A Queen's Destiny

Chapter 2

"There she is!"  Clara heard the guards' pounding feet on the cold ground.  "Grab her!" Another soldier shouted.  Immediately, she was taken by the arm and jerked away from Tyan.  She watched in horror as Ty was tied up and lead away by two tall guards. "The King has been looking for you for hours!  I have orders to bring you home right away, Princess.  Now come and don't make a fuss."  Clara turned and walked behind the guard that had seized her.  As she trudged back to her home, knowing not to make any trouble, she thought about how this might have been the last time she would see Ty.  She had attempted to talk to her mother, the Queen, about love, not mentioning Tyan's name of course, but all she said was that Clara was too young to fall in love.  The only person that she could trust with the secret was her adopted sister, Jaria.  Years ago at a festival that a village was holding, the King had spotted Jaria out of the crowd of people selling goods and noticed that she had no parents, no home, and hardly any clothes on.  The King's earth had broken for her and he immediately loved her.  Soon after, the Queen, and the King agreed to take the girl home.  Clara remembered how confused she had been when a strange peasant girl hopped up into the royal carriage and sat beside her.  However, the confusion only lasted a second, for when Clara's peters told her what had happened, she and Jaria became instant best friends.  And so it's been for the past nine years.  Ball after ball, night after night of secret sharing had finally led the girls to be even closer than they were the first day they met.  Jaria trusted Clara with everything, and Clara trusted Jaria with everything. 
"Clara! Clara!"  Clara's head snapped up and she realized that she had followed the soldier into the castle and up the stairs to her bedroom that her and Jaria shared.  Before she knew it, she was sobbing in the arms of her sister, who was talking to her soothingly.  Clara hadn't even had to explain what happened, but Jaria understood.  Jaria held her sister until she was so exhausted that she couldn't cry anymore.  Jaria gently laid Clara's head back on her pillow and sang her to sleep.  All that night, Jaria, stayed by the bed of her heartbroken sister. 
The next morning, as soon as the sun came up, the Queen rushed into her daughter's room.  She sat on the edge of Clara's bed and held her hand until her eyes fluttered open.  Clara sat up and waited for her mother to be vexed and raise her voice at her, but all she did was pull her into a hug and say, "I can tell, from the report that the guards gave, he loves you and that you love him.  I want you to be happy so, if he is what you want I will accept it."  Clara pulled away from her mother and looked at her, stunned.  "What will father say?" She asked.  "Don't worry about your father.  I'll take care of him, but for now go down to the dungeons with you sister and see him."  Clara jumped out of bed and almost ran out of the door without putting on her dress, but her sister stopped her and gave her a pale blue dress.  Clara slipped into the dress as fast as she could and waited for her sister to finish getting ready before she walked down the hundreds of marble stairs. Upon arriving at the deepest of all of the dungeons, Clara heard a distressed moan which only made her quicken her pace toward the very last cell in the damp prison.  As she came to the cell, what she saw was a horror to her eyes.  There lifeless body of a young man who had been beaten and tortured lay in the center of the cell with the King standing over him.