Thread: The Urchin and the Prince [Ava & Eyesoffire]

Crispin silently moved through the palace, it was one of his guilty pleasures to move through the city at night and even once or twice he had gone into the impoverished areas looking at the people and their lives there. Of course his family assumed such a rabble would tear their only child apart and so never allowed him more than two steps from the inner wall if he was unguarded. He knew that his father's fear of the people was right, they far outnumbered the rich and their army. Were there to be a revolt, the royal family wouldn't last too long. But there were structures in place that held the people back, at least in Crispin's father's mind. In the capitol the soldiers numbered no more than 1000 strong, however this was one city and not nearly a fraction of the entire kingdom's strength. Nearby cities governed by loyal and noble lords housed thousands of more troops and if their might descended upon the capitol then a massacre would follow. However only once did Crispin think such thoughts, he knew better than to entice the poor people, they needed so much and he had lots to offer, yet the upper-class citizens thought little of their poorer counterparts. But Crispin had learned much, the truth of the state of the lower city. He knew when his father's lords lied to him about the lower city, they'd say it was fine, stable, or that poverty had decreased and there were more smiles on people's faces. It was the opposite, there were no smiles, and the weather had nothing to do with it. Crispin had been there in the middle of summer and still people were starving. The world was still so attractive, so different and interesting, something new around the corner. His observation of how people survived on sometimes the most pitiful of scraps was a wonder to him. He felt a pang of sorrow intermingled with interest and fascination. Crispin had found his way to the stables and taken his gorgeous black stallion from it's stall, loaded it with a new saddle and mounted the steed before walking it quietly down to the lower gates. The only sound heard as he moved was the clopping of his horse's hooves upon the clean cobblestone. The moon came out from behind the clouds and covered everything in a blue light for a moment and Crispin's path was illuminated by more than just firelight. He moved slowly, riding deliberately in a single direction. That was when he heard the laughing. It came from just outside the nearest gate and he urged the horse into a trot until he had reached the area through a seldom used postern gate. The scene before him was not something he was expecting. The soldiers were clearly overpowering the person in rags and when it fell he could tell it was a girl from the sound. He rode up quietly and slowly and leaned down, his arms crossed over the neck of his horse and he looked down at the Urchin. Crispin pursed his lips and looked back at the surprised guards. They stared at him in awe until one man swallowed and cleared his throat. My prince, we did not see you. This...uncouth swine suddenly appeared and well we decided to prevent it's further advance- You did well, soldier. Crispin said quietly, raising his hand. You did your job the way my father wished it to happen. He looked down at the girl. You two. He pointed to two different men. Bring her into the kitchens of the palace. Surely a poor person such as this could not have gotten to this point without some sort of help or some force to drive her. He looked back at the girl for a moment before turning his horse and riding to the palace.