Prince of Articia

I, Holly, my boyfriend of three years, Axel, and my adopted daughter, Kiku were at Axel’s apartment watching a cartoon Christmas Carol movie for a date. Axel and I were in our thirties. Kiku, who was six, out dressed the both of us in her purple unicorn dress. She was also the most active by tending to a doll while Axel and I just cuddled on the couch. I met Axel while I was adopting my daughter. He was a volunteer helping. He wasn’t ever adopted, but he wanted to give back to the facility that took care of him for many years. 

Just when a character started to sing and Kiku started dancing, there was a knock at the door.

“Why does Mrs. Maldonado always need something?” Axel complained as we got up from the couch to answer the door. But instead of Mrs. Maldonado at the door, there was a tall man dressed in black.

“Is this the residence of the man called ‘Axel’?” He inquired.

“Uhhhh….” Axel and I voiced in our state of confusion.

“Confirmation. I’ve found him, and his family.” He spoke in an intercom. He and three others escorted the three of us in a huge limonene where we sat with a lady dressed as if she came from the North Pole. We were in a part of California where it rains in the winter.

“Greetings. Everything must be confusing to all of you, so I’m going to explain everything, and answer as many questions that I can.” She greeted and started the explanation. Axel was really the long-lost prince of Articia, and his real name was Prince Quentrell. The country is on a hidden island near Antarctica. When the prince was born, the kingdom was experiencing a rebellion, so King Usunaar and Queen Immianthe made the decision to send their son away for safety. Because the country is now in a time of peace, they sent the royal guards and one of their royal secretaries to find the prince and bring him back home. Kiku and I were collected because they thought that we were already married, and because I had to inform them otherwise, we get to come along, and Axel and I are now officially engaged. My parents, siblings, and friends will be able to attend various parties.

“Now, though we have to focus on the Christmas and Royal Family Reunion celebration, but that is tomorrow, and right, right now, you two need to adjust to this new information, and ask me all the questions you need.” She instructed as we were entering the private jet. The jet was like walking into a five-star hotel, and after sitting for the takeoff, each of us were assigned a room for the night. I was curious, so I looked in the wardrobe, and it was filled with four different colors of dresses, and all had multiple sizes from extra small to five-X large. That told me that they didn’t look up nor guess at my clothing size.

Waking up was confusing at first, but that quickly became excitement. I got ready and chose a blue dress to wear, and then, went out from the room where I was directed to the large breakfast table.

“Everything is so overwhelming.” I breathed. There was a banquet of a variety of breakfast food.

“I’m keep on thinking that this dream might end.” Axel or Prince Quentrell stated.

“EEeeeewww, yucky milk!!!!” Kiku declared.

“Sweaty, you don’t have to eat or drink anything you don’t like.” I assured, as the staff rushed to clear the table of all milks. I began the meal by filling Kiku’s plate with a good portion of what she wanted and placed the cup of apple juice closer to her reach. Then, I filled my plate. Later meals, the servants would know what foods everyone preferred and at first, it was awkward being served.

*** I, Axel, had a hard time believing that I was the prince. Kiku seemed to love being an unofficial princess, and Holly seemed worried and kept on looking to me. The most amazing sight was seeing the country, or should I say castle, before we landed. The entire country was an island, but the entire country was inside a huge castle that the king and queen decided to create. A number of villagers weren’t too happy when the royals decided that the entire country should be within a castle, and that is why there was a rebellion.

The plane landed on the water, and we were escorted to the throne room.

“Presenting Prince Quentrell, his fiancée, and their daughter!” Announced the announcer. We walked down the aisle and bowed to the king and queen.

“Rise, Prince Quentrell.” The king ordered, and I rose. They did look like they could’ve been my parents. The one thing that disappointed me was that I didn’t get the sense of familiarity that some people get when finding their parents. The advisor was summoned, the king and his advisor whispered somethings between themselves, and then, the king proclaimed “This man will have to undergo a series of tests before it is properly determined that he is the prince! Now, my queen and this family will follow me to the next room.”

We followed him down the hall, and into a private room where he turned around, grabbed me in a huge hug, cried, and repeated, “My son.” The queen had her turn at the reunion hugs, and Holly and Kiku joined them in the crying.

“What about the tests?” I queried with confusion.

“Just formalities, and entertainment for the press. There is no real doubt that you are our son.” He informed, “There is much to do, but you three need a rest. We will fly your fiancée’s family on a later date for the celebrations. You two will have to have a ceremonial proposal because of traditions, and various other details will have to happen.”

*** I, Holly, was overwhelmed by all of the activities; food contests, decoration creating and display contest, snow games, music, concerts, plays, dances, gingerbread houses, gifts, storytellers, candy everywhere, traditional events that I was to understand after one sentence of explanation and a “you’ll do fine” ending, and various other things that sound fun but is energy draining. Kiku got sick a few times during some of the events. My family did come a few days after boxes of my possessions appeared in my room. The boxes I made a habit of sorting out things a few minutes before I went to bed, and there was a place in my room if I wanted something discarded. My family would stay during celebrations but would leave back to their homes after.

On the days when there wasn’t a celebration and Axel was busy with royal to-dos, Kiku and I were left to explore the castle country. The good thing about the entire country being in a castle was that the place was warm, and another good thing was that there were modern convinces including multiple elevators. First floor of the castle was the animals of the kingdom, second floor was the shops, restaurants, entertainment centers and businesses, third floor was the residences of the citizens, the main castle for the royals were from the fourth floor to the twelfth floor, and the greenhouse for the crops was on the top floors. The hospital had a door at all of the floors. The second floors had access to the outside. All of the shops had a residence above. The gardens and animals were community owned. The farmers were the majority of the rebels who didn’t like the new arrangements. There were still rebels who were still recovering in the hospital.

Luckily, there were days where Axel joined us or sometimes only me. The big annoyance though was that bodyguards and the press would follow us everywhere. On a Wednesday before Christmas, Axel took me to a play at one of their theatres. The play was a romantic play and the last scene all of the actors held up a sign that said “Lady Holly, will you marry Prince Quentrell?”

I turned to Axel, and he was on bended knee and has a silk flower brooch.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It is an engagement brooch. He can’t say anything until he receives your answer.” A bodyguard informed.

“Yy..yes.” I stuttered. Axel was about to place in on my left side when another bodyguard whispered to him that it should be on my right. We were then escorted to the engagement party and separated so because we had to sit on opposite sides of a long table. Only people over the age of twenty could attend, so Kiku didn’t see us until after dinnertime that day.

*** I, Axel, was overwhelmed with tests, health exams, reexaminations, and everything. My DNA confirmed that I was their son, but there were traditional trials that I had to pass in order to really confirm that I was the rightful heir. Everyone seemed to want me to pass the trials and examinations, so I was allowed to redo them.

It was Christmas morning and all I wanted was to spend much needed time with Holly and her family. I must have stayed in bed too long, because there was a knock at the door.

“Prince Quentrell? Is everything all right?” The servant who was in charge of my schedule wondered. I would later find a good way to remember everyone’s names, but I am the worst at remembering.

“Yeah, just need some time!” I responded. After I got ready, I allowed him in. He and a staff started to prepare breakfast on a portable table. I asked, “What is this?”

“The royal family usually have private breakfast at Christmas.” He informed.

“Could I request to eat with Holly and Kiku?” I requested.

“They will be here as soon.” He answered and left with three others. When Holly and Kiku showed up and their places were ready, the servants allowed us to eat privately. Holly and I had a much needed serious and silly conversation.

The next event of the day was opening gifts with the family. The King and Queen even dressed comfortably and explained that the tradition was that everyone would spend quality time with their families. The servants who chose to stay to work explained that they didn’t have other families, and they did join our celebration and get gifts. The gift I planned on giving Holly this year was a ring, so Holly teased that I had to propose to her three times. Kiku had received a huge number of toys and fell asleep playing with the multiple dolls. The best part of the day was that the King and Queen sent a servant to retrieve old baby photos. I recognized myself and retrieved the photos of my childhood. Each year there would be a Santa photo, or an ugly sweater photo taken of each child. Photos, memories and laughter were shared that Christmas, and even though I still was uneasy about being a royal, that day made me feel like I was home. The End.