Newsies One-Shots

Royalsies

!!Disclaimer!! - This story isn't poking fun at monarchy in any way. I wrote this solely because I thought it was a fun idea. The only thing I'm making fun of is Disney movies. Also, I have no idea when this takes place.

For more years than I can count, the rule was that a prince had to marry a princess. In more recent times, that rule changed so that a princess could marry a non-royal boy and a prince could marry a non-royal girl. That's not what this story is about. This is my story.

Hi, I'm Jack Kelly. A cleaning boy who works in a castle for the royal family of Paperville, and by a royal family, I mean a princess named Katherine and her father, King Joseph. No one knows what happened to the queen.

Anyway, the princess was approaching her twentieth birthday, when she would start to rule. So, naturally, King Joseph was desperately trying to find her a man to marry. It wasn't like she needed a partner. It was just a preference that she had one.

I thought I was destined to marry Katherine... Oh, did I mention that I had a BIG crush on Katherine? I always felt like she liked me, too. Sometimes when I was cleaning the hallway near her room, she would stand in her doorway, and we would talk until I had definitely been in that part of the castle too long and had to move on to the next one.

The only problem was, even though I COULD marry Katherine, her dad would not be happy about it. He's probably about forty million years old, so he's still living in the time when princesses had to marry princes, so I saw that as a likely reason that Katherine didn't want to date me. 

Enough exposition. The story begins on a June morning. My brother, Crutchie, who worked as a personal assistant to the king, informed me that another royal family was coming to visit. Then he handed me a list of things the cleaning boys would have to get done before they arrived.

"I assume they're coming so one of their princes can try their hand at Katherine?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, but get this, their oldest prince is fifteen," Crutchie followed me to the guest wing.

"What? Is that even legal?" I questioned. I was seventeen, so not that much younger than Katherine. But whoever this prince was, he and Katherine were looking at around a five-year age gap.

"Apparently. But I'd better go finish making breakfast. The king gets angry when it's not on time," Crutchie turned around and slowly made his way to the kitchens. One had to admire his attitude and overall strength in his situation. He had to use a crutch to walk, but he still managed to keep the king's very demanding schedule. 

I gathered some of the cleaning boys, and we started preparing rooms. I  had just finished cleaning the last window when I saw the limousine arrive at the castle gates.

I knew I wasn't supposed to, but I went down to the entry hall to see the family. I picked up a duster on the way so I could use my classic dusting excuse to eavesdrop.

I got downstairs and acted like I was dusting a decorative candlestick just as the guards were letting the other family into the castle. King Joseph was waiting on the entryway stairs, and I saw Princess Katherine waiting at the top of the stairs to be called down. I waved up at her, and she waved back.

The family entering the castle was pretty big for a royal family; a king, a queen, a princess who looked a little older than Katherine, the previously mentioned fifteen-year-old prince, and a younger prince who was probably around ten. They had two helpers with them. One of them was likely a personal assistant. The prince that was supposed to be a suitor for Katherine was the epitome of every prince I'd met. He had dark hair that was neatly combed, shining brown eyes, a stupid 'royal' smile on his face, and the neat clothes you'd expect from a prince. He had almost perfect posture, and he was really tall, probably around 3 inches taller than me.