there was once another time,
in another place, an e v i l kingdom
whom no person dared to face
and the ruler was a girl so mean
a tiny little princess, of only age f o u r t e e n
The kingdom of Lalivero had ruled prosperously for many generations. The rulers, the supposed god-children of the Anemoi, whom had long departed Weyard, had powers of gods, and were loved and feared as such. But our story takes place at the end of the kingdom of Lalivero, in a time and place forgotten from history.
For the kingdom of Lalivero had one tradition that was now long forgotten: only one child of each generation would be allowed to be considered a noble—a daughter or son of the Anemos itself—and the other would forever be considered a servant to the noble sibling. In the case of multiple siblings, born one at a time, the eldest was declared the noble, and only in the case of their death would another sibling be declared the noble that was next in line for the throne.
Of course, Lalivero had never had twins, or triplets before that survived long enough for this to be a concern. So when the young twins—both heirs in their own right—Ivan and Sheba had come of the appropriate age to be named heirs, at the age of five, there was one very important concern:
It had taken two moons full of debate before it had finally been decided. Sheba would be the next heir to Lalivero, and Ivan would be her servant. After all, not only had Sheba been born first in the case of these two twins, but she had a fortitude of the physical and mental kind her twin did not.
So the gathering of the court had decided to separate them as soon as possible, having to physically pull the twins away from one another, bringing Sheba inside as she got to glimpse her twin being led to a carriage, away from her.
And until the two twins were fourteen, neither saw the other. However, as tradition dictates, when the young prince or princess was fourteen, they were led to be crown prince or princess, and their servant would be introduced, if there was a small enough age difference. As such, after Sheba’s ceremony had been finished, she had been re-introduced to her twin, now a young man who had been trained in both personal service, along with the intricacies of the court work, along with a few other, more nefarious purposes, in case the young Crown Princess dictated it be so.
As such, Ivan didn’t meet his sister’s eye, as he knew his place according to custom. He merely bowed to her—wearing her colours, of course—and said softly, ”Your Highness, I am Ivan, your servant.”
In truth, he was delighted to see Sheba again, but having spent nearly a decade apart, he was unsure if they would be able to have as close of a bond they did in childhood. Nervousness grasped at his throat, causing it to tighten nervously.
They were alone, however, and Ivan would permit himself this one bit of informality. He smiled at his sister, whispering softly, ”I’ve dreamt of seeing you again for years, Sheba.”
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