Royals and Rebels 1: The Queen of Coleum

Chapter 11

Eleven

The Royal Archives were in a large, intimidating, marble building on a place called The Artemis Cliffs. The patron god and goddess of Coleum were Artemis and Apollo, for the sun and the moon had guided travelers during their rough voyages from Scotland and Ireland to the island. It had stained, glass windows which depicted the history of the tiny island.

The building, Everly explained, was run by scholars. Scholars were coveted positions. Young children could become scholars as early as eight years-old, and their family received payment for their being there. Most scholars spent their entire lives in the archives, protectors of ancient history.

All scholars wore Grecian togas, wrapped together with golden ropes to symbolize the strings of fate. When a visitor went in, they were given a golden rope that was wrapped around their wrist. As long as they kept that rope, they could enter whenever they pleased. If they lost it, they were forbidden from entering the archives ever again.

“Haven’t you ever gone?” I asked Everly, as the SUV pulled up to the building.

“There’s a different archive for royals, that exists within the castle,” Everly explained, “that one was updated a while ago so that thumb prints could identify us. The golden rope is a nice tradition, but not exactly a means of keeping intruders out. We also keep scholars on the castle grounds. Only The Head Scholar gets that position, and they document any royal event of important significance.”

“Oh,” I said, “that’s a little intimidating, thinking about my life being documented like that.”

“Just think of it as archaic **,” she joked.

We got out of the car and walked up to the entrance. Standing in front of the door was a statue, or what I thought was a statue. It was of the goddess, Artemis, leaning back with her arrow pointed in the direction of the sky. The statue moved suddenly, looking down at us.

“Who dares to enter The Archives?”

Everly curtsied. “Goddess, I am your most faithful servant, Princess Everly, Her Royal Highness of The Isle of Coelum, Duchess of West Coelum, and daughter to King Rupert and Queen Lucy of Coelum. I bring with you the intended of His Royal Highness, Prince Apollo. She wishes to gain entry into The Archives.”

I stared at the Artemis statue in shock. It was clearly a girl, made up to look like stone, but I couldn’t have been more surprised. She had moved and the girl’s job was to stay there, to protect the entrance.

“This is the intended?” the Artemis statue said, standing tall now, and looking down at me from the pillar on which she stood.

“Yes,” I said, “my name is Rose James. I am here to learn about the country of my intended, so that I might know his heart the way he knows mine.”

She stared steadily at me, as if trying to look for there to be something wrong. From within the folds of her skirt, she took out a golden rope, and scissors. Then, she cut off one that was wrist size.

“Your hand,” she said coldly.

I handed it to her. Her fingers were cold, as she wrapped the golden rope around my wrist.

“You are now tied to the secrets of Coleum. If you lose that rope, you lose our trust, and will not gain entry again.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Then, she jumped off the pillar, and walked away as if waiting for us to enter. The doors to The Archive opened.

I looked at Everly, stunned. “What…. I don’t understand…most places just ask for a library card.”

“Well,” she said, “Coleum isn’t most places. You’ll learn soon, Rose, that Coleum has its own kind of magic. Which is why we’ve got a war brewing inside, and always have.”

I blinked, too stunned to even respond. Everly giggled, looped her arm through mine, and dragged me into The Archive. It was huge, and the sunlight that glinted off of the stain glass windows made the entire thing seem as though it were covered in rainbow light.

All types of people were there. University students, old men smoking pipes, the young scholars themselves running around in their white robes with their golden ropes tied around their waste.

“What do you want to know?” Everly asked.

“Everything,” I said.

“If you want to know everything, you should start at the beginning, with The First Queen. She was a girl much like yourself, you know. She didn’t come from a royal background; her family were merchants. But the first King of new Coleum had grown up with her, and when he took power, he declared there was no one fit to be his Queen except her. Caused quite the controversy at the time.”

“This was The Bastard King, right?” I asked.

“How did you know that?”

“Orion might have mentioned him the first night I was here. I was trying to figure out if I should accept your offer or run for the hills.”

She smiled. “Orion would tell you that story. He’s always admired King Oro. Even shares a nickname with him.”

“Does Orion not go to college?” I asked. “I thought I would see him around.”

Everly shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. Father offered to put him through school, but he chose the military instead. He just came back from doing his first four years. He’s twenty-one now, and I think he’s a bit lost. I had hoped…well…I guess it’s pointless now.”

“Hoped what?”

“When I read your file, I thought that you might understand that feeling of being lost just like him. I hoped that maybe you two could be friends at least, but I wouldn’t even suggest that now. Apollo hates Orion. If word got out that the two of you were associating with one another, he’d probably kill him.”

“Does my world just stop existing the moment I become Apollos?” I asked. “Am I not allowed to make choices?”

“Of course, you are. But a Kings word is always going to ring out louder than yours. Sometimes, it’s better just to smile and go along with it, then it is to try to make waves. After all, Apollo is The Sun Prince. He’d just dry up all of the oceans if he thought he’d be able to keep you.”

Once again, the sun around my neck felt more like a curse than a charm. But there was no going back. Now, or ever.

“Coleum revolves around the moon and the sun. They direct us during our darkest times, and our brightest. They’ve yet to steer us wrong. If you weren’t supposed to be here, you wouldn’t be. Let’s find you some light, hmm?”

I spent the afternoon getting swept up into the history of Coleum, trying to understand this country that I had gotten swept up into.