Royal Blood

  Royal Blood

  by

  Faith Soprano

  © 2019 Faith Soprano. All rights reserved.

  Cover art by Melisa Bruckner

  Cover concept by the author

  Contents

  1 3

  2 6

  3 9

  4 11

  5 13

  6 16

  7 19

  8 22

  9 25

  10 27

  11 32

  12 34

  13 37

  14 40

  15 43

  16 47

  17 51

  18 54

  19 57

  20 59

  21 61

  22 63

  23 71

  24 75

  25 79

  26 81

  27 87

  28 90

  29 93

  30 95

  31 97

  32 101

  33 104

  34 106

  35 108

  36 112

  37 115

  38 118

  39 120

  40 125

  41 128

  42 131

  43 133

  1

  When Carla’s mother found out she was with child, all of Mordielle celebrated. The imminent arrival of the royal successor was awaited with joyful trepidation by all. But Carla would never see that joy, because her birth was deemed far less a cause for celebration than her conception had been.

  Carla was born deformed. Her face appeared at odds with itself – one side looking much the way you’d expect, while the other looked as though it was melting down.

  The royal healer assured the king and queen that the child would not suffer from the affliction. It was merely a matter of appearance, her senses would not be affected, and she was unlikely to experience any pain because of the defect.

  This did not console the royal family in the way the doctor had hoped. For as much as they wished to love their child despite her oddity, they could not show her to their people, they could not expect their people to be led by someone who looked the way she did. A queen did not have to be beautiful, but she could not be quite so...different.

  So the king and queen made a choice. A choice that would weigh heavily on their hearts in the years to come, but one they would continue to tell themselves they absolutely had to make. They gave the child away. A knight was tasked with carrying the child as far away as she could, beyond the borders of the king and queen’s domain, if possible. The knight did so, and left the child outside a farmhouse, in a neighboring land.

  The knight and the doctor were sworn to secrecy, and the people of the land were told that the royal offspring had been born dead.

  The people mourned, sincere in their grief, and unaware of the true reason for their leaders’ heartbreak.

  But all would pass, and only a few years later, the queen became pregnant again. This time she birthed a boy, healthy and looking quite ordinary. In fact, he would grow up to be quite a dashing young man, someday.

  The people of Mordielle celebrated, happy to see their leaders finally have the child they’d always wanted, happy to see their sorrows overthrown by the joy of the child’s arrival.

  And none of them knew of the little girl growing up on a farm, just to the other side the land’s border. A girl who was meant to be their queen.

  *****

  As Carla was learning to make her first steps, the land in which she now lived celebrated the arrival of their own future leader. A beautiful girl was born in the castle. A girl who would be named Elloriann.

  This princess’ birth was not without its own tragedy. After giving birth to her daughter, the queen would not stop losing blood. The royal doctors did what they could, but their knowledge and tools were limited, and mere hours later the queen was dead.

  The king was torn between joy for his daughter’s birth and the loss of his wife. Though part of him was soaring with happiness at the sight of his newborn child, another part was angry and heartbroken by how the child came to be. Elloriann was all he had left of his wife, but she was also what had caused his wife’s death. And although he hated himself for feeling this way, he often felt as though Elloriann was at fault for the queen’s demise. That her life was traded for her mother’s. That if she hadn’t been born, the queen would still be with him.

  In the years to come, the king would struggle with these emotions, sometimes unable to look at his daughter without seeing his wife in her eyes, without blaming her for the queen’s death. He despised these feelings within himself, knowing that his daughter did not deserve to be blamed for being born.

  To protect her from his unfair emotions, he would avoid her far more often than a father should. He would give her everything she needed, except his own love and presence in her life.

  Elloriann would grow up in luxury and riches, surrounded by servants ready to attend to her every need. But she would grow up an orphan.

  2

  Though she’d never know it, the knight who gave Carla her new home had made the perfect choice. In the farmhouse lived a happy couple who often wished they could have children, but thought they never could.

  They would become wonderful fathers to Carla. When they found her outside their front door, they did not know quite what to think. What unknown powers were sending them this beautiful gift? Whose child was this? People didn’t just leave their children at someone else’s door for safekeeping. They only did so if they wished someone else to take care of the child.

  James and Lui didn’t care about Carla’s birth defect. They took her into town to see a doctor, and once they were reassured that the deformity would not cause the child any pain, they all but forgot that there was anything wrong with her. To their eyes, she was perfect.

  They named her Carla after Lui’s mother. It wasn’t the most sophisticated of names, but the person who’d carried it before was one of the kindest, most compassionate people that both James and Lui had ever known, and they couldn’t think of a better person after whom to name their daughter.

  Carla’s childhood was not filled with riches, as it would have been in the royal castle. She had wooden toys that Dad made, and dolls that Papa sewed for her. But she never felt like anything was missing. Her fathers had a natural talent for childcare, and the discipline to give their daughter the time and attention she needed, while still maintaining their farm.

  From the moment Carla could walk, she wanted to help with the farm. Her fathers humored her, giving her small tasks yet telling her she was doing the most significant of things. When she was 5, they let her plant the first seeds, and throughout the whole season she watched the plants grow with joy and excitement. Her fathers kept telling her those plants wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t planted them, and it gave Carla a sense of importance.

  As time went by, Carla helped on the farm more and more. Her parents always told her that if she wanted to be doing something else with her life, it would be quite all right. There were schools in town, they’d saved up money, she could learn another craft if she wished. But she didn’t. She loved the farm. She loved tending to plants, watching them grow. She loved canning the goods for the winter. Even when things didn’t go quite how they were supposed to, fixing problems didn’t feel like a chore. On the contrary, she felt a sense of accomplishment after setting things back on track.

  The farm filled Carla with happiness. It was home. She never wanted to be anywhere else in the world.

  Papa taught her to spin and sew. Carla had quite a talent for textile crafts, and soon a part of the farm’s land that had been previously unused was dedicated to growing flax. It added extra work, but with Carla now helping at full force, they managed.

  The
y later purchased a loom, and the cold months when the garden was put to rest were filled with spinning, weaving, and sewing. Carla was especially good at making decorated bags, which the family took to selling in town along with the extra produce from the farm.

  Sometimes her fathers would tell Carla that someday the farm would be hers. Whenever they did, it left her feeling proud but uncertain. Though she relished the thought of being the true owner of the farm, she couldn’t bear to think of a time when her parents could no longer take care of it themselves. She wished they could live forever, strong and lively, and full of joy. She wished her life – with the farm and her fathers by her side – would never change.

  *****

  Meanwhile, in the royal castle of Evlirone, young Elloriann was taught of economy, warfare, international relations, and a myriad of other things a future leader would need.

  She didn’t mind it as such, she enjoyed learning. But she was lonely and restless. She wanted to go outside every once in a while instead of being locked up in a library all day.

  Her teachers were demanding but kind. Her guards were respectful but firm.

  Elloriann often felt like being in a luxurious prison. Everyone around her treated her with an air of uncertainty, with a mixture of duty and fear. They couldn’t be truly strict or cruel to her because she was the princess and they were always to treat her with utmost respect, yet they had orders from King Talon to teach her, guard her, keep her safe.

  There were many things she was not allowed to do because they were unseemly for royalty. One time she spilled cider on the floor and intended to clean it up, but her minders screamed in horror and called for the cleaners. As though touching a washcloth would somehow tarnish the princess.

  This all could have well made Elloriann grow up into a spoiled creature, feeling superior to anyone who wasn’t royalty, but it didn’t. It merely made her weary of the restrictions, which she always found meaningless and bothersome. Because even though Elloriann was treated like royalty, she was only and ever surrounded by servants. Despite the barrier of status between them, the people that served Elloriann were the only people that cared for her, and the only people she cared for in return.

  As years went by, Elloriann forged bonds with her teachers, her cooks, her guards. Eventually, they would trust her enough to teach her things the king had not endorsed. The gardeners told her of how they tended to plants and allowed her to try it herself. The servants would eventually stop gasping in shock as she cleaned her own room. The cooks welcomed her into the kitchen. The teachers soon stopped limiting the princess’ education to the approved subjects, and Elloriann would read anything and everything in the royal library, as well as some books that the teachers would bring for her from their personal collections.

  One of Elloriann’s closest friends was her guard, Gerome. On the rare days when she was allowed into the woods for fresh air and sun, Gerome would teach her sword fighting and archery. He said that she might have to lead her people into battle someday, and that took more than what she was learning about tactics and warfare. Practical knowledge would help her immensely.

  It turned out that Elloriann was great with a sword. So much so that Gerome and Elloriann eventually convinced the royal bladesmith to forge a sword especially for her. She was even allowed to participate in making it. The bladesmith said the sword always served truer to its owner if she had a hand in forging it.

  The sword was quite ordinary, but it was Elloriann’s most prized possession. She kept it under her bed and would sometimes sleep with it, as if it were a toy one held for comfort.

  Elloriann was often lonely. She missed her father, who only ever came to see her once a week or even less. She missed him, even though they lived in the same castle.

  After a while, the servants became her family. Of course, it was not quite the same as having a parent that loved her, but for lack of better options, she made the best of what she had.

  3

  As Carla and Elloriann were coming of age, a great tragedy befell Evlirone. It wasn’t war or any other sort of conflict. It was nature’s wrath.

  A terrible storm rolled through the land, destroying many homes, ending many lives.

  Several neighboring territories were affected, but Evlirone suffered the most damage. For days after the storm had passed, the king continued to receive reports of injury, death, and destruction. Many people did not survive the storm, many properties were in ruin.

  Including a farm on the edge of the land, one belonging to Carla’s parents.

  When the storm calmed and the skies cleared, all that was left of the farm was broken wood and stone debris. The farmhouse was gone. Many of the trees were uprooted or cracked. The fields were turned to mud and the crops destroyed. There was nothing left.

  But that was not the worst thing the storm had done to the family. As if turning the farm to rubble wasn’t enough, it took the lives of both James and Lui. Carla was the only one who had made it to the storm cellar. James was knocked against a tree by the wind as he was trying to get to safety, Lui was buried under the ruins of the farmhouse.

  Perhaps if they’d survived, they could have rebuilt. They’d had money saved up, and though it would be hard, the land was still there, and that meant there was still hope.

  But without her parents, Carla was lost. There was little she could do on her own. Even if she hired workers, it would take a long time to rebuild the farmhouse, cultivate the fields again. It was mid-summer, and whatever she planted would struggle to grow. Most of the trees were gone. Even the canned fruit saved up from the previous years was mostly destroyed.

  Not the least in importance was the fact that Carla lost both of her parents in one day. Her entire world collapsed. Rebuilding anything at all was the furthest thing from her mind.

  *****

  The weeks following the storm were busy for Evlirone’s king. He traveled across the land, doing his best to raise the spirits of his people as well as decide who needed the most assistance.

  Most of those who had survived lost their homes and their belongings. Many people were injured and unable to work or take care of themselves.

  As the weather cleared, the skies turned dark with funeral pyres.

  The royal treasury was soon all but emptied out as the king attempted to save his people. So he went to neighboring lands, asking for assistance. Elloriann was at his side. Though her father claimed he took her with him so she could learn diplomacy, she knew the true purpose of her presence was to make the king appear more endearing, and the rulers they visited more likely to provide their help. Elloriann didn’t mind. She was willing to do whatever she could to help her people, even if right then it meant standing by silently, with hurt and despair in her eyes.

  Evlirone would take a long time to rebuild. It didn’t help that thieves, marauders, and slave traders were taking advantage of the desperate times. They traveled around the land stealing jewelry from dead bodies, attacking the injured for whatever they still had, taking everything they could from abandoned homes, including children left orphaned by the storm.

  Elloriann often felt guilty for the comfort she still enjoyed in the castle. Though most of the royal treasure was given away, the king and the princess still had enough to ensure they never starved, were never cold or dirty, and though many of the servants had to be let go, they still had enough people employed at the castle to do all the menial work. The royal family wasn’t bathing in unnecessary luxury, but they were also never in need, and Elloriann often felt overwhelmed with guilt for having lost almost nothing, while so many of the people in her land have lost absolutely everything.

  4

  When the bandits came, Carla was sitting on the ground, staring at the tree that had killed her father. She knew the tree was not at fault. But who else was there to blame? The wind, perhaps. Nature.

  Her parents had not deserved this sudden, unfair demise. They were the kindest people the world could ever ask for. They were wonderful parents. T
hey hurt no one.

  Carla knew that they were by far not the only people killed by the storm, and she was by far not the only one in the land to have lost her whole family. She wasn't sure exactly how this fact made her feel. Not better, not worse. It all just felt very unfair, and made such ideas as fate, karma, and spiritual paths seem meaningless and trite. What was the point of doing good when you could be swept away by a gust of wind and knocked against a tree? What was the point of planning for the future when your own house could suddenly collapse on you? What was the point of doing anything at all, when all could be taken from you by an abrupt, unexplainable turn of events in which you had no say?

  The funeral fire was still burning when the bandits arrived at what was left of Carla’s farm. When they found that there was nothing left to take, they decided that they would not leave empty-handed.

  Carla would be their loot.

  She did not resist when they were taking her. She could barely walk, let alone put up a fight against half a dozen armed slave traders.

  She paid no mind to their words as she was hauled into their carriage and thrown in with the rest of the day’s plunder. She curled up in a ball on the carriage floor, closed her eyes, and let her mind slip into darkness.

  *****

  With the help of its neighbors, the land was gradually recovering. People mourned their dead, mended their wounds, and eventually began rebuilding.

  For a while, no one would be making any profit. Everyone who produced goods would be keeping only as much as they needed to survive, and giving the rest to the king in order to pay back for his help. The king, in turn, was paying back to the neighboring realms for the help they’d provided when it was most needed.

  One of the hardest decision the king had to make was selling a part of Evlirone. A large portion of the land that was mostly covered by a swamp was sold to the neighbors. It was not producing anything of value, there weren't enough people capable of cultivating it, and at the moment, that meant that selling it would be the most beneficial course of action.