Prologue

It was that time of the year again. The time where the king and the queen would throw another extravagant party in honor to their anniversary. And, like every other year, their kid just wouldn't appear.

And as usual, the governess would look for him all over the palace, trying all the places he had hidden on previous years, but knowing he was smart enough for not using them ever again. She just went by looking in the possible new hideouts, finally finding him on the wine cellar this time.

The little prince would completely ignore all her attempts to make him get to his quarters and get dressed for the evening, only to make her end up dragging him over, him being too heavy for her to carry him like she used to. The Governess was a very thin woman, but regardless, capable of being extraordinarily stern.

And these moments of great sternness were the only occasion where the prince would actually obey all of her orders without mayor opposition. He would end up dressing himself with his dress-coat, looking as cute as he could be, with that characteristic annoyed face he had. The servants would try to offer to help him getting prepared, only for their job indicating them to do so, but knowing the kid would just refuse to all their help.

He hated all this. He never felt like being like all these people he lived around were. Even at the tender age of eight, he had the feeling something was wrong with that.

And there in the middle of the party, there was this young boy, supposed to be dancing and overflowing happiness around, sitting absolutely not enjoying himself, thinking of all the possible illness he could fake to get out of there sooner.

He was absently playing with his necktie as all the possible scenarios for each of the fake illness passed through his mind when a couple and a girl around his age, sadly familiar, was announced.

"Monsieur and Madame Thénardier, and their daughter, Eponine." He knew their names from a long time ago. They would attend to all of the palace events where not only royals were admitted. They had no nobility title, but were well-known and well-seen people, not to mention very rich.

"Allô!" He stammered to the girl, while his parents greeted hers, in that stupid way they had, like if they were incommensurably superior. Not that he liked the Thénardiers a bit, but that attitude couldn't stop annoying him.

"Bonsoir, Votre Majesté!" The Thénardier girl, Eponine, said making a cheesy reverence. He happened to hate being called Majesty and he happened to greatly detest that spoiled girl.

But he couldn't ignore the opportunity she meant for him in that moment. She could be the perfect excuse to leave his sit, and maybe if they danced, he could sneak out of the ball room to hide behind a statue and go to his room without being seen. Because he knew if he attempted to go directly to his room, someone, either his father or mother, would eventually avoid him to do so.

And that thought was the only one that drove him to grab Eponine's hand, kiss it, stand up and ask her if he could have that dance.

He noticed his mother noticing him, and he could almost feel her smile, as he would usually avoid talking to girls, to everyone really, but specially to girls. He also saw Eponine's excited smile, and her exaggerated nod, and the look she gave to her parents, and their proud look at the girl.

All Eponine could think back then was how she was going to endlessly brag around every girl at her school about the prince asking her to dance, and the jealous faces of every single girl. She also thought about how little Cosette's face would look when she told her she was with a prince while she was sweeping floors back at home.

They finally made it to the middle of the ball gown, where Eponine stopped, and so he did. A fast piece of music started sounding and they danced, and danced, and danced. More than what he had in mind, but every time the music stopped, it would suddenly start again, and every time he intended to let her go and get lost in the crowd, she would hold hard and keep going.

And meanwhile they danced, she would make a non-stop talk of… well, everything. She started pointing out how magnificent the party was, then she got through how handsome he looked in his suit (all he did was nod, which seemed to offend her, for he didn't make any comment of her dress), then she started talking about the guests, making him questions, him just shrugging. And then she started talking about herself, making her decide, that beyond doubt he didn't liked this girl.

"And I am the fastest reader of my class." She said, with a highly brag tone. She didn't noticed all the annoyed looks he gave to her, it seemed. "Can you read, prince? I bet you can, you're so smart. Maybe later we could read something together." The idea of doing that made him feel he had all the illnesses he intended to fake a little while ago. "Those flowers are so fantastic!" she said pointing to some decoration flowers, and he wondered if she would ever shut up, he thought that maybe if he said something she would stop talking for a little while.

"I like flowers." He randomly said, not sure if he liked them at all.

"Really? I love them! Today I happened to cut one from my garden, it's full of them, and this one was particularly pretty. It's a pity some street rat crushed me through the street and made me droop it. Those people are scrum; someone should seriously get rid of them." She said with a smile, full of herself.

And that seemed to be the only part of the conversation he actually heard, at least it was the only one that had weight in him. He suddenly felt how he really, really disliked this brat.

"How can you say that!?" He yelled, gaining an astonished look from Eponine, and stopping dancing with her.

"I just-" She tried to say something, but he interrupted.

"Something should get rid of bratty girls like you." He said, with all the heat in his heart. Her offended gasp didn't made any things better. The commotion seemed to have stopped everyone near them from dancing. And also put a confusion face on the Thénardiers, who had been watching everything from a corner but couldn't hear a thing. When they started walking to them, as well as the queen, the prince decided there was no point on trying to sneak out silently, so he walked straight to his room, leaving Eponine with the mouth opened and his mother calling for him.

When he entered in his room, he sat himself in his bed, waiting for someone to come in and yell at him about how what he said was offensive, and that he had to apology for everything. But for a long time, nobody came.

It was only late night when his governess knocked the door, and opened it slowly.

She didn't said anything, and just expected to hear the prince's excuse for his behavior. But when he looked at her, she knew she had to start speaking, since he was not going to say anything.

"What you said to that girl wasn't very nice, you know?" Of course he knew. But he also knew it was fair.

"She deserved it." He gave her with a gloomy look.

"Maybe she did. That's no reason for saying it anyway."

"Yes it is." He responded with a confused look. "She said someone should get rid of the poor people, and that's not true… Someone should get rid of girls like her instead." That last comment made the governess to raise a brow. "That comment wasn't nice from her, but it still doesn't justify you saying those kinds of things. You are a prince. "

"But the poor… she's not any better than them! She has no right to believe she is." He said frustrated.

That warmed the governess's heart. "You surely have a golden heart, your majesty" He growled at that word. "That will be a good thing once you are king."

After a long pause, he whispered "I don't wanna be a king."

"You may say that now, but you will have to."

"I don't want to be like mother and father. I really don't want to." He raised his face, and the governess could see a worried look on it.

"Why?" She dared to ask, not sure if she should expect an answer.

"I just… don't thinks it's good having that much more power than everyone else." He said, disquiet.

She thought a lot time what to say next. "Well, you, my young boy, will have to do something really great to change that." She said, not knowing she was lifting a flame within the kid that no one would ever be able to extinguish.

That night, the little boy wouldn't stop thinking about her governess's words. They were true. He had to do something. He couldn't expect things to change with him sitting in his pretty throne. He wouldn't stay there just watching. He was going to change the curse of things.

How, he took some more years to figure. But the meanwhile, he would hold on hard against everything their parents wanted. He was giving a pretty rough fight. What everyone thought was that he was just going thought a phase of a spoiled young prince that would change with time. He didn't care. And as he started to grow into a handsome young man, he finally began to take action on the matter.

He was finally going to change the world. It was the time, no more waiting. It was HIS time. He would come up with the tomorrow he knew people deserved, at last. There was a life about to start and he just couldn't wait to feel it there, behind him.

A/N: My first fanfic, hope you like it. I still have to figure out Enjolras's prince name. Ideas are welcome!

Please tell me what you think, good or bad. I don't own Les Mis.