Prince Rumble sighed as he looked out of the window of the vast pile that was the Royal Palace of Munchendorf. He had been living here his whole life, and it never ceased to be spectacular, but at the same time he wished for a change of scenery every now and then.
Much had happened since his father had ascended the throne. The passing of his grandfather, the former king, had caused much sadness and regret in Munchendorf, as he had been a popular and effective king, wise and fair in his judgements and also having the foresight to leave most decisions to elected individuals. But alas, once he was gone, his son was given the hard challenge of living up to his legacy, the first part of which was repairing the reputation of Muncendorf amongst several other countries, such as Estalia and Flatland (so named because it was extremely flat indeed). By all accounts, he had done a good job, and the countries had accepted the offered reparations to their lands. They had also attended the royal wedding in Avalon of Prince Thomas and Princess Cinderella, which Rumble and his older brother Thunderlane had attended, and even along the way run into their adopted daughter, Scootarella. Literally. Now that had been an awkard meeting indeed.
Since then, things had been very quiet on all fronts, and Rumble, to be honest, liked it that way. It meant that there was nobody to mess about with things, and that the people could simply get on with their lives with no fear of interference from foreign powers. Of course, the military had done a good job of defending the border, and even participated in a bid to liberate their ally, Agrabah, from the armies of Sultan Jaffar of Araby. Who was a bad thing, in the logic of 1066 and All That, and thus had to be removed. The new Sultan of Agrabah, Aladdin, had been very thankful for their assistance, and had signed a comprehensive trade deal with Munchendorf in response. In short, things were as good as they could possibly be.
None of this, of course, removed the sense of boredom from Rumble's heart. Every day for him was the same. Awake at 7 in the morning, then shower, then breakfast with the Court (which got very awkward and quiet sometimes), and then lessons from his private tutor in all the major languages of the world, as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (as his father was very keen on the new inventions sweeping the world at that time), and then the afternoon was given over to sports and riding, often on great hunts into the forest. Then the evenings brought dinner, relaxation through music and acting, with the Palace Theatre Company often putting on a new play, and finally the day would conclude with retiring to bed for the night, to sleep until the next day dawned. And repeat for many, many years both before and beyond this one.
Every day was the same. It just went round and round and round, round and round and round, and Rumble was getting tired of it all. He craved to see the world, to experience new cultures first hand, to learn with the inventors who created and toiled in their workshops ceaselessly without care. There was only so much you could learn through books, and Rumble wanted to expand his horizons as much as he could.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice. "Hey, little bro!" It was his older brother, Thunderlane, who looked at him. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm kinda bored," Rumble replied. "Not much ever seems to happen around here."
"At least you weren't alive during the worst of the war years," Thunderlane said back to him. "But enough of that, Father wants to see us in the throne room."
"OK," Rumble replied, and got up, his boots making contact with the floor. He straightened out the epaulletes on his jacket, and walked forward. "Shall we go, then?"
The walk through the corridors to the throne room was a silent one, the lack of sound punctuated at regular intervals by the double thump of the brother's boots as they touched the tiled floor. Given their military training, both of them walked in perfect synchronisation, producing a most satisfying 'boom' when their boots touched the floor, the echo rolling around the halls as they walked. After a few minutes, they reached a pair of great wooden doors, guarded by two guards each holding a halberd.
"Your Royal Highnesses," one of the guards said, "His Majesty the King is awaiting you."
"Then we shall enter," Thunderlane replied. The two guards stepped back, and one of them opened the door.
"Their Royal Highnesses, Prince Thunderlane and Prince Rumble!"
Both princes stepped into a vast stone chamber with a vaulting ceiling and mighty tapestries of kings of long ago hanging from the walls. At the opposite end of the room, sitting underneath a red carpet that ran to the door, was a throne, and above that was a vast stained glass window with a mighty scene of a battle from long ago, with a king of old slaying a dragon. Below it lay the inscription;
Dracones Vastabat, Defensor Populi, Stator Leges. (Destroyer of Dragons, Defender of the People, Upholder of the Laws)
The King looked out from the throne to his two sons, and smiled. "It is wonderful to see you," he said. "Come and stand before me, for we have much to discuss. As you probably know, our land has had a less than positive history with the land of Avalon."
"That's something of an understatement, father," Thunderlane said. Avalon and Munchendorf had had many messy wars over the centuries, and the two nations had something of a relationship of bad blood running between them.
"So it is," the King replied. "But I think now is the time to put things right between our nations and restore a prosperous and happy relationship between our two peoples. As you probably know, it is the second anniversary of the marriage of Prince Thomas and Princess Cinderella this weekend."
"Are you sending a delegation?" Rumble asked.
"If I sent only a duke or a diplomat, it could look like I do not really mean to improve our relations," the King replied. "It would constitute a hollow gesture, and that I will not tolerate. To which end, I shall send you both to participate. You have prior knowledge of Avalonian customs, and so you ought to fit in there perfectly."
Rumble nodded. "Yes father. We won't let you down." It was a good day for him. Here, at last, was the adventure he had been looking for.