In a land far away, forbidden from the eyes of mortal kind, there is a large
town with a large castle with a large royal family. There is a royal tradition in the royal family that when the king is born a sixteenth child there was a special ceremony performed on the sixteenth child's sixteenth birthday. The ceremony is more like a contest. To perform this ceremony all children must where a red headband because red is a royal color. It is an elimination ceremony with seven stages. The last stage is the test of the feathers. The winner becomes heir to the throne. The sixteen heirs are named Mara, Ronald, Milain, Lan, Korana, Milveen, Kinara, Zeke, Jana, Michael, Isabella, Raphael, Chealea, Manavian, Clair, and Canarian. Canarian may seem like a strange name but in fact it's cruel. Canarian received his name at birth because his parents thought him to be the ugly duckling.
The eldest, Mara and Milain, are identical twins. Their pale skin and dark black hair make them incredibly beautiful to look at, but in conversation prove to be very vain. Ronald the first son is the king's favorite child. His brown unruly hair always falling in the way of his tan skinned forehead. His unruly hair matches his unruly attitude. Lan is a quiet boy with a small body and blond hair. Korana and Milveen are the brother and sister with the most fights between each other. They both have golden blond hair and thin builds. Kinara and Yolie, the wicked step sisters of this fairytale, were born from the queen of a Spanish speaking kingdom. My father got lonely on a visit there and the king "happened" to be on a trip. They are both raven haired and both pure evil. Zeke and Michael, the fraternal twins, were born during the king's religious faze. It was a very short one. Tara, the silent one, is quiet because she is ignored. She in truth is the most beautiful of the eight sisters. She has long, blond, curly hair, tan skin, and a petit body. She is caring and loving. Tara is like a mother to Canarian after their mother died. Raphael, Tara's favorite brother, acts like a father to Canarian because in truth the king has never liked Canarian. He is young, handsome, and muscular, with untamed, long, brown hair. Chealea, Manavian, and Clair are conspiring against the king and plan to usurp him after the ceremony. They are all three red headed and heavy. They fill on fat, sweets, and gossip. Canarian is a pale, thin, innocent boy. All he's ever wanted was his father's approval.
The sixteen heirs gathered around the king in the grand hall were the
ceremony was to begin. The king sat in his throne with the queen by his side. Canarian smiled at his parents. His mother smiled back and his father pretended not to notice. Canarian frowned. His brother Raphael saw this and tried to comfort Canarian. The king's fifteen brothers and sisters donned gold robes and sat in a special booth. The entire kingdom and those from other kingdoms were invited to watch this special event. The Spanish queen whom my father cheated on my mother with sat in the front row. Once the stands filled with people the king rose from his throne. As soon as he did the room went silent. "The ceremony is to begin," yelled the king, "Will the sixteen heirs take their positions." The sixteen obeyed his command. They walked ten feet away from the king and stood in a straight line from oldest to youngest. The king's head servant walked past the front of each of them, handing a red headband to each. The sixteen heirs placed the band around their foreheads. "For your first test, a true king or queen must be able to fight for his kingdom, so you will fight a servant. The heir who does the worst will sit in the booth with your fifteen aunts and uncles. Is that clear?"
"Yes, father!" they yelled in unison. Each of them was handed a bow staff
and were designated a servant. Canarian's servant competitor was a plump fellow with bright blond hair. His teeth were stained worse than his clothes and his odor smelled of rotten eggs in poop. The pathetic thing was that his only job was to make beds. His stains had unknown origin. Canarian knew of him. The servant's name was David. He was lazy and obnoxious. The kingdom suspected him of attempted treason. David picked up his staff, Canarian did the same.
"Fighters ready?" called his father begin. David threw himself at Canarian.
Canarian being a boy, who gets himself into a lot of trouble sometimes, was a good fighter. He leaped onto David's ducked head ran onto his back, then jumped and turned around. Canarian raised his staff and made a hard blow on David's shoulder. David went down. Raphael and the others eventually took down their slaves as well. "There is an obvious loser," yelled the king, "The first to be eliminated is Isabella."
"Ay! Caramba! Tu es stupido!" screeched Isabella as she stomped to the
booth.
"For the next competition is The Trial of the Stones!" screamed the king.
The arena was filled with a giant gasp. Each of the fifteen heirs was given a magic rock. They placed the rock on their foreheads. Whatever the rock turned into is what determined the outcome. Raphael's turned into a diamond. Canarian's turned into a diamond as well. Michael's and Tara's turned into rubies. Ronald's, Claire's, and Manavian's turned into emeralds. Chealea's turned into amethyst. The remaining rocks did not change. This test was a reflection on personality. If you had no passion, no feeling, you were as cold as the rock. The seven heirs knew their fate and walked slowly and solemnly to the booth except for Kinara who started cursing up a storm in Spanish.
"Next we have the Trials by Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth!" yelled the king,
expecting a greater gasp instead of the current silence. The eight precious stones floated in front of the heirs. For the test of wind they would have to grab their stone while a strong wind was blowing against them. The wind came hard and fast. The eight heirs immediately fell on their stomachs. Canarian thought back to the last conversation he had with his father on Canarian's sixteenth birthday.
"Dad, I just want to tell you that if I win I-"
"Don't get your hopes up. I'm sure you'll try but you just can't do it. You're no
Ronald mind you. I expect nothing more than you losing in the first round."
"I will win and I'll prove-"
"What Canarian? What are you trying to prove other than that you're an
embarrassment to me?" said the father, slowly getting angry
Canarian had to focus he put one hand into the dirt floor in front of him and
pulled himself forward. The wind stung his eyes. He placed another hand into the ground, with others following in his example. He kept pulling himself further until he reached his diamond and snatched it out of the air. Everyone made it except for Michael. He gave up and his ruby turned to stone. It was time for the water part if the test. We jumped into a tank where our jewels scattered on the bottom embedding themselves into the bottom. We all seven dove down. Sharks swam all around this. Canarian felt a fire in him urging him on. He felt if he won he would get his father's approval, but if not, Canarian shuddered to think about it. He dove far searching for his diamond. He saw it by the largest shark. Canarian sped towards the shark. The shark, not noticing anything at first, turned around to receive a painful punch to the nose. Canarian grabbed his diamond and swam to the top. Tara and Raphael had not made it yet. Ronald, Chealea, and Manavian soon followed with Clair. Canarian looked underwater to find Tara and Raphael with their jewels surrounded by six sharks. Canarian took one large breath and dove down. He reached the sharks and punched one out. Raphael followed my example and we finished off the rest. They reached the top together.
For the test of earth their jewels were raised on platforms of rock branches stuck out of the long, thin, cylindrical platform. They ran to the platforms with the mothers already half way up. Tara who climbs trees daily, quickly caught up to the others. Raphael and I soon followed having experience of helping Tara get out of trees when she was stuck. The three of us reached the top. Ronald and Manavian eventually came but Clair and Chealea didn't make it up and were eliminated from the competition with Michael. The test of fire is the hardest. The stones were placed on the opposite of the room. The heirs had to walk across hot coals to reach it while dodging fireballs. We all started running to try not to feel the extreme heat. That didn't work. A fireball came Canarian's way. From hanging out with the court jester, Canarian was very flexible unlike Manavian who was immediately hit and was eliminated. Canarian back flipped and dodged the ball. He ran towards an approaching fireball flipping over it. He ran to the end and finished. Canarian saw something he would never forget. The king pulled on a string which tripped Tara. Tara caught her balance before falling but didn't miss a large fireball hitting her in the stomach. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Canarian yelled, tears streaking from his eyes. Ronald and Raphael finished. Raphael hugged Canarian noticing tears in his own eyes. The final test arrived.
"Now it's time for the Trial of Feathers," announced the king, receiving the response of a gasp he was hoping for. The three remaining jewels cracked open, revealing feathers. The court magician made a giant scale appear. Ronald went first. He placed his feather on one side and stood on the other. The brass scale tilted one way and then the next until finally Roland's soul was revealed to be weighed down with evil. "How can this be? Ronald was meant to rule." Raphael stood on the scale. He balanced the scale out with his soul. If Canarian was to be king his soul would have to be lighter than the feather. He got on the scale and immediately sunk his side with the anger he had in his heart. "Humph," said the king, "I should have guessed this would happen-"
"Save it you sexist, half-witted, two-timing, old fool!" screamed Canarian, "All my life I have been trying to get your approval, but you know what? You're not worth it. None of it. Especially not me."
"Canarian!" screamed Raphael, "Look down!" Canarian obeyed and saw
That he was levitating. The feather was weighed down and he proved to be the true heir.
Five years later
In the kingdom things have changed under the rule of King Canarian.
Isabella and Kinara are now servants in the castle. The king is the royal jester. The queen has resigned but remains in the castle as head of the royal family. Ronald is a current jailbird for trying to steal the crown off of Canarian. Canarian thrashed him. Manavian, Clair, and Chealea are serving their life sentence for conspiracy against the king. The other heirs are serving as members of Parliament. As for Raphael and Tara, they have a different ending. The are the royal advisers to King Canarian and god parents of Canarian's fifteen children(who all have the same mother thank you very much) and the queen is expecting a sixteenth child.