The Princess and The Commoner

In Which the Princess Sees the World

Once the princess had closed the garden door behind her, she let out a breath that she hadn't even known she was holding in. The garden wall was at the back of the castle, facing hills and more farmland. The princess turned right, walking along the familiar path that she had memorized in her tower. She saw the the big tree that she knew she had to turn right at to get to the village.
From far away the tree seemed perfect, almost as if it was carved by a man. Up close it was the opposite. The tree was losing some bark and had a weird shaped trunk.
Turning right at the tree she came to the front of the castle. The draw bridge was down to let the guests enter or exit the party. The drawbridge was always under watch so the princess had to be careful.
Keeping to the shadows, the princess slowly crossed the bridge. She was glad for the dark colors of the cloak and gown. She was almost at the end of the bridge when she heard a shout, "Who's there? In the shadows?" The voice belonged to a guard. Not just any guard, the captain. Quickly the princess ran off the drawbridge and into the night, hopeful that the captain of the guards wasn't going to send anyone after her. After running for a while longer, she looked behind her and saw that no one was coming after her. She sighed and went on her way.
The village was very different than the princess had thought. Instead of being peaceful and quiet it was very loud and bustling with people. There were shops along the Main Street for whatever you could possibly need. There were allies with children playing games with sticks and rocks. Much different than what the princess had played with when she was younger. There were people begging at the side of the road while others traded coins for food and clothing.
While she was walking she felt a tug on her cloak. Her first thought was that a palace guard had followed her, but when she turned around she saw that it was not a palace guard, but a small child. The boy was dirty and had holes in his clothes. When he smiled up at the princess she saw some of his teeth missing and the others dirty. Although disgusted, she smiled at the boy and asked him what he needed.
"You seem rather rich," the boy said, looking at the princess's outfit, "Would you please spear at least one coin for my family?" The boy pointed across the road to his mother, father, and a baby. The princess, not knowing how the villagers dressed, realized how she stood out in the village. She told herself that next time to dirty up the dress and cloak.
The princess then took the coin pouch she carried with her and gave half of what she had to the little boy.
"Use it well," she advised him, "And tell your family I say hello." With that the boy went to his family and showed his mother the coins. His mother looked at the princess and bowed her head. The princess bowed her head back and walked on.
The princess, during her walk, decided to make good when she became queen and share some of her riches with the less fortunate. She wanted to bring this up with her father, but realized to do so she would have to explain her visit to the village and her father would get angry. So she decided to wait until she was the queen.