The King's Servants

Prologue

The kids had been on the run for the past two days now. They were cold, tired and in terrible danger. They were coursing their way through the thinner area of an old forest in the late hours of the evening, but did they care? Not in the slightest.

The six kids, all around the ages of 13 and 14 had made their escape from the dreaded hell that that had been Mackleby Home. In fact, the word "home" could no longer be associated with that place, at least not for these little ones. At first, life there was nice because the last curator had been Mrs Grimswore, a loving kind woman. Sadly, she had to retire, so a man called Mr Spartire took over the job.

From that moment, everything went to the dogs. He was only kind and caring whenever the home had guests who wanted to adopt. Not so much when it was other humans, but very much so when giants came to adopt the human kids. With no external eyes on him, he was a terrible man. Instead of using the little donations that the home got to look after the children, he squandered them on alcohol and women. His need for booze took priority over the children's well-being. Unfortunately for him, his wild life of debauchery would eventually prove to be his downfall.

One cold night, in a drunken state, he returned from the local pub with very little sense in his head. He had been singing one of those weird songs about the bachelor life when he used his key to unlock the front door of the children's home. He sauntered in without a care in the world, completely oblivious to the fact that he had forgotten to lock the front door after he came in.

The six kids were the only ones left in the home. They usually woke up much earlier than their lazy, no-good caretaker. One of them woke up to the sound of strong winds passing through into the house. She got up to check where the draft was coming from and lo and behold the door to her prison was wide open.

She immediately concealed the gasp of surprise that had threatened to escape her mouth and quietly went to tell the others. They all grabbed their small rucksacks, filled them with a couple clothes and some essentials from the kitchen and bathroom and they set off silently out the door. Once they were a good distance away. They began to run, far away from Mackleby Home. By the time Mr Spartire woke up, the kids were long gone.

The kids were wandering through an area called The Vast Forest, a place which had always been close to their home, that they had never gotten the chance to explore. They had trekked for hours, stopping for a rest break every once in a while, when they noticed that a huge storm was preparing itself above them. They began to question their decision to leave. As much as they hated Mackleby, it was still a roof over their heads, with food and warm beds. But it was much too late to turn back now. Plus, none of them had the desire to face Mr Spartire after what they had done.

The sky became dark with grey rain clouds. Humans never did well in storms so the kids needed to find shelter fast. As if by sheer luck, one of the boys spotted a very large structure not too far in the distance. They ran towards it only to discover it was the edge of one of the giant buildings in the kingdom. They saw no way to enter and became scared as the storm drew closer and the winds grew faster, stronger and colder.

The kids decided to keep running across the building's edge, in hopes that they would find some sort of opening for them to squeeze through. Instead, they ran into the large, sturdy boot of a giant man who seemed, from his attire, to be some kind of gardener. "What are you lot doing out here in this weather?! You'll be blown to bits. Come on in you can take shelter in the castle for as long as this storm blows through". The children thanked the large man for letting them in when one of the man's last words registered in their brains. Did he just say "castle"?!

The kids made the horrible realisation that they weren't in any old giant building, but in the royal castle of His Highness King Merobim of their kingdom, Valencia. The kind gardener gave them little cloths to wrap up in and asked them where they had come from. They were in the middle of telling him their unfortunate story when a booming voice filled the stairwell leading to the room, saying "Farro, how are the flowers for my wife going to fare in this weather?" The children froze in fear as a large man, of about 60 years of age, with a golden crown on his head opened the door and stared at them, confused. It was the king.

At first, King Merobim did not know what to think. He had been looking for his trusted gardener, when he stumbled upon said gardener and a group of little human children that he had never seen before. He immediately demanded to know who they were. Farro explained their situation to the royal man, while the children sat, paralyzed by fear. The king nodded, understanding the circumstances. He looked down to the tiny children before him. "How would you children like to stay here and work for me, here in the palace?" he asked. "How?" piped up one of the boys, not understanding how a bunch of palm-sized kids could be of any help in such a huge castle. "We'll find a way my dear boy. By the way, what are your names?" replied the king. There were three boys and three girls. Their names were William, a cute ginger boy, Jack, a black haired boy, Amelia, a pretty brunette, Thomas, a shy blonde, Camilla, a girl with sandy, blonde hair and finally Ella, a lovely red-head. With the introductions over, the king welcomed them into his home.

And so began their adventures in the King's royal abode. They mainly helped with the cleaning of the castle, since their size allowed them to reach filthy nooks and crannies that the huge servants could not reach. It was a dirty job, but the children loved every moment of it. They felt at home here. No more drunk Mr Spartire to order them around or call them names and no more silent suffering. The small children grew up in the castle and befriended each and every one of the other servants with their enthusiasm and constant positive attitude. The king even had some workmen come in to make passage ways for the children to use to manoeuvre through the castle safely. But sadly, all good times must come to an end.

A year later, the king passed away due to a heart condition that could not be helped, well according to the queen. The Queen's name was Armana. She was young and had married the king in hopes of enjoying the lavish life of a royal. However, the happiness that she hoped for never came and it made her bitter. Much so that she constantly insulted the human children out of jealousy. They had little to nothing and yet they were happier than she was. Eventually, she took over the kingdom and the servants suffered under her constant anger and disdain.

However, the children remained steadfast in all their dealings. The king's passing had saddened them but they promised themselves that they would not show any unkindness to the queen because the king had shown great amounts of kindness to them and it would be an utter disrespect to his memory if they even tried to, so they held out. Once again, life had shown them no mercy and had put them back into a painful time. Little did they know that a wave of change was approaching that would blow their minds forever.