Daniel was tired of the boring life at the castle among his servants and wanted to enjoy a day on his own in town. No servants around, no luxury, not even George or Adrian. He just wanted to spend a normal day among his people but as one of them, not as their prince. That way he could find out what the people of Green Valley really thought of him and his parents. He wasn't interested in what people told him when they knew who they were talking to because most of them were flattering him on purpose and he didn’t like that. He wanted to know what they really thought of him and what better way than disguising himself as a commoner and spending an ordinary day at the pub amongst his people.
So Daniel had to sneak out of the castle in order to have that or his loyal squires, George and Adrian, wouldn’t allow that. They were responsible for the Prince's well being, payed by the king himself to protect Daniel, the only heir to the throne. But sometimes he needed some time alone, to act goofy if he felt like it, to act natural, without worrying about etiquette and about what others would think of him if he did this or that. Just be himself from time to time and enjoy life as it came.
Adrian was younger and easier to be put off of his trail but George was a sly fox and couldn’t be fooled that easily. But he had done it before, he would do it this time too. He would just give them some important mission and so he could get rid of them for the rest of the day. As for his parents, he would just tell them that he was indisposed and wanted to spend the day in his room.
So Daniel sent the two to bring him news from the border of the kingdom. They were to meet the scouts positioned near the border and come back with news. This, Daniel reckoned, would take them at least two or three days including the time needed to get back. Which was just perfect.
After giving them assurances that their mission was of the utmost importance to the kingdom and that he wouldn’t get in any trouble till their return, George and Adrian finally climbed their horses and were off. Then Daniel got rid of his fancy clothes and jewels and put on some rags, messed his hair, put on an old pair of boots and took an ordinary sword for protection. He couldn’t take his favorite sword as it was fancy and expensive and had his family's crest on it and people would recognize him. Then he was off. Not alone, though. He took Princess, his golden retriever, with him. Princess would also protect him if need be.
It was early in the morning when he left the castle as he wanted to enjoy a full day on his own. George and Adrian had just left and Daniel was already on his way to town, Princess on his tail. He was whistling a song as he went and enjoying nature. The walk from the castle to the outskirts of the town where the pub was would take him at least an hour and a half without his horse but he didn’t mind it. Walking on foot was healthy and Princess also enjoyed it as she didn’t have to run after the horse to catch up. Everything was just perfect. He would soon enjoy a cold pint of beer and chat with the common people of Green Valley, his people. He had his purse of gold strapped to his belt as he needed to pay for the booze. The gold inside was jiggling from side to side as he walked, making a faint sound in the otherwise complete silence.
When he washalf way to town he had to cross a small forest and then he would get to open field again. The forest gave him the chills as it could be dangerous. He had heard rumors of thieves attacking people there and robbing them of their goods. He had Princess by his side and his sword. It wasn't his best sword, but it was sharp enough to do what it was meant to do if it came to that. He stopped whistling and started paying more attention to the road, at least until he was out of the woods. Princess was a bit agitated, too, or at least that is what he thought.
“What is it, Princess?”, he said and petted the dog. Princess calmed down a bit and started wagging her tail happily at her master's soft touch.
“Grrr…..” and Princess was on alert. Something was wrong. Daniel took out his sword and leaned against a tree for more protection. But he couldn’t see anyone. Princess, though, was still snarling at something or someone so he decided to wait a bit and see what it was. Then suddenly Princess rushed into the bushes and left him all alone.
“Now! Attack!” Daniel heard a male voice ordering nearby. Hardly had he heard that when some youngsters, just a few years younger than himself, rushed at him, knives and blades in their hands. He started fighting them off but they were five and he was alone. He managed to injure the plump one of them who screamed with pain and retreated from the fight.
“Are you all right, Greg!?” he heard someone say.
“I’ll live” came the answer from the fat one of the boys and Daniel was wondering why he even tried to fight as it was obvious he was not fit for that. The remaining four jumped him all at once and he was trying to fend them off, slashing right and left but he grew tired while they were still fighting…
“What do you want? I just have a few coins for a beer, nothing else worth stealing….”, Daniel tried to make them leave him alone. He couldn’t tell them he was the Prince. Then they would kidnap him for a ransom. Which meant his father whom he loved and respected would find out of his foolishness. And this meant something else: he would never be able to pull something like this again as he would be supervised more carefully by his father's men. And he needed days on his own from time to time. So he had to get out of this jam on his own, somehow…
“We’ll be the judge of that!”, came the harsh answer from the one who seemed to be their leader.
“Surrender, and we might let you live….”, another one said and the others grinned while they kept fighting him.
Then, out of nowhere, someone shot an arrow, pinning one of the four remaining boys to a tree as the arrow went through his right arm and stuck in the tree. A yell of pain swept the forest as the skinniest of the gang got pinned to the tree.
“What’s going on? Chris, who did that?” asked their leader again with obvious concern in his voice.
“Argh…I don't know, chief….someone fired an arrow from behind those trees.” Then he started trying to get loose and grabbed the arrow with his other hand. He tried to snatch it but he couldn’t as he was bleeding hard and he wasn't strong enough to release himself with just one hand.
Daniel was also wandering what was going on when he saw a black figure approaching from behind the trees. There were only three more boys now as one was pinned to the tree and one he had injured earlier and was still sitting on a rock trying to recover.
As the figure got closer, they all saw it was a woman. She was clad in black leather and had a black hood on her head so they couldn’t make out who it was. But she had a bow strapped on her back and a shiny sword in her hands. And by the looks of it, she was more than ready to use it.
“Clark, who is this? You said he was an easy prey!”, one of the boys addressed the leader, panicked.
“Shut up, Dave! Boys, get her!”, Clark ordered his gang.
“What about the peasant?” asked Nick, the most decent of Clark's gang of brawlers from the orphanage. “We should have stuck to small burglaries when no one was home… We shouldn't have attacked him or anyone as a matter of fact.”
“Shut up, you nincompoop! Grab your sword and kill her! And then him!”, said Clark pointing first to Angela, as she was of course the mysterious figure, and then to Daniel.
“Sorry, this is not who I am. I am not killing anyone. I helped you steal but I won't kill anyone for you! And I won't let you do that, either!”. Then Nick looked at the others and went on: “you are better than this, stealing to survive is one thing, but killing is quite another!”
“You will be next, fool, once I finish with these two!”, growled Clark through his gritted teeth. “Get them, boys!”
Nick went next to Daniel and they stood back to back to protect each other. Meanwhile Greg recovered from the blow and was attacking them while Clark and Dave rushed towards Angela, although nobody knew it was her as she was well disguised.
Angela was now dueling the two. They were good, but she was better. And she had the ring on, so they were no match for her. She hit Dave's blade so hard that his blade flew up in the air and then fell a few feet away. But he still had a knife in his hands and was trying to cut her while Clark was still handling his sword pretty well. He almost touched her right shoulder with the tip of his blade when she ducked the blow and with a really swift move she cut his palm and made him drop his sword. Clark started cursing but he was out of the fight. Dave, seeing that Clark wasn't fighting anymore, lost some of his courage. It was all that Angela needed. She unarmed him just as easy and then slapped him over his legs with her sword in its scabbard as it was obvious they had lost this fight.
And Greg was down again, beaten by Daniel and Nick.
“Now get out of here!”, she commanded. Daniel even helped Chris and released him from the tree. He joined Clark, Greg and Dave and they all ran back towards town. Only Nick remained. He was an outcast now and couldn’t go back to the orphanage or Clark and the others would surely torture him or even kill him. He was confused as he didn’t know where he would get a roof over his head from that moment on…
Princess was next to Angela, wagging her tail as the dog had recognized her, unlike her master Daniel who had no clue who she was.
“Thank you both for saving my life”, began Daniel, “and as for you Princess, what has gotten into you? Why did you leave my side?”
Princess, understanding that her master was scolding her, put her head down with guilt. Angela on the other hand, would have left that instant as now Daniel was safe but she knew the boys and what Nick did was brave and kind. So she knew he would have no roof over his head from that moment on, unlike her, as nobody had recognized her and she could just take on her usual clothes and go back to the orphanage. She had also recognized who the man dressed in the shabby clothes was, she knew it was the Prince himself. So he could help Nick.
“You know he has no place to stay now for having helped you….”, she said to make Daniel aware of that fact. Then she vanished in the woods just as fast as she had come.
Daniel thought he had heard that voice before but couldn’t remember where. He dropped that thought for later and now thought of her words…the lad who had helped him needed help now.
“What’s your name, boy?” Daniel asked him after a pause.
“I’m Nick… I am sorry. I didn't know Clark was going to hurt you. We were supposed to scare you and rob you. That doesn’t sound better, I know, but it is the truth. You can turn me in to the guards in town if you wish. It would probably be for the best. That way I would at least have a roof over my head tonight, even if in a dungeon cell…”
Daniel looked at him and wondered what he should do. There was a short fight inside him as he was oscillating between turning him in to the guards or….
“I have a better idea”, Daniel finally said. “How about I give you a second chance? You don’t seem a bad guy. Perhaps you didn’t have much of a choice so far in life. What would you do if I told you that you could become the Prince's personal bodyguard? Would you take this chance and turn your life around? Give up stealing and earn an honest living?”
“I would in a jiffy. Never liked that life but had to. Clark, as bad as he is, provided better and more food than the orphanage did….but if I had the chance to work, any honest work, would be better.”
“I think you misheard me. Glad you want to be a better person. But would you like to train every day with the king's men and be the Prince's bodyguard? That way you would have a roof over your head and as much food as you can eat.”
“Why are you asking me that?? Do you know the Prince? Can you arrange for me to get such a job? Why would you do that? And how could you do that? By the way look, you are as needy as I am…”, Nick said and started going towards town. But Daniel grabbed his arm.
“I AM THE PRINCE!”, he said and waited for Nick's reaction. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Yeah, right!”, Nick said mockingly as he didn’t believe a word of what Daniel was saying. “And I am the King!”, Nick went on, laughing at Daniel.
“You are not”, said Daniel calmly, “my father is old and wrinkled while you are just a boy. Listen, I am giving you a chance here, take it or leave it, I am going to the pub as I wanted and then going back to the castle before my parents realize I am gone. You can either come have a drink with me at
the pub and then at the castle where I will give you a room of your own and whatever else you need or you can go back to your friends, but I doubt that will work for you now….”. Saying these, Daniel left Nick dumbfounded and started towards the path that led to town.
After a few meters of walking by himself and wondering what was taking Nick so long to decide, he finally heard him behind him.
“Are you serious? Did we just attack the Prince of Green Valley!?” Nick asked astounded.
“Well, technically, you ended up protecting me, so… “
Princess sniffed him out to also decide if Nick was a friend or a foe. She finally decided he was ok so she just followed the two men.
“It would be an honor to be your bodyguard….”, Nick said and he knelt before Daniel.
“Get up, you fool! What if other thieves see us like this? I am disguised, remember? So please lower your voice and stand up. You begin work now. From this moment onwards, you are my personal bodyguard. But I have to warn you… I have two squires who will want to know everything about you. But no worries, I will deal with them.”
“Thank you, your Highness!”, Nick said babbling.
“Oh, don’t ever call me that. I don't like it. I am Daniel.” And Daniel shook his hand to Nick's further amazement.
“I heard stories about you, your High…I mean Daniel. But never thought they were true. But looks like they were.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked as he got intrigued as he was finally going to find out what people thought of him.
“I heard rumors that the young Prince is kind and fair. But I thought I would only believe it when I saw it. And now I did.” Daniel smiled with content.