From the moment he was born he had been treated differently. People moved out of his way without his asking, people waited on him, people did whatever he wanted. If he had been born a peasant he would have been one of those people but he hadn't been born a peasant. Instead, he had been born a prince.
Many of his subjects would have loved to be in his place but he hated being a prince. He was constantly being told what to do or what to wear and never seemed to be able to do what he wanted. Not only that but he had a hard time even going anywhere on his own but today he was going to sneak away and do something he desperately wanted to do.
The castle dungeons had always been dark and somewhat damp, not to mention dangerous, and because of these reasons, as well as many others, the Prince had not been allowed in them. He always seemed to have a guard within sight of him so any strange activity was conveyed to his grandfather, the King, within a matter of minutes. The Prince had so many rules placed on him that it was hard for him to remember them all but the knights remembered each and every one and would report him immediately if he broke even one. Due to the strict watching and mass of rules, the Prince often disguised himself as an errand boy or a kitchen helper to escape from the scrutiny for a while. Today he had decided to borrow a maid outfit, dirtying his face and hands as well as pulling a bonnet over his long blond hair to look more inconspicuous, and had made his way to the dungeons as soon as he could.
He had only been to the dungeons once or twice before, encountering some rather unpleasant characters while he was there, so he hadn't fully explored them yet. For all he knew there was a secret exit from the castle in it that he could use to investigate the small town and surrounding forest, avoiding his responsibilities for as long as he could.
The main reason he had chosen this particular day to travel to the dungeons was because he was meant to have an audience with his grandfather, something he loathed. All that happened during the audiences was that his grandfather would rant and rave about how he wasn't the perfect grandson or prince and remind him that the only reason he had not sentenced him to exile yet was that the boy was the only heir from his lineage. There could be no other heir either since the King's only daughter and his son-in-law, the Prince's parents, had been killed when the Prince was very young.
The other reason he had decided to go to the dungeons on this particular day was that he had heard the knights discussing a 'secret' that was locked inside. He had thought that it must be some sort of treasure since he had also heard that the rest of the dungeons had been cleared because of it.
As he approached the heavy doors that led down to the underground dungeon, he saw two knights standing nearby. Pulling a rock out of his pocket, he threw it down the hallway causing the knights to walk away and investigate the sound. He hurried to take the free moment and, using the key he had stolen from his grandfather that morning, slipped into the dungeons. He made sure to close the heavy door behind him before padding silently down the stairs.
It was quiet, far quieter than he was used to, and very cold which made him shiver a little. He wished he was cloaked in his warm tunics rather than this thin uniform but he would rather be cold than locked in a small room with his grandfather. While he walked down the dark corridor he looked into the many cells, all of which were empty. 'Where did the prisoners go?' he wondered. 'And why? To keep them away from the treasure?'
Around a corner and at the end of the corridor, in the very last cell, was a shape. Was that the treasure?
He moved closer to peer inside but he couldn't see anything. Looking around he walked over to the closest torch on the wall. Standing on the very tips of his toes, he managed to get it down but it was heavy and he almost dropped it on his foot.
He hated being small and weak.
After a while he managed to roll the torch across the floor and over to the cell. This time when he leaned in to look the lump on the floor jumped up and darted over to him, growling.
With a shriek he jumped back, covering his face.
"Oh," came a voice, sounding disappointed. "You are just a lass."
He peeked between his fingers, still frightened, and saw a dirty boy with unruly hair and large eyebrows frowning at him.
"W-Who are you?" he whispered.
"It does not matter," the boy spat back. "Why are you down here?"
"I-I was curious."
His answer seemed to anger the boy in the cell whose eyes narrowed and he shook the bars of the cell.
"Curious?! You were curious?! A brat like you wanted to see the thing your stupid king is so afraid of?! Who gave you the right to be curious?!" When the boy started shaking the bars, the Prince in disguise hid his face again and whimpered, his eyes filling with tears. He didn't know what he had said to make the boy so angry but he was scaring him. He didn't even care that he was breaking one of his grandfather's rules: 'Never cry. Not in front of friend or foe. No matter what, boys never cry'. "What is wrong with you?" he demanded.
The Prince lowered his hands, revealing the tears sliding down his cheeks.
"I-I am sorry," he forced out between his sobs. "I-I am sorry."
The boy in the cell felt bad about what he'd done. He hadn't meant to make the little girl cry but he was sick of being caged. The only visitor he saw besides a few regular knights was the King, occasionally accompanied by his advisor or the head of the knights.
"Oi. Stop that. I did not mean to make you cry. I am sorry too."
After a few minutes the Prince forced himself to stop crying, drying his face on the corner of his apron.
"W-Why are you in here?"
The boy let out a hiss.
"Your King caught me and threw me in here," he sneered. "He thinks that by keeping me in here he can control my family."
"The King did this to you…?"
"Yes!"
The Prince flinched again but he opened his mouth to ask another question when they heard the door to the dungeon creak open.
"Oh no!" he cried. "I have to go!"
He ran away without another word, keeping his steps light so that the knights didn't hear him. Scampering out the door he continued running to his rooms. He needed to change and meet his grandfather before the man got too angry with his disappearance.
Dodging knights and servants, he dashed into his room and changed from the dirty outfit to his usual, regal dress. He made sure to wash his face and hands and put his golden circlet on his head before heading to his grandfather's study.
With a deep breath he knocked on the thick wooden door.
AN: This is a story I started almost 2 years ago and just stopped writing. It was an idea that I was crazy about but then it made me upset to read because it made me think of a friend was was beta reading it for me and who is no longer my friend.
On a more positive note I love little Prince Francis! He doesn't understand how the world works and is totally innocent. He's so cute! And I already had several chapters done so why waste all that effort?