The King’s Prisoner

Chapter 12

Adrian

I listened as Tori screamed my name. My heart ached at how scared she sounded. I couldn’t believe that prince David did that and my brother was working with him. Victor stood there with a victory smirk. I didn’t resist as they roughly pushed me away in cuffs, taking me down to the very dungeon that she was in. How did this happen? How did the roles reverse? My title was stripped for reasons I had no clue about. Drugs? I would never touch those things. Now I’m in this cold cell with no contact with anyone. Is this how she felt? Alone, isolated, emotionless. No wonder she begged me to kill her. I heard the sounds of footsteps and I looked up to meet my deceitful brother’s eyes.

“How could you do this to our family?”

“And what did I do? Tell the truth?” He asked sarcastically.

“Jasper, this has ruined everything! Our father and generations before has worked so hard-“

“Father was going to put those drugs on the streets. Why do you think he was outside of the kingdom in the first place?” He yelled. I couldn’t answer. I didn’t understand it myself. “How stupid are you really, big brother?”

“Why didn’t I know about this, I could’ve done damage control. We could’ve got dad some help.” I stood and walked towards the cell door.

“Because my plan wouldn’t have worked,” he smiled, unfazed by what just happened. He seemed proud of himself.

“What?” He’s framing me for dad’s bad choices. I had no clue, yet I lost everything.

“That’s right, big brother. Now that you’re out of the way, I can become the King that Adenville needs.” The crown. He did this for title and crown!

“But Tori is queen. How will that work?”

“Ahhh, yes the beautiful little prisoner turned royalty. Since you’re going to be sentenced to death, I will take her as my bride.” I squinted my eyes at him. He better not touch her. I don’t know what came over me. My body shook with the thought of him taking her as his bride. This man was no longer my brother. He was my enemy.

“She would never agree to it,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure about that. She married me for her freedom and now in a way she actually has it. She has no reason to stick around, but Jasper won’t let her off that easily. I see that now.

“With the right offer, she will,” he laughed. “Well brother, I would love to stay and chat, but I have to complete the next part of my plan.” I wanted to ask about his plan but instead, I let him walk away.

The candles of the stairway burned out leaving it completely dark down here. I tried to close my eyes, but all I see is the horrific scene play out again. Tori was screaming and reaching for me. While Prince David took all of the credit of exposing my family’s dark secret. I questioned everything that happened and I was now sure that Tori was indeed innocent. Somebody else within this castle killed my father and I’m determined to find out who, but first, I need to plan my escape.

*****

~Tori~

“Y-you!” I crawled back away from him but he quickly fell upon me. He took a deep breath inhaling my scent.

“Ahhh, I have to say, my queen, that you smell so good. I can’t wait to ruin you and get my revenge for what you did.”

He hands were rubbing my side as he gripped my shirt and roughly pulled it over my head. I was kicking, screaming, and biting and nothing seems to faze him. He grabbed both of my hands and held them above my head. He leaned in smelled my neck before kissing it.

“Mmmm.”

“Get off of me!” I grunted as I tried to push him off of me with my hips. That seemed to only entice him. Somehow, one of my hands got free and I used all the strength I had to make a fist and connect it to his jaw. That made him angry and he pulled out a dark metal weapon and quickly pulled hair causing me to scream and open my mouth. He c****d his gun back and shoved it into my mouth.

“Do you something like that again, I’ll pull this trigger.”

I froze, as tears fell from my eye. I was scared that he would actually kill me. He used his free hand and trailed it down my waist and squeezed it. I tried to move but with his heavy body on me, it was really hard. He reached for the button of my pants as he pressed all of his weight on me. I couldn’t move, I had no choice. I was trying to move the gun from my mouth. He looked deeply into my eyes.

“There..There. I love it when they fear me,” he whispered. I needed to do something, but I had no clue what he was capable of. He had the advantage right now. No emotion, no regret, or light showed in his eyes. He was going to kill me after he get whatever he wanted from me.

Sporadically, the door opened and one minute Victor looked up and the next, he was on the floor bleeding. The gun fell out of my mouth. It happened so fast and I didn’t even hear a sound, but Jasper was here putting his gun into his pants. I scrambled to my feet and looked down at Victor lying on floor. He wasn’t breathing and his eyes were empty. He was dead. I quickly grabbed his gun and pointed it at Jasper in fear that he was going to kill me next. He stepped closer, but still keeping his distance. I didn’t forget what he did to Adrian. He put his hands up. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“What do you want?” I asked through clenched teeth. I didn’t know what his intentions were with me.

“Is that how you treat the person that just saved you?” He asked.

I scoffed. “Oh please, you’re far from a hero, Jasper. You just betrayed your own flesh and blood.” I walked back, still aiming the gun at him. My hands were shaky.

“My queen, I only want to help you. I had to betray Adrian or at least make it seem that way.”

I frowned, confused by statement. “W-what do you mean?”

“Prince David, of Fenwick. Our families have been rivals for years. They always wanted to take over Adenville so that they able to rule both Kingdoms. My father and his father agreed to a peace treaty, one that was broken the moment Victor got into David’s ear. David wants nothing but the crown and I can’t allow that.”

Ironically, a part of me believe him. I needed to know more, though. I needed to know how I got caught in the crossfire of this mess. I needed information to help Adrian. “So now what? Adrian was king and you got him stripped from that title.”

“Now, we get rid of David. If you help me become king, I will set you free. You can go back to work and love your life as you were before.”

I was feeling conflicted. Jasper offered me my freedom, something I wanted since I’ve been here. The whole reason for my marriage to Adrian was for my freedom, but it was only in the Kingdom. I should be jumping at the opportunity to help him, but that nagging feeling of Adrian dying didn’t sit right with me. I’m a nurse, I save lives. Besides, Adrian has protected me from Victor. We have grown close to the point that I’m starting to care for him. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I wasn’t going to leave him to suffer something he didn’t do. Then, there was Catherine’s proposition. To have the official coronation and be the queen of Adenville.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jasper said interrupting my thoughts. “Since this is your wedding day, as a gift, I will let you think about it. Your family is in the room down the hall. They’re waiting for you. Spend your time with them and tomorrow we will discuss this more.”

I nodded my head. I kept the gun pointed at him. I can only trust him as far as I can throw him and that wasn’t very far. I maneuvered around him and left him to deal with Victor.