Red & White

one.

The bells and cheers ringing in the year 3015 invaded a small village for a week passed January first. The celebrations differed from home to home, lower-class families struggling to purchase a cheap bottle of champagne to treat themselves, while upper-class lads danced for seven long days and nights to jigs with beer intoxicating the air.

That certain village, located on the outskirts of the kingdom housed dozens of family names. Some recognized by the ears, others not. Bates was a prime example of an uncommon surname. If ever stopped on the street and questioned if they knew where the Bates family resided, the immediate response would be, "Pardon?"

It's impossibly sad that this family would never be remembered. The leader of the household, the father, died in a deadly riot during the war three years prior. It left the children stunned and the mother distressed.

Living off of scraps and rubbish, the set of twin boys, the middle-aged mother, and the eldest child, a nineteen year old girl barely survived a month. When they weren't working in the fields, the young chaps sold the crops in the village square and the lady took long walks where she dreamt of a life with riches and goods.

While she did so every night, the Royal Family of England feasted on roasts and rich wines. Inside the stunning palace where the king, queen, and their only son lived, they governed the country.

Believed by the villagers, this family was far more superior than the last, claiming to be more efficient in running their beloved country and much, much more friendly and delightful.

The king, King Robin had been ruling with his wife, Anne for twelve years after King Robin's parents -the former king and queen-tragically died in a brutal shipwreck. During that time, they delivered the now twenty-one year old, Harold (or as the villagers like to refer to him as, Harry) and he instantly became the prince.

They did their absolute best to connect with their townspeople. However, one family they had unsurprisingly refrained from socializing with was the Bates family. The lovely, clever, beautiful, bright, and curious Leah Bates knew little of the Royal Family and neither did they of her.

Their purpose in the world was to serve the upper-class. Why on Earth would people who provide food on your China plate ever become a dinner party guest and furthermore be recognized in the kingdom? That's right, it would never happen. Some paths will simply never cross.

Every night after her long walk on barefoot, Leah returned home. The cottage sat on the corner of a paved path leading straight to the village square where they set up a stand every other morning

Some would say that the location is convenient, but the Bates' would disagree. For every night just after supper, the soldiers would march loudly past their home. Leah had gotten used to the chilling noise shouting danger and alarm, but her little brothers had not. It had been going on for those three years since her father was taken from them and the boys refused to adjust to the noise of the abusive men.

The boys, Ben and Cal, slept next to their sister each night as they stormed by and they clung to her warm body.

The lives of Angela Bates, Ben, Cal, and Leah had always been rather boring if you leave out the fact that their husband and father was buried underground in the cemetery a few miles away. But really, it was boring. They were forced to do the same things day after day just to survive; till the land, plant and harvest crops, wash them in the old well, and then sell them in the village square for as much money as you could raid from the middle-class men and women.

Everything stayed the same for the longest time until one morning when the King, Queen, and Prince casually came riding through the village on horseback.

Someone caught a certain someone else's eyesight and would forever flip their worlds upside down for the better and worse all at once.

Here is chapter one of my new story and I really hope everyone enjoys! Please vote and comment!