Royal Blood

Chapter One

Lucia was pacing back and forth in her small bedroom, she was thinking about how much she could buy from the baker without spending all the coins she had gotten from her parents, Lucia was a brilliant girl, she was outgoing, and helpful to everyone in the town. "I can buy three pieces of bread! I will have about ten coins left over!" She excitedly said to herself, she went and grabbed her satchel of coins from a wooden desk that was in her bedroom, she then ran out of her room and down the creaky wooden stairs, and into her parents' shop. "Lucia, be careful when going out today, I heard that the clouds have gotten darker since this morning." Her mother said as she stopped sweeping, "I will mother, I promise!" Lucia said before she ran out of her parents' shop, her mother smiled and went back to sweeping the dust on the floors away. Lucia ran to the bakery as quickly as she could, as she turned the corner, she ran into someone, "ACK!" She yelped in pain, she fell on her butt and so did the someone she ran into, she looked to see who she ran into. It was her best friend, Oliver Allington, the blacksmith's son. "Oliver! You are in the way!" Lucia exclaimed, Oliver got up and helped Lucia up, "Sorry, my father wanted me to go to the docks to see if the steel he had ordered a while back had finally come." He explained, Lucia thought for a moment. "But I saw your dad getting it yesterday?" Lucia asked, she was a bit confused, "What? Then why did he tell me to get it if he had already got it!", "Maybe so you would leave him alone." Lucia explained, she let out a giggle, Oliver groaned and rubbed the back off his head. "It's fine, do you want to come and get some bread with me?" Lucia asked Oliver, "Of course, how many pieces are you getting?", "Three, I need some coins left over for some fabric for my mother." Lucia explained, "Well, let's get going then!" Oliver said, grabbing Lucia's hand and running to the bakery with her. They both laughed, they were great friends.

Oliver ran up to the bakery with Lucia, they saw a sign that said "closed" on it, "Huh? That does not make sense, the bakery is usually open until dark!" Lucia said, "I know, maybe Mr. Alcott is sick?" Oliver asked, Lucia shrugged, they both peeked into the windows, there was something blocking the view to the inside. "Now that is weird." Oliver said, breaking the moment of silence, "It sure is." Lucia replied, "What are you two doing here? Haven't you heard about the queen coming to town?" A voice from behind them said, it startled them both, they both turned around and looked at who it was. It was Mr. Alcott, "Oh? For what?" Oliver asked, "To retrieve the princess of the Rozevia Kingdom. The only living human and royal blood from the kingdom." Mr. Alcott explained, Oliver and Lucia's jaws dropped, they never knew about the Rozevia Kingdom or anyone that had survived whatever had happened there. "What happened to the Rozevia Kingdom, Mr. Alcott?" Lucia asked, "A long time ago deadly creatures attacked the Rozevia Kingdom in search for something important, they destroyed the town and castle, the knights had no chance of survival in the fight to protect the kingdom, those deadly creatures even destroyed the safe spot, killing the king and giving the queen a sickness. The queen had brought her only child, a daughter, here to this Kingdom and hid her within the walls for protection, the queen died shortly after from the sickness." Mr. Alcott explained, Lucia was confused, how come she never heard of this? Was it real or just a fairy tale?

A bunch of the townsfolk started cheering as sounds of horses running on the stone paths got closer to the village, Oliver grabbed Lucia's hand and ran towards all the cheering. There were so many townsfolk, Lucia could barely see what was going on, "I can't see, Oliver! What is happening?" Lucia asked, Oliver looked at her and picked her up to put her on his shoulders so she could see what was happening. A carriage that was pure white and had golden wheels stopped in front of the crowd of townsfolk. A knight that was standing on the step had gotten down from the step and opened the carriage door, the queen had ducked down a bit and slowly stepped onto the step that was on the carriage and stood up straight. The knight grabbed her hand and helped her off the step, the knight then let go of her hand and kneeled in her presence. "Hello, my townsfolk, as you heard I am looking for the princess of Rozevia Kingdom." The queen explained, she looked right at Lucia, "And there she is, she looks the same as when she was a baby." The queen said, the townsfolk frantically tried to see who the queen was looking at, that's when Lucia realized the queen was looking at her. "Lucia Green, come here, dear." The queen said, the townsfolk looked at Lucia, Oliver pulled Lucia off his shoulders and set her down, he was shocked, so was Lucia. The townsfolk moved out of the way for Lucia to get through, as Lucia walked over to the queen, she felt the stares of the townsfolk follow her as she walked. "Come with me, I'll show you to the castle, we can get you a dress and tiara." The queen explained, she grabbed Lucia's hand, "Into the carriage we go." The queen said, Lucia was silent, this could not be happening, how was she a princess? The queen helped Lucia into the carriage, the knight got up to help the queen into the carriage and closed the door, the knight got onto the step, "Onward!" The knight shouted; the horses started galloping to the castle.