The False Prince and Princess

Chapter 1

Author's Note – This is my first story, and I'm new to writing so please don't judge too harshly. Helpful comments are welcome. 😊

All of the plot, setting, and characters belong to Jenifer A. Nielson!! The only thing that belongs to me is my character Rose.

I was sitting on the stairs of Mrs. Turbeldy's orphanage waiting to see if my brother, Sage, was going to return from his "adventures around town" which usually involved him stealing something and getting in trouble. Of course, I did sometimes assist but usually escaped punishment by playing the innocent little sister.

The next thing I see is Sage dashing towards me with a whole chicken in his arm being chased by an angry butcher who he probably stole it from. "'Bout time you get what's comin' to you, filthy beggar," I hear the man growl.

"That's enough," a voice said from nearby.

"He stole my roast," the butcher replied.

"The whole roast? What was the cost?"

"Thirty garlins."

"I'll give you fifty if you give me the boy," the man countered as I heard the jingle of coins in a bag.

"Fifty? Give me a second."  The angry butcher kicked my brother in the side one last time to get the message across and told him,"If you ever try coming into my shop again, I'll skin ya up and sell you in the market.  Understood?"  Sage, finally doing something sensible, nodded in agreement.

I went to see if he was alright since he was on the ground curled up in pain. "Was the chicken really worth all of this trouble?"

"Sure, why not? I almost go away with it," he said as I rolled my eyes. When was he ever going to learn to take calculated risks and not to always go with his first idea which is usually pretty stupid.

The man who paid looked at us with his dark brown eyes and a trimmed bearded face and wore upper class clothing but seemed much stronger than one would expect from a nobleman. "I want to talk to the both of you, so come with me to the orphanage or I'll carry you."

Neither of us felt like being carried so we stood up and went with him. From my assumption, he was rich country gentleman who needed some servants for his lands, and somehow my trick loving brother and a girl who does everything like a boy seemed like the perfect choice.

The orphanage we lived at was the only one in the area, and it was for children from three to fifteen and since we were almost fifteen we were bound to get shipped off to become a servant soon anyway.

Mrs. Turbeldy was in her office when we walked in with the man behind us. Though she claimed she starved with us, she was far too overweight to be able to pull that lie off. She can barely tolerate either of us because she calls me a disgrace to women the way I act with my brother who is "corrupting a perfectly good lady who should cleaning and helping out." My brother tries to irritate her with multiple pranks and snarky comments. "A roast? Why would you do that?"

"Well, most of us are hungry. I figured we are all going to go insane if we have to eat bean bread again," my brother retorted as I nodded in agreement. That bean bread tasted terrible.

"Who are you?" she asked the man behind us.

"I am Bevin Conner. What are yours?" he asked me and my brother.

Neither of us wanted to answer so Mrs. Turbeldy took matters into her own hands and swatted us with a broom and answered," The boy's Sage and the girl's Rose."

"Twins?"

"Yep, they cause trouble together and get into trouble together."

"What can all can you guys do? Any training?"

"They are both useless for anything that a gentleman like yourself would need."

"What did your father do?"

"He was a musician but a terrible one. If he ever made a coin, we never saw it," Sage said.

"Probably a drunk. These ones take after him in that they always steal and lie," Mrs. Turbeldy commented.

"What kind of lies?" the gentleman asked.

"When they first came here, they gave me a silver coin and claimed they were the children of a dead duke and didn't want to become duke. So, I agreed to give him a decent place to stay for a coin a week and they indulged themselves in anything they could." Conner seemed impressed which I knew would go away after she finished the story. "After two weeks, they both go sick and became delirious. They confessed that they weren't important and stole the coins. They eventually go over the sickness, and after spending some time in the cellar, they were a bit more humble."

"They don't look too humble," Conner commented.

"We got over that too," I said.

"Two thieves and liars. Can you do anything useful like reading, fighting, farming, or hunting?"

"Nope. We're just two simple kids just trying to get by."

"What do you want us for, Conner?" Sage asked.

"Address me as Sir or Master Conner."

"What do you want us for, Sir or Master Conner?" I had to put in.

"Later, both of you will be coming with me."

"Why? We're both quite comfy in this fine establishment.

Mrs. Turbeldy said," You will go with him since he already paid for both of you."

"I don't want to serve anyone unless I have freedom."

Conner tried to take a step towards him, but Sage threw the roast and ran while grabbing my hand, dragging me behind him. Of course, it would have been helpful to know that he left vigils at the entrance. When we passed them, they clubbed both of us over the head and everything went black.

Sorry it was so short. I'll try to make them longer next time but let me know if there are mistakes or something doesn't sound right. Thank you, my lovely readers!