“What are we going to do?” the woman asked worriedly as she held her two infant sons in her arms. One had golden locks of hair and the other with silky black. The two boys had identical faces, they were twins. They slept soundly as their mother cradled them in her arms. The warm presence of their mother had quieted their earlier cries. The father kneeled beside his wife and placed a hand on the blonde child’s head.

                “Only one can inherit the kingdom. It must be the first born, as the custom. It is rare to have twin boys born to the King. It makes things rather difficult.” the man said as he took the dark headed child in his arms. It was evening in the Jo Kingdom. The setting sun glowed through the trees and shined its bright light on the two boys. The blonde hair of the oldest child seemed to set ablaze with rays, making his hair seem an angelic gold. The black hair of the other child shined and set off a gleam like rich woven silk.  The woman smiled and rocked the child in her arms back and forth and quietly whispered a lullaby. The man looked down at the other boy in his arms. He smiled gently at how peaceful the infant looked; he seemed to have some characteristics of his own. 

Running and shouting was heard outside the gates of the King’s room. A servant burst through the door, disturbing the quiet peacefulness the King and his family were indulged in.

                “Your Highness, the thief was captured just a few moments ago in the next village over! He is being brought here by the guards!” the servant said as he fell to the floor in a bow in respect to the King. The King stood up abruptly, disturbing the child in his arms and causing him to cry. The King looked at the child with guilt at having woken him up. The queen took the other child in her arms once again and held the two infants close together. The King looked at his wife with a silent apology in his eyes as he left for courtyard where he would judge the man accused of stealing. The woman brought her children over to their small cribs and placed them in the soft blankets and wrapped them up carefully. She dashed after her husband to accompany him with the trial, leaving the two boys behind to sleep peacefully.

The guards entered through the gates, dragging with them a man who looked like he had been beaten and thrown in dirt, which he most likely was. The King walked down the stairs from his throne to stand in front of the accused man. He looked him over and signaled for the guards to release their grip on the man.

                “What proof is there to show of this man’s accused crime?” The King asked as he looked at the guards. One of the tall men stepped forward and opened a scroll to read the reports of the villagers.

                “It says he was seen in the act of stealing from one of the scholars when he was away. The accused man’s house was also searched for other stolen items and all of what went missing was found there.” The guard read and rolled the scroll back up and handed it to the King. The King took the scroll and handed it to one of his servants. He looked at the thief whose head was down, his hair hanging in front of his face.

                “You are charged with the act of stealing from a citizen of this kingdom. Your punishment will hereby be a year in prison, but first you will be flogged.” The King said simply as he walked away, letting the guards take the man away. The King walked back up the stairs to his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder to guide her away.

Before the King and Queen could walk any further, hysterical laughter was heard back in the courtyard behind them. The King turned back to see what the commotion was. The guards saw that the King was returning and stopped. The thief stood up to the King and grinned a devious grin and looked him strait in the eyes. An evil glimmer was seen in the dark irises of the thief. The King thought something was wrong with this man in the head or perhaps he was just buying time.

                “What causes you to laugh at a time like this?” The King asked looking quizzically at the man and frowning at his disrespect.

                “This isn’t even the real crime. There’s worse to come, my Lord!” The man said mockingly with a crazed look portrayed on his face.

 “Is this man just making something up or is he working for some one?” The King thought to himself. “What do you mean by ‘worse’?” He asked the thief. The man just shook his head and laughed again.

“You’ll find out soon enough. You and the queen both.” The man said, looking over at the Queen.  Realization hit the King and the Queen both at the same time. The Queen’s eyes went wide as she ran towards the room where her precious boys were sleeping. The King followed swiftly after his wife after he told the guards to take the man strait to prison and keep an eye on him. Sounds were heard from the room as the Queen got closer to the doors. The King shot ahead of his wife and threw open the door.  A man dressed in a dark robe quickly ran and jumped out of the window as he saw the King burst into the room. The King ran to the window to see what direction the man would run, but it seemed he had disappeared. A shriek was heard from his wife behind him. He turned around quickly and ran to his wife.

“What’s happened?” The King asked but the question didn’t need to be answered as he looked over to the cribs of his twin boys. The dark headed boy was missing from his crib, the blonde boy still remained though. The Queen picked up the crying child and held him close to her as if he would be snatched from her also any minute.

“My child, my child!” The Queen sobbed over and over. She fell on her knees with the infant in her arms and cried into the blanket the baby was wrapped in.  Tears began to brim the King’s eyes as he watched his distressed wife holding their first born, their only son left. Anger began to rise in his chest  as he ran quickly out of the room and back into the courtyard. He searched out the guards again and divided the group of guards into two teams.

“This half should go look for a suspicious man in a black cloak with my child in his arms. The other half should bring the thief back out here to me.” The King ordered as the guards ran over to him. The groups did as they were ordered. Half of the guards dashed out of the gates and split into smaller groups to look throughout all of the surrounding villages. The other half went to the prison and returned with the smirking criminal. The King rushed over to the man before the guards could get to the King themselves. The man was jerked up by the shirt collar by the King, the angry father of the missing child. The King got close to the man’s face.  “Tell me where my child is you filthy rat or you will receive punishment worse than death!” The King growled in the man’s face. The thief simply laughed once more.

“I believe you are lying, good sir. There is no other punishment worse than death.” The man said calmly, making the King even angrier. The King threw his hat in the dust of the courtyard and stomped over to the man and tackled him to the ground. He drew his fists and continuously punched the man in the face, causing blood to pour from the thief’s mouth. The expression of the evil man’s face never seemed to falter as he grinned with that sickening dark light in his eyes, even as blood began to trickle from the temple of his head.

“Tell me where my son is!” The King said each time he laid a punch to the dirty face of the criminal. The guards and servants watched in astonishment as their King lost his mind. The queen watched from the steps of the throne with the crying child in her arms, tears streaming down her own face as she watched her husband bloody the wicked man’s face.

My son, will I ever see you again?

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A/N: Okay, so this is the beginning of my new fanfic! I'm so excited to finally start writing it!! I know I haven't been working much on my other stories, but I'll try to get to them soon. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy The Prince's Pauper!

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P.S. - Also, please feel free to correct me on any mistakes I made!