The Butterfly Rebellion: Episode 1

Chapter 1

My existence is one of the most well orchestrated acts of treason to take place since the rebellion began. I am one of the most—if not the most—carefully arranged births in the history of mankind.

I exist solely because the rebellion arranged it to be so.

It took two hundred twenty-five years to bring me to this moment. Two hundred and twenty-five years of planning, maneuvering, and execution. A resistance that became a rebellion in the midst of the greatest natural disaster mankind has ever faced.

And now I stand on the edge of everything. The only obstacle in our path is my father, and he has no idea my birth was planned or that I am a rebel lying in wait to take his crown.

That's the beauty of a truly ruthless rebellion—the Traditionalists are completely unaware that the resistance wasn't washed away the day the Earth changed, along with everything else we used to know and hold dear.

"One hundred and ninety-nine years..." Beau, my bodyguard, my best friend, my only friend, murmurs as she runs her hands over my chosen jewelry selection for the Endurance Day ceremony. Gold and blood red rubies, my signature colors. "Do you think you will be Queen for the bicentennial?"

The idea was ridiculous, but Beau loves to ponder all the possibilities. That is part of what makes her so good at her job.

"No." I pick up the earrings and begin to insert the stud into the piercing in my earlobe.

Beau sighs, unconsciously fingering the brilliant gold filigree that decorates the hilt of the sword strapped to her hip. "I like round numbers. Two hundred years would be a brilliant time to ascend to the throne. Why are you putting on your own jewelry again?" She sputters and glances to the heavy wood door that separates us from everyone else, as if someone would burst in and assassinate me for lifting my own finger.

"You know I am perfectly capable of putting on my own jewelry, right?" I place a hand on her arm to still her. She sometimes forgets these moments of independence are rare for me.

"It's not whether or not you are capable, Penelope. It is whether or not you should. The first in line to rule the world should not be wasting time concentrating on frivolous things like jewelry. Your mind should be filled with matters of state and the future of the human race." She's only a little mocking.

I finish affixing the back of the earring to the stud and pick up the next one, glancing up to meet Beau's eyes in the mirror. "And what if concentrating on a frivolous piece of jewelry is what clears my mind to focus on the affairs of the human race?"

On hundred and ninety-nine years ago, just as evening fell across the North American continent, an unfortunate combination of events kicked a "mass extinction event" into high gear—the somewhat sudden end to a large variety of life on Earth. The opportunity to extinguish one species and replace it with another. Mother Nature's version of spring-cleaning, if you will. The end of the dinosaurs is one of the most famous events. Large, magnificent creatures, but even they were extinguished when Mother Nature was done with them.

But not us.

We refused to be annihilated. Stubborn as we are. I'd say humans are the new cockroaches, but those suckers still refuse to die.

Today is the day we remember how the Earth suddenly changed and how we have endured. It's also the day we keenly remind the remaining people around the world that their survival is due to us, the Sterling family, their monarchy.

"So...are you ready?" Beau asks as I stare at myself in the mirror. My dark red hair has been styled and braided into an elaborate pile on the top of my head. I'm sure it's meant to visually communicate to everyone that I am royalty—better than them in every way—even my hair. That's what all of this is—an elaborate annual reminder of who's who and what's what.