Adryan Raj had been born Rajesh Kapoor Anwar, the youngest son of Saif Ali Anwar and the prince of the City Palace of Udapiur in India. There are several royal families left in India, and his family was one of the most well-known. The Raj Mahal, or City Palace, is a focal point of tourism in the country, and at the time of his birth, they were trying to bring more conservation and hydropower to India, striving to move away from fossil fuels and convert the country into the powerhouse it should be for having the large population that it does. His father wanted people to think of India more than just the Taj Mahal and Bollywood.
Saif Anwar was the 65th ruler and 26th Majarahna of Udapiur when his third and youngest son was born, and the streets had been filled with showers of marigolds marking the birth of a new prince. Rajesh would never have been king like his father or older brother, Ravi Singh; his birth was still heralded as the ushering in of a new world order. The Anwar family was considered the last royal family, since the Indian Government had been making waves by trying to disband the royal families for some time, and Ravinder Anwar, his great-grandfather, had been making waves by refusing to accept the government and was unwilling to part ways with how life had always been.
Great promises were made to see that the royal families could continue to care for their people and over the course of the long years since Ravinder had ascended the throne and his son was to follow him, tourism had grown, the small empire within the country shrunk and expanded several times before finally the lines were redrawn and it was reinvisioned as a tourist location with museums and excursions, generating quadruple the amount of money as other areas in India. When Saif took the throne, he made drastic strides to bring all of India, not just his lands of Udapiur, into the future, turning their energy crisis into a self-sufficient, independent nation. No longer dependent on oil and fossil fuels from the rest of the world, India was slowly taking strides to stand on its own, reflecting what could be done if the royal families were allowed to continue to exist.
Like the plot of a Bollywood film, however, it was not to be. In the week leading up to Rajesh's sixth birthday the whole of the Raj Mahal lands were celebrating and it was in this time that the housing complex was suddenly, and tragically taken over by a massive fire. It was determined later that the fire was caused by a group claiming to represent a united India against the rise of the royal families. Most of the family made it out of the fire with only minor injuries except for Saif who suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns and was left permanently disfigured. Rajesh was never found and was believed dead. Despite the speed that things were cleaned up and a headstone was made for the lost son, his brother Ravi always had doubts about his little brother's death. There was never a body found and his Amah had also disappeared, leading Ravi and his mother to believe that another fate may have come to Rajesh.
The night of the fire was loud and chaotic, Rajesh had been with his Amah in his room, getting his new robes on for the culmination of his birthday celebration. Raj was a rascal as his father referred to him and had a hard time settling, as most children did, when excited. His amah had just gotten him dressed and draped a family heirloom, a small, mace shaped pendant he was only allowed to wear this night as a symbol of his family line and his position to carry on the family name like his brother would. As he had touched the small pendant, the door to his room was opened by several bodyguards he recognized, and both he and his amah were escorted to the ballroom, where the party was already in full swing. Once seated beside his family, at the center of everyone's attention, Raj was given a small piece of marzipan (his favorite) and a cup of chai, which he sipped. He still remembers the strange taste of the tea, and it wasn't long before his little head swam with the swirls of lights, the thrum of the music, and darkness. As though through water, he could hear muffled screaming, and he felt his body lifted, rushed, and then nothing.
When Raj finally awoke, he lay in a small crate, wet, cold, and alone. He had screamed and cried himself hoarse until eventually falling back into a deep sleep, a combination of fear, exhaustion, and the drug that had been given to him at the party. He would never know what happened that night, to him or his family. The next time he awoke, he was being shaken by an older man he didn't recognize, who was screaming at him in a strange language. His robes were soiled, he was shaky and still somewhat ill, the only thing of any value on him being the strange pendant around his neck. The man who was shaking him tried to reach for the charm and snatch it from the little boy's neck, only to get bitten. Raj screeched in fear and kicked away from the man, taking off running, and it felt like he had been running ever since.
The original plan for the little boy was lost to history; he was supposed to be ransomed, but his loving amah instead had told him to run from the bodyguards who were supposed to protect him. She had fled with the child for as long as she could before finally she was shot from behind, and Raj, scared and alone, had crawled into a shipping container, seeking to hide. The men were traffickers and closed the little boy up with 200 other people set for America. He and the rest were brought into Los Angeles and sold to prospective owners. A young Indian boy with no ability to speak the language and very little memory of who he was or where he came from, he was eventually bought with several others by a vineyard in the Sierra Foothills. It was there he learned English and was named Adryan by one of the older men in charge of the labor force at the winery.
When he was about 10, he was "rescued" when the vineyard was sieged for using illegal labor. Anyone under the age of 18 was taken to group homes and scattered throughout the country, he was a tall and stocky young man with wild eyes and a deep but kind voice and was adopted relatively quickly by a family wanting to bring something more exotic to their family. From them, Adryan learned to read and attended school for a few years, but he wasn't a good fit for the family in the long run. They ultimately abandoned him at an airport while they were on vacation, but didn't get him a ticket. Adryan was returned to the orphanages several times before. Finally, at the age of 15, he said fuck it and left, striking out on his own.
He had nothing to his name and still no memory of who he was or where he had come from, save the pendant that he kept close to him. He had gained some memories of a fire, screams, someone calling for him, gunshots, and someone he thought was named Amah, though he couldn't be sure. He had a few chances to sell the pendant for food money, but he could never bring himself to part with it. It was some kind of locket, but he's never been able to get it open and tends to play with it when he's anxious. The last ten years of his life have been chaotic and unsettled, always running from one place to another, and never finding anywhere to settle.
Tonight, the only thing he knew was that he needed to get away. He skidded to a stop in front of the train tracks as the cars whizzed past him at their top speed and swallowed a lump in his throat. The damn purse hadn't even been worth half of the trouble it caused, and he had thrown it to the side some time ago, but the police and their dog were still chasing him. He cursed under his breath, his long hair blowing around his face as he looked up at the train again. He had once had a chance to grab one of the handles on the side of the train cars; if he missed, he'd be dead before he landed.
Swallowing a gulp of cold air, he jumped and, through some stroke of luck, managed to catch hold of the edge of the cargo boxcar. He didn't think as he vaulted himself forward and ended up falling onto his back with a thud.
"Ow..." He winced and sat up, watching the world fly by him through the open car door, and let out the breath he'd been holding. There had to be more to life than this bullshit.
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