Princey's Unexpected Journey

CHAPTER XII

I was brought to the Throne Room in chains and shackles. I was thrown to the ground in front my father and my sister, both who were sitting in their own thrones. My sister had made an attempt to stand up, but my father pushed her back down. "You cannot interact with him," he bellowed, "for he had committed acts that not even God can forgive."

"But, Father-"

"I have spoken, Miranda! You cannot interact with him. He doesn't even have the right to call you his sister. Leave him be. Let it go."

Miranda was on the verge of tears, and I was as well. I was her protector, her steady rock, and yet here I was, chained by my own kingdom. My father looked down at me with a certain look in his eyes. It was a look that he had always gotten when he was going to have a prisoner executed. I gulped as my father glared down at me.

"You, Manuel, are a disgrace to this family. You have brought dishonor on you, dishonor on the people of the Kingdom of Lin, but most importantly, dishonor on me. You committed acts of treason against the kingdom, against my laws, and against me! I cannot believe that you have done this, even after everything that I have done to raise you right! Who corrupted you into believing that homosexual relationships were acceptable? Why did you pursue the prince, even though you knew that it was illegal?"

I was silent for a moment. I was trying to come up with a response for my impatient father. I knew that I could not reason with him. That was an impossible feat to accomplish, especially with me on my death bed. Yet, in the midst of all of this chaos, one phrase came to my mind. One of my father's goddammed phrases came into my head. I looked up at him with determination in my eyes.

"Well, if you want something, you won't stop until you get it."

My father appeared to be shocked. I mean, "shocked" was an understatement, but nevertheless, he was shocked. I had used his quote, his own dammed quote against him. I smiled smugly as he started to turn red. He was about to implode.

"Did you. Just do. What I think you did?"

"Yes. Yes, I did. You have always used that damn quote against me, persuading me to find a female spouse. But King Joseph, I do not want a female spouse. I want a male spouse. This confession might be my downfall, but this is the truth. I knew about this ever since another kingdom came over when I was about thirteen. It was then when I realized that I did not have any particular interest in females.

"Coming back to the quote. You have always used that quote against me. You and that damn quote have been the things that have held me down for my entire life. And now, the tables have turned, haven't they? I have found that your quote can be used for anything, including my sexuality. So, before you use that quote again, you have better know its true protentional."

The king was dumbfounded. His eyes were widened and his mouth was ajar. He had seemed to be a deer that was trapped in the glow of a torch. He just looked at me with glossy eyes. I did not know what he was going to do next. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had killed me right then and there. The surprising thing would have been mercy on my life.

Yet, neither of those things happened.

"To the dungeon," the king yelled to the guards, "this man shall pay the price tomorrow at dawn. Send him away!" The guards picked me up and drug me to the dungeon, not allowing me to walk on my own. I took one last look at my family. The king was scorning me, while my sister burst into tears.

As I was taken to the dungeon, I reflected on the meeting that had just occurred. I honestly was not surprised that he had ordered to send me away and kill me tomorrow. That was what he had done with most of the prisoners. Well, most of them.

When I was about fourteen years old, my father had ordered for the ban on homosexual activity. There were many protests, most of which ended in either bloodshed or a plethora of trials.

One of those trials included a man by the name of Jonathan. No, he was not a prince. He was just a boy from the inner part of the kingdom. I cannot recall his last name for the life of me, but I do remember that it was a feminine name and that it had started with an L. The name was like, "Lilly," or "Lauren," or something like that. I remembered that his father was an asshole, but that's about it.

Anyways, the man was charged for "disrupting the peace" and "having homosexual relationships." The only thing that my father hated more than homosexual relationships was when someone rebelled and caused a protest or an uprising, so I knew that this man was going to die.

The man was brought into the Throne Room, just like I had been brought in. He was thrown onto the ground, and before the man had uttered a singular word, my father went up to him and sliced off his head with his sword. The entire room was covered in blood. I was petrified. It was at that moment when I had figured out that my father was a tyrant with thirst for suffering and blood.

What was the purpose of this story? Well, I knew that my fate would be similar to this mans. I would find myself with a sword swinging, cutting off my head. I would find my life ending within a blink of an eye. I would find myself not being able to say goodbye to Prince John, my John.

Oh, John. With my death, I would never be able to see his large smile or his blue eyes again. I would not be able to hold his hand or hug him. I wouldn't be able to see him again.

After coming back to reality after remembering the story and thinking about John, I found myself in a small prison cell at the end of the dungeon hallway. I was not allowed to communicate with anyone in the prison, and no one could communicate with me. The guards said that I would be escorted up the large stairs right before dawn. The sun had just begun to set.

Tomorrow seemed to be forever away.