Royalty

> "The ground began to tremble. The sky darkened as the mist slowly evaporated. A sudden flash pierced the dark sky. And then they saw him."
>
> -Book quote, Chapter2: *New Vaticus*

Royalty is the first book in the first series, with Charlie, Aria, Luca, Julie and Atticus as the main protagonists.

## Official Summary

When the universe plunges into chaos; Aria, Queen of Kalador, Jupiter decides that it is her job to put an end to this threat. A hate organisation trying to disassemble the monarchy known as CRANE have been bringing cities down and leaving millions homeless. Together with her team of Royals, they set out on an adventure to stop this threat once and for all.

## Plot

The book starts off with a description of Rhatbane and it's history. Rhatbane had once been a flourishing and successful city, but someone had infiltrated the royal palace and had taken control. The citizens of Rhatbane are then either killed or put in cages, as it's king slaughtered at the hands of a mysterious assassin. The once flourishing city was soon forgotten and wiped off the maps- forever.

The scene moves to Kalador, and is written in a third person perspective. Aria is introduced crying in her bedroom after the death of her best friend; Lola. She believes that Lola had been murdered by CRANE, a large protesting movement who were merciless and were trying to disassemble monarchies. She quickly wipes her tears when she is called by her friend, Charlie. He tells her that they have a problem on Pluto. They travel to Pluto alongside to new recruits; Atticus, a prince with the power of Ice and Julie, a princess with the power of earth. They go to Pluto on The Nutcracker- Kalador's finest and most luxurious ship. On the way there, Charlie explains to Julie that his city had been destroyed by CRANE during the early days of the war, and that's why he's staying on Kalador.

When they reach New Vaticus, Pluto, the team splits up to look for refugees. Charlie and Julie wander off, but instead of bumping into refugees, they bump into Luca. Luca reveals himself to be a lost prince, and then he knocks out Charlie and kidnaps Julie. On the other side of the city, Aria and Atticus wait for Charlie and Julie at the rendezvous. They search for them after a few hours, and then come across a cave in which they go in. In the cave, Atticus confesses his feelings for Julie which results in Aria getting uncomfortable. They find Charlie in a pile of rocks, who is also bruised and bleeding, and so Aria decides that he needs urgent medical attention. On the other hand, Atticus is upset after realising Julie is not in the cave.

Julie appears awake in a mysterious dark room. Luca walks in and tellS her "that she's pretty when she's mad," and "that he only needed her for educational and research purposes," in which Julie chooses not to believe. There are no rocks nearby that Julie can use, making her trapped.

On the other side of the universe, Aria and Atticus travel to Saroon, a nearby city where Charlie ends up getting treated. The Queen, Hayley, greets Aria and tells her that 'she finally met her." At first Aria is confused as to who this Queen is. So, she walks to Charlie and asks him who she is in which he replies; "She's a friend." Aria feels awkward around the pair, as they seem to have a close relationship. Hayley ends up taking Charlie for a walk, leaving Aria in the room. A nearby nurse tells her that it's tough being the third wheel. Aria feels a sudden urge to slap the nurse but decides to be the bigger person. She storms off, repeating the words *independent woman.*

Later that evening, Charlie and Hayley talk about their lives and Hayley invites Charlie to stay with her, but he declines after thinking about Aria and how much she's helped him. Hayley kisses Charlie and then walks off, saying it was 'goodbye'.