Chapter 9
1983 Words
“What happened to you?” asked Rocco, as Roman stormed into the throne room holding his face. Roman sneered as his father grabbed a towel.
“My mistake,” he said, as he blotted his bloody lip.
“Did that girl do that to you?” his father asked, as he laughed, and Roman rolled his eyes.
“She has some pretty skilled tricks,” he said in his defense.
“Don’t tell me you actually believe that she has magical powers. Son, she is not the missing princess,” Rocco assured him.
Roman looked at his father in question. He wasn’t so sure that his father was correct. Rocco looked at his son with care.
“You are unstoppable. There isn’t a creature on this land that can defeat you. Don’t let the fact that she is a girl and may have a few tricks up her sleeve worry your mind,” Roman only nodded, and Rocco looked at him thoughtfully.
“Or is it the fact that you fancy her?" asked Rocco, as he raised an eyebrow.
Roman looked at his father for a moment as he shrugged, and his father chuckled.
"Roman, you have plenty of women who would make a nice suitor for you,” Roman gave his father a stern look.
“We have been through this. I don’t want a suitor, or even a mate!” Roman growled in a low tone.
Rocco sighed. Roman didn’t care about popularity, even though he had it. Don’t get it twisted, he liked the fact that anyone who was anyone was at his disposal, but his main focus was on his championship and continuing to retain it.
Women were not a big factor in his life, thanks to his father’s beatings and keeping Roman from doing anything other than training. Rocco put his hands up as if to surrender.
“Okay, okay,” he said, and Roman threw the towel back on the rack as he looked at his father.
“Well, I am going to go train for tomorrow’s fight,” Roman said, and Rocco nodded.
He could admit, he had turned his son into one arrogant beast, and he was proud of it.
***********************
Slowly, Ashta slid the box of food under her bed and sat down on the mattress. Suddenly, she heard the dungeon door slam and two guards dragged Lashanna back to her cell. Her clothes were shredded, and there were purplish bruises and scrapes on her exposed skin. They put Lashanna back in her cell and Ashta ran to her door.
“What did you do to her?” Ashta snarled at the guards, and they cautiously backed against the wall as they passed.
“We didn’t do anything! That human belongs to Kralom,” said one of the guards nervously.
Angrily, Ashta snarled at the guards again, and they quickly ran out of the dungeon.
“Lashanna, what happened?” Ashta asked seriously, as she heard her friend sniffle.
“The same thing that happens every time they take me. Kralom and his friends…”
Sadly, she trailed off and began to sob. Anger rose in Ashta’s veins. Lashanna didn’t have to explain any further. She knew what they did to her friend.
“Is that why they put me down here?”
“I don’t know,” Lashanna cried, and Ashta angrily growled.
“Are you one of them?” Lashanna asked.
“No, I am something else, something they will wish they never messed with,” Ashta growled.
“Lashanna, I am going to get us out of here!” stated Ashta.
“I just want to go to sleep,” she said quietly.
“Okay, we will talk when you wake up,” said Ashta, and then the air went silent.
Sadly, Ashta’s heart hurt for her friend. She didn’t deserve this, and she was going to make that disgusting guard pay for his horrific actions.
“Okay,” Lashanna whispered, and then the air was silent after that and Ashta lay down on her bed. Dreamless, she fell asleep.
**********************
“Come on girl, wake up!” shouted a guard, and Ashta slowly opened her eyes.
“Is this the one?” asked another guard.
“Yes, she is it.”
The guard opened Ashta’s cell door, and she scrambled to the end of her bed, frightened.
“Come on. We aren’t going to hurt you,” said one of the guards, as he reached out his hand.
Ashta gave the guard a scared look as she looked at him. He was tall, handsome, and muscular with creamy white skin, and long sandy blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.
“My name is Rid,” he said gently, and Ashta swallowed hard.
“Just grab her and come on,” said the other guard.
She didn’t want them to grab her and drag her out of her cell like Kralom did to Lashanna, so she cautiously took the man’s hand and crawled off of the bed.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Rid asked gently.
Gently, he led her out of the cell, and they walked up a stone flight of steps and out of the dungeon. Surprisingly, the guards didn’t push or try to grab her as they walked through the massive hallway with white, creamy marble floors. Ashta realized she was inside a castle as she looked around.
Rid led her into a large bedroom, with a wide, four-wooden-post bed, a dresser and a sitting sofa inside. The bedspread was cream-colored with red-accented pillows, and the sofa seemed to portray the same color scheme. Ashta looked at Rid and pulled her hand away quickly. He smiled at her as two maids walked into the room.
After a moment, the guards nodded and Rid left the room with them. A few moments later, a funny-looking man walked into the room. He was about Ashta’s height, with long blue dreadlocks, and he wore silver eyeliner under his eyes.
“Hello, I am Shane. I am here to get you ready for tonight’s fight,” the man said, and Ashta looked at him, puzzled.
Shane looked at her thoughtfully and then sighed.
“Do you know why you are here?” he asked, and Ashta shook her head.
“Here, why don’t we take a seat? I can not believe that no one told you.”
Ashta and Shane took a seat on the sofa, and Shane explained how the king had his own personal fight club show and that the prince was the champion. The queen had arranged for Ashta to be put in the arena with the prince as punishment for claiming that she was the missing princess. Not only did the fight club have live fans that attended every event, but they also televised the show across the land.
“It is a reminder to anyone what would happen if anyone rebelled at the new kingdom order that was made over the land. Champions from all over the land come to challenge the prince. I am sorry that you have to go through this. The prince is a nasty, arrogant creature, who stops at nothing to win,” explained Shane.
“Why is he so mean?” Ashta asked curiously.
Shane looked at her and sighed a heavy sigh.
“His father beat him when he was just a child, tortured him. The prince once believed in unity, but his father and the queen took all the goodness from him. They treated him like he was a creature instead of a child.”
Sadly, Ashta nodded.
No wonder he acted like he did down in the dungeon, Ashta thought, as she began to feel bad for the prince.
“Well, maybe I can change his mind. There has to be a little good left in him somewhere,” she said optimistically, and Shane shook his head.
“He is not good,” Shane said quickly, as he shook his head sadly.
Ashta sighed and then looked at Shane as she stood up and faced the man.
“Well, Shane. My name is Ashta, and I am the missing princess,” she stated frankly, and he looked up at her in shock.
“My dear, I am afraid you are mistaken. To be the missing princess, you must know how to influence the magical elements and figure out what the fifth symbol means, then you can stake your claim,” said Shane seriously.
“Like this?”
At that moment, Ashta put her arms out and made a series of fluid-like movements. As Ashta moved fluently, she created a ball with her hands and a tiny flame appeared inside. Shockingly, Shane watched her as a small stream circled the flame and a tiny tornado formed around the elements. The earth quaked as she continued to dance and Shane looked at her in amazement. Quickly, the earth shaking came to a halt and the tiny ball of elements disappeared. Shane stared at Ashta with tears in his eyes.
“Now do you believe me?” she asked, as she smiled softly.
“You are the missing princess!” he said in awe, as he stared at her.
She nodded to him, and he smiled a toothy grin at her.
“Okay, now it is time to make you camera ready,” he said with misty eyes, and Ashta nodded.
The maids had Ashta shower, and they dressed her in tight-fitting black pants, a pair of black combat boots, and a skin-tight sleeveless shirt. Ashta scowled as the maids brushed and braided her long hair down her back. After that, the maids tried to put makeup on her face, but she refused and swatted their hands away. Seemingly, Shane and Ashta talked throughout the process of the maids torturing her.
“So what is this prince's name?” Ashta asked curiously, and Shane looked at her.
“Roman,” he said, and Ashta looked at him in surprise.
“Oh, that is just great!” Ashta mumbled under her breath.
“Do you know him?” Shane asked, as he looked her over, and Ashta looked up at him with a worried look.
“I kind of busted his face open,” she said uneasily, and to her surprise, Shane snickered.
“You did?” he asked, as a smile played at the end of his lips, and Ashta nodded.
She explained to him what had happened down in the dungeon, and Shane laughed a hearty laugh.
“Well, I believe that sometimes people need to be knocked off of their high horse every once in a while, including him,” Shane said, and Ashta laughed hard.
“Between you and me, I hope you really knock him off of his high horse in the arena.”
Ashta sighed at his comment. Seemingly, she knew Roman had gotten angry over her slamming his face into the cell door, and that he was going to use that against her.
“I can’t believe that they are making you do this!” Shane said loudly, disrupting Ashta from her thoughts.
“What?” Ashta asked, startled.
“This fight. Why doesn’t the queen just let you show her what you can do? You don’t deserve this!” he said, disgusted.
Ashta looked at him confidently and she smiled.
“Don’t worry, I will be fine. I am going to have to show everyone in the arena,” she said with courage, and he looked up at her with an unsure look.
“I hope it works. Come on, let’s eat,” he said, as he waved to the maids.
Quickly, the two maids left and returned with two platters on a rolling cart. Shane and Ashta continued their conversation while they enjoyed their fresh, hot meal.
- Writer
