The Exiled King's Guard

Chapter 22: Was There Any Hope?

Ashley POV

I awoke to the shrill sound of metal banging against metal.

“ WAKE UP! WAKE UP, PRISONER!” someone shouted too loudly, too close to me.

I jolted upright, adjusting my eyes to the light glaring in my face, held by who I assumed was the guard who woke me up. After overthinking for a couple of hours, I decided to conserve energy and sleep. I wasn’t sure if they were going to bring me food. And to be honest, I didn’t trust any food they gave me anyway, so I was going to eat only the bare minimum.

I looked at the guard again. He wasn’t very strong looking, my bet was I could take him in close combat, but there were people behind him, shrouded in shadows. All I could tell was that there was a man and a woman there. I needed to bide my time. Hopefully, I was about to get some information, though how much pain it would cause me, that remained to be seen.

The woman stepped forward, bringing her face into focus. I was awestruck, she had to be the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Dark hair, beautifully carved features and captivating eyes. A dungeon cell was the last place I expected to see someone like this. But she cleared my confusion as soon as she opened her mouth. Her voice was cold and measured with unconcealed threat, making alarm bells go off in my head. I thought King Reston was off, but this woman was downright dangerous. I couldn’t pinpoint why, but my gut feeling was strongly warning me against her.

“ You asked for a verdict from the Prince. He is here now. And he wants to tell you the same thing. Scum like you should receive a fate worse than a prison cell. But because of all your work for the better of the kingdom so far, we have agreed to have an investigation on you first before we decide on what punishment is suited for a sinner like you.” She said the last word like I was a disease and that if left in the open, I would destroy everything. That immediately annoyed me. This woman needed to be challenged.

“ Two things” I started. “ You say the prince is here, giving me this sentence, but I have yet to see him or hear his voice, unless he decided to turn into a woman yesterday. And this investigation you talk of, I can smell the farce from a mile away. I am not from here, nor have I worked with anyone here. There is no evidence supporting me here. It is my word against your crazy king’s. So –“

SLAP! The sound of the guard's hand hitting my cheek echoed through the cell. I tasted metal, and so it begins, I thought to myself.

“ You will not talk about the King this way!” the guard seethed at me. “And you will respect the Princess, for reasons unknown, she has decided to grace you with her presence. You will be showing her the respect she deserves!!”

Oh! Look what you just revealed! So she is a Princess. Thank you, you scum. I smiled sarcastically, looking from the guard to the princess, and spit the blood collecting in my mouth at her feet.

“Like this, you mean?” I challenged the guard. The guard stepped forward, unclasping the whip on this belt.

“Wait.” The princess interjected. “ Zach, honey, come here. Tell this filthy woman that everything I said is true and with your consent.” The man stepped forward into the light, and indeed it was Zach, but he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at the Princess. His expressions were akin to those of a lost puppy, and even his gait was different. He looked, deflated. The usual fire of his green eyes was completely absent. I was shocked to see him like this. And I was even more shocked when he murmured his assent to the decision. It was barely audible, but it was clear what he was saying, that he was agreeing with this vile woman and her father. This was a disaster! I had to make him see sense! He was relying on the wrong people. This father-daughter duo were sinister and unpredictable, they were playing a game I didn’t know about.

Ignoring everyone else, I looked at Zach, desperate to make him understand, “Zach.. please… don’t do this”, I said in a shaky voice. I was fast losing my composure and for once, I didn’t have a plan, I wasn’t scheming. I was asking for help, his help. A part of me was deeply humiliated for being so desperate. But the other, more self-preserving part knew that getting him back on my side was my best way out.

He looked at me blankly, like he didn’t even know me. Slowly, he put his arm around the princess who, I now noticed, was smirking at me, looking like she had just won an award. She leaned into him with ease, they looked like they had been together for years. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Tears threatened to make themselves known as I struggled to retain a passive face in response to this gesture. Of course, my stupid, stupid feelings had to resurface at the worst time. However I tried to justify my thoughts and actions to be for the kingdom, my feelings were somehow involved too. I was hurt and betrayed by him over and over again but my heart was taking its time letting him go.

I was so lost in containing myself that I barely registered what the princess said as they were leaving my cell.

“ I think fifty would be enough for now. We should ease her into it.” She said over her shoulder.

The guard promptly moved, proceeding to tie me up by my hands, putting the ropes into metal hoops he had activated in the ceiling. I didn’t struggle because I had been expecting this. My training started to kick in again. The more I acted like I had lost and had no fight left in me, the happier their s******c brain would be and the easier they would go. I needed to save my strength, because I WAS getting out of here.

I noticed that there was a lever outside the cell, a panel beside it told me it was concealed before, so there were hidden controls, which meant more options were available to me than an impenetrable wall, and the ceiling was suddenly a very interesting prospect. Zach and his princess were standing just beside it, waiting for the show, I thought wryly.

“Count, Prisoner!” the guard said menacingly. “We start over every time you miss.”

CRACK! “One!” I said loudly, as I felt the first lash leave its sting on my back.

CRACK! “Two”

CRACK! “Three”…..