| Prologue |
| Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a king and a queen. King Randall and Queen Lynn were the happiest couple in Musicland, and all they wanted was a family of their own. One day, Queen Lynn came home and told King Randall she was pregnant. They were ecstatic, and nine months later, little Prince Justin was born. All was well in Musicland, until tragedy struck. King Randall was struck down with a terrible illness. Queen Lynn and Prince Justin did all they could to help him. They brought in all of the best doctors from all over the land, but none could help him. King Randall died one rainy Saturday morning, leaving all of money and possessions to his wife and son. Queen Lynn was heart broken. King Randall had been her first love, and now he was gone. On top of everything, she had no idea how to run a kingdom, and little Prince Justin was too young. Making the hardest decision she ever had to make, Queen Lynn decided to remarry. Prince Justin's new father and the new king, King Lou, was a terrible man. He ruled over the kingdom and his family with an iron fist. He raised the taxes several times, just so that he would have the newest clothes to wear. He ignored Queen Lynn, only marrying her so that he could become king, and he despised poor Prince Justin. King Lou had two sons of his own, Prince Kevin and Prince Nick, and he put them ahead of everyone else. He gave them the finest of clothing and the best food, leaving Prince Justin rags for clothing and the occasional scrap of food leftover from dinner. When Prince Justin was just fourteen years of age, Queen Lynn also passed away from an illness. King Lou saw this as an opportunity to shape Prince Justin up. He didn't throw him out of Musicland, because had loved Queen Lynn enough to promise to take care of him. Instead, he gave all of Prince Justin's most expensive clothing and possessions to Kevin and Nick. They made Justin clean up after them, wash their clothes, and serve them whenever they wanted. Prince Justin knew nothing else, so he did it all without complaining. Prince Justin was a very beautiful young man, with bright blue eyes and golden curls that sat atop his head like a halo. He also had the most beautiful voice in all of Musicland. This made Prince Kevin and Prince Nick very angry, for they were ugly and their voices were whiny when compared to their stepbrother. So, they did their very best to degrade him of all his self-esteem, telling him everyday how ugly he was. Prince Justin believed them, and said nothing back. They never called him Justin, instead choosing to refer to him as Timberella. The only thing they couldn't take away from him was his dreams. Everyday while feeding the animals and washing clothes in the river, Prince Justin would pray for someone to come and save him. ~*~ Around the same time, in Songland, little Prince Lance was growing up into a handsome young man. His unusually green eyes sparkled with all of the innocence a young man could possess, and his winning smile had both men and women falling all over him. His parents, King James and Queen Diane, were very pleased with this. They were getting older and desperately wanted Prince Lance to marry so that he could take over ruling the kingdom. Prince Lance, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with it all. He smiled politely at all the young women, even going as far as to date some of them to please his parents. He never went out with anyone more than once, giving his parents lame excuses like, "Her ears were too large" or "She talked too much." He soon became bored with all of the people in Songland, dreaming everyday of finding his one true love. |