A/N: So, I'm suppose to be working on my finals but after watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Robin Hood Men In Tights, how can I not come up with a story and write it. I'm looking for a better title than "Of Princes and Peasants" so please help a girl out.

Disclaimer: Don't own, never did, nothing belongs to me.


Rick Stetler sat upon the thrown, frowning as one of the peasants told him of their food and water shortage. This was the fifth complaint that day and it was only early in the afternoon. He gave a small sigh and ignored the older man before him and then noticed the Prince walking his way, nose in a book as always. That's when he noticed the room got quiet and he realized the old man had stopped talking and was now staring at him, waiting for his answer. Standing up and waving a hand, one guard appeared to the right of the old man while another appeared on the left side.

"Guards, please escort this man out of the castle."

"But your majesty..."

"Listen. I'm tired of listening to you peasants complain night and day about food and water shortage. You have a stream so use it. You go back to the village and you tell every single person there that if anyone bothers me one more time today, I will raise the taxes so high that you won't even have enough to buy a crumb. Have a nice day." He sat back down as the guards dragged the man out. He looked up to see the Prince, who had heard and saw everything, and smiled. "Prince Tim, what brings you here?"

"You know, Uncle, it wouldn't hurt you to be nice to the villagers for once," Tim said. "After all, if they don't have enough money to buy food and water, what makes you think they'll have enough to pay your out-of-control taxes?"

That was the one thing Rick hated about Tim. He was so much like his father, the late King Timothy. To nice and understanding. His half brother always had a soft spot for the peasants and sometimes wouldn't even mind if they didn't pay taxes for almost a month. It was always, "Don't worry about this months pay," or, "Do you have enough for your family?" He wouldn't lie when he said he was happy his brother had passed away but was pissed when the will was read and his half brother left everything to his son, Timothy Speedle II. Lucky for him, Tim was but a child at the time so he had to take his brothers place until Tim was one: of age, and two: had a wife before claiming the thrown. Only one out of the two was accomplished.

"My dear nephew, when you're King you can do what ever you want. Until you give this Kingdom a wife and son, I'm in charge and will do what I think is best for these poor peasants." He clapped his hands and small boy, whom was taken from his family to be the King's servant boy, walked into the room and knelt before him. "One day Prince Tim, you will have a servant of your very own. Boy, go get me some grapes."

"Yes my King." The boy gave one last bow before leaving the room to do the King's bidding. Tim glared at his Uncle before going in the opposite direction and headed to see the family doctor. It took a few hallways before he arrived at the medical room and knocked on the wooden door before walking in. He saw a small boy, whom Tim knew as one of the gardener's child, sitting on a small cot and holding his shin as blood seeped through his fingers. He cleared his throat and the boy's eyes went wide before getting off the cot and kneeling before him.

"Prince Timothy."

"Please get up before you get your wound infected with whatever dirt is on this floor," Tim said, hating it when people did that. Some people thought being the Prince was so cool, always getting what you wanted, people doing your every bidding, but in real life it sucked. He always wanted to talk to people eye to eye but they always ended up kneeling down like they were suppose too. He helped the boy back on the cot, but the boy never made eye contact. "What happened?"

"I was helping mama hoe in the garden and hit my shin," came the quiet answer.

"I thought I told you not to mess with that hoe?"

"Just like I remember telling a certain Prince not to jump off the second story balcony when he got done reading a book about a boy that could fly," came an amused voice behind him. He turned around and smiled at Alexx as she walked over to them with a bowl of warm water, rag, and bandages. "My first time doctoring by myself and you just had to go and not listen to me when I said boys cannot fly. Kids just don't listen to adults."

"I was ten years old!" Tim said, defending himself but it did get a giggle out of the boy on the cot. "How are you doing Alexx?"

"I'm good. I heard that Uncle of yours is being a real pain in the you-know-what." Alexx set the bowl down and started cleaning the wound. Alexx was an old friend of the family and when her parents had passed, his father took her in and it was here where she was trained under the best doctors. The best and only doctors they will every have. They were the only ones who had their own personal doctor living with them to heal them and take care of them while the villagers had nothing.

"Yes. He's not listening to the villagers when they say they are running low on food and water. If father was alive, he would've been down to that village and helping those people get the food and fresh water they need. Not ignore them and raise taxes. The water from the streams is not good for them and who knows what's what kind of diseases they get."

Alexx just let Tim tell her everything that has happened this morning and felt bad for him. He wanted to help these people, but the King as the real power and he's only a Prince for now and needed a wife, but there was only problem. Tim had told her about three years ago that he wasn't interested in women, but more into men. He couldn't tell his Uncle that because that meant he would then really start abusing the Kings power because he would be King. She finished the bandage just as Tim finished his story.

"I just don't know what to do. I can't let these people living under his rules like this."

Alexx patted the boy on the leg, signaling him to leave, before getting up. She laid her hands on his shoulders and made him look at her. "You listen to me. You will find that special someone, even if it is a man, and you will be King. You will run this Kingdom the right way and make your father proud."

Tim smiled and gave her a hug. She always knew how to get him to calm down but he still felt like he was suffocating in the castle. "I'm going to go for a ride. I need to get out of here for a few hours. Want me to pick you up anything?"

"No. Just be careful. The villagers know you care about them but some might not look at it that way since you're Uncle took control."

He promised her to be careful and walked towards his room so he could get a cloak he wore when going into the village. This way, the villagers didn't know it was him. Making sure he had everything he needed, he walked down the hall and out of the castle, breathing in the fresh air. The wind was blowing slightly, which was good since the air was hot and humid. He walked down a small hill towards the stables and nodded at the servants before walking up to Accelerate. "Are you ready for a nice ride out to the village?" He laughed when the horse nudged his nose at him and took that as a yes. Opening the door, he guided Accelerate out of the stable and giving the stable boys a wave; he took off into the woods that lead to the village. Accelerate was known for his name. He was very fast and most horses had a hard time keep up with him and that's what Tim like about Accelerate. Moving fast like you were free from the world. He made it to the village of Coastal in less than ten minutes. He slowed Accelerate down and then jumped off so he could walk the horse through the village without him running people over.

"Old Winters came from the castle a few minutes ago," Tim heard a couple saying. He paused and pretended to look at Accelerates hoof while they talked.

"I know. Poor guy. Told us the King would raise taxes if we bother him again. It's not bad for us farmers but what about those poor peasants? I hear at lest two families will be forced out of their home if that happens. I tell you, I wish King Timothy was still alive. At lest he cared about us."

"Yes. His son is very nice as well. I remember him playing with Lacy but that seems years ago since then."

Tim smiled; glad to know these people still liked him despite his Uncle. He started his walk down the fairly decent dirt road and stopped when he heard laughter to his right. He saw four children running around in a nearby field, rags covering their small bodies. It seemed that no matter what they had, the kids were always happy. He walked into the village square a few minutes later and it was like everyone had decided to go shopping. The village square had small own shops that his Uncle owned and let villagers work there for food and money.

"Good afternoon sir," an old lady said with a smile. "May I offer you a delicious apple? Freshly picked by my son not moments ago."

"How much?"

"For a nice young man such as you, two coins."

Tim was a little amazed at the low cost. Usually villagers would charge at lest five coins for one apple but this woman must know of hard times and wanted other villagers to have something to eat. "Then in that case, may I have two?" He pulled out four coins and handed them to the woman before nodded. "Have a good day." Biting into the apple, he could tell it was freshly picked and just took in the villagers as they walked passed. Some were dressed in rather nice rags while others had dirty rags. This was a whole new world for him and he wanted to take it all in. He rounded the corner and was suddenly bumped into by a teenager. No words were exchanged but his pocket felt suddenly light and he patted his pocket to find most of his coins were gone.

The teenager laughed and ran into the crowd. Tim couldn't believe that he was only in the village for ten minutes and was already robbed. Wait until Alexx hears about this.