The Princess And The Shepherd Boy - David Littlewood

The Princess And The Shepherd Boy by David Littlewood

Book excerpt

Princess Pollinovia shifted uncomfortably on the chair she was sitting on. True it was a very fine chair made especially for the princess to watch her mother's coronation as Queen, but to a feisty young girl like Pollinovia the whole thing seemed a frightful bore and she was getting the fidgets. Her mother, now Queen Aavantar of Universaria, looked stunning in her royal gown with all the sequins and diamonds sewn into it. And the glittering crown that had been placed upon her head when she was crowned Queen really set off the whole outfit.

Everyone was rejoicing because Aavantar was reckoned to be the noblest Queen ever to have been crowned in Universaria. Pollinovia had heard the story again and again of how her mother had gone off to rescue a people called the Omnigrots from a terrible curse put on them by an evil wizard. The curse had transformed the once proud people into hideous goblins; but through her mother's love and duty they had been rescued from the curse and were now restored to the tall and beautiful people they once were.

At Queen Aavantar's side wearing his own crown was her husband, King Ra-ghan. He looked dashing and handsome - quite unlike when she had first met him and he had been a hideous goblin. But because of the Queen's love and bravery he had been transformed back into a handsome prince. Aavantar had fallen in love with him even when he was a goblin and now his body was re-stored to its right form he made a fitting husband for the new Queen.

Now in that land their customs were somewhat different from our own. While for centuries most lands had the custom of the eldest son taking the throne af-ter the death of a king, in Universaria it was the custom that the eldest daugh-ter became queen and her husband became king. Of course, in Aavantar's case it didn't make much difference as she had no brothers and sisters any-way, as she was the only daughter of Queen Creola and King Grallion who had ruled long and well.

Because of her very brave and heroic deeds, Aavantar had become the hero-ine of the people, and there had been great celebrations in the land when her first child was born, a daughter called Mayolinthan. You might in fact wonder why they called their daughters by long names but that was the custom of royalty in those days. Aavantar also had another daughter called Cresethame and then a son they called Krennion. All three of them grew up with a royal bearing and were perfect in the way princes and princesses are imagined to be.

However, when the last daughter, Pollinova, came along, everyone could see there was something different about her. For a start instead of having blue eyes and blonde hair like princesses are supposed to have, her hair was mousey coloured and her eyes were brown. She also had freckles on her face and a generally mischievous look. Even as a baby she would throw the rattle out of her pram, something unheard of in a princess, in those times any-way. As soon as she could crawl she would chase all the royal cats and dogs around the corridors and play with her brother's toy soldiers rather than the many beautiful dolls she had been given.

And - horror of horrors - when she learned to walk the princess would nip out-side and play in the mud rather than on the lush, thick carpets in the palace! She became the despair of her nurses and they gave her lots of scoldings even though they all loved her dearly. I mean, princesses are supposed to look neat and tidy and their hair should be immaculately groomed. But Prin-cess Pollinovia always seemed to have mud on her clothes; and her hair - no matter how the nurses combed it - had a will of its own.

One day, after a long and peaceful reign, Queen Creola passed away. There was great sadness among the people who loved their Queen but also excite-ment that a new Queen - Aavantar - was now on the throne. King Grallion had gone into retirement after blessing his daughter and now all that remained was to crown the new Queen.

But that is where Pollinovia (or 'Polly' as everyone called her for short - it seemed more fitting for a little scamp than 'Pollinovia') started to cause prob-lems for those around her. She had enjoyed riding in the royal carriage and waving to the crowds that stood by the roadside, but she really wanted to get up and sit next to the driver. Her sisters and brother actually had to stop her climbing out of the window of the carriage!

"For goodness sake, Polly," her sister, Mayolinthan had hissed. "Sit still or you'll fall out of the carriage!"

"But I want to sit by the driver!" said Polly, and by way of a protest put her face into a pout for the rest of the journey and refused her sisters' attempts to get her to wave at the crowds, as royalty are expected to do.

"Oh dear! You are such a naughty girl!" said sister Cresethame. "Just what are we going to do with you!" Polly said nothing and buried her face in her hands.

She had enjoyed the banquet that was held after her mother's coronation de-spite managing to spill gravy all down the dress that had been specially made for her to wear. But then she didn't really like the dress as it made her feel more like a parcel than a little girl. "Rotten frumpy thing!" she had muttered as her nurse had struggled to fit her into it.

Now as she sat listening to the long, long speeches being made by visiting dignitaries in praise of her mother, Polly shifted around more and more on the chair as her bottom began to protest against all the sitting she had done. She just longed to get out in the palace garden and play, do some cartwheels and run around. Of course she had been told that princesses were not supposed to behave like that - and certainly her sisters would never have dreamed of doing a cartwheel or running around - but then Polly was just not like a regular princess at all.

Polly was very pleased when at last all the boring speeches came to an end and she was able to slip away. She knew that the various important visitors who had come to the coronation were going to be presented to her parents and she certainly did not want to stay for that as she feared it would be even more boring for her. So while her sisters chatted together in their usual regal way, Polly slipped out of the great hall and made her way along the passage-way which she hoped led to the garden.

The passageway was quite dark and Polly didn't really know where she was going as she had never been to the great hall before. But then she came to a turning and found on one side there was a courtyard with a lush green lawn in the middle of it. Just the place for running around and turning some cart-wheels, she thought.

She went out into the courtyard and saw in the middle there was a boy about her own age. He was a little taller than her with black hair and a face that showed he spent quite a lot of time in the sun. He was wearing clothes which were obviously those of a servant rather than royalty but that was of no con-cern to Polly who was just glad she had found someone of her own age to talk to. Besides the boy was holding something in his hand which intrigued her.

She walked up to the boy and said, "Hello! Who are you?"

"I might ask you the same question," said the boy. "I ain't seen you round here before."

"Huh," said Polly, wondering why this boy could have missed seeing a royal princess, "don't you know who I am?"

"Yes, you're a girl!" said the boy. "No doubt one of them posh lot in there!" he said pointing to the great hall. "Mind you," he laughed, "you don't look so posh with all that gravy spilt down your front!"

Princess Polly looked down on her dress with embarrassment and her face flushed bright red. "How dare you talk to me like that?" she shouted, clutching her little fists together.