Thanks so much, hcyuna, Nelarun, Masked Dragon, Scoutcraft Piratess (SabeAmidala;-), Drakken's Woman (Big Mama Scout;-), svelte, and last but certainly not least, piratesswriter! Don't worry, Lance will find someone, I'll work on my grammar, and don't try to guess what's head! lol. It gives some spoilers away.

Chapter 9

For once I was the first to get up the next morning.

No, wait.

Dang it. Perceval was already currying his own horse, his hood still covering most of his face. I scratched the back of my head, and gratefully looked through the donkey's bags. This morning there was food. Which reminded me of the thief from the morning before. I looked sharply at Percval who was calmly saddling the horse.

"Hey, by the way, yesterday morning all of my food was stolen. Do you know anything about it?"

He looked up. "Is that why you asked for a donkey full of food?" he asked with the slightest touch of a chuckle in his voice.

"Yeah."

"It must've been Peter. He always steals food, even from the royal kitchen. He eats it all himself, and would only part with it with many tears if Robina demanded he hand it over."

"Why do those guys respect your sister so much?"

"She charms them with her beauty and skill," he smirked. "They have never seen a girl who can shoot a bow and arrow so well, nor have the filthy pigs seen anyone so beautiful. They all want her so they follow her every command, hoping she will lower herself and reward them for drooling. One of the disgusting reasons I left."

"Good reason," said Conrad who was sitting up and rubbing out the sleepies.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," I sneered mockingly.

He glared. "Hey you can't say that I'm not a P..." he trailed off as he looked at Perceval "I'm not as much as a sleepy head as you are."

I shrugged, "You're right and you are far from beautiful."

Perceval impatiently waited forus to finish our taunts, eat our breakfast, and finally saddle our horses. He started out when we were just grabbing the saddle horns to pull ourselves up. I considered ditching him with Conrad, but then I saw he was leading the donkey, and I did not feel like getting lost.

Conrad and I rode up to his side, and Conrad asked, "So how did you become a robber?"

"I wasn't a robber. My sister and I were orphaned so I was in her charge."

"That must've been tough," I said. "She reminds me of Pri...a girl I knew."

Perceval didn't seem to notice our stopping when we were about to mention anything royal but I was afraid he knew. I wasn't about to ask and find out, though.

"Do you know where Gaul is?" asked Conrad.

"Yes, I lived there before Robina dragged me over here."

"You're a Gaul?" I said in surprise.

"I suppose you can call me one."

"Wow, I always thought the Gauls would have accents and dark skin," said Conrad blinking."I don't know why I thought that, just something that stuck with me whenever I recieved the annual horses from them."

I winced.

"I mean when I saw the horses that the royal stables got from them," said Conrad quickly.

"You both worked at the royal stables?" asked Perceval calmly.

"Yeah," I said quickly. "We worked at the stables."

"And yet you didn't steal the saddles," he commented.

I gulped. "Nah, they were ours. Because we sometimes occompanied the royal family. Body guards, ya know."

"Of course," he said, but I don't think he believed us.

Argh. I was just being paranoid. The boy couldn't see right through me. He did not know I was Prince Lance and that I owned the stables themselves. He only thought I worked there and that was all, so keep it that way.

"So, you know the royal family well?" he asked.

"Yes, we know them well."

He was silent a while then said, "There are four children, correct?"

"Yeah," said Conrad eagerly. "There's Prince Lance, Princess Elaine, Princess Carrie, and Prince Jesse is just a kid." He glanced at me when he said my name and blushed when he said Carrie's.

"So I've heard. How is the king? I hear he is failing."

"He still has a couple years," I said, "And then Prince Lance will be king."

Conrad looked at me and smirked. "Hopefully he is as good as he looks," he said sarcastically.

I resisted the urge to glare at him. But Perceval huffed, "He better be. Because his good looks might prove destructive to him and the kingdom. Pretty is as pretty does."

Conrad snickered behind Perceval's back in utter agreement.

"He's plenty good," I said trying hard not to growl. "I've heard that he spends most of his time in the library studing law and his father is certain he'll be a good king."

"He also spends time in the stables, riding wild horses," smirked Conrad. "He might get killed before he's king."

"He's been doing it since he was seven," I snapped "And he's still alive."

Perceval laughed. Something none of us had heard him do. It was a nice laugh, well nice for a kid. "You guys must really know this Prince Lance," he said.

"Oh, yes," said Conrad eagerly. "See him practically every day. He's actually kinda our friend."

"Then why did you leave?"

Conrad and I looked each other in an awkward silence.

"Well, we were..." stammered Conrad.

"Getting tired of that life," I finished. "We had never been away from the castle so we decided to see what the world is like."

"And what is it like?"

"Uh... well so far we've only met a strange group of robbers who practically killed us and stole our horses," said Conrad. "Not very pleasant. And..."

"It is full of freedom," I said, smiling as I remembered my happiness at being free from the castle, royal duties, and Princess Anastasia.

"Yes it is," said Perceval his voice softening into a tone that startled me. He quickly cleared his throat and asked, "Is it true that the Prince will let any commoners come and eat at his table and dinning hall on his wedding day to Princess Anastasia?"

I gulped. "He will do that when he get's married, yes."

Conrad looked at me in surprise then shrugged and asked Perceval, "Have you ever seen the Prince?"

He hesitated and seemed to think this over very seriously, which made me twice as nervous. "I'm not sure," he said. "I think I did when I was in the town and someone was riding through, but I couldn't be for certain. I have only heard second hand from others about his looks and hobbies and what not. The comments are usually in his favor, and many seem to pity him and his marriage to the Princess of Kuran. Forgive me for what I said earlier, I actually think he will make a good king."

I half wondered if he had just said that because he realized I might have his head chopped off for insulting me as a Prince, but I quickly reminded myself he knew nothing, and tried to be happy to know that the people thought well of me.