"Anyone see where the loser went?"
The search for the bullies' victim was called off when the teacher hit the bell, making it ring loudly. "Ah, we'll pick it up tomorrow," another bully said, and discussing their next method of torture they headed inside to collect their things.
When he heard nothing more, Prince Harold slowly lowered the loose fence board, peering out into the schoolyard from the other side. Shaking, and wiping a dirty hand across his forehead, he leaned the board against the fence and proceeded not to go into the school, but instead to walk home.
When I become king, those guys will all be banished, to a far land, he thought bitterly, as he always did each time school ended.
Coming into the kingdom almost an hour later, the first thing he heard was, "How was school today?"
"Fine," he mumbled, as he always did.
His mother's expression changed drastically, going from content to angry in a second. "Then there is no excuse for your bad grades," she reprimanded him. "Starting next week you'll be attending a public school."
Normal kids might have been upset at the notion of leaving behind all their friends. But normal kids would have had friends to leave; and his parents were only worried when their son's only question was, "Do I still have to do my homework?"
The following days were filled with resigning Prince Harold from one school and transferring him to another; and as each day passed, Prince Harold grew happier and happier that he would not be attending a school where people only knew him as a member of the royal family.
So it was with hope that he gazed upon his new school at nine in the morning on a drizzling Wednesday. Checking himself, he took off his crown and dug a hole, into which he placed his crown and buried it well. Then he ran into his new school, eager to introduce himself as a rich but normal boy.
He had no idea it was here his life would change forever...