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Two samples collected, and one remaining . How to receive the blood of a queen? The way I saw it I had only two options. One way would be difficult while the other would have its challenges. I did not want to proceed with either, but if my first plan failed, the second would be my only choice.

Queen Mother loved her garden. She built it on her own from the day that my siblings and I were born. She cultivated the rarest of plants each more exotic than the last, but she adored one flower more than any other, her blue roses. No matter where you stood in the garden blue roses would be near. They were in every patch of green woven throughout everything. Mother once said "to pick a rose is to pick a life". The blue rose was symbolic of the unattainable and the impossible , so to pick one was to symbolize celebration of a life of impossibility, or so I thought. What mattered that day was not the beauty of the flower but rather its danger. Everyone knows a roses thorns are sharp , and that's what I needed. Queen mother was in the garden tender to her flowers when I joined her. I couldn't hide the unease I felt for the task I was to attempt.

Queen- what sits on your shoulders Par

Par- nothing mother , just worry over the events of past night

Queen- there is something biting at you , a mother knows when there is something wrong with her children

I picked the thorny flower , but how was I to use it? I couldn't be as forth coming as to hold the thorn to her vein and open it.

Par- first father , now Louis, Sky, and I are being targeted

Queen - nothing will happen to my babies while I am here, nothing

She stood from her spot on the ground and came to offer me a hug , the perfect opportunity. It was my chance, ether do it then or do it never. I hugged my Queen and with rose in hand as we departed from the short comforting embrace I slid the thorn down her arm.

Queen - oh dear

I didn't cut deep enough, at best it left a scratch, but no blood flowed.

Par- I'm sorry , I meant to give this to you

I handed her the flower as I knew I'd lost my one chance.

Queen- thank you Par , it means so much that in these troubling times you are still my sweat boy

Par- always mother, always

I left my mother to her gardening. I couldn't receive the last blood sample, not directly, so I had only one other way. It was a terrible way. You see, there are lines that are to never be crossed for the sake of honor , loyalty, and good grace , but there are lines we avoid for what memories they will give us forever. A woman has a time of bleeding each month. My mother, the queen was no exception. I did not wish to rummage through her chamber pots to find soiled wrappings, but I needed answers. It was both the easiest and most difficult sample I collected. Having to carry it in my pocket to avoid being seen with it in hand will always stay in my mind.

I had the samples. I was on my way out of the castle to meet Santo, and to my surprise, my brother was going the same direction. We left the castle gates together.

Par- where are you going

Louis- whoever tried to kill Father tried to kill me , that means it wasn't The Kingdom of Mar , mother said shes going to end her investigation on those of my kind

Par- and you think it's safe for you outside the castle so soon

Louis - how long could it take to end the investigation, mother knows how I've missed the people , and the people miss me

Par- if your sure

Louis - I'm sure , now where are you off to

I couldn't tell him the truth but I surely could not lie, my brother would see through it. So I gave a half truth.

Par- I'm meeting Santo

Louis - the frail lion , your still seeing him

Par- he's a nice person

Louis - when I pulled together your group of possible lays I didn't intend for you to grow this close , or this attached

Par- I thought you would be happy, you have been the perfect match maker, surly there must be those who you've grown attached to yourself

Louis - I'm a man of the people Par , but the people always change , and I change too

Par- that sounds lonely brother

Louis- if you want to settle down before you've reached crown age I won't stop you , but if you want to be king someday you'll learn you can't speak for the people if you belong to anyone that sleeps in your bed

Par- how can you speak for the people if you never let them close enough to love

Louis - Kings don't love

How could my brother be so untethered.

Par- then I suppose it's a good thing I don't want a crown

Louis - you keep telling yourself that , maybe you'll start to believe it brother, everyone wants a crown

He went his way and I went my own. I had enough to worry about without my brothers heart on my list of situations to confront. I wasted no time riding to Santo's work shop. He was working on something outside when I arrived. It seemed to be a firework.

Par- what's this

Santo- this is how your name was spelled out across the Sky the night of your birthday

Par- you made this too?

Santo - no, but after I figure out how to deconstruct and reconstruct it maybe I'll make something even better

Par- your quite the renaissance man aren't you

Santo- you flatter me

Par- should I stop

Santo- by all means continue, it'll be the most praise I've received in a long while , but I was under the assumption that you needed a test ran

Par- yes , yes

I took from my back the bag containing the samples of blood.

Par- where do we begin

Santo - come inside, I've got everything ready

We stepped inside. His work shop was different. I remembered my first time in Santo's home , it was covered in machinery from door to wall. On that day his tables were clear of everything but empty viles and chemicals unknown to me.

Santo- let's see what you have

I handed him my bag and he took from it the samples laying them out on the table one by one. I could see from the look on his face that I'd made a misstep somewhere.

Santo - these aren't what I was expecting Par

Par- the blood is there

Santo - I'm sure it is, but I'll have to extract the blood samples before I can test them

Par- and how long will that take

Santo- to get enough blood out of sand , cloth , and ... are these

I hoped he would go on without asking why one of the samples was in the form of a womanly wrapping.

Par- yes

Santo- it'll take time , a long time , and there is still a chance there won't be enough to test

Par- I need this

Santo- I'll do my best Par , but you have to understand there is no guarantee that I can give you

Par- will you do what you can

Santo- yes

Par- then that is enough of a guarantee for me

He got to work. It was something similar to Jin's dance, he was in his element. Even with my being in his space I could tell the passion he had for the work he did. The calculated and tedious lengths that he took , it was a show.

Santo- you know , there are kingdoms that have scholarly programs to teach the public sciences like these

Par- I know

Santo- they don't fear knowledge, they cultivate it , I thought about moving to one of those Kingdoms

Par- and leave me

Santo- your open eyes are a breath of fresh air in this place of ignorance, but you don't need me

Par- but I want you

Santo- You know I've heard rumors about you

Par- rumors? Like what

Santo- that you don't want to be king

Par- it's more than a rumor

Santo- I'm sure you'd be exceptional at it

Par- how can you say that

Santo- because I know , you are not those who came before you who are afraid of change, your not your sister who lives only to fight a war that doesn't exist, and your not your brother who people love only until they realize how much he does not love them

Par- I believe I warned you about speaking this way about my family

Santo- and now , just as you did then, you can't find a falsehood in my words

Par- if I became king I could never be with you , I could never be with anyone outside of royal blood

Santo- you can't be with me now , and yet here you sit with me not in a castle but my home

Par- it's not the same

Santo- no it's not , as King you would not live by rules you would make them , you could change them , whoever says you can't live your life how and with who you want as King will never be able to control you once you are the one on the throne

It's not the conversation I wanted to have, but he spoke honestly and with more clarity on the matter than I ever had. In our silence I noticed he stopped working.

Par- it's done ?

Santo- Its done

He had three viles on the table before us , one with Sky's blood another with Queen Mother's and the last with King Father's. In his hand he held a bottle of clear liquid.

Par- now what

Santo- now I add a drop of this to each sample, if they are of similar color when they change then we will know they are related and of course if their colors are not close to the same we will know the opposite

He prepared to to move forward. He added a single drop to each vile, and we waited.

The first vile to change color was King Father's. It was a dark orange. The next was Queen mother's. It was a bright pink.

Santo- these two aren't a match.

I couldn't tell him who the blood belonged to , but of course the King and Queen were not going to be a match. All that mattered was Sky's blood. If it matched King Father's then Sky was not related to a supposedly insane blood line. If it matched Queen mother's that meant Teco lied about her having a miscarriage, and Sky was her daughter. At any rate if any test came back positive it would prove King Teco lied to me , but If nothing came back the same it would mean he was the most honest of all.

Santo- It's changing

Par- how would we know if one sample is related to more than one of the others.

Santo- the blood will separate into two different colors

If Sky wasn't the daughter of the King and Queen I would have to turn on her. I would have no choice but to turn over any evidence and all information that I'd uncovered. Was I ready to accuse my Sister of being disloyal? It was the moment of truth. Was Sky the true adversary? Was Teco my ally?

Santo- there you have it

Par- no matches.....