Impossible

For a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage...

Impossible

For a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage...

Slaine hadn't dreamed of a life better than this when he had been a child. He was lucky to have what he did. And Count Cruhteo, who had adopted him at a young age, made sure he knew it. Slaine was nothing and everything he had was a blessing. The drafty room that he called his own, the dirty clothes he wore, and doing all of the chores in the house built character and made him a better person.

But those were his childish thoughts. Now, as a young man of eighteen, he knew better. He knew he deserved better. But knowing and doing were two different things. As it was, he had no money and only the lowliest of educations. At this rate, he would be trapped under the count forever. He'd all but given up hope. All but.

The sweetest sounds I'll ever hear

The kindest words I'll ever know

And the dearest love in all the world

Is waiting somewhere for me

But at least he had his imagination to take him away. He could imagine that the purchases that weighed him down in the market were his own and not for the count and his son. And it was because his mind was distracted by this fantasy (as well as his vision being obscured by the amount of things he held) that Slaine managed to bump into someone and drop everything.

"Sorry!", he apologized.

"No, I'm at fault too", the young man he'd bumped into said as he helped rearrange what had fallen.

Slaine didn't look at him immediately, to worried with the state of Cruhteo's things. When he did finally look up, his heart skipped a beat. Fortune must be playing with him. He'd bumped into a stranger and dropped everything but the stranger was beautiful at least.

"Thank you", Slaine said, when everything was put back together and the stranger even helped him carry some of it. "You're very kind."

"I am just behaving the way a prince should."

Slaine couldn't help but smile at that. "An aspiring prince? How chivalrous. And this is how princes treat lowly peasants?"

"Doesn't everyone want to be treated like royalty?"

"I'd be happy if I was just treated as a person", Slaine said with a rueful smile.

Before the stranger with princely dreams could respond, Slaine heard Cruhteo shout his name. "I've got to go."

"Slaine? Is that your name?", the stranger asked, following behind him.

Slaine didn't answer, hurrying over to a carriage and placing everything he had inside where Cruhteo sat with his son, Klancain.

"I shouldn't have to bark your name in the market like I'm calling a dog. You're at least better than that", Cruhteo said.

"Yes sir", Slaine bowed his head.

"And who is this?", the count, looked behind him.

The stranger still held half the things and was frowning at Cruhteo. Slaine took everything he was holding and put them inside the carriage as well.

"He helped me earlier. Thank you again", Slaine said as he got inside. The carriage drove off, taking the three of them back home.

"What did I tell you about talking to strangers?", Cruhteo said during the ride.

Slaine hung his head. "I'm sorry."

When they returned, Slaine gathered everything in his arms again. Klancain tried to come to his aid, knowing it was too much for Slaine to handle on his own.

"Let me help you with that", he said.

"Leave him be son", Cruhteo ordered. "Slaine needs all the exercise he can get. Besides, you shouldn't lower yourself to his level."

"Yes father", Klancain responded quietly.

Slaine struggled to bring everything inside and before he could catch his breath, Cruhteo was ordering him to bring him some tea as he ascended the staircase.

"Klancain will you be having anything?", the count asked his son.

"No father, I'm fine."

"Nonsense, I know you've been feeling under the weather lately. Slaine, make him some tea", Cruhteo commanded.

Klancain just sighed and followed his father up the stairs. Slaine had come to live with them when they were both young boys. Klancain had been happy, thinking he'd gained a little brother and someone to play with. But Cruhteo had begun to believe that their closeness was making his son stray from his teachings about the world. So now every time Klancain tried to make things easier for Slaine, his father nipped it in the bud.

And Slaine was unable to disobey in his position. But that didn't mean he liked it. When the two of them went upstairs, he went into the kitchen to get started on making their tea.

"Slaine do this, Slaine do that", he muttered to himself as he grabbed a pot and began searching through the cupboards for some tea.

When I hear a command, I obey

But I know of a place in my house

Where no one can stand in my way

Slaine got the tea started and let out a sigh. Cruhteo was a cruel man, abusing Slaine physically and verbally. He could never truly escape this place. Not ever. But he could escape it in his mind.

On the wing of my fancy, I can fly anywhere

And the world will open its arms to me

His fantasies took him to all sorts of places that were far away from here. Sometimes he was a soldier fighting for a royal family. Other times he was royalty. A farmer living the gentle life, a celebrated artist, the kind of person who others fell in love with.

Just as long as I stay in my own little corner

All alone in my own little chair

Slaine would get lost in his imagination often and it was only by the whistling of the kettle that he was brought back to reality. He didn't like leaving his dreamworld, as it was the only place he could be free. However he couldn't run away from reality forever. This life of his just wasn't meant to have love.