The Test

Chapter One.

The year was 4035, and humanity had somehow managed to trip over its own feet again. After World War XII scorched half the planet and terrified the other half into compliance, England rose from the ashes and decided it was time to run the whole show. People didn't argue much, mostly because the last group that tried was never heard from again. The world was now ruled by a king and queen unlike any that had come before them, both mysterious, both impossibly old, both holding power that no one fully understood.

Their reign had lasted forty-eight years, and during that time, a single rule overshadowed all others. On every citizen's sixteenth birthday, they were required to take the Test. No one knew its full purpose. No one knew why the monarchs cared so much. And no one, absolutely no one, ever refused.

Oliva had been counting down the days with a mix of dread and stubborn defiance. Sixteen wasn't supposed to feel like standing on the edge of a cliff. She had imagined birthday cakes and friends and maybe a few hours of pretending the world wasn't run by immortal monarchs. But the Test overshadowed everything, like a dark cloud that followed her wherever she went.

Her best friend, Liam, turned sixteen three days before her. She hadn't seen him since.

The officials said he passed. They always said that. "Passed" could mean anything, and in most cases, it meant disappearing into the king and queen's elite Guard, never to return home. Liam's parents had cried quietly behind closed curtains.

The night before her birthday, Oliva sat on the rooftop of her building, staring at the holographic curfew drones weaving through the sky. She pulled her coat tighter around herself, even though the air wasn't cold. Everything felt colder anyway.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned, ready to snap at whoever thought rooftop brooding was a group activity. Instead, someone stepped into the faint moonlight.

Liam.

He looked different. Sharper around the edges. A little taller, a little older, a little more like someone carrying a secret too heavy for his shoulders.

"Liv," he whispered.

She stood so fast she nearly tripped. "You're— I thought— your parents said—"

"I know." He lifted a hand, as if trying to calm a storm. "They had to. Everyone does."

She stepped closer, scanning him like she could read the truth off his skin. "What happened to you?"

Liam hesitated. His eyes flicked to the sky, then back to her. "The Test isn't what they tell people. It's... not just a test."

"That explains literally nothing."

He exhaled, frustrated. "It looks like a test. They sit you in a white room, hook you up to a scanner, ask a bunch of questions about loyalty, obedience, all that junk. But the real purpose is figuring out who you are underneath everything. They're searching for... something. Some trait. Some ability."

Oliva felt her stomach twist. "And you have it?"

"I don't know." His voice cracked slightly. "But they think I might. They want me to join the royal line."

She blinked. "Join— what, like marry into it?"

"No," he said softly. "Become part of it."

A chill swept through her. Everyone whispered rumors about the king and queen. That they never aged. That they had lived through multiple wars. That they weren't entirely human.

"Liam," she whispered, "what are you saying?"

"They're not rulers. They're hosts. And they're running out of time." He swallowed. "They want me to train. To see if I can... hold what they hold."

Oliva backed away. "No. No, that's insane. You need to run."

"I can't." He stepped closer. "And tomorrow, when you take your Test, they'll find you too. Liv, they keep files. Lists. People with certain minds, certain instincts. You're on their radar."

"Then help me get off it," she said, voice trembling.

Liam shook his head. "The only way out is to fail the Test. No one fails."

Her heartbeat pounded. "Then we make a way."

He stared at her. Really stared. "If we try to fight them, they'll kill us."

"Then we don't fight," she said. "We outsmart them."

His expression cracked into the smallest, most painful smile. "You always were trouble."

"And you always followed me into it."

A drone passed overhead, its scanners sweeping across the rooftop. They both ducked behind the railing.

When it was gone, Oliva looked at Liam, her mind finally settling.

"Tomorrow," she whispered, "I go in. You find the weaknesses. We take this kingdom apart piece by piece."

Liam nodded, fear and determination warring in his eyes.

In the distance, the king's banners glowed across the skyline, silently watching.

Tomorrow, the Test would come.

Tomorrow, everything would change.