In Line - Chapter 1

They came up with the idea that stood the test of time.

Whenever a king and or queen gave birth to children, they would adopt two newborns from the kingdom they presided over. The royal family would never know which of the three children was their own blood, so they could not favor one over the other. When the children grew up, and their parents finally passed, it would become the people’s decision as to which of the three heirs would become the next ruler.

Of course, it was a flawed system. As children grew older, naturally, it became easier to deduce who was the actual spawn of the royal bloodline. Still, by the time a king could know for sure which child was his own, he likely had already grown too fond of all three to simply abandon any.

But this being the case meant that for generations when children were picked to become heirs to the king, they were selected by the shallow traits. It often came down to who appeared to be the most similar genetically. If the king and queen were white, the children they were given would likely be as well. Of course, if they were given two black babies dark as moonstone, they would know the only white child in the liter of newborns was their actual blood.

And that brought the story to me. The king and Queen were white. When they had their baby and were given two from the public, they were given me, a black, and Louis, a Spaniard. They knew right away who their baby was, she was the only white after all, and they named her Sky. For the first time in history, the two adopted children to the royal family were of a completely different race, but our parents were good people. The king himself, my father, knew that he was not related to the former king before him. I liked to believe he loved my adopted siblings and me the way he did because he remembered how he wanted the same when he was growing up.

I, Louis, Sky, King father, and Queen mother never had a problem loving each other as a family. We were a family, but the public was another story. My mother and father were in perfect health, so they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Unfortunately, that didn’t change how people could not imagine the sight of myself or Louis on the throne. Louis didn’t want to be king, and I was never interested in it myself, but the people also had a problem with Sky. She was a woman, and despite her being perfect for the crown, people couldn’t see past her sex. The kingdom of Fae had many queens in the past, but they only came into power after the deaths of the kings they were married to. In short, the kingdom was either unsure of who they wanted, or didn’t want any of the next potential line of monarchs to wear the crown.

It was my 17th birthday; it was also Louis and Sky’s birthday as well, of course. The night marked the beginning of our last year living in the castle together. It was a tradition for heirs at the age of 18 to take on positions of power in the kingdom to better prepare themselves to rule. Taking on said positions typically meant having to move out and living fare away from the castle. As different as me and my siblings might have been, we were close. Where one of us lacked the others made up for considerably.

Sky was a natural-born leader, fearless, trustworthy, and above all else, accountable. But my sister lacked a softer side. She always meant well but had trouble being organic. She wasn’t the most fun at a party, but she was level headed in a crisis.

Louis was almost the exact opposite of our sister. Out of us three, he was the most connected to the people. They may not have wanted him on the throne, but they kept him in their hearts as well as their parties. He was the heart of the castle. Sure, he could be an ass some times, but he knew the people. He was of the people. He wasn’t as accountable as Sky, or nearly as book smart, but he was honest and had conviction in whatever he decided to do.

I guess my brother and sister were always the two extreme points on a spectrum, and I was somewhere between them. I was the midway.

We already knew what jobs we would likely take on when we turned 18. Sky was ferocious in combat, and she was a natural-born leader, so she’d probably go into the military. Louis was a man of the people. He didn’t like to order others around. My brother preferred going with the flow of whatever everyone wanted. He was going to make a great speaker of the people. I didn’t know what I was good at, and I didn’t know what role I would best fit in the kingdom. But it was our 17th birthday. We had a year before we’d have to leave home or make such vital decisions.

I remembered the party we had that night. Mother and Father went all out. They were the king and queen after all, so extravagant gestures and events were to be expected. They lit the entire castle with a new invention called “light bulbs.” They came in many vibrant colors, and made candles seem almost barbaric. Sadly, Louis wasn’t around to see them, and Sky didn’t seem phased by them at all. The most amazing feat of wonder that happened that night was the fireworks set off over the great lake that lived behind the mountain of the castle. They spelled out my name, Par, in the sky. I didn’t know they could do that. We were outside on the balcony as the last flame left the sky. I hopped Sky might have seen them before they faded, but I found her talking to a castle guard.

“Did you see,” I asked as I approached my sister.

“See what?” She asked.

“The fireworks, my name in the sky.”

“Yes, it was nice,” She replied as if without weight or actual care.

“Have you seen Louis, he’ll understand how amazing it was.”

“Last I heard he was with his usual friends at ‘The Splint’”

The Splint was the closest bar to the castle that my siblings and I could travel to without an escort. It was also a place to find cheap streetwalkers, cheap drinks, or cheap drinks to give to streetwalkers to make them cheaper. My brother started visiting The Splint more frequently around that time. We all knew he was entering manhood, but he really let us know by the company he would bring home. We’d see that same company leave the morning after. I said he was a man of the people, didn’t I?

“He’s going to miss the cake,” I said.

“He misses the cake every year.”

“Mother put a lot of work into this one.”

Of course, my mother didn’t bake the cake herself. She had the cooks bake nearly a hundred recipes until they made one she thought was best.

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Sky debated with me.

“Maybe we should go fetch him,” I suggested.

“Fetch him? You mean go to The Splint,” she said with a distaste for the idea.

“It would mean a lot to Mother if we all cut the cake this year,” I said.

“I’m not stepping a single foot into that filthy brothel,” she exclaimed.

“You won’t have to. I’ll go in, get Louis, and get out. I just need you to stand outside and make sure no one tries anything,” I pushed harder.

I was embarrassed to admit my fear of leaving the castle on my own. My siblings and I were royals, so there was always the threat of kidnappers, but I also wore the skin of a lesser minority. Sky and Louis left the castle on their own all the time. But Sky could handle herself in a fight, and people loved Louis too much to ever hurt him. I, on the other hand, was the least favorite of us three. The bar was just outside the castle walls, but I didn’t want to go alone. Sky snickered and gave me a half-grin at my fear.

“Alright, but you owe me one,” she said.

“One of what?” I questioned.

“I’ll tell you when I think of it,” she said.

We snuck away from the party as it was time to cut the cake. In royal families, everyone liked to give speeches. There were a lot of people who attended the party that year, and three people to give speeches for. Needless to say, Sky and I had more than enough time to find Louis. I indeed wanted us all home to cut the cake that Mother worked on, but in the back of my mind, there was another reason I wanted to retrieve Louis. I was entering manhood as well, and I was curious about what The Splint had to offer. I’d never been with a man or woman. I wasn’t sure which of the two I preferred, or if I favored both as Louis did. Regardless, would there have been a better time than the present to find out?

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