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Matthew

The 16 year old prince of Elixirea  woke up with an optimistic feeling. He picked up his golden mirror sitting on his nightstand and stared at his beautiful face, marveling at his strong chin and cheekbones. He jumped out of his velvet covered bed, and hummed his way through his silver clad room.

Ever since he was young, everyone has been telling him how good he looked, so, of course he had to play the part. If he had a tiny pimple, he wouldn't come out of his room for days, because what's the point of people saying you look handsome if you didn't look good all the time?

Anyways, today was a day his parents had been hoping for him since all those girls had stood in line for his handsomeness, and he had finally found the only person good enough for him, pretty enough for him, because who wanted ugly children?

He was going to marry the most beautiful girl in the world: The Golden Princess. She had the softest hair in the land, buttercup blonde with a tan complexion that looked like the sun had actually kissed her, and the look of a goddess, Matthew had been told. He couldn't wait to tell his parents the good news.

He dressed in his robes, which, by the way, were the best robes in the world, covered in 99% real dragon hair and golden lace, combed his beloved blonde hair, and  skipped away with a mirror in his hands, in case he had to touch up himself during his talk.

Just as he had walked out of his room, he was stopped by a maid two times smaller than he was.

"Your Highness, the thief you have been looking for has been caught and is waiting for her fate." The maid panted, sounding urgent, but he didn't care.

He knew his servants needed him to think he cared. "Where did you put him?" He groaned.

"She is in the dungeons, Your Highness." The frail maid murmured, twirling a towel between her hands.

"I will deal with her after breakfast." He stated, pushing past the maid to the lovely smelling room on the other side of the hall that was filled with suits of armor.

Choruses of 'Good Morning' rang through he silver halls as Matthew made his way to the dining room, where his Mother and Father already sat.

"Good morning, son." The King said, looking up, his brown eyes twinkling with curiosity. 

"Morning." Matthew said, looking at his mirror, fixing his hair, as it had gotten mussed up from his walk to the dining hall.

"Put you're mirror down while you are eating ,dear, so you don't get it dirty." His mother ordered, her kind smile directed towards Matthew. 

"But Mother! What if I need to check my hair?" The Prince whined as he checked his fair complexion. 

"After breakfast." His mother chided.

The prince sighed and put down his mirror and looked at his family.

"I have been thinking long and hard about this, and I am glad to say I have chosen a bride."

His mother looked up from her tea. "Well thats marvelous, dear. Is it that girl Sierra? She was very nice."

"No, Mother,its not her."

"What about Gretchen? She has a real green thumb."

"Let the boy talk, Edith." The King said. He leaned across the table. "Who is it, lad?"

Matthew inhaled a deep breath. "I'm going to marry The Golden Princess of the Gem Lands!"

His mothers fork clattered to the table.

"Did you actually propose to her, son?" The King asked, his face shocked.

"Well, no," He replied sheepishly, taking a bite of poached egg. "But who wouldn't marry me?"

"Son, I think it's a great idea," The Queen beamed. "all you have to do is get to the Gem Lands and she'll be yours!"

"Now, now, we should first talk about how long you will be and how many things you'll need." The King declared.

"It's only 200 miles down south on land , and than 30 miles west on sea ,dear, he'll be fine." The Queen said, patting Matthews arm.

Matthew nodded. "I also could use about 1 boat, 30 servants and 10 carriages." He contemplated.

The King sighed. "Alright, you can have 30 servants, but that's it."

Matthew nodded, and skipped away ,like a child, to his room when he bumped into a guard.

"Your Highness," The guard said, saluting.  "The thief is in the dungeon and-"

"Why does everyone keep bringing that thief up?" He asked, exasperated.

"Uh, sir, it's because you asked us to capture her."

"Where is she then?"

"The dungeon, Sir."

Matthew waved his hand. "I'll deal with her later."

The guard nodded and went back down the hall back to the damp dungeon.

Matthew sighed and went back to his room, thinking about what to do with this thief business.