A Monarch's Life

Offering of Disaster

Many years ago...

Once upon a time, there was a lovely young woman named Alma. Alma's family was not rich or powerful, but she was happy anyway, working in her family's clothing store. One day, Alma was summoned to the royal palace, where the very handsome Prince Pedro Madrigal was in need of a new royal robe.

Prince Pedro, believe it or not, was notorious for being a bit of a wild card, so he had a reputation for ruining his royal robes within a week of getting one. It was the fifth robe he'd destroyed this year, but Alma was known for creating very strong clothes that were comfy, and didn't rip easily.

Alma arrived at the castle; she was very excited to meet the prince. She placed the beautiful new robe on the prince. It was a perfect fit... and so were they.

Prince Pedro and Alma were soon married, and what seemed like a storybook ending was really a storybook beginning.

You know how they say, "First comes love, then comes marriage"? What do you think comes next?

Not one, but three adorable babies were blessed upon the prince and princess. They named them Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. Princess Alma and Prince Pedro felt they couldn't be happier to have been blessed with such a beautiful family, and the kingdom was very happy to have a wonderful new princess and the birth of the royal triplets only added hope for the kingdom to continue to have good and fair rulers. Except, their perfect kingdom wasn't to last.

One day, the kingdom was attacked by pirates. Many clans of pirates, in fact. While the pirates were ransacking the village, they fought each other as well, and began to destroy the village and take some lives in the process, including Pedro's parents.

Prince, well, now technically King Pedro and his queen got their royal guards to rescue as many as they could, and they fled the borders of their kingdom in carriages. But the carriages could only go so far, and they had to continue on foot. Except, the pirates came after them, and King Pedro was forced to sacrifice himself to save his family and their people.

Queen Alma was devastated, and the pirates came again. But just when it seemed she and her babies were done for as well, a miracle came. The pirates fled, and a golden path came that guided Alma and her people to a new land. It was a beautiful land with lots of land to grow new crops, surrounded by lovely mountains, and filled with golden butterflies. And a new magical castle appeared to be Alma's new home.

A swarm of butterflies approached Alma, and placed a crown of butterflies on her head, dubbing her the new leader of this land. The castle wasn't empty either. Inside, Queen Alma found three cribs ready for her babies, but she also found something interesting in the form of a candle beside a book.

The book held a message on its pages.

Alma Madrigal, this is your new land called Encanto. This shall be your new home.
You must rule with wisdom, care, and fairness if you wish to keep it and keep it safe
When your children come of age, they shall receive powers to help your land
You will not have powers, however, as a true leader knows how to lead even when
odds seem against them, and realizes that true power resides not within magic.
Someday,you will be gone as well, but care for your children well, and someday
an heir will be found. One who comes of age and receives no magic, they shall be the
Chosen Heir.

Alma read this message and knew what she had to do. She led her people to start making this land a home. They planted seeds they'd managed to save and find in some plants among the land, built a new village, and as time went on Alma's children grew and eventually came of age.

To determine which child was the Chosen Heir, Alma was to hold a special ceremony in which a royal child, on his or her fifth birthday, would have a crown placed upon their head that was just a band of gold. Once placed on the child's head, it would change to represent the power they were given.