Destiny Love

Chapter 3

I put the letter in an envelope, sealed it and gave it to one of the maids. I then decided to go out riding. I hadn't ridden for the past few days and had really missed it; usually I went out riding every day.

When I came back from my ride I was surprised to find my father, waiting for me. He stood up as soon as I entered the palace.
"Curtis, Toritian troops are marching into Penn. How is this possible? I thought there would be peace between us!" My father boomed.
"According to the peace treaty, Toritian troops have the right to be in the country. As long as Torit is not expanding their army."
"Why did you agree to that?" My father was furious. "Now Torit can attack any time and we will not be able to fight back."
"We can send troops to Torit, father." I said softly.
"We need our troops to protect our other borders! The Toritian army was bigger than ours even before the peace treaty!" I had been trapped. I had agreed that the Toritian troops would be allowed to be here and that neither of us would expand our armies. But I had not known that the Toritian army would be bigger than ours in the first place.
"Oh no." I whispered softly. "He trapped me."
"Yes, he did! And you were stupid enough to let yourself be trapped!" My father marched out of the room. I was stunned. How had I not seen this coming? I was right about Gawis after all. I had doubted my decision about him the past few days but now I was sure that I had been right. All he had wanted was to make me agree to the Peace Treaty and he had succeeded. Luckily I could say that he had not used his charms to make me agree. No, I suddenly realized, I was stupid enough by myself to agree to it. He hadn't even needed to seduce me.

I was extremely frustrated, with Gawis, his father, my father, but most of all with me. I spent the rest of the day pacing around the room wondering what I could do. I hated the thought that he had outsmarted me. Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. I went to open it myself. It was the prime-minister.
"Curtis," He said with a serious expression on his face. "I think it is better if you go away for a while. Your father does not wish to see you."
"What?" I asked shocked. "I do not believe you." I wanted to walk around him towards my father.
"No Curtis, you will not go to see your father. You will pack your things and go to Manit for a month." I looked at him, saw in his eyes that he was amused at my reaction. I was furious. Who did he think he was? My mother would tell me this if my father really did not want to see me.
"I don't believe you." I repeated.
"I don't care. Your things are already packed and your carriage is ready. Go now."
"I will not go without saying goodbye to my parents."
"We'll see about that." He said and pushed me out of the room. Two guards grabbed me. I wanted to scream but could not because they had my mouth covered. Was I being kidnapped by the prime-minister? I wondered. I was pushed into the carriage and the driver rode off. The prime minister went inside with an evil smile on his face. At that moment I was sure I was being kidnapped.

We rode the whole day and the whole day I was begging the driver to let me out. We stopped at a restaurant so that I could use the restroom and get something to drink. I decided that this was my perfect escape plan. If the bathroom had a window. I walked towards the bathroom, hoping, praying that it did have a window. When I entered the bathroom I was flooded by a wave of disappointment. The only window there was too small to exit. Suddenly I realized that I had been smart enough to take the make-up case from the carriage. I had told the driver that a prince always needed to look his best. I took the lipstick out of the case and climbed on the toilet seat.
"HELP ME! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED BY THE PRIME MINISTER. PRINCE CURTIS." I wondered if anybody would believe me but at least it was a cry for help. I opened the bathroom expectantly; maybe the driver was too far away to see me. But he was standing right outside the door. He gave me an icy cold glare and then pushed me back towards the carriage. It felt horrible to be back in the carriage, bumping up and down, only being able to stare at the unknown. There was no landmark that I recognized and the driver didn't say a word. I sat there for another three hours, looking out the window, wondering where we were going. And for the first time that day I felt hopeless. Tears spilled down my cheeks. I did not want to cry, I wanted to be brave so that I would be able to face being somewhere without anybody I knew and with no idea what would happen in my future. I sighed.