Chapter One: Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, in the growing years of the 1600s, Windsor Castle.

There lived a noble and handsome prince named Prince Athlai Stuart. He was the eldest son out of his three other siblings. Princess Dalia was the eldest, then came him, then came Prince James, and lastly, Princess Kate Ashley, as the youngest. His father, King Chester Stuart, was delighted that he was his next successor to the throne, so delighted in fact, that he started to teach and train the prince at a young age to be the "perfect" prince in the eyes of the people of London. Meanwhile, his mother, Queen Vallia Stuart, wanted her son to live freely and do whatever he wished. He may be the next in line for the throne, but he was still and will always be his son whom she loved wholeheartedly.

The day after he celebrated his third birthday, he was sent away by his father to a private location along with two servants and one guard to aid him as he lived in seclusion away from his family. The best educators would visit him to teach him and train him to be a better future ruler of the kingdom. Although the prince wanted to be a normal kid, playing under the sun, socializing with other kids at his age, and the like, he couldn't disobey his father, for fear of disappointing him and his mother, whom he wanted to be the most proud of of them both. As time passed, the pusillanimous prince grew to maturity and poise at such a young age that when he visited his family two days before his seventh birthday, his new personality frightened his mother to the point that she couldn't even recognize him and thought he was one of their visitors. Gone was the bubbly, happy, and quite adventurous boy he once was, and now was replaced by a walking 40-year-old man in a young body.

This change in the Prince's identity took a tremendous toll on the relationship and union of both the Queen and the King. King Chester was delighted and proud of the prince's maturity and poise at such a young age, while Queen Vallia greatly disapproved of this and wanted everything to be stopped at once and the prince to be brought back immediately. In other words, she just wanted to bring back her son. The Queen tried with all of her might to be a patient and calm queen and wife, but as she tried to persist for the sake of her son's well-being, her anger started to grow inside her. Slowly, as time passed by, she was one step towards her tipping point.

"Darling, I beg of you. Stop this nonsense and bring him back here! " The Queen tried once more to beg her husband for the return of her son, but the King wouldn't budge. He didn't even bat an eye and simply dismissed her.

"I am the man of this household, my darling. What I say or what I want shall and will be done." He said sternly as he continued to sign paperwork for his kingdom.

"If I say he's going back to his place of education, then he is going back. Now leave me be, I have errands to tend to. " He added.

That was the last straw. She had enough. The pent-up anger inside of her burst and wrath quickly filled her emotions. In a fit of rage, she grabbed the nearest book she could find and slapped it on her husband's face. The King was frozen in shock for a moment. He hadn't seen his wife this mad before. Even when they were dating, she didn't get mad at him. His senses slowly started coming back to him as he watched his wife glare at him. Even though she was crying, her eyes were still filled with pure hatred and wrath. He got up from his desk and marched towards his wife. His eyes bulged out of their sockets and the veins in his neck popped out.

Using the back of his hand, she slapped her wife so hard she dropped the book she was holding.

"I AM YOUR KING! HOW DARE YOU HIT ME WITH THAT BOO-"

But before the king could even finish speaking, the queen bounced back and slapped him in retaliation.

"AND I AM YOUR WIFE! HOW DARE YOU HURT ME THIS WAY!! "

Their screams echoed throughout the castle, even their servants and guards heard their yelling. Some even listened in more to the conversation by standing on the doorstep and sticking out their ears.

"I have been patient with you all throughout our marriage. I have obeyed ALL of your commands and agreed with all of your plans AND decisions for our kingdom that WE, you and I, rule over and for OUR people!!" She screamed with all of her might and let out every single drop of her pent-up anger. Even though her voice was quivering, her emerald dagger-like set of eyes were set firm on the King.

"I have been supportive of you and with you even though you have failed as a ruler many times. The one time I made ONE bloody request and you didn't even consider doing it? " The Queen fumed.

"How DARE you, Chester?"

"That is our son! OUR BLOOD! And you just threw him away to these bloody educators that I DID NOT EVEN MEET, not even once! Like what? Like a soldier? "

The King, who was silent all throughout her outburst, liked this new side of his wife. In fact, he was turned on by this. He controlled himself. He didn't want yet another child to take care of. He was happy with what he had right now, so he simply gulped and went silent.

Outside, the royal servants were still listening to their fight, but when they saw the six-year-old Prince James walking right towards them, they hurriedly but silently carried him and convinced him to stop the fight between the king and the queen. The young prince did not understand this. He just woke up from his deep slumber because of the loud noise he was hearing in the room next to his. Thinking that there was a monster, he got up from his bed and went outside of his quarters in search of his mum.

"Your highness! I am delighted that you're here. " A young servant named Malorie knelt down and greeted the young prince with a warm smile.

"Good evening Malorie, did you know where my mum is?" He yawned and rubbed his eyes gently.

"Your mum and dad are right inside, your highness. Be sure to greet them with the biggest smile and the warmest hug, okay? " Malorie pointed at the door and pushed it slightly open for the prince to see his mother.

Prince James nodded and wobbled his way inside the room. When he entered the room, his mother noticed his presence and quickly wiped her tears away, while his father cleared his throat and picked up the book from before and placed it on his desk.

"Good evening, mommy. Why are you crying? " The prince asked. His mother picked him up and smiled at her.

"This is nothing my love. Mommy was just reading a very sad book and she cried." She reassured her son and kissed him on his forehead.

"Why are you still awake, honey? It's almost midnight. You should be asleep by now so that you can grow fast. " The queen added her response.

"There's a monster mommy. It keeps on making these noises to scare me. " Prince James revealed.

Thinking that it was just a phase in his son's life, that "there's a monster in my closet" phase, or "there's a monster under my bed" phase that all young children experience, the queen played along and said, "Oh, is that right? Well, let's go on and get rid of that monster so you can go to sleep okay? "

"Okay." Prince James replied as his mother put him down on the ground.

The prince quickly ran towards the door and, as his footsteps got closer to the door, all of the royal family's servants quickly scattered away from the door. Some even grabbed the nearest cleaning supplies that they could find and pretended that they were cleaning around them.

Just before Queen Vallia followed her son, she stopped for a minute and glanced at the still silent husband of hers. She saw him smirking at her, looking at her as if she had done something and was proud of it.

She gave him a stern but threatening look and said, "Give me back my son this instant, or you will never see any other of your children or me, EVER again."

"Do I make myself clear, my king?"

King Chester gulped at the sight of his wife. There was only one response he could reply to save himself from his family's abandonment and from his wife's now awakened wrath.

"Yes, my queen."

"Good."

And the king did so. He ordered one of his men to fetch the crown prince and the servants he was with, and all of them were brought back to the castle. Nevertheless, he was delighted to be back at the castle with his family.

Although Prince Athlai was back at Windsor Castle, his father still hired tutors and private educators to educate the prince and train him to be the best king of London. The only exception is that the queen could finally see her son and spend time with him as he grows up into adolescence.