Joshua V. Kingsley's Story

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The day had been a long grueling one indeed, as his parents had sent orders across the whole family household, ordering left and right for clothes to be washed immediately, jewelry to be brought to the main suite room, and fresh bouquets to be bought to the Queen of the Kingsley house. His mother had a keen eye on everything that happened- it was not surprising that the children and the servants all called Mrs. Kingsley “Her Royal Highness”. It was of utmost importance that the Queen presented herself and her husband in the best of lights possible, lacing flowers into her hair and making sure that he was dressed in nothing but the finest of silk. Their shoes were made by the best shoemaker to be found across the whole world, and their fur-lined coats were made of wolves fur as imported from Canada. This opulence did not escape the boundaries of the Kingsley children, though. Out of all the royal families, it was obvious that the three children were the most pampered, even compared to the royal family that now resided in Birmingham Palace. Though, however, the distribution amongst the three children did vary. For Eloise, the Kingsley’s bought dresses, skirts, books on womanly etiquette and beautiful embroidery tools in an attempt to calm the boyish young girl down. Rather improbable. Joshua had thought, chuckling lightly, when the embroidery case had been found broken and alone in a solitary corner of the large mansion.

For Callum, the Kingsley parents bathed with presents and candy, bestowing whatever the boy asked for. When Joshua was younger, he did envy his younger brother- but Joshua grew up and in turn also started to pamper his brother, handing him whatever of interest passed through his hands. Never was Callum’s needs passed by without an answer, and the Kingsley’s placed a large emphasis on the young boy’s happiness. It was a ominous thing indeed within the Kingsley household if Callum’s laughter was not heard throughout the hallways along with the following shouts and pealing laughter of Eloise’s beautiful voice. The two were, what Joshua believed, the young little cherubs of the Kingsley family- happy and free, not burdened by the potential future of the Kingsley family that controlled many facets of life and business in England and to the New World and Asia, controlling the lives and incomes of many a family throughout the different continents. They were free of the burden that Mr. Kingsley had placed on Joshua the moment he had been born, wailing in pain as cold air bathed over him and his mother’s voice had determinedly named him ‘Joshua Vernon Kingsley’.

As such, Joshua received near nothing of ‘fun-value’, or so most would say. He barely received any candies; rather, he received large novels and books on foreign lands and barbarians, and then later on economics and politics. He never was handed over personal servants; rather, Joshua personally selected his own house-tutors, learning the many languages of the world and the interesting, separate customs that each country had developed over the past few years. When Callum and Eloise had been easing through their English and French classes, Joshua was already fluent in Mandarin, English, French, the Germanic languages, Latin, Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, and most importantly, Italian. But the two younger siblings had definitely rubbed off on Joshua; he had been right beside his mother on both occasions as the Kingsley family had welcomed their two new young additions- and right then, Joshua knew that it was his life mission to protect the two from any harm. I am the oldest! He had said to his father once, when the head of the Kingsley family had asked if Joshua felt stressed by his future expectations. His father had only laughed, stating that Her Highness had given birth to a Guardian Angel more so than a future successful entrepreneur.

And so life continued within the Kingsley family household, each person settling comfortably- or not so much- into their respective placements of complacency or fierce competition; and this night was no less different from before.

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Time: Present Day, 21:00 p.m.
Location: No.14, Bloomsbury Avenue

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Joshua stood beside a row of maids each holding an opened box. Within each, upon expensive red satin cushions lay ties of many different colors, each obviously made from extremely expensive fabric from all corners of the world. “Joshua, your mother and I will be back at midnight,” Mr. Kingsley said as he allowed two butlers to fix on his pants and make sure that his dress shirt was impeccable and perfect. “I expect Callum and Princess off in bed before 10 o’clock, understand?” Joshua nodded, though he had already heard these orders many times before already. “Jessica will help you with those two, as always. Tell them to not stress her out too much- she is already 80-years-old.” The eldest Kingsley member turned and checked his suited attire in an elaborated rimmed mirror. “Good. I will call for you two later, Smithson, Lynchester.” Mr. Kingsley tugged at his suit once, firmly, before turning around and walking towards a maid that stood on Joshua’s other side, not with the women with the necktie choices. She held out a pair of white gloves almost reverently as the Master of the household slowly placed one on after the other, his face stern. “For you, I expect lights out at midnight, no tomfoolery-,” His father took his cane that another servant held out for him, “-from you, especially. You know your mother and I hold high expectations for you, son.”

Mr. Kingsley patted him on the back and then motioned for Joshua to follow him. The two walked in silence until they reached the grand entrances of the mansion, all the maids and butlers of the Kingsley family already lined up in two rows, their heads bowed. Callum and Eloise were beside their mother as Mr. Kingsley and Joshua walked up to them. “We will be on our way, then. Be a good girl, Princess, and you, too, Callum.” Mr. Kingsley placed light kisses on their foreheads. Mrs. Kingsley laughed and did the same as well, placing neat, little pecks on the three children’s’ foreheads. “Be good.” She said, her eyes lingering especially on Eloise before she meticulously placed her hand on her husband’s arm and without another word, the two whisked off. “Have a nice time, mother, father.” Joshua called back to their receding figures, as a resounding “Have a nice time, master and mistress.” boomed throughout the halls of the Kingsley mansion.

Finally, the large doors closed behind the Kingsley parents and the maids, servants and butlers started to disperse to finish up their last jobs of the day. Joshua turned towards his two younger siblings, a small smile on his face. “Well, since we have our time to ourselves…what do you two want to do now?” He asked, preparing himself for whatever antic his younger siblings were going to throw at his face. The halls of no.14, Bloomsbury Avenue was now within the jurisdiction of the two younger Kingsley children- but obviously, there were ears and eyes that kept them in check. What Joshua would never guess was that there was another separate pair, hovering in the air, waiting for the most opportune moment to strike at the stained calmness that constantly permeated throughout the Kingsley mansion.