It was my sixteenth birthday when I first met the Queen. I was running an errand for my father when I was knocked down by a soldier. Apparently, I had unknowingly walked into the midst of a royal procession.

“Boy! Get out of here! You’re ruining it!” a soldier barked at me. I looked up at him. He wasn’t old or young. He had a very short black beard. He was of average height. But he had a mean expression.

“Well? What you waitin’ for? Git!” he yelled, making shooing motions with his hands.

    Then a cane came out of nowhere and tapped him on the head. The cane had a big jewel on the top of it. It’s a decoration for rich people.

“Now, how many times do I have to tell you? Do not talk to children like that. Especially boys.” A woman said. I looked up past the man and saw a carriage with a nice looking lady in it. When she saw that I was looking at her, she smiled.

“Sorry, Your Majesty. Didn’t know it was a child.” the man ‘shamefully’ said, making up a feeble to excuse. I was not little, but I wasn’t big either.

“You’re forgiven. Now, let’s have a look at you.” the woman, whom I now knew was the Queen, got out of the carriage and came toward me. I realized two things at once. One, I was still on the ground. (Aren’t you supposed to stand in the presence of royalty?) Two, I had single handedly stopped a royal procession. (Which is nothing to be proud of, I think.)

    She knelt down to my level. She looked into my eyes and then looked away and gathered my things for me.

“He would be about your age.” she said quietly.

“Who?” my voice was barely a whisper. (Wouldn’t yours be too?)

“My son.” she told me, handing me my things.

“What happened to him?” I asked her.

“I made a deal with a man that I shouldn’t have. He took him as payment. That was the deal.” she explained.

“What was the deal?” I asked her. I really wanted to know what the deal was.

“You don’t know what happened?” she seemed shocked.

“No. I live in the forest.” I told her. ‘Know what?’ I thought.

“Okay. When I was a girl, my father was boasting about things that weren’t true. He told his buddies that I could spin straw into gold. I couldn’t. The King’s son, my husband, happened to hear this boast. He wanted my father to bring me to the castle so I could spin straw into gold for him. He was very greedy when he was younger. He admits that.

“I couldn’t ignore it. I couldn’t refuse. You see, I was just a poor girl then. So he took me to this small barn that was filled with straw. He left me and said to do it. He would be back in the morning. He left. I sat down on the stool and began to cry. i had no idea how to do that. Then the door opened and a little man came in and asked why I was crying. I told him that I was supposed to spin all of this straw into gold, but I couldn’t. Then he asked me what I would give him if he did it for me. I told him that I would give him my necklace. He took the necklace and spun all of the straw into gold.” the Queen paused. I thought of my father. He had a very nice necklace that a poor man like him shouldn’t have.

“What happened next?” I asked her.

“Well, when the king’s son came back, the barn was filled with spun gold. He was very happy. He took me to an even bigger barn that was filled with even more straw. He told me to do this one too. Then he left.

    “I sat down again and started to cry. Then the man appeared again and asked, “What will you give me if I spin this straw into gold?” I told him that I would give him my ring. He took it and started spinning. What’s wrong?” she asked me. Apparently, I had a funny look on my face.

“Nothing.” I told her. My father had a ring that a poor person shouldn’t have. I nodded at the Queen to continue with her story. She did.

“When he finished, he left. The King’s son came back in the morning and was impressed. He took me to a much bigger barn that was completely filled with straw. He wanted me to finish it by morning. He would marry me if it was. The King’s son left. I was left alone. The little man appeared. He asked about what I would give him. This time, I had nothing to give him. He said, “Then you must promise me the first child you have after you are Queen.” I agreed, because who knew when that would happen? Plus, he would probably forget.

    “The King’s son came back the next day and found the barn filled with golden straw. He set the wedding date at once. I became a Queen. The Queen. In a year, I had my first child. A son. I completely forgot about the little man. Then, one day, he appeared in my room. He wanted my son. I begged him to take something else, but he would have none of it. I began to cry. He took pity on me and said, “I will give you three days to guess my name. If you haven’t by then, your child is mine.” And he left.

    “The first day I told him every name that I knew and my servants fond. He said, “No, that is not my name.” to every single name. The second day, I had found a lot of unusual names, but none of these were his. The third day, I told him every single name in the kingdom. He answered, “That is not my name.” to every single one of them. He took my son. I never saw the man again. If I did, I would be able to recognize him right away.” The Queen looked at me. She seemed to be studying me. I admit that it was a little weird.

“You look like what my son would look like. The curly dark brown hair and the striking blue eyes. Oh, you two might have been friends. Well boy, I must be going now. What’s your name? Mine’s Julia. Do not call me ‘Queen Julia’ or ‘Your Majesty’. Call me Julia.” she told me.

“My name?” the Queen-Julia nodded. “It’s Sephiausin. But I’m called Seph. Nothing else.” I told her.

“Seph. That’s what my son’s name was. I wish I could see him. Well, nice meeting you Seph.” Julia got back into her carriage and left.

    As I was walking home, I was thinking about what had happened. I’ve heard that story from somewhere. The same thing, but a much quicker version. I opened the door to my house. It was dark.

“Father? Where are you?” I called. I clapped my hands. The lights flickered on.

“Surprise!” my friends and father exclaimed. I jumped back about two feet. (The lights are magical. My father is teaching, well, technically, I’m teaching him. He’s taught me all he knows. I’m creating and discovering more things.)

“Seph! We got you! Haha!” My best friend, Fredrick, said. He likes to be called Drick.

“Yes, Drick, you got me. Guess what happened to me today?” I asked.

“What?” my father asked.

“You’re going to have to wait until we’re around the table.” I told him.

“No fair! I bet it’s a girl!” Alric said. He’s another friend.

“Oooooo! Seph’s got a girlfriend!” Synthia said.  She’s also another friend. A very young one too.

“No, it’s not a girl.” I told them, “Come sit down and find out.”

    When everyone was seated, they all looked at me expectantly.

“Okay. Everyone, I met the Queen.” I told them. ‘Oops. I’m not  supposed to call her that.’ I thought.

“What? You met the Queen?” Drick was flabbergasted.

“Told you it was a girl.” Alric said smugly.

“But it’s an old girl.” Synthia said sadly.

“She’s not old. She’s actually very young.” I told her.

“The Queen? What did she say?” my father asked. He looked kind of worried.

“She said that I looked like her son. Also, that I was the right age for it. She also told me the story about how she became Queen. I didn’t know it before.” I told them.

“But I told you the story!” Drick protested.

“Yours was a very short version. Hers was completely detailed. She lost her son and a necklace and a ring to a little man.” I said, then remembered something.

“Dad, can I talk to you in private?” I asked him. I only called him dad when I was serious.

“Sure, son. Over here.” We went to his room and shut the door.

“Dad, where did you get the necklace and ring?” I asked him.

“The Queen. She gave them to me when I was a lad.” he answered.

“Where did I come from? I’ve never met my mother.” I told him, completely serious.

“Um... You... Uh.... Were... Uh... Found.” he said eventually.

“No, I was not found. Tell me the truth.” When I have a feeling about something, I go for it. It felt like dad was lying to me.

“Okay, you got me. I saved you from being well, how do I put it? A slave. At least that’s what you would have been. You would’ve been digging in the mines your whole life if I didn’t save you. You would be-” I interrupted him.

“I get it. You don’t have to keep going on and on and on.” I looked down at him.

    My father isn’t that big, but he looks very old. He doesn’t have and facial hair, but he does have some hair on his head. Brown hair that is long. At least to his shoulders. I know I’m not very tall, by my father barely comes to my chest.

“Good. I’m glad you understand. Now, can we go back to the party? You only turn sixteen once.”

    Near the end of the party, father fell asleep on the couch. Synthia put a blanket over him. Alric turned toward me.

“How did you get the Queen to notice you?” he asked me.

“I didn’t get her to notice me.” I told him.

“OF course you did! If you didn’t, who did?” Drick asked.

“One of her soldiers.” I told him smugly.

“What? How?” Synthia came into the conversation.

“He knocked me down. Then he told me to scram.” I told them.

“Then how did you meet the Queen if you scrammed?” Drick asked.

“I didn’t have time to answer after he said ‘scram’; because the Queen’s cane tapped him on the head.” I explained.

“That’s how you met her? But how did she tell you the story that everyone is supposed to know?” Synthia asked.

“I’m getting to that. She, the Queen, told, well, reminded, him that he wasn't supposed to talk to children like that. Especially boys.” I said.

“Really? She had to remind him?” Alric said sarcastically. Then I remembered something.

“She also told me something weird.” I said.

“What?” my three friends said simultaneously. They really love gossip.

“She said I would be about her son’s age.”

“What? How did she know how old you were?” Drick said, quicker than the others. Like usual.

“I don’t know. I’m not the Queen. By the way, she told me to call her Julia.” I told them, “Did she ever tell you that?”

“Not me.” Synthia said.

“Me either.” Alric echoed.

“Same here.” Drick said.

“Also, after she told me her story, she said that I looked like what her son would look like. She also said that we would’ve been friends.”

“You and the Queen?” Alric asked.

“No me and the prince.” I told him.

“That would be cool! Did she say what she would have named him?” Synthia asked.

“That was the weird part. After she told me to call her Julia, she asked me my name. When I told her that my name was Seph, short for Sephiausin, she said something weird.” I told them.

“Did she make fun of your name?” Drick asked with a smile. I gave him a withering look.

“No. She said, “Seph. That’s what my son’s name was.” Then she left.” I told them.

“She had already named her son?” Alric was surprised.

“I think he was old enough to be eating real food that was mashed. So, of course she named him! Whenever a baby is born, or before that, they are named.” I told him.

“So. You have the same name as the gave you up.would have been Prince. Is that a coincidence? Or is it fate? What if you’re the prince?” Synthia asked, rambling on.

“I’m not. Father said that he saved me from working in the mines my whole life.” I told her.

“Yeah, but what about the necklace and ring?” Alric asked.

“The Queen gave them to him when he was little. Anything else?” I asked.

“Yeah. How is it that you have the same name of the would be prince, and you would be the same age as him?” Drick asked, “And that you look like him and the Queen told you to call her Julia when she’s never told anyone else to?”

“I don’t know. Lucky? It’s not impossible to have that much in common. She’s probably told someone else to call her that.” I told him in defense. There is no way that I could be the prince.

“Yeah, yeah. It would still be cool if you were.” Synthia daydreamed.

    I rolled my eyes. She has always been a very big daydreamer. Sometimes I wish that I was that way too.

“If he was, his father would have said so.” Alric told her.

“But, why would his real father give him up? What sensible father would do that?” Drick shot back.

“The father that had me before. My real fahter.” I said bitterly.

“I doubt he really gave you up. Maybe he didn’t have a choice.” Synthia said.

“Of course he did. Every family has a choice.” I told her.

“What if they didn’t have enough to raise you?” Alric asked.

“I never thought of that.” I admitted.

“What if they saw your father and thought that he could take care of you?” Synthia asked.

“What?” she confused me.

“What are you kids talking about?” my father had woken up.

“”Nothing important.” Drick told him.

“Well, you kids need to go to bed. Now!” he said. We obeyed.