The Kingdom of Hawkins

The Prince needs a night off

"Rise and shine, your highness." A very unenthusiastic voice greeted him.

Prince Stephen Harrington gets startled awake by the sound of the curtains being pulled open. In order to avoid the early morning light, he moves his head to the other side of his pillow. Trying to get comfortable again to fall back asleep.  

"Unfortunately," His covers were yanked off quickly, causing him to curl up against the cold. "Your parents want to have breakfast with you in 15 minutes."

Stephen groans as he rolls onto his back and rubs away the sleep from his face. He adjusts his view to see Murray, Stephen's personal attendant, holding up two different dress jackets.

He held up the jackets slightly thicker than a tunic only the wealthy could afford. One that was solid green with dark green pleats. And the other was raised higher with blue embroidery and white fur lining. "I'm thinking blue today." Murray said then tossing cream stockings to match on to the bed.

"Sounds good," Stephen replies, without even looking up at it. He sits up, moving his feet off the side of the bed, stretching his arms out high. He pops his neck as he stands, grabbing the hem of the nightshirt, and tossing it down onto the floor. Reaching over to grab his pants to put on, Murray walks by to pick up his nightwear And tosses it outside in the hall to the boy standing in wait for Murray to order him around.

"What do you think they want?" Stephen asked, pulling on a clean undershirt. Murray waited, having been advised by Stephen a few years back that he didn't need help to put on his own clothes. I am no longer a child and don't require help. Murray didn't argue, he had no problem with it. He never wanted to clean up after people, but he also didn't want to live in a lower city. Especially lately, With war brewing over their borders, the lower city was closest to the out walls of the kingdom.

"Hmm, let's see, What are the occurrences of late? Oh yes, your future? Or Someone probably important died, or if I had to really guess, it's more than likely something to do with what happened with Lady Wheeler." He noted with a bit of humor.

The marriage.

Stephen both loved and hated the idea of marrying. Everything had been working according to plan. He had set his eyes on Nancy Wheeler. She was beautiful with her brown curls, the way her eyes bloomed with enjoyment with Stephen. The only problem was Nancy was a leader and not a follower. She wasn't supposed to be just the wife to bring about a family, to help rule a kingdom (At least not in the way she wanted to) From what she told Stephen. She wanted to do more in her life, instead of being tugged by royal ropes.

They had broken their engagement. And he wished her the utmost happiness she could get. It wasn't until earlier that next week that he found out she had fallen in love with someone else. He didn't blame her for finding true love. He had once thought about that with her. Sure, he still cared for Nancy, maybe even a small part of him deep down still loved her, but it just wouldn't have worked out.

His parents had found out and weren't happy. He already knew that her parents were feeling shame for their daughter refusing the hand of the future King of Hawkins.

Murray checked Stephen's attire again out of habit to make sure it was tied and in the right places. He picked up the Prince's leather shoes, handing them over one by one to slip on.

He dreaded it. He never saw his parents often. They were busy most of the time doing their kingly and queenly duties, which he didn't mind. He was raised on being by himself and having others take care of him. The only thing he would get from his father would be weekly trivia on ruling the kingdom and showing the people that the only Prince of Hawkins was well-mannered, charming, handsome, and ready to wed. His mother showed affection sometimes but in other ways, gossip, fashion and the secrets of women finding the perfect woman  but she mostly kept to her ladies-in-waiting and her dogs.