The Crown Affair - 1. Chapter 1 - A Prince is Born

In the city of Rasunal, in the Kingdom of Salania; the evening of the fourth day, of the eleventh lumin (Kask-Lumin), of cycle 2025 of the modern calendar:

“Just how many more times can I cry like that?” Josh thought to himself as he dried his red raw eyes, after he had finished crying for the fourth time that evening.

Josh had always kept his emotions pretty close to the surface and he wore his heart for the world to see, but today had been one roller coaster ride he really wished he hadn’t experienced. He had been a turbulent bundle of emotion all day long; one minute he was joyous beyond description at the prospect of seeing his parents, the next minute he was unutterably maudlin over the thought of never seeing his friends again.

The small, blond haired, blue eyed boy looked around his room for what felt like the millionth time that day. He sighed deeply as he took in his bed, the non-descript decor, and the rather large collection of books, and wondered just what the next day would bring.

Tomorrow would be his fourteenth birthday, and under the law, he would be required to move into the palace. His name was Joshua Tierny, and he was the son, and only child, of King Kenneth and Queen Maria of the Kingdom of Salania.

Although technically he was Prince Joshua, he will not officially come into his title until tomorrow, when he turns fourteen; it was part of a bizarre, and highly complex law that had existed since the beginning of the monarchy. A prince, or indeed a princess, cannot come into their title until they have had their ‘Coming of Age’, which for all of the kingdoms in Relan was their fourteenth birthday; though in ancient times, it was deemed to be thirteen for a girl, and fourteen for a boy.

Joshua lived in a townhouse on the outskirts of the prime city of Rasunal, and since he will not come into his title until tomorrow, he had lived his life without anybody knowing who he really was. He had been attending the local school with the children of Rasunal, denying his lineage of royalty. He had spent the past fourteen cycles (well, thirteen cycles and three hundred and sixty four days) living with, and being raised by, his Aunt Mildrea, who was the sister of the Queen. As his aunt was of the Patrician class, he had enjoyed the privilege of attending a patrician school, and had enjoyed a life pretty much free from want; save, of course, the want of a mother’s love.

Unlike all of the other monarchies in the realm, Salania did not now, nor had it ever, bestowed titles upon the extended family or other children of the royal family; hence why Joshua’s aunt was not Princess Mildrea. Only the first born child of the king and queen could ever become the next lead monarch.

At present, it was Joshua’s mother, Queen Maria, who was the lead monarch. That meant that if King Kenneth were to die before her, then Queen Maria would retain the throne and she would either rule alone or could remarry if she so chose. On the other hand, if she were to die before King Kenneth, then Joshua would become king.

One of the ancient traditions of Relan required the heir apparent to choose their future spouse once they had turned fifteen, with the actual marriage ceremony typically occurring before they reached the age of sixteen. However, in modern times, the marriage ceremony could be postponed until the future lead monarch reached the age of eighteen. Two days after she had turned fifteen, Maria had chosen a boy called Kenneth, who was a plebeian from a nearby village and who was a cycle younger than she was, to be the one to rule by her side. In contrast to the other monarchies of Relan, the heir apparent to the throne of Salania could marry anyone of their choosing, regardless of whether they were of noble birth (a Patrician), or a commoner (a Plebeian).

Maria and Kenneth were married nearly a cycle later as they had to wait for Kenneth to turn fifteen, which was the legal age of marriage in Salania. He became King Kenneth upon her accession to the throne eight cycles later, following the untimely death of her parents. Maria had been Queen for just over one cycle when she gave birth to Joshua.

The unusual succession laws, combined with the fact that only the first born child could become the next monarch, had led to problems in Salania’s history. Every schoolchild had learned that their kingdom had been left without a monarch on four separate occasions over the past one thousand cycles, when the ruling monarchs either had failed to produce any offspring or the first born child had died before ascending the throne. In those cases, it befell the clergy to establish a new ruling bloodline by selecting a male from amongst the Patrician class who would be the next king.

Joshua had not seen his parents in person since he was born, and they had only seen him briefly before he was handed over to Mildrea to be raised. It had long since been dictated by the laws of the Salanian monarchy that the heir to the throne should be prevented from having any contact with their parents, and that they should not be raised in the privilege and comfort of the royal palace. They should instead be raised by a close relative of the lead monarch in what would optimistically be a somewhat normal environment, where it was hoped that they would then learn what life was like for the Plebeians who inhabited the kingdom. The idea was that when they became monarch, they would come to better understand the lives of their subjects, and thus keep their subjects’ wishes and desires in the forefront of their mind, and in their heart, at all times.

The Kingdom of Salania was rare in the modern era, in that it was what was termed a monarchist totality; in other words, the king and queen were the law, and their word was absolute. All kingdoms in Relan naturally had a monarchy, but the vast majority also had a Ruling Council, somewhat akin to a government, who were responsible for enacting the royal decrees. They also carried a power of veto in order to prevent the monarchy from becoming despotic and forcing through laws as they saw fit. According to the lessons that Joshua had learned in school, Salania was only one of two monarchist totalities remaining in Relan, and it was the only remaining monarchist totality amongst the four Grand Kingdoms.

“Good night, Aunt Mildrea,” Joshua called to her from his room.

“Good night, Joshua. Sleep well,” she called back.

Josh was filled with trepidation at the prospect of becoming Prince Joshua in the morning, as he had had next to no preparation for this event, and had no idea what to expect. Somehow, the knowledge that princes and princesses had gone through those same feelings and emotions since time immemorial did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves, and he had the feeling that sleep would be a long time coming that night. Yet, the prince to be was fast asleep before his head had even as much as touched the pillow.

However, Mildrea did not fall asleep as quickly as Josh, nor did she sleep as soundly. Although he was her nephew, she actually felt much closer to him. She loved him as if he were her own child, and she knew that it would not be an easy thing to hand him over to her sister in the morning. She had raised him from birth, and although she knew that they would still maintain contact, she wouldn’t be able to see him every day; she was genuinely going to miss having him around. She had been trying to mentally prepare herself for this day, but now that it was here, she knew in her heart that it would be the hardest thing she had ever done, even harder than burying her parents. She pulled the bedcovers over herself, and quietly cried herself to sleep.

Josh awoke the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed and alert, that was until he remembered what day it was. The chaotic swirl of emotions he had felt the previous night returned in full force, and although he was looking forward to finally being reunited with his parents, he also felt something dark and unwelcome. It was something that he had never felt before, and he knew that he had no business feeling it at all, let alone feeling it about his parents.

He managed to control most of the emotional maelstrom long enough to get out of bed and made his way to the bathroom for his morning shower. As the hot water cascaded over him, he felt most of his worries about the day melt away and he was once again able to gain control over his emotions; but that dark feeling clung tight to him and snaked its way around his heart.

Josh was thankful that, even though he was to go and live in the palace with his parents, he would still be able to maintain contact with his aunt. Mildrea had always been there for him, and she had seen him through the best and the worst of his young life.

He had contracted Valley Fever at the age of six and had nearly died, and he had broken his arm at the age of nine when he fell from the Goliath Tree in her garden. They were the only two events in Josh’s childhood that had ever been serious enough for him to be hospitalised over, but he remembered that his aunt had never once left him alone on either occasion; she had actually slept at the medical centre every night he was there.

He had helped Salania to win the annual inter-kingdom sports competition for the past two consecutive cycles and he had won the inter-school history essay competition last cycle. Although Josh had numerous academic and athletics achievements to his name, those were two of which Mildrea had been especially proud; the certificate for winning the essay competition held a place of honour above the main fireplace in the family room.

Now he was facing the dreaded ‘p’ word – ‘puberty’; facing it without his aunt.

If he had had to say a permanent farewell to the woman to whom he knew he owed more than he could ever hope to repay, he firmly believed that he would come completely emotionally unglued. He accepted that his aunt would no longer be a day to day feature of his life, and he just hoped that he would be able to cope with her absence. Only time would tell.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Mildrea was already getting her day started. She had been up since before the sun rose, even before her housemaid and butler were awake. Although Mildrea was the sister of the queen and very wealthy, even by the standards of the Salanian upper middle class, she still insisted on doing her fair share of work.

One of the many things she insisted on doing herself was baking bread. She already had two freshly baked loaves cooling on wire racks, with another loaf in the oven, and a batch of dough on the kitchen counter in a mixing bowl waiting to prove.

She had woken up still feeling very emotional about handing Josh over, so she had decided to focus some of her energy into making bread. She had spent the past three hours mixing dough, kneading dough and pacing the floor waiting for the damned stuff to prove.

She had been sufficiently distracted by her emotional state that when she put the loaves in the oven she had managed to burn herself, not once but twice. The first time she just shrugged it off as a consequence of being in a kitchen. The second time, however, she let loose with a stream of cuss words, that if Josh had heard her, he would surely have died from shock; like her nephew, Mildrea hardly ever cussed, and she had never, ever, said anything worse than ‘damn’ in her nephew’s presence.

Joshua walked downstairs dressed ready for school, just as his aunt was cleaning the last of the flour from her hair and digging the dough from underneath her fingernails; Josh giggled to himself at the sight. He often found himself wondering why she bothered wearing an apron in the first place when she was baking, as despite her best efforts, she always managed to half-cover herself in flour.

Mildrea tossed the hand towel she had been using into the laundry basket that was kept in the kitchen, looked at her nephew and said, “Joshua, happy birthday. Congratulations on your Coming of Age.”

“Thanks Aunt Mildrea.”

“Why are you wearing your school clothes?”

“You’ve never allowed me to take my birthday off school.”

“You misunderstand. Today, you have turned fourteen; you are going to the palace, to be with your parents.”

“I thought I’d get to see my friends, and say goodbye to them all before I left.” A silent tear began to fall, which he did not even bother to try to wipe away.

“You are not expected at the palace until the twelfth hour. I will allow you to say your goodbyes, but I will accompany you to school to ensure that you leave on time.”

“Thanks Aunt Mildrea.” Josh then hugged his aunt for the first time since he was eight cycles old.

“There is one condition. You are under no circumstances whatsoever to reveal that you are to be crowned prince, or the real reason for you moving to the palace, or even that you are the son of our reigning monarchs.”

“You have taught me well on our laws, and I know the penalty for violating them. I know if I reveal my true identity ahead of my formal coronation, then my claim to the crown would be forfeited, and I would be responsible for bringing the royal bloodline to an end.”

“Keep that in mind at all times Joshua. Let us get going then. The longer we stand here talking, the less time you will have for your goodbyes.”

They grabbed their coats from the coat stand on their way out of the door. Since Salania was in the far north of Relan, the mornings were incredibly nippy at that time of year. The school was only a ten minute walk from the house, so Mildrea had told Josh that she had no intention of using the car for making such a short journey. He knew that his aunt could easily afford a fancy car, and have a chauffeur on twenty four hour call, but the simple fact was that she enjoyed walking, and it wasn’t exactly as though Rasunal had a serious crime problem of any description.

Crimes did still happen in Salania, but they were as infrequent as groundshakes or icestorms, and, as with most kingdoms in Relan, Salania had only one punishment for every single crime, execution. Over the centuries, many have called it harsh, cruel, and unjust, but the facts speak for themselves. There had not been a violent crime committed anywhere within the lands of Salania in living memory, and nobody had been able to find a record of the most recent investigation by the Legality into a homicide. Most legal scholars believed that the last homicide actually predated the modern language.

In spite of the seemingly archaic punishment, there had only been three executions in Joshua’s lifetime, and none of those were for insignificant crimes either.

One execution had been for an attempted theft of the Star of Salania, which was one of the kingdom’s most sacred religious relics. It was a huge gemstone, which had an estimated value high enough to buy every home in the kingdom, with coins left over.

The second execution had been for the burning down of a free lodge by someone who had been evicted for harassing other residents. It was the only execution out of the three to be of a teenager.

The third had been for the desecration of the tomb of Queen Katerine. She was the queen five generations prior to Maria, and had been responsible for several unpopular decrees. She was still hated and despised by many among the Plebeian class, and her name had entered into the Salanian tongue as the vulgar slang term ‘katera’, which meant ‘someone who breaks their promises’ or ‘someone who cannot be trusted’.

Josh and his aunt reached the corner of Queen Maria Street and King Kenneth Boulevard when they came across a beggar boy. He was perhaps ten or eleven cycles of age, but he appeared to be in remarkably healthy condition; meaning he was either brand new to the profession, or he was lucky enough to be housed in one of the many free lodges scattered around the kingdom.

Either way, Joshua felt pity for him and gave him a few coins; probably more than he should have, since what he had just given the boy would most likely feed him for a week. Joshua’s aunt reached into the bag she was carrying, which contained the food she was donating for monthly alms, and handed the child one of the cloudfruit and wild rose seed loaves she had baked the previous day.

“May The Great Serpent watch over you always, little one,” said Mildrea.

“I thank you kind people,” the beggar boy squeaked. He then bowed to the both of them, and scurried off. He placed the coins in his pocket, and ripped chunks off of the bread and ate them as quickly as he could, as if he was afraid that the loaf might vanish into thin air on him.

Joshua and his aunt continued to walk towards the school and arrived just as one of the teachers was ringing the bell for the start of the day. The school wasn’t very big, with perhaps one hundred pupils and five teachers; small, but not exactly out of the ordinary given that, even for being the prime city, Rasunal barely had a population of two thousand, and the entire Kingdom of Salania was home to just shy of twenty thousand souls.

“Master Tierney. How nice of you to join us.” The teacher was a short, dumpy woman in her late fifties, who wore glasses with a rose-coloured rim, and the distain she had for Joshua was obvious.

“That’s Mister Tierney if you don’t mind, Miss Carlton.” Even if his aunt had not been present, Josh would still have bitten back the response he wanted to give her; his aunt had raised him to keep a civil tongue in his head when addressing adults.

“Oh yes, I’d quite forgotten that today was your fourteenth birthday. Congratulations on your Coming of Age, Mister Tierney.” It was quite clear from her tone that what she actually wanted to say was, ‘It’s your fourteenth birthday, big fucking whoop! Now get your arse to class’, and perhaps send him off with a clip round the ear for good measure. However, the traditional salutation on someone’s fourteenth birthday was as time honoured as the Festival of The Great Serpent, or bowing to the monarchy. To greet Joshua otherwise would have been regarded as a grave insult, not just to Joshua, but also to all those who call Relan home.

“Josephine, we are here to see the headmistress.” Mildrea, although usually the kindest sweetest person you could ever wish to meet, had no tolerance for disrespect of any fashion. Since Mildrea felt that she did not need to ask for the teacher’s permission, she simply led Joshua to the headmistress’ office.

As soon as they entered the headmistress’ office she said, “Mister Tierney, congratulations on your Coming of Age.”

“Thank you, Mrs Chalmers.”

“What brings you here? You should be in class you know.”

Although the question had been addressed to Josh, it was Mildrea who answered. “Hello Martha, I am here today on behalf of Joshua’s mother. As you know, Joshua has now turned fourteen. His mother works in the royal palace, and she has requested that he join her.”

“Mildrea, Joshua is at a very critical juncture in his education. I am sure his mother could wait until the end of the current academic cycle; after all, she has waited fourteen cycles so far, another six lumins would surely not make that huge of a difference, would it?”

Mildrea looked at Mrs Chalmers, trying to gauge as to whether the headmistress was being sarcastic or not. She decided that Mrs Chalmers was simply speaking her mind, and so remained calm.

“As you may or may not be aware Martha, the royal palace is far from the ideal place to raise a child. The staff work incredibly long hours, and Joshua’s mother would have had no free time at all to spend with her growing boy, that was the reason he was sent to live with me in the first place. However, his mother has recently been appointed as the Mistress of the Queen’s Kitchen. She no longer has to work as many hours during the day, and her weekends are now her own. Now that she has the free time, she would like to spend as much of it as possible with her son, whilst he is still a teenager. Based on his scholastic achievements, she has been able to obtain a place for him at the Royal Academy, which I am sure will help to alleviate any concerns you may have over his future schooling.”

Joshua’s head was reeling at the ease with which his aunt was spinning this tale. Many cycles ago, she had told a young Joshua that if he ever lied to her, then she would throw him out of her home. She had also told him that she did not mind what he did, and whom he did it with, so long as it was legal, and that above all he was to be completely honest with her at all times.

Mildrea took an envelope out of her handbag, and handed a letter with the seal of the Royal Academy on it to Mrs Chalmers. The headmistress read through the letter, unconsciously nodding to herself periodically.

“Everything appears to be in order, Mildrea. This letter confirming Joshua’s place at the Royal Academy has convinced me that this has been well thought through by Joshua’s mother, and I’m quite sure she must have missed him a great deal. I will need a few days to finalise his transcripts, and I’ll send those on once they have been compiled. Mister Tierney, I wish you all the very best for the future and it has been a pleasure having you here.”

“Thank you, Mrs Chalmers. I was hoping to be able to say goodbye to my friends before I leave. Is that permissible?”

“If you are quick about it, school has begun you know.” She handed him a quickly scribbled note that confirmed that she had given Joshua permission to say goodbye to his friends.

Josh trundled through the hall of his small school deep in thought. He had enjoyed a good life, with good friends, and he knew his aunt loved him beyond description, but the future . . . his future . . . was unclear.

“Will I like living at the palace?”

“Will I be able to adjust to having servants of my own?”

“What will my life be like after I am crowned?”

“What will be expected of me as Crowned Prince?”

A million other such questions ran through his brain, all of them vying for supremacy; however, one question managed to rise above the surface of that tempestuous ocean. The only question that truly terrified him was the only one that he was too scared to even think about, let alone ask of himself.

“What will I do without Nate in my life?”

As Joshua approached his classroom, he realised that he was on the verge of tears. With Rasunal being so small, he had known all of these children practically his entire life. He had spent summers playing in the woods and in the lakes with them, he had spent autumns playing in the leaves with them, and winters playing in the snow with most, if not all of them. They had become like an extended family, and now Joshua had to say goodbye to them, most likely forever.

He slowly opened the door, and Miss Carlton looked at him. “Back from the headmistress’ office I see. What have you done now?”

“Actually Miss Carlton, I’m here to say goodbye.”

“What do you mean, ‘say goodbye’? You’ve only just gotten here.”

Joshua clasped his hands together behind his back so that his teacher wouldn’t see them trembling. He took a deep breath and said, “I’m leaving to go and . . . er . . . live in the p-p-palace with my mother.” For someone to whom honesty was so ingrained that it was practically a way of life, he decided that it would be easiest for him to stick to the lie that his aunt had already told his headmistress.

“She’s just been made Mistress of the Queen’s Kitchen . . . and she has asked me to join her.” Josh felt as though his mouth was full of Talavian cotton, and he swallowed dryly. “I’m also going to be going to the Royal Academy. As you can see from this note from Mrs Chalmers, I have permission to say goodbye to my friends.”

Joshua, by the grace of The Goddess, managed to hand her the note without trembling, and then without as much as a by your leave, he went around the classroom saying his farewells.

Most were the usual ‘I’ll miss you’, ‘Stay in touch’, kind of thing, and Joshua promised himself that he would stay in touch with every friend he had, even if it were only via letter. Joshua had made his way around the class of nineteen and had said goodbye to everyone; everyone, that was, except for the person to whom he was closest in all of Salania, including his own kin. Joshua now had the hardest goodbye of all to say.

“Nate. I can’t put into words what your friendship means to me. I spent most of yesterday trying, and no matter what I came up with, nothing seemed to come close. Even calling you my best friend seems woefully inadequate.” He could feel tears threatening to fall, tears that he knew he could not shed in public, for they were tears that he knew would easily betray the full extent of his feelings for Nate.

“I know what you mean Josh. We are probably as close as two people ever get, and I know I’ll miss you. Promise me you’ll write.” Nate then wrapped his arms around Joshua and, with eyes sparkling with unshed tears of his own, hugged Josh as close as he dared in public. Nate whispered as quietly as he could, “Promise me. Promise me, my prince.”

“I promise,” Joshua replied, smiling whilst struggling to hold back his own tears.

The two boys hugged for what seemed an eternity. They were finally brought back to the present when Jennifer Dalby shouted out, “For the love of the gods, would you two get a room!”

The reactions around the class were almost simultaneous. There was snickering in one corner, outright belly laughing in another, and a combination of wolf whistling and catcalling from the other. Miss Carlton just stood stoically at the front of the classroom and rolled her eyes.

Nate and Josh blushed, and whispered their goodbyes again.