Royal Blood

Chapter One

I look around my room which must have been the billionth time I have done that in my life. I say room; it's big enough to be a small house. There are three doors, one that leads back out to the hallway, another which leads to my walk in wardrobe which is two storeys high and the final one leads to my en-suite bathroom, equipped with a Jacuzzi bath big enough to fit most of my entourage in. Not that I would ever share it with them though. With all this room you would think I would be able to escape my own thoughts but instead it makes me feel trapped.

At first being a princess sounds glamorous and it can be but it also means I am suffocated by people all of the time. I'm not even allowed into our own garden without security watching from a distance. I rarely get to leave the palace unless there is official business to attend to which normally means following my mother around as she opens a new hospital, or a new school. That leaves me stuck in the palace the rest of time and my room begins to feel like a dungeon. 

When I was growing up, I used to believe that the title of Princess Alexandria would mean that I would be able to help people and change how their lives are in a positive way. Instead I spend my days in my mother's shadow making sure I look pretty and presentable in order to win over the public. Not that this ever works, the media always reports that I look 'shallow', 'plastic' and 'disinterested' which is true because I would rather do something to help than just stand around. How am I ever supposed to win over the public by just standing there and smiling? This isn't what being a princess is about. 

Apparently, before the unspeakable disease, royal families were respected a lot more or at least more than what they are now. And then came the unspeakable disease and that changed everything, the whole perspective people had about us.

It started in some of the poorer countries to begin with back in the year 2053. People died but the countries with the money and technology to help didn't do anything. There was no media attention about it for the first few years until it began affecting what used to be known as the 'western countries'. Slowly people began to die in countries that used to be known as Australia, United Stated of America and the United Kingdom. Once this began to happen the world fell into a panic and scientists began to search for a cure. Before a cure was found, nearly one hundred years later, two thirds of the population had died and many countries began to fight against each other. And even now, in the year 2222, the general public still hate us due to this disease.

The reason though as to why the public hates us though is because we were guaranteed safety. Royal families were hidden underground until a cure was announced. My family lived in their own safe bubble.  The public think that we value our lives more than we value there's which I personally don't believe but if you were to ask my mother, you would get a different response entirely. My great grandfather was in power when a cure was announced and when this happened, he changed the way the world was forever. Instead of there being over two hundred countries around the world, he changed it so there were only two. Strongway which consists of what was known as Europe, Africa and half of Asia, and then there is also Shadowfell, which were North and South America and the other half of Asia along with Australasia. I live in Strongway, more specifically on The Island which was the United Kingdom.

Both countries are now ran by royals; Strongway by us, the Willows and Shadowfell which is run by the Maximes and neither families like the other.  There is a constant rivalry with both families trying to outdo the other with little concern for the countries that they run. It is more about who can throw the biggest balls and who wore what to each party. God forbid making a country a better place comes into mind.

I remember the first time I learnt about my family's history, I was six years old and it was my first lesson with my new tutor. I had gotten my first one fired because she told me I couldn't always get my own way. She soon found out that she was wrong. Anyway, when I first learnt everything, I was filled with hatred towards the Maximes in the way that six year olds hate, without any understanding. Now I don't understand the hate at all.