Chapter Text
How to Build a Perfect Prince
by Her Royal Highness Princess Audrey of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Kingdom of Auroria, Daughter of the Dawn, Lady of Auradon
Proofer’s Draft
Foreword
by Her Royal Highness Princess Audrey of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Kingdom of Auroria, Daughter of the Dawn, Lady of Auradon
There are a lot of things a prince should be. Brave, honest, gentle. Dutiful, fair, a good tipper. He should keep his elbows off the table and offer an arm to any older woman in need.
But beyond the on-paper stuff, there is a certain sort of princeliness one must possess. I speak four languages, yet I couldn’t find a word better than that. A prince knows his place in the world from the day he is born, and it marks him with grace other men cannot possess.
Or so I’d been taught. Yet I have looked at the men of my generation and wondered if a real prince walks among them. Maybe everything had just been too easy for the children of heroes. Sure, they're good, but are any of them great?
I am. As a princess, I am perfect, unimpeachable, and I wouldn’t be peddling this little guide if I wasn’t. If anyone else tells you they possess similar expertise and you believe them, I’d like you to sell you a briar.
I will not go so far as to disavow birthrights anytime soon, but I am starting to think princes aren’t born but made. They need those crucibles of dragons and witches and, most important of all, princesses to turn them from spoiled boys to leaders of men.
It has taken a lot of work for me to turn my lump of clay into a real, bonified prince (Prince Ali of Agrabah, maybe you’ve heard of him). So, just in case I ever have to do it again, here’s some words of advice for future princely protégé.