Chapter 6

DOUGLAS POV

My heart is broken as the guards lead me out of luxury, my rights as the wolf prince and privileges of a future king to the dungeon as Pandora ordered. I have no say in this case and I don't know what would happen to my love, Nancy. She's my world, life and everything. I don't know if I would ever get to see her again. Now my world comes crumbling, would it ever bounce back?

Today I had woken up to a bright day, hoping to be successful in my quest when I got to meet my father, little did I know that I'd be in such a condition. A tear stream down my face and I quickly wiped it off with the back of my palms.

The guards lead me to their hilux van at the edge of the lane that leads from the castle to the field. One of them is already opening the back door for me to get in. Few hours ago, I was the respected prince, but now a cared-less-about prisoner with a bleak future. 

This might be the last time I'll ever set my eyes on this beautiful place I'd always called home even after mom died and my father remarried. I turned around to have one final look at the magnificent palace, a sigh of disappointment and betrayal escaped my mouth. I recalled what mom said to me the very last time I set my eyes on her before her mysterious disappearance and death claim, "Don't worry Douglas, you'll be king one day!" For some times I'd been hoping in this until now when I'm not even sure of surviving till the next day. So many thoughts crowd my mind as I stand here helpless until one of the security personnel used his whip and whipped me on my ass.

Ahhh! What an embarrassment. "Why're you treating me this way? Do you know I'm still the Prince to you guys?" I protested in an angry tone with fury in my eyes. 

"You're no prince to us but our prisoner. The queen who has more authority than you commands us to take you as prisoner away and that we must do. You have no say!" His last words came in a mocking tone. He didn't finish his speech when he took out a handcuff from the side of his trousers and forced my wrists into it. I was more than pissed.

"Why would Pandora dare to do such a thing to me?" I asked myself. "What have I done to her?" These were personal questions I asked deserving answers but no answers came at the moment. I looked up and it was far away, looked down, the earth seemed to be very distant as well. I was alone in my fight with no one to help me.

I wish the moon goddess would take pity on me and save me from my misery. She's the only one I have at the moment. My mom is long dead and gone. I remember how I had woken up in the morning only to hear that my mom was missing in her room, I felt like dying that day to go meet her wherever she was. The day before was the last time I'd set eyes on her. The memories can never be erased from my mind, it would never. After I lost her, the next person I'd set my hope on, someone I could trust and cherish for the rest of my life was Nancy, a girl I met on one of my princely visits to town. After falling in love with her, I discovered she was from a very poor family and I decided to take her home, to the palace and take good care of her. I promised her that one day she'd be queen and it's because of her, I tried so hard to make my father agree to place me on the throne.

All my hopes and wishes are long gone, nothing to remember except the scraps of my broken life, broken pieces which would never be mended.

"Come along," the guard standing by the door says to me. Among the guards arresting me, he seems to be the only one that has some sympathy towards me. The way he looks at me shows he possesses a heart and conscience, not like the wicked Pandora who seems to be without even a soul.

I walked quietly into the waiting hilux, my hand in front as it's handcuffed. I stepped into the car and the guards all get in with the sympathetic guard sitting beside me. Just as when the driver is about oning the car engine, another guard comes running towards us. 

What's wrong again? I ask myself. This misery I'm already in isn't enough that I should have another bad news added to it. I'm sure it must be bad news. 

"Heyyy," he waved to catch the attention of the driver who was about to zoom off. "A word from the queen!" Immediately he mentioned the queen, my heart dropped. In any other case, an individual in my situation would be thinking of pardon but I wasn't. Nothing good could come from the queen, she has proven herself to be all-bad over the years she has lived in the palace. 

"What's that?" The guard on the driver seat asks fearfully. Everything about the queen, her appearance, instructions, in fact the very sight of her emanates fear in her subjects. 

We all stare at this guard waiting to hear the next verdict. "Prince Douglas should be locked up in a separate cell, farther from the others. Must be fed only once in a day and no visitor must be permitted to visit him." My breath seemed to fade slowly away with every word the guard spoke.

No food! How would I survive with food only once a day? It was the same as not being given food at all and I wasn't sure what type of food they'd even give to me. No visitor allowed? This broke my heart, not even my father cared to save me from this miserable situation. Had he forgotten I was his son? He has let Pandora take away his authority and everything in his power, even his family. 

Who cares? Perhaps I'm gonna die with no one to even have by my side as my last breath fades away. What would become of me in the royal dungeon I'm being sent to, the most dreaded prison in the wolf world?