I looked out over the palace walls on this high vantage point and surveyed the land before me. Many times in the past I have come here to think things through and I had a lot to think about now.

I loved our wonderful country; Concordia was a nice place to live. I know I have complained about this and that, but still, compared to our neighbours, we were comparatively wealthy and contented; long may it stay so.

It was high summer and the sun, although nearly setting now, still held some warmth.

Looking over to my left I could see the foothills and the mountains of Landrouth. The heat haze gave a sort of shimmering unearthly quality to the mountains. Beyond that and the plains of Daria was the kingdom of Xavier. For many centuries, we had been at war with that mountainous and inhospitable country, but following a convenient marriage alliance between two lesser royals, an uneasy piece had reigned for seventy years.

My eyes travelled to the right; although unseen, two thousand miles away was the border between Concordia and Elipsian .How I wished that there was a peace between us, but alas, their aggressive and warlike ways meant that any form of alliance was out of the question at the moment. Still at least there was an uneasy truce at present and I prayed that it would continue until something was sorted out.

I sighed and then heard a cough behind me.

‘Sir?’

I turned around.

‘Yes Phillip.’

‘The Queen would like your answer as soon as possible.’

‘I know Phillip. I have much to think of before I can let her know my decision but can you tell her that I will speak to her before high supper?’

‘Of course, Sir.’

‘Phillip, what would you do in my position?’

‘I am glad to say Sir, that I will never have that decision to make, being a humble servant, but I am sure you will do the right thing.’

I smiled at him.

‘False modesty, Phillip? You are neither humble or a servant. Looking after the day to day affairs of this great land make you more powerful a person than most.’

‘Perhaps, Sir, but I am happy to do what I have to, to make this land safe.’

‘Is that an answer to my original question? Should I do it because I must? I am only fifteen, I had hoped that I could enjoy my childhood for a bit longer!’

‘As you know Sir, I have known you since you were born and have helped you many times, but this is a decision you have to make for yourself. No one would think any worse of you for deciding against this course of action. As you know, your brother declined.’

‘Yes, but he has been unwell for years and would not have the strength…’

‘True, but if you do decline, there are others who may agree to take your place.’
I sighed again. ‘Yes but I suppose that it is a question of noblesse oblige as my tutor would say.’

‘Well Sir, I will leave you to your deliberations and inform the Queen that you will see her shortly.’

‘Thank you Phillip.’

I sat on the wall and cast my mind back to the previous day where my cosy little world changed forever.

When I went to my mothers’ private rooms, I saw her sitting at her needlework. She did this when she wanted to think and I knew from the intense look on her face, that she had other things on her mind than where to put her stitches.

She may be a queen, but to me, she was mother and I loved her more than life itself. My father had died shortly after I was born and I knew nothing of him other than what people had said. A brave, fearless man, who was kind to his friends and feared by his enemies. Portraits hung in the great halls of the palace and everyone said that I was the image of him. My mother, though more gentile in her ways, was just as formidable and she ruled over the country with fairness and impartiality.

‘Ah there you are Gareth, come sit beside me; we need to talk.’

I gave her peck on the cheek and sat down next to her.

‘How are your lessons going?’

‘Erm, quiet well, mother.’

‘Hmm. You won’t be much of a scholar, but your heart is in the right place.’

‘’You wanted to see me.’ I said, changing the subject.

‘Yes.’

She looked at me closely. I could see here eyes boring into mine. Had I done something wrong? Why was she looking at me so strangely?

She seemed to collect herself and took a sip of wine.

‘Gareth, I need to tell you something and it is important that you pay attention because it effects you greatly; do you understand?’

‘Not really Mother, have I done something wrong?’

She smiled. ‘No, my dear, far from it, you are a credit to me and I am proud of you. No this is something that is thrust upon us and needs to be addressed now that you are nearly sixteen. Your brother should have been in this position last year but as you know, he is sickly and has not the strength.’

‘What is it you want of me Mother?’

‘I need to tell you a story. It is not fiction but fact. You may not believe it, but it is true.’

She drank some more wine and offered me some. I declined, as I did not have a taste for it.

She put her glass down firmly and then started telling me her tale.

‘Five hundred years ago, this land was at perpetual war with it’s neighbours — you know this already — many thousands of lives were lost from all sides. Most of our revenue was spent on perpetuating the war. At that time, our rulers were always men — kings with absolute power to do as the would wish and they were not always wise with their decisions. At the time, wise people in our land spoke and debated as to what could be done about the vast and terrible waste of life and the resources of our once rich lands.

‘There was a great woman who lived at that time. Her three sons were killed in one of the wars and she approached the group of wise men and women. She was not only wise but also one who practiced the wiccan arts. She was a white witch and the most powerful in the land. She had powers beyond belief and what she told the wise men and women has passed down through the generations.’

‘I know this word for word and I pass what she said to you to think on and consider. This is what she said:

“For centuries, we have waged war against our neighbours. Innocent lives have been taken and families torn asunder. It is time for this to stop. Hence forth, a male born heir must become ruler of the land. He will be born a male and until he is sixteen years old, live a normal life as possible as the boy heir. Just prior to his sixteenth birthday, he will be given a challenge. He must fully understand the challenge and go into it gladly.

Certain tasks will be given to him. The tasks will be hard but not impossible. Those tasks, when completed will change him dramatically. He will at the end of the first task, start to change into a girl. As each task is completed he will become more feminine until at the end of the tenth he will then become a complete woman.

The boy — now woman would have seen what it is like to grow up as a boy and then change into a woman. Women are not as aggressive as men. They are not weak but can temper aggression with compassion. The ruler of the country will have a unique view of both sides of the gender divide and will understand more, the duties and obligations of the high office that is entrusted to them. If what I say does not take place, then a curse will befall the royal house and this land will be overtaken and all will be lost.”

My mother stopped there and took another deep draft of the wine. She looked at me and smiled.

‘Do you understand what I have been saying?’

‘Yes Mother; but how did the king react to this?’

She looked sad.

‘News came to the court on the following day. King Rupert had been killed on the battle field at the same time that the witch had been speaking to the wise group.’

‘Coincidence?’

‘They did not think so. Remember, the witch was known to have been the most powerful in the land. They took seriously what she said at face value and acted accordingly.’

‘But, mother, you don’t believe all this, surely!’

She nodded and looked serious.

‘I have not finished my tale. Hear me before you judge. The eldest in line to the throne at that time was Prince Albert. Do you know of him?’

I shook my head.

‘The tasks were written in blood in a book. There were one thousand tasks written. The book was to be opened by the candidate and on the front page, out of the one thousand, ten tasks would be written there, taken at random and placed at the front by some magical device. Those tasks were to be performed by Prince Albert, if he agreed to try. At first he declined, his male ego being strong and proud, just like his father — but he was no fool; he knew that the power of witchcraft was strong and eventually he agreed to carry out the challenge. Whether he ever thought that it was all nonsense, he never divulged. Anyway, he was allowed to take two companions, one the strongest bravest man in the land and the other, a woman who would teach him feminine ways as his mind and body changed with each challenge.’

‘Mother, I not remember a Prince Harold when I was taught the history of our family.’

She smiled thinly, ‘you would know him as first Princess and then her mother died, Queen Beatrix.’

I could feel my jaw drop. It was unbelievable and yet there sat my mother Queen of Concordia and loved by all of her subjects, being perfectly serious about what must have been just a tall tale…

‘Mother, you jest with me. How could Queen Beatrix be a man.’

‘He or rather she was not a man. Albert started as a boy and as he completed his tasks, he gradually became a woman and on completion, a great leader of our country. We stopped warring with others, formed alliances and then became a country that thrived on peace. It was not all wine and roses though as other countries did not have our, shall we say, unique viewpoint and occasionally we had to go to war, but in the main, we have been a lot happier and more stable than those dark days of the past. Anyway, henceforth, after Beatrix, every ruler had to be a boy and go through tasks from the book and become a woman and then on demise of the current ruler, queen of our country. It has worked well for five hundred years and now it is your turn to decide if you are up to the challenge.’

‘Me!’

‘Yes you. Your brother is too frail and you are next in line. We all know that your brother will not see out the next winter.’

I was numbed by what had been said to me. I still felt as if this was all a bad dream or a joke in poor taste and then something popped into my head and I blurted it out without thinking.

‘But mother, you are queen does that mean…’

‘Yes, my name up to my sixteenth birthday was Henry, I was as much a boy as you are, but now I am a woman and a queen and I would not change anything for the world.’

I looked at her, knowing by her beautiful face that she was not deceiving me. My heart sank at what I had heard. I was a boy, nearly a man. I was to be stripped of my manhood to become a woman. Could I do it, should I? Why me…’

All these things were going around in my head. I did not know what to say or do. I was confused, angry, sad and upset all at once and I felt the weight of responsibility weigh heavily on my shoulders.

I felt the touch of my mothers’ hand on my shoulder.

‘Go away now and think what you will do. I will not force you to do this, as it is your decision alone to make. But know now, whatever you decide, I will love you and cherish you whatever your decision.’

So here I was, watching the sun set on our green and pleasant land. I had gone through a whole gamut of emotions and was emotionally drained. I shivered slightly as the sun finally set and a slight breeze whispered through the trees.

I turned around and entered the palace. As I walked through the palatial halls, I thought about the decision that I had just made. Was I right? Who knows but one thing that my mother did teach me was go with my instincts and to hell with the consequences.

I reached my mothers chambers. I knew that I had little time as high supper was to be served in the great hall shortly. I took a deep breath, knocked on the door and entered.

My mother was in the same place, with her needlework. Not much had been done and I think I know why.

‘Mother.’

She looked up at me with a slight smile, worry etched on her forehead.

‘Hello Gareth, have you made your decision?’

I took a deep breath.

‘I will do it.’

To be continued….

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I have completed the first chapter and invite others to take up the challenge of continuing the story.

I thought that some sort of collaboration might make the story to say the least, interesting.

What I propose is that if you wish to write chapter 2, you can p.m. me and say that you wish to take over. Once it is agreed, I will put up on my blog that an author will be writing the next chapter, this will save anyone else writing the same chapter.

Once that author has written the second chapter and put it up on the site, they will be responsible for the story until another writer sends a p.m to them takes over on publication. So it continues until the tenth challenge is completed and the story finishes.

I hope that makes sense. I do not expect the story to be as long as some, but about the size of LOTR would be nice. Hey, perhaps it could be made into a film…..I would make a great witch!