A week passes, Tori and her friends begin preparing for the fight against the taxmen; they also plan to find out why her hometown's villagers are being unfairly taxed and abused. It's the early hours of Saturday morning and Tori, her friends and the villagers up and waiting; it's tax, and abuse, day. Then, everyone hears the rustling; Tori follows the sound and find one of the taxmen, seemingly seeking refuge. As for Carrie, she's first on the attack.
"What are you doing here, scum?!" Carrie asks, unimpressed
"I mean no harm, don't hurt me." The taxman responds, a woman
Soon, Tori comes over, recognising the person's features; it's her cousin, Louisa.
"Louisa, you're one of the taxmen?" Tori asks
"I was looking for work as a tax-person to collect taxes, once a month; I didn't know that I would get picked to abuse you and your villagers." Louisa responds, soon putting her hands up in defence, adding "Please, don't hurt me."
"Carrie, move away; you're scaring Louisa."
"Why should we trust her? Those taxmen have hurt us for years."
"I know, and I'm sorry; like I've said, all I was doing was looking for work, to pay for food and a roof over my family's heads."
"Wait, you've got a family?"
"Yes, and ever since my former wife left, I've been the one working for the food and house."
"Wait, you're a lesbian?"
"Yes, and that gave the higher ranking tax-people even more reason to blackmail me. Being a member of one of the lower ranks, I'm powerless against them; I need either a village leader or the monarch on my side."
"And since the monarch has been murdered, you need a village leader to be your ally."
"Yes, do you know where Lady Mari is?"
"Right now, she's out of town. For some reason, Mari still hasn't returned and I'm getting worried that she's been taken hostage by the taxmen."
"If that's what's happened, I'll take you to the place where Mari will most likely be. But, I warn that you won't like what you'll possibly see. Right now, we need to focus on getting your villagers to safety; we can't let them join the fight since it'll be too dangerous and someone will get killed."
"They're that ruthless?!" Carrie asks
"Yes, they are. I'm sorry Carrie, I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Tori and Carrie briefly look at each other, concerned. Then...
"If you don't want me on your team, I understand." Louisa says
"Are you crazy? Of course we want you on the team. Without you, we wouldn't know where to go." Carrie responds, nerves evident
"Are you okay, Carrie?" Tori asks
"I'm fine, nothing wrong here."
Not delving further, Tori pays attention back to Louisa and puts her hand out. Louisa is surprised by this.
"You want me on your team?" Louisa asks, apprehensive
"Like Carrie has said, we wouldn't know where to go or start with the fight for freedom. Everyone in this village wants to be free from those penny-pinching scumbags." Tori responds
After some thought, Louisa takes Tori's hand and gets out of the bush. Soon after, Louisa follows Tori and Carrie to the other villagers and they all start their plan to bringing the taxmen to their knees. Night falls and the trio turn in, oblivious to what they're up against.