A long, long time ago, in the kingdom of London, England, there lived three special children who were bound by fate to have met one another. The first was a prince. He lived at the castle, so large that it overlooked the rest of the town that surrounded its grounds. The prince lived without a care in the world, tended to by the maids and butlers hired by the royal family. In some way, he was also quite "brass" with the women within his kingdom's boundaries, known to many as a "women charmer" or a "playboy".

The second is a lowly pauper boy. He lives in the lower quarters of the kingdom and makes his living doing odd jobs and favors for his fellow peasants. Beloved by all, he has had many ideas to help improve the way his fellow friends in the lower quarters live. A long time ago, his parents were said to have been lost by a fire that broke out at their home. He now lives alone at the town's inn, accompanied by a few of his other friends from the declining orphanage.

Last, but not least, the third child is a princess. Born of royal blood, she lives in a neighboring kingdom that had been on ill terms with the kingdom of the prince and a proposed marriage between the prince and princess could truly save the two kingdoms from descending into a war. The princess was quite like the pauper, beloved by her people and servants at the castle. She was a vision of beauty, a blonde haired angel with a heart warming smile. Like the peasant boy, she too has many ideas to help make life for her citizens all the better, plans she hope to accomplish once she becomes queen.

As of late, the princess has been invited to come to the prince's kingdom so the two could get a chance to meet one another. However, the princess is not all that "keen" on meeting the prince after hearing all the rumors and stories of him being a romancer. And, likewise, the prince does not seem ideal to meeting his "future wife" either. And this...is only the beginning...of how the simple pauper weaved his way into both of their lives. This is the tale of...

The Prince, Pauper and the Princess

Chapter 01: Look-a-Like

Our story begins within the little quaint town that surrounds the grounds of the royal castle, divided by a stone wall and a heavy steel gate. We come to the lower quarter of the town, which was falling apart slowly after a wild fire burnt down most of this part of town. It is here where we find the pauper boy. His name is Elliot, a twelve year old boy who wore mostly rag clothing including a dark red scarf, patched covered sweatshirt and long pants, completed with a dirty brown cap atop his already chestnut colored hair. We find the boy strolling through town with a load of logs beneath his arm, on his way to deliver them as a favor to the town's wood cutter. His bright gold eyes glanced around the town with a bright smile as many of the other townsfolk stopped to greet him.

"Good day Elliot! You hungry there lad?" the baker called from his store window. Elliot looked over towards the baker and smiled, waving with his free hand.

"Not quite yet! I have a delivery to make first! I-I promise to come by later and visit!" he called. As Elliot continued on, the baker watched with a smile on his face.

"Ah. What a fine lad that Elliot is. So polite, quaint and lovable. Heh. Its no wonder everyone in town has taken a shine to him." he chuckled. Elliot continued along the street with his smiling face, a smile that stretched cheek to cheek. As he came to a crosswalk in the streets, he stopped for a moment to reach into his pants pocket and took out a small piece of paper. He looked at the crude writing on the paper, containing a list of people he was delivering firewood for. Most of the names were crossed off.

"Okay. Let's see. The last two deliveries I have are for Mister Farley and his family. Then...its straight to the palace gates for the last delivery." he thought. Slipping the paper back into his pocket, he looked up towards the north end of the town, spotting the large castle standing over the other houses and shoppes. Elliot lightly sighed as his eyes looked on.

"Man. I wonder what it's like to live someplace like the palace. Must be great. A nice warm fireplace on chilly cold nights, delicious meals each day, enough to make anyone's belly big...a beautiful view of the rest of the town...ahh. What a life that must be." he sighed. Just then, Elliot heard the loud rings of the nearby clocktower, reading 11 o'clock on its face.

"Oh! I-I better get these deliveries other with and hurry back to the inn. They're probably waiting for me." Elliot said. But just as he was about to head off, Elliot was stopped by the sounds of another voice calling out to him.

"Elliot! Hey! Elliot! Over here!" the voice called. Looking behind him, Elliot saw a young boy, dressed similar to him but with scruffy tan hair, rushing up towards him. This was another boy from the orphanage that Elliot lived in. His name was Eugene, a ten year old boy who became somewhat of a "little brother" to Elliot after their time together.

"Huh? Eugene? What are you doing here? I thought you were busy helping the innkeeper today." Elliot asked. Eugene smirked and waved his hand.

"Nah. I finished that job a while ago. I've got some free time before that bossy lady calls for me again." Eugene said, teasing the innkeeper.

"So...may I ask why you came looking for me?" he asked. Eugene looked to the wood beneath Elliot's arm.

"I figured I'd help my big bro with his wood deliveries." he said. A little surprised, Elliot smiled before patting Eugene's head, scruffing up his hair.

"I'm afraid you're a little late there Eugene. I'm just two deliveries away from finishing up for the day." he said. This bit of news caused Eugene to grow a frown, looking down to the ground with his usual "disappointed" face. However, Elliot took another look at the wood under his arm before lightly smiling.

"But...I know how much you liked helping me out. So...I'll split them with you. If you'll take one delivery, I'll take the other." he said. Eugene gasped and sprang back to life, looking happily at his "big brother". The two boys divided the wood between the two of them before Elliot told Eugene where to take his delivery.

"Gotcha! Don't worry Elliot! You won't regret this!" Eugene cheered. With that, he was soon on his way towards Mister Farley's home. Along the way, Elliot watched as the over excited boy stumbled into a nearby flower stand and knocked over some pots. He quickly got back up and apologized to the shop keeper, offering to assist. This made Elliot chuckle as he lightly shook his head.

"That Eugene...always a bit of a clutz." he said. Elliot then continued his way north, making his delivery to the gates leading to the castle. However, the young boy would not expect the amazing surprise awaiting him once he arrived. Arriving at the gates, Elliot stopped for a moment to look around in awe at the outer wall of the palace. Standing before him were two heavily armored knights standing attention at the castle gates. They noticed Elliot approaching and raised their spears.

"Halt! Who goes there?" one called. Elliot stopped dead in his tracks, looking nervously at the knights standing before him and gulped. He slowly tipped his cap to the two.

"H-Hello there. M-My name is Elliot. I...ahem...I have a delivery for the servants to the king. I believe he ordered some firewood from the local wood cutter?" he asked. The knights looked on without a sound, trying to make out Elliot's face. But at the moment, their visors were down and their view of Elliot was rather hard. Just then, one of the knights scoffed.

"Oh. Its only you my lord. Heh. Let me guess. You've gone out on one of your usual "field trips" to the town?" he asked. He then turned to his accomplice.

"H-Huh? That's the prince? I thought he said his name was Elliot." the other asked. The first knight chuckled.

"Nah. You haven't been in the knights long enough if you don't recognize the prince's "disguises". Ha ha." he said. Just then, he took Elliot's hand, causing him to drop the wood he was carrying.

"Uhhh...p-pardon me? W-What are you doing?" Elliot asked nervously.

"Come on now your highness. You ought to be going inside now. You have a guest coming after all. Can't keep her waiting after all." the knight insisted, pushing Elliot through the gates as they slowly rose open.

"W-What?! H-Hold on a second! I'm not the prince! M-My name is...!" he exclaimed. But his outbursts fell on deaf ears as the two knights did not seem to believe him. Once he was within the palace walls, the gates were closed shut, trapping Elliot inside. Everything was happening so fast. Elliot looked nervously around him, seeing no other soul for miles around him. He then looked up nervously towards the castle. He slowly pulled the cap off his head, wrangling it between his hands.

"W-What am I going to do? Those knights at the gate said...I'M the prince. B-But the prince hardly ever leaves the castle. So...how could they...?" he thought. Elliot heavily sighed before slipping his cap back on.

"M-Maybe I can speak with one of the other knights or servants here at the castle. Perhaps they can help straighten this whole mess up." he said "A-After all, I WAS supposed to make a delivery." After a sigh of relief, Elliot made his way towards the front doors leading into the castle, slowly reaching for the door handle. The door was rather heavy as it took all of Elliot's strength to open it. He then veered inside, looking around at the empty lobby before him. The inside of the castle was truly what he expected it to be. The marble floors shimmered, having been freshly polished, as Elliot made his way inside. He walked along the stretch of ruby red carpet that extended from the front door. Along the sides of the walls were suits of armors, each holding a large flag with the king's royal seal on the flag.

"Wow. W-Would you look at this place? Oh. Eugene and I would have so much FUN playing hide and seek here." he said, his voice lightly carrying in the chamber. He took a moment to look at his reflection in the marble floor and smiled, waving to himself.

"Wait until I tell the others back at the inn that I...I actually got to go INSIDE the king's castle. This...This really is amazing." he said. Suddenly forgetting the reason he came inside, Elliot began looking around the castle lobby in awe and wonder, giving off the air that he was a tourist just visiting the castle. As he continued along, lightly humming to himself with each step, he did not keep his eyes out as the faint sounds of footsteps were heard coming from a nearby hallway. Emerging from the shadows of the hall, another boy about Elliot's height came dashing out with a cloak over himself. He had the same chestnut hair as Elliot, but had bright green eyes.

"Heh heh heh! Devin, you sly dog...will you never cease to amaze yourself? Those royal snobs will never recognize me." the boy snickered. But without realizing where he was going, the boy wound up charging straight into and colliding with Elliot. The two boys stumbled to the ground as the cloak the other wore was thrown off in the chaos, as was Elliot's scarf and cap. Elliot and the boy laid in a daze on the ground.

"W-Whoa. What a loop." Elliot moaned. His head still spinning, Elliot looked up at the face of his assaulter, dizzily seeing his own reflection before him.

"H-Hey. What bozo...?" the other asked. As Elliot came to, he quickly gasped as did the other boy. Their eyes remained locked on each other. Underneath the cloak, the other boy appeared dressed in similar garbs. They slowly began to mimic each other, waving their hands in sync and making silly faces to each other before the reality of the situation slowly began to fade in.

"W-What the?! B-But! Y-You're me...and I'm...! Wait! But you are...!" they exclaimed. But suddenly, the other boy quickly silenced Elliot, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Before we start losing track of things...lemme put two and two together here." he said. After his mouth was uncovered, Elliot reached down and scooped up his cap and scarf.

"Tell me something kid. What's your name?" the other asked. Elliot nervously looked on as the other boy circled around him.

"M-My name is Elliot. W-Who might I ask are you?" he replied. The other boy lightly smirked with a cocky smile.

"You can call me Devin my good man. Maybe you heard of the prince of the royal family? Heh heh. That would be me." he said. Elliot looked on at Devin's smirking face with somewhat of a blank stare before quickly gasping.

"W-What?! T-The prince?! So...you are...oh wow. No WONDER those guards mistook me for you! We...We're exact DOUBLES of each other!" Elliot exclaimed. Devin lightly stroked his chin as he viewed Elliot from head to toe.

"Yeah. We DO look like twins." he muttered "And that gives ME...an idea." Devin suddenly plopped his hand on Elliot's shoulder as he lightly winked.

"Say, Elliot...why you're here, mind if I ask you for a little FAVOR?" Devin asked.

"A-A-A favor? F-For the prince? O-Of course! H-How can I help?" Elliot asked. Devin smirked as he slipped his arm around Elliot's shoulder.

"Come. Let's take a stroll back to my room. We can talk there. Besides, you'll get to see more of the castle. Deal?" he asked. Elliot was rather excited to be speaking directly with Devin, prince of the royal family. With but a nod of his head, the two boys strolled off together, staying directly close to one another.

TO BE CONTINUED...