Uncertain Fortunes

The baker made herself heard, and finally led the guards back to the babe in the jeweler's shop. The boy had fallen asleep, and so he didn't hear the debate that surrounded him. He didn't hear the guards proclaim him to be a prince. Nor did he wake when they lifted him and carried him away from the jeweler and the baker to his new life.

The sleeping prince arrived at the castle swaddled in a tea towel. He was presented to the king, along with a ring- his one claim to legitimacy. The boy entered a world of prestige and privilege with a shadow of doubt and a tea towel. It was not a very good start for a future king.