The Simpell Voyagers

Disclaimer: Everything in this prologue belongs to me. Steal my stuff and I'll be offended, not flattered. Ask permission, I might grant it. ; o)

A/N: Forgive the short beginning. Following chapters should be longer.

Once upon an eon, in a faraway land, there was a prince. He was called Prince Simpell. His father ruled over the Land, and was generally a good king, but he grew old, as some people tend to do.

Well, I guess all people eventually grow old, unless they do a cartwheel every day, but the king didn't know how – wait, even if you do do a cartwheel every day, you'll just grow old and break something, especially if you have ostioper – shoot, I'm the narrator, I'm can't babble on like this. You know what? Back to the story.

Anyway, the king grew old and decided to pass on the throne to his son, the prince. No, it was not prince Simpell, for he was the younger son. The throne was instead passed to Prince Lucid.

Upon receiving this news, prince Simpell thought over his place in the scheme of things very carefully. He pondered the situation for the better part of two hours. His humble manservant, Einstein, began to wonder if his master wasn't sick. Einstein couldn't recall the Prince thinking about one thing for such an extended period of time before.

That evening, the king paid his son a visit in his chamber.

"Hello son," the king said, "I've come to pay you a visit, here, in your chamber."

Now why did that phrase sound familiar to me? It really grinds my soap to hear my characters copying my phrases. Wait…they're my characters, and my phrases, so does that mean that the characters are only stealing from themselves because I invented them both? Or does it mean that they're both stealing from me? Now I'm confused…oh, sorry, I'm getting off track again.

"Hello father." Prince Simpell said.

"I hear that you've been thinking about your course of action for the past hour or so."

"Oh yes. I've been thinking very hard. I've also been thinking about what I'm going to do now that Prince Lucid is king."

"Er…yes. Good."

Einstein groaned inwardly from where he was putting wood into the fire.

"I think, now that my brother is king and my father is not, I should leave."

"Well, that's all very good Simpell, but where will you go?"

"I do not know, I haven't worked that out yet."

"What are you going to do with yourself?" The king asked.

"I don't know yet."

"Well, what do you know so far?" His father asked, perplexed.

"I should leave." The prince said with resolute certainty.

"Oh. Well then." Father and son sat in silence, both thinking their own thoughts. Einstein flopped comfortably down by the hearth.

What should I do? Thought the king. God knows what will happen to him if I let him leave like this…then again, he is now simply an idle prince in a small Land. There is no place for him here. He looked at his son.

Wow… Prince Simpell thought. Look at that bug crawling on that tapestry. I bet if it bit me, it would leave a big bump. Sheesh. It's huge. It has a spot on its back. A spot, like my horse's name. Spot. Wow that bug is big. The prince blinked and shook his head, then looked back at his father.

"Well Son, if you choose to leave, then you shall do so."

"All right then," Simpell said, "I'll leave tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow? Isn't that quite soon?" The king asked.

"No, no, of course not."

"Where are you going?" The king bit back the desire to hug his son and beg him to stay.

"To see other lands. I need to find my destiny." The prince rose from his chair and looked directly ahead, the position taken by all who are truly noble in children's' stories.

"Einstein," he asked, turning his head to look at Einstein, who sat contemplating the fire, "will you accompany me on my travels?"

"Well…" Einstein was considering his options when he saw the Look the king was sending in his direction.

"Sure, why not?" He gave an indifferent shrug. "I'll go pack."

***

Einstein and Simpell left early the next morning. Simpell's mount was a brown and white pony that answered to the name of Spot. Einstein rode Gallant, a large black stallion borrowed from the stables for this venture.

"Well Einstein, we have much ahead of us." Simpell said conversationally.

"Yes Sire, we do. Many adventures probably await us. Does the prince hope to find a damsel, perhaps?"

"No, I'm not really thinking about that right now. Maybe I'll find a girl along with my adventures, but no damsels."

"…Right." Einstein answered after a pause.

"Hi ho Spot, away!" The pony reared once on its stubby legs, then shot off across the stretch of field, Gallant following closely behind.

"Look Einstein!" The prince shouted. "The border!" He pointed to the fiery red line drawn on the ground.

Now hold it right there! The border wasn't supposed to come in until the next chapter! How dare those characters just plunge ahead like that-next thing you know they'll be telling you about the girl they meet! Oh, wait, I shouldn't have said that. Oh big deal, they meet a girl. You'll see. And yes, I am allowed to talk now, it's the end of the chapter. This is where the narrator gets to spout as she unplugs her characters and tucks them into bed…ok, done spouting. Tune in next time on the continuing adventures of 'The Simpell Voyagers'!