The Footsteps to Freedom

Chapter 12

A few weeks passed and Alice was sitting in her room, going over some papers her father had given her. The papers contained some of the newest laws passed recently, and Alice was having a hard time understanding them. Frustrated, she threw the papers on her desk and sighed. They were all confusing, and some of them didn't make any sense to her. She decided to go ask her father and see if he could help her. Maybe if he told her the reason behind them they might make more sense. She grabbed the papers and went to the throne room, where she knew her father was. Without knocking, Alice threw the door open and said, "Father, some of these laws-" she stopped short. Her parents and Gregory were in the middle of a court session. The victim sat on the floor in the middle of the room and he was surrounded by guards. When Alice had opened the door, he looked up.

"Thomas!" Alice cried as she rushed towards him. The guards quickly blocked her way, but Alice squeezed her way through and slid onto the floor. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him. Because of his handcuffed arms, he couldn't hug her back. "Alice, I missed you so much!"

"I got all of your letters, but it wasn't enough. I needed to see you," she whispered. Almost immediately, two guards were on them, pulling Alice away. Alice tightened her grip on Thomas, struggling to hold on, but to no avail. Separated, two guards held Alice down. "Let me go!" She screamed, but they wouldn't do so. "Mother!"

"Alice, please stop," Queen Sophie said.

"Guards! Take him away! You know what to do," the king said. A guard nodded and he turned to Thomas. Thomas struggled, but four guards held him down and led him away.

"Thomas! Let him go!" Alice called. Finally freeing herself, she ran after Thomas and tried to grasp him, but the other guards caught up to her. Alice's tears streamed her face. "Please leave him alone! I beg you!" Alice sank to the ground, sobbing, as they led Thomas to the dungeon.  After he was gone, the guards helped Alice up and she let them lead her back to her parents.

"Why he is he here? What is going on?" Alice demanded an answer.

"Alice calm down," Queen Sophie said quickly.

"I will not calm down until I know exactly what is happening!" Alice cried.

"Alice, how did you manage to get these?" King Henry held up a handful of paper.

Alice's mouth dropped open. "Those are my letters. They were all addressed to me, so I have every right to them!"

"Gregory gave them to me a few days ago," the king informed her.

Alice stared at Gregory with a look that could kill. Gregory looked at her with a devilish grin. "Hiding them under your mattress was pretty obvious, don't you think?"

"Thomas came to the palace numerous times in attempt to see you. Besides sending you these letters of course," King Henry said. "Your mother went to his home personally & asked him to stop contacting you, but he wouldn't listen. She told him that he would be breaking the law, but he didn't care. To back up his statement, he tried to force his way in today so we had no choice but to arrest him."

"That isn't his fault! I was the one who asked him to keep writing me the letters," Alice said. "You cannot arrest him!"

"If it is what we must do, then we will. Remember Phillip," King Henry said.

"I don't care about Phillip! This is Thomas we are talking about. You have to let him go," Alice pleaded.

"I'm sorry Alice, but we are doing what is best for you," Queen Sophie said.

"What is best for me? Let's see how good this will be for me," Alice challenged as she walked out of the room. She went up to her room, despite her parents calling her back.