THE BACKSTORY
"the parts you need to know"

———

   BELLS RANG through the air, newsboys running down the streets announcing the King was dead. Little did they know, it would be the last announcement they were ever allowed to make. No one knew the cause of death outside of the royal family, and the family refused to release the knowledge out into society.

In the days following, the country would overgo the largest change it had seen in years. The Queen would become absent, the people would no longer know the royal family, and every news station and source would personal be shut down by the crown prince.

———

   THE BALL celebrating the life of the King, otherwise known as the Ending Ball, had been the major turning point for the royal family. Lower and upper classes alike would all attend the events the family threw, having a close relationship with the royals that had never been seen before throughout history. However, it would never be that way again after the death of King Alaric.

No one had heard from the royal family until they stepped onto the stage that night. The once lively Queen was devastated, her face solemn, filled with an odd sort of regret. Her eyes had been red, having cried away the first day without her husband. Princess Mirella, along with her two younger siblings, Princess Reece and Prince Rowan, had stayed to the back, away from the mother. Their own faces had been filled with longing as if they wished to do something they truly couldn't.

Then, the previously vibrant and loving Prince Keir, stepped onto the stage with the darkest look anyone had ever seen him with. Somehow, his eyes were a mix of glee and mischief — the eyes of a maniac. He had been wearing his crown that night, though the family had sworn off showing their crowns off as if they were mere pieces of jewelry.

"Tonight," he had said to the eerily silent crowd, "will be no ordinary ball." And here one could have cued the gazes of the crowd glances around at each other, each individual wondering what he meant with his words. "One of you won't be leaving alive."

The entirety of his time on stage, Keir had been grinning, and it didn't falter at the mention of death. The guards had immediately seized their crown prince, forcing him off of the stage with a guard on either side of the dark haired boy. The prince didn't fight as he was dragged from the stage and thrown into the dungeons for the night.

No one had paid attention to the reaction of the rest of the family family. All had gone through the night of the ball as if the prince hadn't be dragged off the stage, Princess Mirella having stepped in to apologise for her brother's behaviour. Little did she know, it wouldn't be the last time such an apology had to leave her mouth.

And, as Keir had said, one person wasn't alive when they left. When Mirella had gone to tell him that a lady had died of a heart attack in the middle of the floor, all he had done was shrug from his spot on the floor, not even flashing a grin at what had come to pass.

———

   AFTER THAT night, Prince Keir had shut the media down. No news channel would ever play again, no newspaper would ever be printed. The people would rely solely on the palace updating them on the events circulating.

A curfew was issued, though no one quite understood why. All they knew was, in a world where the knowledge of magic existed in them like a myth, they were best to keep to their rooms. Not a soul would ever be caught wandering the streets past sunset.

Many more changes came along with the events, and many more causes that what will be predicted made these events occur. However, that would all have to come later.

———

note. any theories so far? and
when would you all like to see the
royal characters? I'm thinking of
posting tomorrow or Sunday, but
whatever works for everyone! for
my own ease, I'll be roleplaying the
royals, though, or I will have a
couple of close friends assisting
me.