Boredom tore at the teenager sitting at his desk. His bright blue eyes resting on the window and the small children playing in the street beyond, instead of his tutor at the front of the room. "Your highness," the middle aged woman addressed him, a hint of warning in her voice. His eyes dropped from the window instantly as he bowed his head in shame. His tutor continued.
The hours ticked by as the boy dutifully studied, till at last he was relieved to have his dinner. The massive dining hall was empty yet again. "Please stay Mrs Hendon," the boy begged as his tutor turned to leave. The older woman sighed. "A commoner cannot dine with you." The boy began to protest but it fell on deaf ears as his tutor left the room, closing the grand doors behind her. André shivered, he hated being alone in the vast rooms of the castle, especially after his father fell ill. He ate quickly, knowing that at exactly 7:30 Mrs Hendon would reappear to escort him to see his father before his evening lessons.
Solemnly he approached the door to his father's chambers. Mrs Hendon a respectable three paces behind him, after having collected him from the dinning hall moments prior. The guards parted and opened the door for the young prince. Closing them again once he was inside. "Father," the boy greeted as he bowed his head. The whispering of André's soft sole shoes on the plush velvet carpet sounded deafening in the silent room. The king lay still, his chest slowly rising and falling, a sickly sheen upon his paled face. Only three people had seen the king since the illness left him bedridden, his personal doctor, the current Regent, and his son, André. Although André would admit he would rather he did not see his father in his current state. He knelt at his father's side silently weeping.
The door opened to the room, André kept his face angled away from the door. "Forgive me young prince, I did not realise you were here," Regent Andrew Bodgen mocked as he strode into the room. André bit his tongue, he knew better than to rise to the slimy older man's taunts. "I was just leaving," he said instead, rising and subtly wiping his eyes. A hand grabbed his arm as he crossed the room. "You will address me by my proper title, boy," Regent Bodgen hissed.
"You forget who you are talking to. When my father recovers you will no longer have your title but I will still have mine," André replied as he shrugged off the hand and walked out the door.
YOU ARE READING
Gemini Reges - A Prince and the Pauper Retelling
Fantasy"How would you like to be the prince for a few days?" The other boy laughed, "if only." André remained silent. "You're serious?" Prince André needs an escape from his life, between his ailing father and his studies it all is too much for the young...
