The Prince & the Pauper

Chapter Three

Niall's cat, Nandos, was sleeping on her royal pink bed. Her tail was off the bed, just swaying back and forth. Bob, Fitzgerald's dog, suddenly ran up and tried to bite her tail. She yanked it up at the last minute and laughed.

"Enjoy it now sister," Bob growled. "Cause it ain't gonna be yours much longer."

"Oh please," she purred. "Having delusions again, Bob?"

"Let's just say the throne's going to belong to my master, Fitzgerald, and anything belonging to him ergo and ipso facto bing bang boom kablamo, belongs to me."

He growled again and Nandos jumped over him, scurrying for her life. Bob began chasing her and she saw a table was coming soon. She jumped up; causing him to crash into the table. She purred, "You lose a tooth?"

"Not my gold tooth!"

He began panting and turning around in circles until he found a mirror. He noticed his gold tooth was still perfectly in place. He turned back to a giggling kitty and he barked. "You better hope you got 9 lives Nandos, cause you're gonna need them all!"

***

A carriage showed up at the entrance of the Horan's castle. Louis's guardian declared out, "I am Ambassador Bismark, here by invitation of the Queen."

He turned over to look at the king. "King Louis, you are quite sure about this?"

"I'm sure," he nodded and smiled.

***

Niall was sitting in his room, inspecting some rocks with a magnifying glass. He heard an all-too-familiar knock at the door and smiled. "Come in Zayn, perfect timing. I classified this as iron pyrite. Pretty, but not considered valuable. Commonly known as 'fools gold'."

Zayn looked at his work and smiled softly, nodding his head. "Well done, Your Highness."

"Your Highness?" Niall laughed. "Why the sudden formality? It's just me Z."

"The Queen sent me," Zayn continued. He looked down at the ground and then back up at Niall. "Apparently the ambassador has arrived with a gift for you."

"The ambassador?" Niall's eyes went wide. "He's here now? Already?"

In the ballroom, the Queen greeted the 'ambassador'. He was wearing a velvet red suit and a matching red hat to hide his hair. . . for you see, this was not the ambassador, but rather, King Louis in disguise. It was his brilliant idea; he wanted to see what Niall was like when he didn't think it was him. He wanted to get a sense of the prince and who he was, before he decided on making the biggest commitment of his life.

"On behalf of. . . uh, King Louis. . . I present this engagement gift to you."

He held out a soft blue box. He opened up the top to reveal a beautiful diamond bracelet. The queen looked shocked. "Thank you, ambassador! Prince Niall will be quite pleased."

"May I inquire, Your Excellency, if you've set a date for the wedding?" Louis asked.

The Queen pondered the thought for a moment. She took a breath and replied, "Will a week from today do?"

"AH! Next week?!"

Fitzgerald suddenly made himself present, surprising the others in the room. The Queen looked at him, confused by his statement. He stammered quickly, "A. . . a most wise and thoughtful decision, Your Majesty."

"Excellent," Louis smiled. "I will. . . er, send for King Louis, so that he may meet his new husband."

Back in Niall's room, he was looking the castle grounds from his balcony. He saw two little kids just strolling around, playing tag. He smiled softly and sighed. He so wished he had the ability to do whatever he pleased. "So happy. Free to do whatever they want." He sighed, watching them live their lives however they wanted.