Loving a Thief

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

I ate my food and then read the book Henry gave me. It was full of fairy-tales. I took a nap after I read at least fifteen fairy-tales. I dreamt of being the princess locked away in a tower, and a prince would come and rescue me. I dreamt that Henry was the prince, and Sir Walter was the dragon that was killed.

I spent the rest of the day waiting for someone to come for me, I read my book, and reread it again and again. The sky finally became dark and my eyes started to droop. My stomach growled from not eating lunch and dinner. I resolved to go to bed. There was nothing else to do.

* * *

I woke up to the door flying open and Sir Walter with some guards walking into my bedroom. I was wearing my nightgown so I quickly pulled the covers up to my chin.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Princess Arianna, you are being arrested for, thieving, treason, and murder,” said Sir Walter.

“What are you talking about?” I demanded, my eyes grew wide in bewilderment.

No one answered me. They pulled me out of my bed and shackled my wrist. My nightgown fell half way down my shoulder. Servants and guests looked out their doors at the commotion we were making.

“What are you doing?” asked Cooper as he stepped out of his room.

“Princess Arianna is being arrested,” answered one of the guards.

Cooper threw a punch at one of the guards. He barely nicked the man’s chin. The guard returned the punch and hit Cooper’s eye. Sir Walter grabbed Cooper’s arms and held them behind his back.

“Stop or I’ll have to arrest you too,” threatened Sir Walter.

“So be it,” Cooper replied. He brought his leg up and kicked Sir Walter in the groin. Then he elbowed him in the stomach and threw another punch at a guard. A different guard came behind Cooper and put shackles on his wrists as well.

“Cooper! No don’t take him!” protested Amelia.

“What has Arianna done that makes her deserve prison?” asked Jasmine.

“She is accused of thievery, treason against the crown, and murdering her own father,” answered Sir Walter.

“Jasmine, don’t worry about me. Just keep your guard up and stay close to Prince Garrett whenever you can,” I said as I was pulled away from the chaos.

“I’ll be alright, Amelia. Don’t worry about us. I’ll look after Arianna. Don’t worry,” said Cooper as he followed.

We stayed silent. I stared at the back of Sir Walter’s head. I hate him. Sir Walter held a torch in one hand to provide a little light as we walked down to the dungeon. He lead us down a long corridor, and then down a flight of stairs. I have never been down this far, it was forbidden for a princess to go to the dungeon. I had to walk two steps to keep up with every one of the guards’ strides. My bare feet grew cold as we walked. The stairs were getting colder the farther we went down. My lungs started to hurt from breathing the cold air.

We finally reached he bottom of the stairs and then took a sharp left. A guard bumped me into the corner as I walked past it. I stifled a groan. We walked a few more yards until we reached a door guarded by four men.

“I have two more prisoners. Let me in,” commanded Sir Walter.

The guards opened the small door and stared at me with sympathy in their eyes. Only one of the guards had a malicious smile, and evil in his eyes. I immediately felt smaller. We walked through the doorway and I looked around. There was barely any light and four hallways with cells on each side. I looked at the prisoners that occupied the cells. Their hair was tangled and dirty, their beards overgrown and knotted, their clothes were almost see through with lots of holes and tears, and I could see almost every bone in their bodies. The smell was the worst thing. The odor in the room smelled like perspiration, blood, and other fluids. It sickened me. Bile rose up into my mouth and I swallowed. I looked closer at the prisoners. ‘The tax collectors!,’ I thought. Sir Walter stopped at an empty cell. He unlocked padlock and opened the door. He grabbed my shackles and pushed me in. I fell hard to the ground and groaned.