The Princess & the pauper

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person alive or dead is purely coincidental.


Once upon a time in a not so far away kingdom there lived a Beautiful Princess.
She was the youngest child of the King & was the most pampered person of the family. Not that she did not deserve it. She was the sweetest, cutest, fun-loving girl you can imagine. A smile on her face was what everyone loved to see since it lighted up the whole room. And none allowed even a drop of tear to fall from her eyes.
The Princess was becoming an adult from the wild-eyed adolescent & wanted to see the world. The Queen allowed her to roam around the palace & in the market place. The Princess would wear simple clothes & try & meet people from different spheres of life hiding her true identity. She wished to really know the whole world. She also enjoyed meeting new people & having simple fun.
One evening while returning from a friends place on the other side of the river she realized she was totally alone on the road. The woods were on one side & the river on the other side. Strange & ferocious animals are said to be in the forest. All of a sudden a bloodcurdling sound came from the forest. The Princess horse panicked & throwing The Princess from its back it raced away in the twilight. The Princess was completely frozen in fear & had no idea what to do. She suddenly notices a young lad trotting from the direction her horse had run away. He was also leading her horse back. When the young man comes nearby The Princess notices that he is from the Guard of the Roads. The young lad politely helps the The Princess on her horse & offers to accompany her to her house. The Princess is obviously shaken from the incident & the young man tries to divert her mind from it. He starts pointing out the stars which had just started blinking & showing her the patterns they form. He points out the far-off hillocks & describes them as sleeping giants. Slowly The Princess forgets her ordeal & smiles. She is at the young mans cordiality & the ease with which he was talking. She tries to find out more about him. He tells her that he is the son of a poor ironmonger. His mother had died at child-birth & his father had tried to raise him. As his father was not a very healthy man, the young man had started helping his father early on. Working at the shop had made him strong & a local noble had taken him under his care when he had turned 16. His father still ran his shop but the young man augments with his earnings by guarding the roads. Since he is not afraid of the forest & the infamous animals he is usually posted on this part of the road.
By this time they were entering the residential area just before the palace & The Royal Guards ran up to them. They said that her mother was anxious because she was late. The Princess & the young man parted there especially since the young man realized that the she must be some-one special or else Royal Guards would not know her. Just as they were parting The Princess said "I would be traveling by that road again next week. I hope you would be there to protect me if necessary".
The week went by in a flurry. There was an attempted robbery & the young lad had fought valiantly with three robbers to thwart it. The traveling party had praised the young man at every inn they stopped. The Guard of the Roads gave him a stronger horse to patrol & the noble who had first spotted him got him better arms & protection. He was looking good when he was spotted on the road or at the edge of the bridge. People were comforted seeing him on the road & the those who had heard his story were glad to meet him. Often kids would run behind his horse. Ladies would offer him a sip of water or food. Men would talk with him as man. The young lad was humble enough to not let any of this to get to his head. Not that he was not enjoying the attention he was getting.
In all this he was looking forward to meet the beautiful lady he had met once. He could not believe that he would actually come across her again or that she would recognize him. One evening while standing near the bridge he notices The Princess crossing the bridge. His heart missed a beat because she was looking even more beautiful than before. But he is also frightened that she would not recognize him. As The Princess nears the his end of the bridge she exclaims "Aah my valiant rescuer. I hope you are going to accompany me till the town". The young man is exhilarated & replies "I have been waiting all week to do so". They ride side by side in silence for sometime & then The Princess stared asking him more of his life. He was overjoyed with the attention from her. He started opening up to her as he had never opened to anyone before.
Over time The Princess & the young man started meeting regularly. The Princess would invite him for her rides through the country-side. They would talk on varied stuff. More they started having good time together the more they started coming closer. They even started sharing their innermost secrets. It was only then did the young man know that his new friend was The Princess & wished to rule the country after her father.
Full 6 months passed before either were sure of their feelings for the other. They enjoyed the friendship & the ease with which they could be with each other. Neither accepted the fact that they have grown from acquaintances to friends to perhaps something even more.
The Queen was bit concerned with The Princess spending so much time with a Guard of the Roads alone though he was a "good boy" as per the reports. When she asked The Princess, she replied that they are good friends. Also since he is a good guy when she thinks of marriage she might give him a thought. Later The Princess shared this with the young man as she shared every thing with him. The young man was thrilled. He had never hoped that The Princess would consider him more than a mere friend. He resolved that he must grow in stature to be in a position to ask her hand. He knew that no-one would oppose if The Princess decided to marry him, but he wanted to rise on his own caliber. He wanted to proof that he was worth more than just a simple Guard of the Road
One morning the young man noticed an announcement at the village inn. The Royal Army was planning an expedition. They were looking for some able young men. He jumped on his horse & cantered to the Royal Army Office. He was inducted in the mission because the officers of the Royal Army had heard of his heroics. He went back home to tell his father that he would be leaving the country soon. His father was bit disheartened to know that his son would be away & a bit frightened for what might happen to the young man. But he hid all his emotions & supported him because he had not seen his son so enthusiastic in any thing before.
The young man next went to The Princess. The Princess was sad because she would no longer have a trusted friend. She asked softly "Must you go?" The young man was burning with desire to prove his mettle & replied "I need to complete this". They parted promising to write to each other regularly.
The 1st letter was from the young man. He described how they were training hard. The reply from The Princess was giving him courage & confidence. He described the beautiful lands they were traveling through. The lush green fields, the starry night sky. She described her life. Slowly they realized how much they missed each others company.
Couple of months after the brigade of Royal Army started training they went out of their kingdom. They were attacking some kingdoms on the south. The southern kingdoms had always been a problem for their kingdom & they wanted to deal a fast & furious blow to them. They did not know that the southern kingdom already knew of their plans & were ready. What should have been a fast & short attack ended being a long drawn war. The young man was too busy fighting just to stay alive. He had fought in his childhood & also against robbers. But her was not mentally ready to to fight in the war. He just could not align himself with the concept of killing to just stay alive. When he had some free time he would try & comfort some of his comrades. He could not sit down to write about all these to The Princess. The Princess complained in her letters that he was not writing enough. The young man wrote back that he was not articulate enough to express what he was going through. But he insisted that The Princess keep writing. The letters which he carried right over his heart was the only thing that kept him going.
The Princess met the son of a noble in the annual archery competition. He was in the top 5 & definitely the best among the gentry. This Guy had studied under the best teachers in the kingdom. He was smart as well a good orator. The Princess found him interesting & a great person to be with. When The Guy invited invited her to a fox-hunt she was not sure if she should go. She in her letters asked what should she do. The young man suggested that since she is getting bored she should go.
The Princess had a very good time in the fox-hunt. She started looking forward to spend further time with The Guy. The letters from The Princess were filled with excited writings on what they had done. The young man could not but help feel pangs of jealousy & sorrow. Jealousy because he was not in a position where he could be with The Princess. Sorrow because he can never achieve what The Guy has already achieved.
The war entered a very terrible phase. For every inch of land to proceed or retreat there would be scores of rotten bodies. The young man was totally deranged at seeing the blood-bath around. His sporadic letters were the only place where he could vent out his emotions. But they were as dark & unhappy as the environment he was in. The Princess did not like those letters & made it a point to state that in hers. Her frequency of writing also got reduced. She was too busy to reply to the young mans letters




Here I would stop.
I would not end this story. Simple reason it is up to the reader to decide what ending he/she wants.
You are welcome to have a romantic ending or a dark gory one. You can also have Ulysses-Penelope ending or a practical ending. The choice is yours.

REQUEST: I would be really overjoyed if you could post your version of the ending as a comment