The King, the Maids, the Jester and the Stable Hand
By RabbitohsGirl
Summary: King Sirius wants to be the richest, Maids Lily and Jayne want to run away, Jester Remus wants to keep his head and Stable Hand James wants to make a living. When their worlds collide, everything changes.
Disclaimer: I only own Jayne, the plot and anything else that hasn't been copyrighted.
Author's note: Okay, this is a bit AU. It is set in the olden days when women didn't have many rites, all kingdoms were ruled by kings, and electricity was just a crazy dream in an even crazier professor's head. It was probably even in the time of the founders. I hope you like it. My other story – My Hero Stayed Silent – is my first priority; this is just a bit of fun for the meantime. It helps me write my other fic, funnily enough.
Reviews: Guys, just because I update anyway, doesn't mean I don't want reviews. They make my day.
Here we go...
Lily Evans awoke to the sound of laughter. She raised her head and turned to where the noise was coming from. Jayne White, her best friend, was giggling childishly. Jayne was short, skinny, blonde had had amazing blue eyes. The two of them were orphans in Miss Beaumont's Academy for Parentless Children. I think they were just trying to put 'orphan' in a nicer way. That or they were drunk when they were naming the academy.
Lily was not a morning person and resented the sound of giggling early in the day. Lily had deep red, long hair and emerald eyes. She was a bit taller than Jayne and better nourished. The two of them shared a dorm room together with Remus Lupin, a male orphan. Miss Beaumont had disapproved of putting men and women together, but there was nowhere else apart from the attic and everybody knew, that was where she keeps her alcohol.
"Jayne, what is going on?" Lily asked sleepily, still opening her eyes.
A ray of sunlight was streaming through the window and straight onto the girls. Jayne looked like an angel but Lily looked more like a ginger cat that had just been in a fight. Jayne turned to her friend and smiled.
"Nice to have you back, Lils. Why was I laughing? Remus just said something funny."
Remus Lupin was a tall, muscular boy with sandy blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. He was rather dashing and most of the girls in the academy fancied him. Although, he never looked their way twice. He was very good friends with Jayne and Lily, but his best friend was Jason Summerby. A quiet little, short boy who was hardly ever seen. Remus always made the girls laugh - he was a bit of a clown.
"Well, turn it down a bit. I am trying to sleep."
"Er, Lily?"
"What, Jayne?" Lily snapped from under her blankets.
"The warning bell is about to go."
The warning bell: a siren that bellows through the school's halls to tell the children that breakfast is about to begin. Breakfast was a must for all. If you did not show, you were smacked across the bottom twice for tardiness. Of course, to attend, you must be fully dressed, groomed, awake and ready to eat.
"Bullocks!" Lily muttered and ran to the dressing table as the bell rang.
She threw off her nightgown – Remus respectively turning away – and rummaged through her trunk for a clean uniform. When she couldn't find one, she screamed and ran back to the dresser to do her hair. Jayne tutted and strode over to the wardrobe. She pulled out a freshly ironed school dress and pulled it over Lily's head. Once Lily was dressed, the trio pelted down the stairs and sprinted into the dining room. Miss Beaumont frowned at them as they plopped down into their chairs.
"Miss Evans, Miss White and Mr Lupin. Could you please see me once breakfast has ended?"
The three slowly nodded and dug in to their meal. It wasn't the greatest food, but Miss Beaumont was very kind and brought the best she could afford. There was a maximum amount of orphans allowed in the academy at any given time. It had started at twenty but inspectors saw how well it was run and allowed forty. Most of the kids were very young, and needed the elder ones to supervise them. Lily and Jayne, fortunately, weren't chosen to be a nanny, after they accidentally set one of the cribs alight three years ago. Instead, they were trained to be housewives or maids. This suited them well.
"Quiet down, children. I have some very important news."
Normally, the news would be something about one of the academy's special mentions. The students were all expecting something like that, so what they were told came as a bit of a shock.
"Sadly, King Orion, has passed away overnight."
This made some of the girls sob, but not Jayne or Lily.
"Thank goodness, the old toad," Jayne muttered under her breath to Lily, who snorted.
"His son, Prince Sirius, will be crowned King this weekend."
The whole table burst into chatter. The Royal Black family was known to be very snooty. All they wanted was money, women, big houses and power. King Orion was very mean and had no mercy. He would kill peasants, hang criminals and steal from the poor and give to the rich. An anti - Robin Hood. His son was rumoured to be just as evil.
"Children!" Miss Beaumont yelled and everybody went quiet. "I have also been told that he will take his residence in our very own Monroe Springs."
It all happened so quickly. The elder girls started crying, the boys pounded their fists on the table and all the younger children cried because they didn't know what was going on. The reason they were so distressed was very simple. All towns near a royal residence, would normally be forced into working for the royal family and slowly die a lonely existence. Nobody wanted that.
"Oh, Lily. What are we to do?" Jayne asked her friend frantically.
"I don't know, Jayne," Lily said and they both burst into tears.
Remus sighed and pulled them onto each of his knees. He put an arm around each of them and they cried onto his shoulders. This caused all the other girls to cry harder. Miss Beaumont tended to the younger ones, Cook gently hugged the girls, the boys wallowed in misery and Lily and Jayne continued crying on Remus' shoulders.
That day, all the children were allowed to have time off. No work was done and the kids mostly stayed in their rooms. Jayne and Lily cried all day on Remus' bed – which was the most comfortable – while he tried to make them laugh. Nothing worked.
"Girls, cheer up," he said, dropping down to his knees.
"How can we, Remus? We are the only orphanage for miles and I am almost positive they will take us to be there slaves," Jayne said miserably.
"We are all doomed," Lily added, fresh tears brewing in her eyes.
That night, Remus let them sleep with him in his bed. The girls stopped crying at about midnight and they slowly fell asleep. They would do their best to pull through it all, together.
Author's note: Like it? Loathe it? Should I continue? Shall I not? You decide.