2. Children of Freedom

When Jefizon heard the total price of the books he ordered, he screamed as if dying. “My good man, that price per book could buy you an entire house in the old days!”

“Not my choice,” the shopkeeper said. “The next idiotic law Casbrita conjured up.”

Jefizon frowned. “Why would they make books needlessly expensive? What do they gain from that?”

“Not books. Everything must now be done on paper with a royal stamp, and well, you pay for that.”

“Well, my good man, I am not paying that!”

He could pay it just fine. But his principles forbid it. Not a single cent of his would enrich Casbrita.

Ever since Casbrita won their war against the Frambozi—after seven years of gruesome battle—it was broke. They owned all of Elwar, but lacked the money to do anything else now. Harsher and harsher taxes were levied on the poor Elwari to fatten the treasure chest once more.

When Jefizon stepped outside, he was reminded of something even worse. Casbrita did spend millions each year to have soldiers patrol their cities. He couldn’t take a single step without bumping into someone with a bayonet. He couldn’t attend a single event without being surrounded by a thousand Casbrita soldiers “for their protection”.

And for what? Nobody would ever attack them. Everyone else was gone from Elwar; only Casbrita remained.

He saw only one logical conclusion.

Jefizon ducked inside a nondescript building. He entered a dark room lit by candles, with half-empty glasses decorating every piece of furniture. There he found Ajay. As always, he sat in a chair and watched the events on the town square through a window.

“Did you hear about the new stamp taxes?” Jefizon asked. He grabbed a book off the piano to read it.

“Chokers, they are,” Ajar mumbled. “Make us pay for their oppression.”

“They did defend us against the Frambozi.”

Ajay leaned forward; something happened on the town square.

“Casbrita owns the entire coast. Nobody else can colonize Elwar. So, tell me Jef, agains whom do they defend us now? Ay? Nobody. All those patrolling soldiers only exist to crush us if we start a revolution.”

Jefizon didn’t look up from his book. “The number of soldiers isn’t that high. They should have a hundred times more soldiers if they really wanted to contain us.”

Ajay stood up and leaned against the window. “And that’s why we must hit them hard, now.”

A struggling squirrel was pulled onto the town square by a large female ape. She yelled to everyone who wanted to hear.

“This one wanted to collect my taxes,” she yelled. Without looking, as if the squirrel weighed nothing, she pushed him in all directions. “This one has been purchasing Casbrita goods for months. What do we say to that?”

No Casbrita soldiers were near. So everyone dared say it.

“No! We say no!”

The squirrel was bound to a pole. Several bystanders held barrels and threw their contents over the victim. One barrel held tar—a black, sticky goo—and the other feathers. By the time they removed the squirrel from the square, he couldn’t move anymore.

Ajay smiled. “Believe me, nobody will pay that paper tax.”

“We still need paper,” Jefizon said. “I need books.”

Ajay turned around and looked deadly serious. “Then I suppose we’ll see you covered in feathers soon too, won’t we?”

“That’s absurd! I’m the core of this rebellion! After all I’ve done? Pay tax to Casbrita once and you’d throw me away?”

Ajay nodded, his face hardened. “Victories demand hard decisions.”

Jefizon shook his head. “That’s just a great way to chase away any potential rebels.”

More animals entered. This café was the meeting place of the Children of Freedom, and by now the group had grown to include the entire neighborhood. A boycot only worked if everyone participated. If they all refused to drink tea from Casbrita, their oppressors would not earn anything and would have to remove their taxes.

They weren’t going to live without tea, of course! That would be madness! For now, they filled this hole by smuggling tea from the Lowlands into Elwar.

A table in the center of the room was cleared and covered in rows of paper. Papers that told everyone which goods to boycot now, and which inhabitants they suspected to ignore that. Most of the names had checkmarks. The non-checkmarks would … receive a visit tonight.

If you didn’t look too closely, you’d think that this neighborhood had formed its own little government and police.

The door swung open. An imposing monkey brought snow into the room and looked at everyone as if he owned the place. A more reserved animal came in behind him, with paint strokes on her cheeks that marked her as a native.

“My name is Wasserbox,” he said. “And—”

“You’re in the wrong place,” Ajay said, making himself big. “I know your face. You’ve fought for Casbrita all your life.”

Wasserbox sighed. “And look what it brought me. Never progressed further than a small platoon of soldiers. After my … blunder they never let me—”

“And we’re not looking for blundering—”

“I know who you are,” Jefizon said, finally putting his book away. “I read all about you! You’re one of the best generals that ever lived. I would like to welcome you to our … café.”

Wasserbox puffed and threw his winter jacket over a pointy armchair. “Everyone knows this is not a café. I want to include myself with your operations.”

Ajay walked past him and grabbed the native. The female monkey shivered and forgot to blink.

“And then you bring this filth inside our walls!?”

“Do not underestimate Fuja. The best spy I know. I found you thanks to her.” He leaned forward to gray Ajay’s wrist, and spoke softly but clearly. “If you don’t let her go now, I’ll throw you through the window.”

Ajay froze. He let her go and stomped back this chair near the window. “Did anyone follow you? The stench of a native sticks out. You probably didn’t—”

“I did. I am familiar with the Casbrita Parliament. You may think you can win, but they will never surrender. The more you boycot, the more they’ll try to control you. You are living in heavenly freedom now compared to what the colonies will suffer in a year’s time.”

Wasserbox sat down calmly besides the table flooded with paper. All those present kept their distance, except Jefizon. He fell into the chair next to the old general and asked if all the events he read about were true. Wasserbox claimed they were.

“If you are right,” Ajay said reluctantly, “then we must hit harder. We’re far too soft now.”

Another monkey entered. He looked serious and grumpy, as if he was always trying to perform a very difficult math operation in his mind.

“Ah! Bardams!” Jefizon said cheerfully.

Bardams’ greeting was a briefly raised hand. When he saw Wasserbox, he merely said: “Explain?”

“Jefizon claims he’s a Casbrita general who wants to switch sides,” Ajay said.

“Fine,” Bardams grumbled.

“Fine!? Am I the only one here who—”

Bardams had also brought someone. A slave.

Shockwaves coursed through the room. Suddenly, Wasserbox was seen as the better stranger, and many beings suddenly had something to do on the upper floor. Several candles went out from the surprised gasps.

This rhino was scarred and burned all over, giving the impression of a monster waiting to be unleashed. But he was muscular and held himself powerfully, as a being not to be messed with. A scar ran over his face but narrowly dodged his eyes, which looked sharp and keen to take in everyone in the room.

And he was out of chains! His paws and horn were completely free! The only thing that marked him a slave was his grey skin and lack of fur, a clear sign they were underdeveloped and of lesser intelligence.

Jefizon knew this wasn’t true. That skin was actually tougher and losing fur when not needed made you more efficient. But animals told themselves what they wanted, and this rhino was seen as nothing more than a machine to do work for you.

Ajay screamed. “Please tell me this is a joke.”

“This is the final slave that my family possessed,” Bardams said. “I’ve given them all their freedom. This one repeatedly insisted he wanted to fight for us.”

“The answer is no.”

“You’d turn away capable fighters on prejudice alone?” Bardams reacted sharply.

“Bardams is right,” Wasserbox said, now comfortably the center point of the café. Perhaps too comfortable, even Jefizon thought. “Tell slaves they can fight for us. You’ll get a thousand soldiers for free, who are already familiar with following commands.”

Ajay closed the door and locked it, as if afraid otherwise a dozen more monkeys would arrive with “surprises”.

“Then it’s finally time to devise an ambitious plan,” Ajay said, “to remove all Casbrita soldiers from our lands.”