Preface

The history of the Kirkland royal family line is often studied, from the great King Scott II of Scotland and England to the odd Queen Alice IV of England, however most of the information of the royal's siblings is often glazed over. And yet, some of them hold such a wealth of fascinating social interest. One would be that of the Prince of England, Arthur, and his mate Alfred Jones.

It is important to note the social aspects of the time of Kirkland England. Alphas generally did not mate until they were some years older, although those of higher status, like Prince Arthur, were expected to mate at a younger age. It was almost expected of an Alpha of high rank to have more than one mate, and not entirely uncommon to have affairs, be it with female or male Omegas. Omegas, though, were to be much more obedient than is common in our modern age. If an Alpha had more than one, the Omegas were not expected to have any interaction with one another as there had been reports in the past of vengeance and violence breaking out between them. In one instance, one Omega of the royal family killed off all of the other Omegas in her household.

If an Omega died during childbirth, it was not uncommon for an Alpha to choose a new Omega before the funeral arrangements were even finished. It was not out of disrespect, as is seen now, but for the family line. If the child should die due from a lack of exposure to the mother, and if that child be an Alpha, then their death is on the hands of the Alpha of the house. Such shame could not be shouldered on a family, when name and power was everything.

Prince Arthur was born fourth in line for the throne, and was never expected to be much of anything but a pawn in his older brother's workings of his kingdom. It was predicted that Arthur, due to his smaller stature as a boy, was to grow into an Omega, but was surprisingly, an Alpha. Given that Prince Rhye and Princess Halle were both Omegas, Arthur's importance in the family was suddenly jumped to that of the second in line to the throne, after his elder brother. His mother and father lavished just as many gifts on Arthur as they did their eldest, Scott. His education was on par with Scott's, and he learned foreign languages, politics, geography, mathematics, and the early studies of sciences.

At a young age, Arthur was suited to mate with a young Omega from England's friendly enemy, France, Princess Rosaline, in hopes of strengthening the weakening relations between the nations. It was evident very early on, however, that Arthur preferred male Omegas. However, it was assumed that female Omegas were more fertile, thus were often chosen as an Alpha's first mate.

By the time Arthur was fifteen years old, he was already mating Rosaline, who was twelve. She never produced any children by the time of her death at fifteen. After having falling ill suddenly from unknown causes, Rosaline's death brought about a search for a new mate for Arthur. Again, he was expected to take a female Omega. By now, his parents had died and the crown had moved to his brother Scott, whom he had very poor relations with. Scott saw fit to assign any mate to Arthur that would help his cause.

For Arthur, this was an incredibly stressful time as many Omegas did not fit well with him, some even refusing him. For the rather feisty Alpha, this made him all the bitterer towards mating in general, and he stopped for a period of three years- an extremely long time in that time period. It was so unheard of that his brother, the king, decided that if Arthur was unable to find and keep a mate, then he would lose his place in line for the throne, having it pass on to their cousin, the closest Alpha in the family line.

This was when Alfred entered.

Born as the first son of the Jones nobility, Alfred was seen as a shock to be an Omega. Firstborns are almost always Alphas, even back then. It was seen as a bad omen for the first son to be anything other than an Alpha. His younger brother, Matthew, would take on the role of Alpha, and was soon introduced to the public as the "elder son". For this, Alfred's education was limited, focusing more on traditional Omega knowledge. However, he had a fascination with the study of stars. His parents were kind and allowed his hobby to continue even past a young age.

The Jones family was distantly related to English, French, Spanish, and even German monarchs of the past; although the blood line was incredibly thin by the time of Alfred's birth. Nevertheless, they were never far off the social and influential map, earning them a Duke title. For that, King Scott hadn't forgotten about them, and it was on Alfred's thirteenth birthday that he had the Omega slated to mate with his brother, Arthur.

It would be political suicide for the kingdom to have an Omega rule, or so it was thought of at the time, and their cousin lived in France. The people on England would not take kindly to a "foreign king". Therefore, Scott's threats were rather weak. He would do better to please his brother and, possibly, finally get his brother to have children.

And so, when Alfred was just barely over thirteen years of age, he met his royal Alpha mate, Prince Arthur of twenty-five.

By looking at historical documents, letters, records, and journals, and adding in a dash of fantastical romantic notions, I have recreated a story of what is possibly one of the greatest love stories of the Kirkland era.

Hoshiko2's cents: Since this is the preface, and not everyone reads the preface in a story, I'm updating the actual first chapter along with this. For reference, this is set in the time of the Tudor era, so fashion and the like are what I base this upon.

And now, you'll all see what a huge English royal history nerd I really am. I have well over ten books on the Tudor family history alone, not to mention the other English royal history books I have taking over my bookshelves (recently I've gotten very into the War of Roses). It's rather hilarious. This series is to be read as if it were a historical fictional story based on nonfiction. If anyone has read through royal history in this time era (shortly before England gets the Renaissance, although it has already started in Southern European countries), then you might have an inkling of what could come in the future for Alfred.