Why… why was he even here? In the palace throne room, kneeling before the heir to the throne of Calista. He was a street rat. Lower than a commoner. Ever since his parents had died, everything went downhill for him. The circus burnt down, his friends were captured and murdered — not to mention that his parents had left him a lump sum of… nothing. All the cash his parents had stored for him was stolen by the men that raided his town. After that, he’d just been living day to day — barely managing to scrounge together enough silver coins to buy himself a single apple. But he was here… in a palace where even a used toilet seat would be cleaner than his calloused hands.

“Uh… your majesty?” He looked up at the royal, standing between the guards that flanked his sides.

“Might I ask why I’m here..? You know, me. A dirty, broke and… quite stinky peasant.” He grimaced as he sniffed his pits.