Chapter Text
The city of Bristol is hustling and bustling; merchants with overflowed carriages rushing to send out their shipments and vendors selling their latest treasures from behind their stands. Guards greet the ladies, passing by the stalls looking for new garments to give to their children.
Like hawks they eye a familiar young boy flying by, his curls sticking in all directions and his previously lavish attire torn and messy. One guard rolls his eyes as the boy runs into the ladies, dropping some of his rocks he picked up earlier in the process.
“That little fool is supposed to rule our Kingdom one day?” The guard huffs, another answers: “I’m sure His Royal Highness will figure it out soon enough.”
The boy hurries to the apothecary, disappearing from the guards’ view while humming a silly little tune.
A bell dingles when the door closes behind him and he walks up to the wooden counter.
“What can I get you, young man-” The pharmacist slips up, he almost didn’t recognize the prince if not for the shiny brooch clipped to the boy’s chest, “Excuse me, Your Highness?” He quickly corrects himself.
The prince doesn’t even notice it, too occupied watching a firefly lamp hang from the ceiling.
“Hello sir! Do you have-”, the boy scrambles to grab a piece of paper from his pocket, “chamomile, lavender and uh.. dwarf peri...winkle..?” He reads before flashing the man a bright smile.
The pharmacist nods and walks away, stifling a chuckle at how the boy struggled to pronounce the herbs’ names. He returns a minute later with a small bag.
“Thank you, sir!” The noble exclaims as he snatches the bag, ringing the man off and bolting out the apothecary.
He hears roars echoing from behind him while he makes his way through the marketplace, the man yelling out profanities even the drunkards in the tavern would be stunned by. He keeps running to keep the pharmacist at bay, hurrying into alley after alley.
His stomach sinks when he hears iron clatter against the cobblestones, the guards fed up with the royal’s antics this morning.
He panics, running as quickly as he can but falls into a puddle. He scurries back up and runs into another ally, quickly hiding behind a wooden box. He catches his breath while the guards run in the other direction.
Suddenly he hears a whisper, “Quickly! In here!”
He looks for the source and sees a figure ushering him toward him, standing in a crooked doorway. He quickly gets up and scrambles inside. He sighs and rests against the doorway, quickly peeking through the window to make sure no guards are nearby.
When he whips his head around, he notices the figure is a boy just about his age and he smiles. “Whew, thank you so much! They almost got me.”
He offers his hand to the boy. “I’m Lando.”
“Oscar.” The boy shakes his hand and flashes him a smile.
“Why were you running from the guards?” He tilts his head at Lando, but then he notices the brooch clipped to his chest, his eyes widening. “Wait, one moment, why was the prince running from the guards?”
Lando looks down at his shoes. “I had to get some herbs for my mum but forgot to bring some pennies… So I stole the herbs...” He mutters, not looking the other boy in the eye.
Oscar is about to respond when his mother enters the room, stunned to find the royal prince standing in her house, not to mention dripping mud onto the carpet.
“Oh my.. Your Highness, what is the matter?” She gasps before bowing. Oscar, having forgotten his manners, quickly mirrors his mother.
Lando will never get used to that. His mother keeps telling him that he deserves such treatment from any and all “subordinates”, even if he’s only a twelve year old royal. Lando thinks it’s all nonsense.
“It’s okay, madam! Your son was just helping me out.” He smiles brightly and gestures for the both of them to get up. The woman grabs him a towel and Lando tries to desperately fix his attire, not wanting to get in trouble with his parents for the third time this week.
“Can I get you anything to drink, dear?” The woman kindly asks as she takes the used towel back and throws it into a bucket of water.
“Oh, thank you, madam, but I should really get going-”
Oscar’s mother shakes her head. “No, no, please, stay. Besides, the guards are still nearby, and I don’t think you would like to encounter them again, now, do you?” She can’t help but smile at the young noble. Lando’s eyes widen and he shakes his head.
“Well then, let’s have some strawberry pie, shall we?”
~
Lando spends the whole afternoon at Oscar’s place. Not just to lay low and hide from the guards, but also because Oscar is really fun! They play board games the whole afternoon and eat the delicious pie Oscar’s mother made.
Lando completely forgets he had to bring the herbs to his mother before the mid-afternoon. So when he returns home in the late afternoon and enters the main hall, he is met with his mother’s very displeased face, her legs crossed on her throne, nails digging into the armrests.
“Where have you been, my child?” She sneers.
“Uh, I- I..” Lando stammers and his mother’s eyes darken.
“Use your words, Lando. They’ll never accept you as their king if you keep stumbling over your words.” Her majesty quipped, her tone sending a cold shiver through Lando’s body.
“I’m sorry, mother, I promise not to be late again. Here are the herbs you told me to get.” He quickly makes his way to her and kneels, handing her the bag.
She inspects the bag carefully. “Didn’t I tell you to bring coriander as well? You know that one of the courtiers is feeling ill. I thought I raised you better..”
She sighed before handing the bag to the butler. “Bring my son to his bath. Maybe leave him in there until he learns his lesson.”
Lando gets up, not daring to look his mother in the eye, before the butler guides him to the bathrooms. The tub has already been filled, steaming clouds looming above it and heating up the room.
He gets undressed and the butler lifts him into the tub. “I can do it myself by now, Hamilton.” He grumbles as the servant washes his hair.
“I’m sure you are more than capable by now, Your Highness. But Her Majesty insists I do it for you.” He responded calmly, as ever patient with the young noble.
Lando mumbles something under his breath, but remains quiet and lets the man scrub the dirt out of his curls. He will never admit that he actually really enjoys the feeling.
He closes his eyes and lets his mind drift. He tries not to think about his mother’s words and distracts himself with how much he enjoyed staying at Oscar’s today. It was so sweet of him to help him out, he would’ve gotten in so much trouble if not for Oscar.
Maybe, if he makes it up to his mother, she’ll allow him to hang out with him more often.
Lando drifts off to sleep in the tub but is startled awake when Hamilton playfully wacks him with a towel. “Wake up, Your Highness, time to brush your teeth and go to bed.”
Lando groans but complies anyway, getting out of the tub and letting the servant dry him off. He gets into his nightwear and makes his way through the halls, up the stairs and to the chambers.
He enters his room, closes the blinds and collapses onto the big mattress of his bed. He picks up a plushie that had fallen down, tucks it close to him – although he would never admit he still sleeps with them – before he closes his eyes and falls asleep.