The Prince’s Curse

CHAPTER 3

It was the night of the full moon, Logan saw his fingers elongate into claws, he was afraid and tried to control the situation. He locked himself inside his room so no one would see him, was Aiden right about transforming into a wolf completely on a full moon? He was deep in thought when he transformed into part human and part wolf, his nails had claws like that of a lion, his clothes tore completely, as his muscles expanded, the man wolf he transformed into had a beastly look, hairs were covered from his ear down to the tail, he had a unibrow, the long snout cringed, his ears were slightly pointed, ivory teeth appeared in his jaw. He was very aggressive, the man wolf he transformed was blood thirsty and it howl, it began trying to rip off the door to be freed, the guards that rushed to the door to see what was going on in the prince’s room got bitten some even dead, the palace was in complete chaos that night. This caused everyone to worry, how did the crown prince end up that way? The kingordered for the palace gates be closed so the prince will not escape, the soldiers were able to subdue him and he was locked up in the dungeon, with chains on his both hands, legs and neck. King Alfred warned everyone in the palace that the prince's current state should not be discussed at all or even known by anyone outside, the gates were shut, no one could come in or out of the palace. King Alfred was extremely worried, he ordered to see Aiden, and said to him, “why is the prince in that state? Whatever that thing is, it is definitely not my son, this can’t be happening to the crowned prince, what do I do, if the kingdom hear of this, I will not only lose my throne, I will be banished”. Aiden told king Alfred everything that happened on the night of the banquet and said he had been looking for the lady for some days now. The king gave an order to the knights that the lady must be found and brought to come and undo whatever she had done to the prince. The queen was weeping profusely, and wondered why Logan would abuse a woman, it made her more sad because she had asked the prince to choose a bride and he refused, if he was married this would not have happened. The king comforted the queen all night and promised her that he would do something about the situation at hand. Logan howl, snarl and was grunting all night, he tried to free himself but could not, he was so aggressive, the sounds he made kept everyone in the palace awake all night.

At dawn, everywhere in the palace quiet down, he had transformed back to his human form and completely weak from all the nights struggles, he fainted since his body was not used to exerting such strength, after about three hours, he woke up completely naked, Logan was completely clueless of what happened in the night, he was shocked to wake up in the dungeon, chained everywhere. He screamed out loud, “why am I down here, what is going on, how is it that I am completely naked?” About 20 soldiers troop into the dungeon to check on the prince, and he said, “can you people take me back to my room, what is going on?” Logan saw Aiden approaching him and he said, “why am I bound here?” Aiden thought he was fully aware of all the havoc he caused in the palace and just watch him from afar. He was being skeptical if to go close to him or him, he noticed all the bruise on his body was completely healed, he remembered one of the guards gave him a cut when they forced him to the dungeon. Aiden summoned courage and got close to his friend to talk to him, “my prince, you transformed into to a man wolf in the night, everybody is afraid of you now, three servants have lost their lives and seven guards are seriously wounded, you did all that, I’m yet to check on the wounded to know how they are doing in the royal clinic”. This gave prince Logan a sharp memory flash to the previous night, he wept profusely.

The king had given an order that he is not allowed out of the dungeon until something was done about his condition, the queen tried to convince the king to free him, she had asked the guards that took food and water to the prince how he was doing. Queen Rose was able to convince the king to free him, he was locked in his room, not allowed to leave his chambers. Aiden was still in search of the lady, he secretly left the palace against the king wishes, he really wanted to find her so bad, while he was out in the kingdom looking for this lady, Aiden saw the little beggar boy again and gave him some coins, he said to him, “do not worry, I will not take it from you even if you do not have information about the lady I am searching for, you said something the last time that I should go back to my prince and ask him what he did, how did you know?” Cyrus was eating a bread, he completely ignored Aiden his concentration was on the bread he was having, he looked at Aiden and said to him, “on the day of the banquet, I was at the back of the castle, where they dumb food and of course that day being a good day, there were plenty food to collect. A palace guard saw me and sent meout, I saw the guards throw a lady out and she was crying, I asked why she said the prince defiled her, and she cursed him, that sound funny to me and she said she is a demigod, three days from that day was her wedding, she has been locked inside since she was a little girl away from the world or interacting with people, she was being prepared for the man she was getting married to, she heard about the banquet and asked her servant to cover up for her so she could at least know how a ball felt like, she read a lot about it in books, if they found out her hymen was broken before her marriage it would be her end, the anger she felt deep down made her lay a curse on the wicked prince. Do not ask me any further questions that is all I know”, Aiden asked him, “if he did not at least get the girl name or know where she went to” Cyrus shook his head and Aiden walked away, Aiden begged him not to tell any other person and gave him more coins.

The day of another full moon came and the prince transformed again, this time he was more aggressive than he was the first time and was sent down to the dungeon, Aiden had found wolf’s bane and brought it to the palace, it was poured around the prince, it weakened him and he was a bit calm till morning. The next day the queen tried again to convince the king to free Logan but he refused and said he would remain locked up until he made a decision on what to do. King Alfred kept everything wrapped up in his palace but he knew it will not be for long before words get out, finding the girl had become hopeless, he was told Aiden was also looking for the girl, he asked him, Aiden had not found the girl, he gave the king the information he had gathered about the lady. The lady’s aunty was found but she too was not aware the girl whereabout.

Queen Rose was still insisting that the king should let Logan go to his chambers, the king said to her, “have you thought about it? What if we can’t subdue him again when he transforms? My queen, please let me be, I’m thinking of how to deal with the situation before the next meeting with the chamberlains of which the prince is supposed to attend, if they find out about the prince’s condition we are all finished”. The queen replied king Alfred, “My lord, are you concerned about the throne or the wellbeing of our son, I feel disappointed right now, we can lose everything but I want my son to be alive and well”, she started crying and walked away. King Alfred did not want to be dethroned, he wanted the royalty to be passed down to his son,the same way his father passed it down to him but now Logan has brought this upon himself, how will the crowned prince stay locked in a prison? He should not only think as a father but also as a king, he had other sons that were more responsible than Logan that could be better king in the future but he can’t give the role of a crown prince to any of his other sons when the crowned prince was alive. At this point all direction led to the king finally making a decision to kill prince Logan himself but only when he transforms into a man wolf. If he did that, his second son will be crowned and he will not be humiliated. He had to do something before the next general meeting with all the chamberlains. Or maybe he could say the prince is sick but they will question the royal physician, he doubt he will be able to stand the pressure and questions from the king’s men, he could even be tortured if he refuses to say anything about the prince’s condition and would eventually say. This thoughts crowded the kings mind day and night.