Chapter 5: The King in Chains 

Lucas POV

"Release me!" I screamed, still fighting against the guards dragging me deeper into the bowels of the castle. "I am your King! This is treason! I will have you all executed!"

I tried to call on my wolf, but I got nothing in response, just a cold feeling wrapping around my chest.

So the girl wasn’t just useless, but she also didn’t have a wolf and was weak too?

I dug my foot harder into the ground, determined not to be thrown into prison. “I said let me go! Did you hear me? I am your King and-“

"Sure you are, crazy girl," one of the guards laughed, shoving me hard toward an open cell. "Probably sign your own death warrant while you're at it."

They threw me inside and locked the iron gate behind me with a sound that made my stomach drop. The bars clanged shut like the end of the world.

“No!” I screamed, rushing towards the gate and pounding on it. “Release me! You’re making a big mistake! This body is not mine!”

I slammed my fists against the cold iron hard enough that my hands started to ache. The body I was trapped in was weak and nothing like the strength I was used to having.

It felt like being trapped inside a prison twice over.

"Shut up!" one of the other prisoners snapped, and I turned. It was a grizzled man with a scar running down his face. "You think screaming helps? Do you think anyone cares?"

I ignored him and kept pounding. “Are you there!? Is anyone listening to me!?”

I wasn’t going to give up so easily.  Because I was Lucas Thorne, and I had never, ever begged for anything in my entire life.

But it seemed that it was about to change.

"Your royal highness," another prisoner sneered, his voice dripping with mockery as he stepped closer.  "Look what we got ourselves. A crazy serving girl who thinks she's the King."

The other men laughed, while the women cowering in the far corner of the cell tried to make themselves invisible.

They didn’t even spare a glance my way, their arms wrapped around themselves while they trembled. I didn’t need to put two and two to figure out why they were like this. 

I felt anger ignite in my chest. Why was this a mixed prison? Why on earth were men and women locked together like animals? 

This was disgusting. It was a violation of every standard I had ever set for my kingdom. 

Who authorized this? Who allowed this abomination to exist?

I would have the answer to that question, and whoever was responsible would be hanged. But first, I had a more immediate problem.

The prisoner stepped even closer, reaching out with one grimy hand, and I realized with sick horror what he was about to do.

"Play nice, little girl," he whispered, his breath reeking of ale and decay, "and maybe I'll keep you safe from the others."

His hand touched me, and instinct took over. I slammed my fist straight into his nose.

“Get your fucking paws away from me!” I snarled.  

He went down hard, blood streaming out of his nose while he yowled in pain. For a moment, the whole cell went silent. 

“What are you waiting for?” The man growled, one hand clutching his bleeding nose. “Get the bitch.”

His friends charged at once, and I had to swallow down a groan. 

Now, I had never been in an actual fight before. I trained and sparred with the best warriors in my kingdom, but this was different. 

This was desperate and vicious, and my body was so damned weak I could barely move fast enough.

But I would not go down without a fight. 

So I dodged the first punch and sent my elbow backward into the second man's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. 

“You fucking wench.” The third one tried to grab my hair, and I twisted, driving my heel down on his foot and watching him crumple. 

My whole body screamed in protest; every movement was agony in this fragile prison I was stuck in, but adrenaline kept me moving.

When it was over, three men lay groaning on the ground, and I stood in the center of the cell, breathing hard and trembling with rage.

The women were staring at me like I had grown wings.

I didn't care. I went back to the iron bars, gripping them so hard my knuckles turned white, and I promised myself at that moment.

When I got my body back, I was going to kill that maid slowly and painfully. She was going to beg for death before I was done with her.

I dropped my head against the cold iron bars, a heavy lump beginning to gather in my chest. 

And that was when I heard the guards talking as they walked past my cell.

"Did you hear?" one of them said to the other. "The King broke his engagement to Lady Brandon."

The other guard snickered. “Yeah, the entire court is in ruins. I wonder what made him do that?”

My entire world stopped.

"What?" I called out, my voice cracking. "What did you just say?"

The guards ignored me and kept walking. I had no choice… I had to do the impossible. 

"No, wait!" I screamed, my composure completely shattering in a way it never had before. "Guards! Please! Tell me what happened!"

They kept going, and for the first time in my entire life, I begged.

"Please," I called out, my voice breaking. "I'm begging you. Tell me."

They finally stopped and turned back, surprise written all over their faces. My fingers were gripping the iron bars so hard that they had turned white, but I didn’t care. 

One of them shrugged and said, "The King ended his engagement to Lady Brandon. He just told her it was over, and had the guards throw her out. It’s a real nightmare now.”

My legs buckled beneath me.

I fell to the ground, but I couldn't even process what I just heard. The engagement was broken… and the Brandon family alliance was destroyed? 

What on earth was that stupid maid doing?

Rage exploded through me like a volcano finally erupting, and I screamed. My voice echoed through every corridor of the dungeon, loud enough that even the other prisoners flinched away.

"Damn you, maid!"