Dream: From Dirt To Royal

Date: 1/13/2021

My name was Astor Lovell. I was raised in a small town by a loving mother. She taught me how to cook, clean, and sew like the young lady I was. However, she also taught me the ways of the sword, how to do carpentry, how to be a proper salesman and other things that normally were only taught to men in our kingdom. The joys of a small town on the far reaches I suppose. A small town needs all the help they can get so the men and women get trained equally to be able to run it. I had been raised to learn all I could to help those around me. As I neared my 20th birthday, my mother had me join her in her room. She told me the truth about my lineage and who she truly was. I was apparently the youngest daughter of our king and the late queen. She was apparently the sister of the late queen and a knight of the royal guard. Apparently, the royal family had been the target of many murder attempts. Once I was born I had been taken away by my aunt and hidden from the enemy. It was learned that not long after that attack… my mother, the queen, had been poisoned by one of her maids. The poison was one they didn’t have a cure for and she passed away. It was about a year more of attacks before they finally stopped. Despite this, my father didn’t send for me. He and my aunt had decided it best I was raised amongst the common folk until I came of age. “Why are you telling me all of this now?” I asked her. “Because the king has sent for you. He’d like me to bring you home,” she told me. “What do I tell my friends?” I asked her. “I’ll tell them that we’re headed to the capital. That I’m going to have you prove yourself against some of the royal guards.” She explained to me. “Will I get to though?” I asked. “I can certainly hope so. With me having been gone all this time they likely think they can slack off now or might have gotten full of themselves. We’ll need to put them in their place.” “Sounds like fun to me.” We both laughed and she told me more about the royal family and her old life as a knight. I felt far more at ease as we talked. Yet I still felt something was on the rise. -------------------------------------------------------- The next day we headed out on horseback towards the capital. From there my moth--- my aunt led us to some former knights she had worked with. One or two who knew why she’d been gone so long and who I had to be. They got us a carriage, forcing me to ride in it instead of on horseback, but they allowed both our horses to come along with us. I was grateful for that.  “You must be young Astor Lovell?” A young lady asked as she greeted us. “Princess Lara, you shouldn’t be down here.” one of the knights said. I opened my carriage door and stepped out to see who this person was. “But I had to meet my brother. Prince Astor has been gone for so long.” Princess Lara said. I couldn’t help but chuckle at those words. She apparently didn’t know that I was a young woman and not a young man. “Princess… you seem to be mistaken on who we are bringing with us…” My aunt told her as she walked with me over to meet my sister. Princess Lara beamed when she saw me and took my hands in hers. “It is so good to finally meet you, dear brother!” I gave her a sheepish smile. Wearing my usual clothing of a tunic, pants, boots, and having shorter hair… I assumed I even looked like a young man right now. “Princess Lara, this is not your brother as you don’t have a brother,” our aunt said with a smile, “This is your sister, Princess Astor Lovell.” Princess Lara blushed bright in embarrassment at that. She pulled me into a hug and then led me to the castle. She apologized to me a number of times but I just laughed it off to show no harm was done. We headed to see the king who was very surprised to see me… and very sick. I learned my sister had been the one to summon me. She wanted our father to see me and finally have the chance to meet me. More desperately so now that he was so ill. She was afraid he’d die soon. No matter how much she worked with the medical team he just didn’t seem to get any better. So by his decree, and the agreement of my older sister, I was trained in the ways of royalty. They taught me everything that was often taught to princes who would take the throne. They taught me about the kingdom’s history, the ways of the noble families, the job of a king, and so on. I was taught how to detect those with ill-intent towards me. I was taught to be a leader. A truly great leader. During all of this, I would often sneak out dressed as one of the common folk. I’d talk with the merchants, play games with some of the kids in the plaza areas, and occasionally leave small donations of food in some of the more run-down homes. The hardest part was having to now and again put a knight in his place when picking fights with the “riff-raff” of the kingdom. My aunt would applaud me but my father seemed to think I’d stepped out of bounds now and again with those fights. “I was a commoner by my upbringing long before I was a royal. That isn’t something that you can just make go away.” I’d try and argue. He’d retort with something like, “They are upholding their duty,” and then start coughing and I’d have to leave for his health. Safe to say that was never an easy fight.  --------------------------------------------------------- Some odd weeks later and I was being led, on horse, by my sister through the kingdom. This time having to don the actual garb of a royal. Thankfully I was allowed to dress like a prince instead of in the dresses that my sister had to wear. Or maybe she just preferred them. I really had no clue there. Princess Lara was taking me to a wonderful crafter that the royal family used to make the crowns. Apparently, I’d proven myself worthy of my title and was getting sized for a crown of my own. Despite how nice it should have been… I felt uneasy. Like someone was following us. The whole ride there was uncomfortable. I dug in my messenger bag and pulled out a small mirror that my aunt had given me. As I looked in it I could see a shadowy figure following behind us. I shoved the mirror back in my bag and sped up beside Lara, quietly relaying what I’d seen. I awoke not long after that.