The Golden Bird, well, sort of?

Prologue

It was an altogether pleasant day for everyone in the Kingdom of Aureus except for a particular gardener who stood ill at ease in front of a mountainous tree. The King's Tree was legendary among the people. Commonly known as the Fire Tree, its red leaves and golden apples painted a convincing illusion of wildfire burning at the center of their kingdom whenever the sun rises and sets. The terrified gardener counted each and every apple that decorated the burning tree, only to fall short of one each time he counted. "A thief...it must be," He murmured to himself wide-eyed and still counting, "The king will have my head before breakfast!"

"Father, His Majesty is 'aving apples and bread for breakfast and not your 'ead, of that 'm sure." A boy of fifteen said cheekily to the gardener, having terrified his poor father even more by appearing out of nowhere. To the boy's bewilderment, his father did not smack his head for his cheek nor his unwelcome surprise but merely continued to count the apples of the tree. "Uh, father? The king sent me to fetch you since you're running late wi' your daily report." Cautiously, he reached for his father who in turn terrified him by spinning around quickly to grab him by his shoulders.

"Ramon! There're only thirty-one of 'em!" His father yelled desperately, even going as far to shake poor Ramon. The boy looked up and narrowed his eyes at the tree that seemed to stretch to the sky, "Ah, I truly don' understand how you can see that far up every day to count 'em, father." Ramon patted his father consolingly, "There's pro'a'ly one 'iding behind the leaves or sum'thin. Don't worry too much, it doesn' change anythin' anyway." This time his father did smack the side of his head and scolded him, "You daft boy! If even just one apple is missing, then next that will be is our heads!"

"Oh," Ramon whimpered, rubbing the sting of his father's hit miserably. "Well, what do we do?" Pausing a second before adding cheerfully, "Reuben would know! He can help us father." The gardener considered his son's words and after a while, his shoulders slumped in defeat at their hopeless situation.

"Very well, go tell Reuben and your siblings about the situation. I must inform the king immediately." He instructed tensely, pausing only a moment more to consider his next words, "Should anything happen to me, all you of must make a hasty escape, do you understand Ramon?"

His son hesitated only briefly before nodding and scampering off to find his older brother. The gardener sighed despairingly and looked up at the tree to count the golden apples one last time.

"Twenty-nine, thirty...thirty-one... Fuck me!"