Prologue
King James was truly dead. Gone subtly, the citizens were now depressed, for they had no ruler. James IX was most certainly dead. The jolly king's funeral was attended by millions, all ready to mourn for their loss. None were absent in the kingdom, unless they weren't able to make the journey by any means necessary. "Good King James" was as dead as a doornail. He was as dead as any nail, for that matter.
Prince George III was yet to be of age to take his father's place. Quite frankly, he was just a boy when his good king died. Years went by while the prince cowered at the thought of controlling his father's realm. George was a small, frail lad. He also was a selfish, spoiled brat, to put it simply. The high-ranking officers considered putting George's brother, Liam II, up for the throne.
Prince Liam II was the exact opposite of his brother. He was kind, generous, and very strong and well-built. His yearn for the throne was small, for Liam was a young soldier in the royal army and had no time for "kingly affairs."
When it was time for George to be crowned king, doubting that George was fit for the huge responsibility, officials tried to pull strings to get Liam on the throne. Their efforts were in vain however, for the custom was that the eldest rules until death or resignation. Prince Liam II was not the type to murder his brother, so he would have to wait until George died of natural causes.
King George III soon married Queen Valentina Francesca of Spain's daughter, Eliana Marie. Princess Eliana was the second eldest of seven princesses and a prince. The eldest was Gabriella, then Eliana Marie, Esperanza, and Natalia. The prince, Giancarlo, was next in line; Isabel, Alicandra (Alicia), and finally, the youngest, Anna Francesca were after him. Since Liam was only sixteen, hopes for marriage were vanquished. Poor Prince Liam didn't love the Spanish princesses at all anyway, so he was relieved...for now.
There were many orphaned children living in the kingdom at the time, many of whom were living on the streets. In those days, a relative or friend had to pay ten pounds for an orphan to live in the orphanage, and twenty pounds to get an orphan out.
You may wonder, were there no organizations founded to help such causes? Were there no good, kind, generous folks who could take these ragamuffins in? Alas, there were few. So few indeed, that one out of every ten orphans were taken in or helped.
So now, dear reader, let us begin our story of two poor common orphans living on the streets.
