Chapter 3 is here!

I am going through these as time periods. Each period is a time during Donald and the Prince's lives, which will eventually lead to the contents of the movie and beyond. Periods that are too long are cut into parts. This chapter is Part 1 of Period 3.

I hope that clears up something chapter confusion that I feel are going to come.

Enjoy!

The Prince and His Valet

iii. – part 1

Donald, now eleven, growled in anger as he stormed out of the lecture hall. He was always getting into trouble because of that stupid Prince. And it was getting harder every day. At first, they had launched a prank war that nearly tore the palace apart (and considering how big the palace was, that's pretty impressive). But in the aftermath, they both got scolded for a good measure (him by Horace and His Highness by His Majesty).

After that, His Highness found a way to make his life even more miserable. The Prince still played pranks, but now he somehow found a way to pin all the blame on him. Even worse, the Prince never played a prank on the duckling, making him the only prank-free inhabitant of the palace…and the most suspicious one as well. And when they started pointing fingers, Donald found that while it may seem that the Prince and he had the same number of fingers, it was clearly not the case as His Highness's one finger could easily blow back all eight of his. And no one ever suspected anything.

No, wait, he was pretty sure that Horace knew. But given that kill-joy's personality, he was certain that the instructor didn't say anything just to mess with him.

It was now a vicious cycle. And they both knew it. The Prince would always play pranks that ends with all the evidence pointed towards Donald. Donald would always fight back. The Prince would then evoke his authority as the prince (of all the other times he could have evoked it) to make sure other people saw Donald fighting back, only then it would seem to them that Donald was leading on his prank tirade, this time with the Prince as the target. Which would lead to Donald being in more trouble than he already was, and the duckling quickly found out that shouting "But he started it!" never worked (hadn't stopped him from trying, though; you never know, someone might actually listen to him for once). Then the palace would settle down into a short period of peace as the Prince laughed at his own handiwork. Until he gets bored, then the whole cycle starts all over again.

It wasn't that Donald hated the Prince. He couldn't, not after everything Henry (His Majesty will always be called Henry in his head, and no, he doesn't care what Horace says) had done for him. But sometimes, he just wished that His Highness would be…nicer, for lack of a better word.

It was also the reason Donald had chosen to call him "Your Highness" above all the other titles available. Yes, Donald could admit that the Prince was in a higher social status than him. He was the prince, for heaven's sake. But that was all he would admit. His Highness would never hear the words "Your Majesty" or "Your Grace" coming out of his bill when he's addressing him. Until the day the Prince did something to earn him those titles, it was going to be "Your Highness" all the way.

Of course, it was also much more satisfying to add a sarcastic layer to it when Donald was at least half a head taller than His "Highness".

Before Donald knew it, he was in the Prince's quarters. Idly, he pondered the idea to do something to the bed for payback, but then got rid of the thought. He was in enough trouble already. He didn't need to give His Highness another reason to make his life miserable. Besides, seeing the Prince bemoaning his studies and duties was enough satisfaction.

He then went on to dutifully do his part as the Prince's valet, cleaning the wardrobe that was truly too big for just one person. The everyday duties had a way of calming him, and it had occurred to Donald that maybe he should be worried about that. But then again, if this was the only thing to calm him down, he wasn't about to give it up.

As he absentmindedly organized the newly folded clothes and placed them to where they belonged, he missed the small stool that was used to reach the higher drawers of the wardrobe (and the ladder that led to the even higher drawers). He wasn't particularly surprised when he tripped over the stool, sending the neatly folded clothes all over the place. Really, the only thought in his mind at the moment was not again.

Donald now strongly believed that he must have used up all his good luck to survive the Duck Massacre (as the tragedy that befell the Duck Family had come to be known as), and now karma was back to make sure he paid for every ounce of it.

Groaning, he sat up from the pile of clothes that had buried him, took one look around him, and felt the anger rise up in him again.

"So, mess with me, will ya?" He growled at the offending stool before kicking it clean across the wardrobe. The stool sailed towards the wall, hit the padded walls, angled up towards the upper drawers, angled up again towards the ceiling, and then came shooting back down towards Donald.

The duckling let out a quack and ducked down to avoid the flying stool. He did. Just barely. When he heard the stool make impact with the floor behind him, he let out a sigh in relief.

Meanwhile, the upper drawers that the stool had hit shook in the wake of the impact. Donald was given one chance to look up at the rumbling sound before the drawers burst open and emptied its contents on him. His terrified quack was muffled by the avalanche of clothes.

Again, the duckling angrily crawled out from under the clothes. He was growling with a steady note now, and was just about to give in to one of his infamous rage fits when something fell onto his head.

"Ow!" Okay, that did not feel like a piece of clothing.

Donald nursed the bump on his head as he glared up too see what had fallen, ready to launch it into next Tuesday. But then, as his eyes found the object, feelings of rage was quickly replaced by an emotion that hadn't visited him in quite a while now.

Curiosity.

To be continued…

Cliffhanger! Well, sort of. XD

This was also interesting to write. Writing Donald is quite fun, though I worry that if I've gotten him in character or not. Letting him say his usual catchphrases is pure joy.

A deeper look into Donald's relationship with the Prince, which isn't looking very good, I'd say.

Until next time.

~ruth~