The Ten Words

   Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away lived a boy named Aubry. Aubry was a beautiful boy, but he was very poor. Actually, his entire kingdom was poor, for he was the prince.

   He was known as the peasant prince. The palomino prince, the boy with the golden brown hair.

   His father did not much care for him; he was the fourth prince in a long line of siblings. All his brothers and sisters were beautiful and talented and he, quite simply, just... Aubry.

   Aubry who, on his own could be considered beautiful but next to his siblings seemed quite plain. His mother was brought into his father's harem off the streets one day, while the rest of his father's seraglio were exotic and mysterious foreigners. Yes, he was beautiful... for a commoner.

   He was often told he was not fit to be royalty, he did not measure up in some way. He was told he should not have been born, that some other child could have been born in his place, as his superior in some way.

   Aubry tries to be good, lived simply, room sparse, and lived a quiet existence. He wasn't really as good as he acted, he slipped out of the castle, got drunk, fought commoners among the bar stools, fell in love... but, for his family he tried to be perfect. He bit back his anger and tried to be docile; he would do almost anything his family could ask in return for pitiful love.

   Love. Love and crushes. He tried to stomp out all signs of a crush. He knew that his marriage would only be there for an alliance between nations: he wasn't good for anything else. 

   He could control most impulses he had. There were only a few times inebriation and recklessness had overcome his solid defense and ended with semi-disastrous sobriety: the tattoo, that boy, the time he had to run from the police... But, as a general rule, he did not do many rash things.

   Until the girl. The one whose love he couldn't fight. Of course he tried to fight it, avoided the bar she waited at, the areas he frequented when he saw her around but he always found himself being drawn back: they have the best ale, the cheapest wine... he found himself trying to find reasons to go back to where she was.

   She could be pretty if she wanted, with long lashes framing wide-set cerulean eyes, wild  curls of midnight, fair skin with light freckles dancing along her cheekbones and nose. She could be pretty but acted all angles, sharp and harsh, with cutting words.

   What drew Aubry to this vibrant girl most of all he thought, was her eyes. The way her eyes lit up like the center of a flame, the brightest blue from the heart of the fire.

   He wanted to talk to her. He tried to talk to her. They talk- well, he talked and she'd usually hit him. But he didn't care, if she just giggled around the men in these parts, she wouldn't be who she was. She was right to be suspicious of all men and she also had enough pride not to prostitute herself to them either.

   Although she was different, it didn't make her seem more... girlish. She was lean and thin with a boyish figure. When she fought, she put power behind her attacks.

   After she gave him a black eye, Aubry had to ask her not hit his face. She obliged and went for his balls instead.

   She'd give him surprised looks when he came back, night after night, always talking to her. Eventually she grew used to  him, actually talked t o him, told him her name- Roell- and asked him not to use it in the bar.

   He smiled and asked if that meant they could meet later, you know,  not in the bar.

   She glared at him and told him it was just so that it was just so the drunks didn't try and seek her out after hours. That made him smile. He paid his bill and went home.

   The next day started out as normal. Aubry brushed out his long palomino hair, tied it up into a knot at the base of his skull. A loose white collared shirt, top button undone, tucked into black slacks. Simple, forgettable. The child among many, the one ignored. It was why he was able to leave almost every night.

   But it wasn't a usual day. That day the king and queen, of the poor nation on the sea, called their forgettable child to the throne room. Told him that he was to marry the princess Abigail, the forgettable princess of another, more prosperous country. The wedding was to happen in fifteen days. He was to leave in five.

   That day, the forgotten child became the chosen one. So forgettable, now pulled into the spotlight. Because he was so forgettable he was chosen. An arranged marriage was all he was good for if he was not going tot be able to help their country from his homeland.

   That night he couldn't leave his room, his dinner was brought to him in his sleeping quarters. He occupied himself by throwing dining utensils, knives and forks, at his wooden door to see if they stuck. He dreamed of Roell and wished to see her.

   After three days, he donned his tunic and escaped his room. He was done being a good child and so he didn't care if the royals saw him leave. He didn't wasn't to stay in captivity. He walked through the streets of town, looking for a black bird's nest of curls. He wanted to see her so badly. He wandered aimlessly for hours. He was ready to give up when he had heard a voice yelling.

   He tuned to see a fist flying at his face. It was Roell and she was screaming at him. Asking where he'd been- she'd been worried that someone had killed him.

   He laughed without humor and told her that it was close to the truth. He might as well be dead without her in his life, now that he was being sold to another country.

   She understood immediately and asked if she should be talking like this to a betrothed man... unless he was a slave.

   He laughed again, drily this time, and told her that it did not matter, it was all the same anyways. It was captivity either way and he didn't want to go.

   So she asked him why he wouldn't skip town- he proved that he could, didn't he? Why not run away?

   And he told her, quite frankly, that he had no one to run with. He would have nowhere to go. He had no experience with the world outside of bar scenes.

   An odd look crept over her face and said: What if he did have someone? Would he leave then?

   He was confused- who would run away with him?

   And she told him that she would. She could take him to her country home, half destroyed in the war that left her country destitute. Her sister still lived there, it was right on the border between their country and the one that tried to take them over. And besides, she was in need of a vacation anyways, with a few days saved up and she thought the owners would understand as they were her parents.

   His face broke into a smile and asked if she meant what she had said.

    Her fair face flushed with crimson as slowly nodded yes.

    He couldn't contain himself, he reached over and pulled her into his arms, felt her stiffen beneath his touch and apologized profusely. She just shook her and told him it was fine.

   They made their plans, their dreams of making a getaway. He would go home and pack, head for the bar and leave that night. They would escape this town.

   Aubry ran home and packed: grabbed all his money and a few clothes, then stole a few small items for trade. He packed some water and food. This all went into a bag he could easily carry and sat down to write a final note.

   He left a letter for his family and it read:

I love you and 

goodbye forever,

my sweet captivity.

      -Aubry

   He left the note on his desk, grabbed his bag and left the way he came.

   He waited impatiently for the sun to set, for the time to leave this world behind. He couldn't wait to set out on his adventure with Roell.

   Finally, the time came. He ran to the bar Roell's parents owned, and the two ran off into the glorious setting sun together.

   Night fell and the moon rose, and they both began to tire. They'd been walking for several hours, tired by the day, and now, the night. They'd traveled the same road, an old dirt path, roughly six men abreast with wheel tracks, ruts, in the road, traveling as far as the eye could see.

   It was late and both of them were tired, they walked off the road a distance and found a nice, small grove of trees to sleep beneath. Aubry choses to sleep closer to the tree line and Roell closer to the brush, away from the man she chose to adventure with.

   Aubry had not had the foresight to bring a blanket, so ha laid in the hard ground with nothing but his bag for a pillow and the clothes on his back for warmth.

   When the sun rose, Roell woke up with it, and was surprised to see the canopy of green leaves and pink flowers above her head.

   The sun shone brightly above the trees, setting a muted, greenish glow within the grove they were in. 

   She stretched and looked over at the boy, Aubry and had to laugh at the position he had taken during the night. He looked like a starfish- arms and legs sprawled all over the place. It was amazing he could sleep like that. But now he had to wake.

   She stood and nudged his side with her shoe, but the only thing she got was a light sigh. Wake up, she said, We've got to go. 

   She nudged his side, this time in the ribs. This elicited a response- he murmured and rolled over. She nudged his ribs agin and he wiggled, a soft complaint leaving his lips. She poked at him. trying to wake him without harming him- she didn't care for harming sleeping people- and repeated the action, trying to tickle him awake. It was effective. He was annoyed enough, that in his half awake stupor, he punched her in the leg with a sleep drained attack.

   When he heard Roell's soft annoyed sound, he open his eyes and saw her standing over him. That woke him right up. He apologized and she accepted, they ate, and went on their way.

   They repeated this pattern until they reached Roell's old house, now her sisters.

   Roell's sister, Cate, took Aubry in as a farmhand when she heard he was going to be sold to another country. He worked hard days but appreciated the work and slowly became Aubry the Farmhand, and Aubry the ForgottenPrince slowly disappeared. 

Happily Ever After

(Not)

 

This is the epilogue, told in bullet notation format (sorry).

    -Although Aubry lived as a farmhand, he lived and died in fear of the king's retribution- which never came.

   -Aubry and Roell, although both cared deeply for each other (Love), they never became romantically involved because Roell went back to her family after a week, to finish to year and then quit and return to Aubry on the farm. A month after she left, the tiny kingdom was essentially decimated.

   -Nobody ever knew what happened to the forgotten prince or why he left. No one could decrypt what he had meant from his ten word note, although his decision will always be remembered in song:

The peasant prince with hair of rye

Ran away with a dream and a lie

If he had stayed and gone nowhere

His poor little kingdom would still stand there...

Author's Note

Although it may not seem like it, I actually gave this story a happy ending. I had a couple of other ideas running around in my head for the ending, which were worse than this one.

Reviews

[Wicahpi]

Hello. Thank you for entering the 10 Words I Give contest. An interesting story from the time of kings, queens and all that entails. The young prince had his struggles and am surprised he wasn't killed off, as many in royal families were. He was lucky to escape! I hope you enjoyed writing this as much as I enjoyed reading it. There a few grammatical issues but those can be fixed up at any time. Good Job!