiscated half of their possessions. Decimus’ home was no different. They were poor now, since they never had much to begin with. But now that they lost so much, and had to pay most of the money they made on the job to taxes, it was hard to make ends meet.
Decimus came home from work that day.
“Hail to the wonderful king,” he said.
“Oh, come on,” his wife answered. “Don’t give me that nonsense. We’re home now.”
“Do you have any idea how much I am being watched?” Decimus asked. “They will hold anything against you that they can find. I don’t want to end up in prison. Do you?”
“No, but there is nobody here. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just eat. I prepared dinner.”
“Thank you,” Decimus said as he took a seat at the table.
“Kids! Dinner time!” Amelia shouted.
Their three daughters ran downstairs and sat at the table. They looked hungry and their big eyes were following the pan carefully.
“What did you make this time, mom?” Felicia asked.
“Just something simple,” she responded as she lifted the lid from the pan.
“That’s it? Just soup?” Felicia asked.
“This is all we have, sweetie,” her mother answered.
“But I liked the chicken we had last week,” Valentina said.
“I know. But we have to adjust. This is what we have, so this is what we’ll eat.”
“I understand, mommy,” Livia said. “I like soup.”
“Thanks,” Amelia answered with a smile.
“Why don’t we have more?” Felicia asked.
“The ender king took it from us, remember?” mom answered.
“Then we must go and steal it back,” Felicia said.
“You know we cannot do that, sweetie. It’s impossible and it’s dangerous. So just accept it.”
“Actually… “ Decimus said.
His wife looked surprised.
“What’s in your head?” she asked.
“Just thinking,” Decimus answered.
That night, they heard a knock at the door. Decimus told everyone to stay back. He stood up and walked towards the door. He had never been so suspicious before, but the new circumstances forced him into this position.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“It’s Meridius, from work.”
Decimus opened the door and saw the truthful man standing in front of the door.
“Hail to the wonderful king,” he said. “May I come in?”
“Yeah, yeah… hail to the wonderful king,” Decimus answered. “Come inside before I start beating my head against the wall because of this new greeting rule.”
Decimus closed the door and let his friend in. Meridius wasn’t going to beat around the bush and began, “There are those who think they can undermine the king’s authority. An underground movement has been formed in the past few days. Some of them are you friends, others are strangers, but all of them are natives of course. We feel that you should join us, with your strategic insights and expertise. Will you join us?”
Decimus looked at his wife and kids.
“It’s not safe, is it?” he asked.
“That depends,” Meridius said. “If you’re discrete enough, which we will help you with, we will be able to maintain and build up the resistance.”
Decimus’ wife nodded silently. She didn’t want anything to happen to her husband, but the new way of living had become unbearable. Decimus looked at her and then nodded to Meridius.
“Great,” he said. “There is a meeting right now. If you can, please follow me.”
“Hold on,” Decimus said. “Are you being followed? And isn’t it almost past the curfew?”
“I checked thoroughly,” Meridius said. “Trust me. It’s only a few blocks away.”
“Fine,” Decimus agreed. “I will come with you.”
Decimus gave his wife a hug and left with Meridius, following him through the dark of the night. They waited at every corner, watching for marching soldiers in the city streets. It took them twice as long as if it had been in the daytime, but eventually, they came to the meeting Meridius had talked about. Opening the door, they were greeted by the others. There were fourteen other men, sitting around a table. Decimus knew some of them, but not all.
After a few introductions, one of them stood up and said, “Gentlemen, my name is Laxus. We are here today to halt the evil tyranny of Entro the king.”
“Which… if I dare say, I don’t blame him for being this way,” one of the men said.
“Excuse me? What is your name?” the man who stood up asked. “What are you suggesting?”
“My name is Devius. And I just wanted to say that he is just doing what we did with the law. Instead of discriminating against the endermen, he is discriminating against the natives. You can’t get angry at him for becoming this way. His race was suppressed by us. Let’s not forget that. He is just getting back at us for what we did to them.”
“My good sir,” Laxus said. “You cannot compare these things. Yes, I have to admit that our laws were becoming more racist as the years passed by. I guess we shouldn’t have denied the endermen certain colleges or imposed our superiority on them in certain social manners. But we have never charged so much taxes, made their women bow to our men, forbidden interracial relationships, or thrown everyone in prison who wouldn’t pay 90% of their taxes. The new king has taken it too far.”
“Oh, and what we did was not too far? Is that what you’re saying?” Devius asked.
“I don’t deny that. But now the country has become the puppet of this avenging dictator, and all I am claiming, is that we have to do something about it.”
“Men,” Decimus interrupted. “I think we all have our own sins to account for. We allowed the system to be swayed this way, and now it has exploded back in our faces. But sitting here and discussing semantics won’t get us anywhere. The fact is: What happened, happened. And now it’s up to us to change the course of history for good.”
“Well, if you are so well educated on the subject,” Laxus said. “Then please enlighten us with your solutions.”
Chapter 6: Planning a Putsch
“We have to plan a putsch,” Decimus said.
“A what?”
“A putsch… you know… a coup d’état.”
“I am not familiar with that word.”
“It’s a sudden takeover and replacement of the government,” Decimus explained. “That’s what it is. We’ll go in, take them out, and start ruling the country. I know, I know… you might be thinking that it’s impossible, but the sad truth is that it has happened numerous times throughout history. It’s not that crazy actually.”
Several words were spoken after that. The meeting ended quickly, partially because they didn’t want to stay up too late. The curfew was strict and early, but the later they would be on the streets, they heard… the more severe their punishment would be.
The men in the meeting shook hands and left.
Decimus found his way home after turning around the corner of several buildings. But when he arrived at his door, he heard a voice.
“Hold it right there,�
� it said.
He stood still. This was not good. It was trouble.
“Show me your passport,” an enderman soldier said as he approached Decimus. There were three other soldiers with him, obviously under the command of the one who talked to him.
Decimus turned around and admitted, “I don’t have my passport on me, o exalted one.”
“No passport? Mmm… and 30 minutes past the curfew? What do you have to say for yourself, transgressor? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t arrest you right now and drag you to the deepest dungeon in our holy castle.”
Decimus was annoyed. He was caught. How was he going to talk himself out of this one?
“Please,” he begged. “My family is inside. I just overstayed a little. I was trying to get home on time, but forgot about the time. Besides, my passport is inside. I can go get it if you let me.”
The soldier didn’t look very merciful.
“You natives are so full of nonsense,” he said. “No more excuses. I’m sick of it. You transgressed the law and will be punished. Men, arrest this man. He will pay for his insolence.”
“Noooo!” Decimus said as he was being grabbed and dragged away.
His wife opened the door and saw what was happening. She ran outside and followed the soldiers.
“Please let my husband go!” she begged as she fell on the floor.
“Your husband will come with us, madam. Show your respect by bowing to us. One more outburst and I will arrest you too. Now go inside. I’m sure your kids need you.”
There was nothing she could do… or was there?
Determined to find out where her husband was being taken to, she ran back inside and held Felicia in her arms, placing her hands on her shoulders.
“Listen, Felicia. Watch the other two while I am gone. Lock the door and don’t let anyone in except for me. I should be back soon.”
“Yes, mom,” Felicia said.