Forlot - Books 7-9

Chapter Eleven

The last couple of days were like a war zone for me. I was stripped of the freedom that was given by Grand Wolf and the tribe and became the dull princess that I was once again.

Mom and Dad ordered a couple of servants, the ones who helped me get dressed because I apparently was unable to do it on my own, to put me in my special outfit. And gosh. The outfit was anything but special.

During my absence, my parents had asked an old man to create the perfect dress for me so that I could wear it when I returned home. The old man was an excellent designer for creating clothes. He was poor, and my parents offered him a lot of money, about a hundred gold bars. Astonished, the old man agreed to make the dress and was finished with it in less than a week.

Mom and Dad loved the dress so much and thought that it would look good on me. Boy, were they wrong.

I had seen the dress so many times that I started having nightmares about it! One dream that I had was of me running away from the castle. Running away from my duties as a princess and heading to my real home. In the woods with Triste, Grand Wolf, and the others. But as soon as I was out of the castle, lo and behold. The dress was floating right behind me, its sleeves reaching out to grab me.

I let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed throughout as I kicked up speed. But it was no use. The dress was faster. And just as I was getting close to the woods, the dress swarmed around me, forced me to put it on, and dragged me back to the castle.

Scary stuff.

I would always awaken from the nightmares and cry. They seemed so real. They felt...more realistic than real life.

Despite explaining the terror nightmares to them, Mom and Dad did not think that the dress was a problem and told me to wear the dress at all times except at night. If I did not and wore another dress in place of it, they would have the two servants put it on me.

Where was my freedom? Where were my rights?

That was the problem. I had none.

I had to wear a white dress that did not even fit me with big, colorful flowers on the front. Some of the flowers on top covered part of my face and tickled my nose. I would always sneeze, and my parents would get mad at me. But it was not my fault. It was the dang dress!

There was supposedly an important event happening the third day that I was there. An event that required all the kings, queens, princes, and princesses to attend. In other words, I had to go.

The night before, I woke up from another inducing nightmare. After I took a minute to cry, I frowned and slammed my fist on my bed. I hated this life. I hated being a tool and nothing more. I was not happy here. I was better off with the wolves. They were more human than the humans in the kingdom!

You are probably saying, "Maria, why did you not escape the first day that you arrived there?"

Did you not think that I tried?

When I had returned, security became tight. Bars on the windows. Metal doors with passwords. Passwords that only my parents and the guards knew. No longer did the castle feel like a prison. It was an actual prison now, and I was the inmate.

However, there was one thing, one person, that they did not think of keeping out, and that was my friend who would soon become my best friend Tabceo.

For a bird, she was a good size. Not too big. Not too small. On my first day that I was trapped within the castle, Tabceo visited me. She perched on one of the bars of the window and tweeted to me, letting me know that she was there.

I bet that you can imagine how happy I was to see her. I ran up to the window and was about to give her a hug, but decided not to in fear that I would squish her.

Tabceo then told me about the wolves. How they were doing and all that.

"Triste has not been doing so hot," she explained. "Since Lucas stole you from us, Triste has not been eating."

I was so sad. "Oh, dear."

"He is not the same without you."

That is when I came up with the brilliant idea of me and the wolves sending letters to each other, and Tabceo would be the messenger.

On the second night, I received a letter from Grand Wolf. He did not say much. Just that he and the other wolves loved me and that they were already coming up with a plan to bring me back. I felt as if my heart shattered into pieces.

I was not a princess. Nope. I was a prisoner.

After waking up from my nightmare, I came to a realization that I would never go back to the wolves. It was impossible for me to escape.

I looked up from my bed, and there it was. There was the dress. It was on a mannequin, and the mannequin was in the corner of my room.

I shuddered. I was not so fond of mannequins.

I stared at the dress for what felt like an eternity and got out of bed. I strolled up to the mannequin, yanked the dress off of it, and proceeded to rip the dress to shreds.

When the deed was done, when the dress became nothing but pieces, I fell to my knees and sobbed.

I wanted out.

And I was going to get out. Just not in the way that I expected.