The adrenaline has worn off in Jasper's carriage riding back to the castle. I'm not sure where Emmet's gone, but Jasper has refused to talk to me the entire ride back.
Only when we're exiting does he finally turn back. "I can't help you out of this one, Isabella."
This only furthers my anger at him. "Help me out? When have you ever helped me out of anything?"
He abruptly turns, getting in my face. "I have done more for you than you will ever know. You think the things our father was doing to you were bad? They were, I won't deny that. But the number of times I've stopped him from doing worse, the number of times I've taken his attention off of you…I don't think you'll ever know the full extent."
"You never told me."
"Because it's a shit excuse for not doing more," Jasper says, and for the first time since our mom died, I see a glimpse of the little boy he used to be, before it felt like he was fully under our father's influence. It only lasts a second though, because the anger is back on his face in a flash. "But this time, you fucked up."
"Jasper, it wasn't him!" I defend, but he doesn't want to hear any of it.
"Who else could possibly be, Isabella? There was nobody else we didn't trust in that castle. Are you telling me there wasn't a single moment where he could have slipped away?"
"That doesn't mean he did it!" I could only think of a couple moments where I wasn't physically with Edward, but it wasn't enough time to make it over to where Maria was staying. I know there has to be another explanation. Edward being accused didn't make any sense. I had to be missing something.
"You are so naive!" Jasper yells. "You can't possibly think he cared about you as much as you cared about him. He would never risked his name or his life for you."
I stay silent and Jasper lets out a humorless laugh. "Oh my god. You did! You did think he cared about you. Well news flash, Isabella, he wasn't who you thought he was. And I'm sure he had plenty of secrets he wasn't telling you. But you probably told him everything didn't you? And that's how he was able to sneak around the castle and kill Maria."
"He didn't kill her!" I insist again and Jasper's look is filled with pity.
"Mom always said you were too pure. She used to tell me I would have to protect you from the world. Guess I failed at that too," Jasper says.
"Princess Isabella?" A guard I don't recognize approaches us. "Your father has requested to see you."
Why was a guard coming to get me instead of Angela? "What did you tell him?" I look at Jasper.
He puts his hands up in confusion. "Nothing. I saw you leaving in your carriage and followed you. But I-" He cuts himself off, looking at something in the distance.
It's the judge from the trial, leaving the castle. Did he come here to see my father? And if he did, he would have known what I did.
"He knows," I breathe out, turning to Jasper in fear. "Father has to know."
"Princess Isabella," the guard says again, waiting for me to follow him.
Jasper gestures for me to go with him with a shrug. The guard grabs my arm, a bit too rough for my liking, and walks quickly through the castle. I expect him to take me to my father's office, but instead he walks right past it, turning to the left down a narrow corridor that I wasn't very familiar with.
"Where are you taking me?" I ask, but he doesn't answer. I follow him down a flight of stairs into another dim hallway. "Where's my father?" I demand, feeling something very wrong in my gut.
"He's waiting." That's all I get from the guard. I'm not sure how long we walk, twisting and turning deeper into the castle. Eventually we come to a door with a lock on the outside. The guard uses one of his many keys to unlock it and opens the door, moving to the side to let me through. "In here."
I peer down the stairs but I can't see anything but a dim light around the corner where the stairs turn. I'm ready to back out when I hear my father's voice coming from the depths of darkness.
"Isabella!"
The guard nudges me forward and I grip the railing, slowly making my way down the stairs. "Father?" I call out, still unsure.
When I turn the corner of the stairs, my father is waiting for me towards the back of the dark room. There's a small window in the corner, more of a slit with bars over it, half covered underground, and a single light in the other corner, but the lightbulb looked to be old and it keeps flickering, hurting my eyes.
"Father?" I'm hesitant to approach him. I don't see any signs of anger yet, and I don't know if that made me more or less worried.
"Isabella," he smiles, but it's off. It's tight and out of place on his face, like he's not used to doing so. I actually don't remember the last time I saw my father smile when it wasn't for the public.
"What is this place?" I look around at the room. The floor looks to be cobblestone and there's not much in here at all.
"It's our dungeon," my father says. "Part of it, at least. We haven't used it in years."
A dungeon? I didn't even know about it until now. I thought any criminals were kept in our jail on the opposite side of the kingdom where they would serve as the least threat to our people.
"W-what's going on?"
"I don't know why we never demolished the dungeons. We really had no use for it anymore. Until now," he says, cryptically.
My father nods to someone behind me and I'm suddenly grabbed from both sides. Guards grip both of my arms and pull me towards cuffs attached to a chain on the wall.
"Father?" I look to him, struggling to get out of their iron grip.
"Don't call me that," he glares. "Lock her up."
I fight against them as they forcefully lock the cuffs around my wrists and back away, joining my father who had now moved near the staircase. I try to go over to him, but I'm only able to get a few feet before there's no more chain and it's pulled taught, squeezing against my wrists. My father looks satisfied and he turns and walks right back up the stairs.
"Wait! Let me go! Father, please!" I scream, but he ignores me and I hear the heavy door slam shut, leaving me alone in the dim room.
I keep screaming though, yelling, for anyone to hear me, to let me out, but when my voice turns hoarse, I have to accept that nobody is going to come for me. Even though I'm the princess, my father is the king, and nobody is going to defy him.
I look around the room and there's nothing that might remotely help me escape. There's a small hole in the ground with a metal cap and a pedal next to it, which I'm assuming is some kind of toilet, but I don't even want to think about having to use that.
I stand, looking out the small window. I might be able to fit through that, but it was too high and the bars look welded on there. And even if I did somehow manage to get the bars off and hoist myself up, I would have to dig myself out. It's getting darker outside and the cold wind comes right in through the window. The stone floor holds no heat, and I sit, pulling my dress down as far as I can to try to curl my feet on top of it.
The door opens and I stand, hoping it's my father and I can somehow plead my case. I still don't know exactly why he's stuck me down here. Was finding out about Edward enough to finally set him off?
But it's not my father and instead a guard with a tray of food and water. There's no utensils though and he slides the tray over across the floor, not getting close enough where I could reach him. What does he think could possibly happen? Even if I could reach him and attempt to attack him, he was twice my size and I wouldn't stand a chance.
"I'm your princess," I say, when he doesn't leave right away. "Release me at once."
He frowns. "King's orders," he says.
When he leaves, I slump back down, staring at the tray. The food doesn't look very edible, but I had to keep my strength up. I wasn't going to let my father win. There had to be some way out. Maybe if Emmet came down here, or Jasper! Certainly my brother, for all of his faults, wouldn't leave me chained down here. And he would eventually notice I was missing. He had to.
With that small glimmer of hope, I force the meal down. It wasn't nearly enough to make me feel full, but it did help some of the gnawing feeling that was starting to build in my stomach.
Once I finish, I push the offending tray and the empty cup away. It was stupid, but it was my only way of rebelling against my situation at the moment. Too bad nobody was here to see it.
I turn around the face the window, the flickering light was starting to give me a headache. At least it wasn't completely dark in there. The moon was high in the sky and light streamed into the room, lighting up a small section in the corner. I lean my head against the wall and curl up, tucking my sleeves into my dress. I shift sideways, and I sit on something that crinkles in my pocket. I dig my hand into it and pull out a piece of paper. I instantly recognize it as the note from Edward.
I miss him. I know I shouldn't, but I miss him so much. I wish he was here right now. God, was Jasper right? Am I really that naive?
I wonder where he is now. Is he on his way back to his family? Or did he already find them? I imagine him reuniting with his sisters and his parents. Would he give them all the information he collected?
I wanted to be mad at him still, and in the heat of the moment when it all went down, I was. But now, all I felt was this longing. Yes, he betrayed me and my kingdom, which he knew meant everything to me, and I don't know if I would ever forgive him for that. Not the part about me, I could get over that eventually. It wasn't the first time. But putting my people in danger was something I didn't take lightly.
At the same time though, he gave me something nobody else had in a long time. A feeling of being cared for and loved, even if it wasn't real. Even if he had faked it, it was still real to me. The feelings I had for him, the safety I got to experience, the joy and the happiness, it was all real, even if it was for a moment. And I was surprised to find that knowing he lied, didn't make those memories any less precious, it only made the feeling of betrayal when I found out worse. But I could separate the two, if only for my sanity being trapped down here. The memories he gave me would give me a place to escape to.
So I guess Edward was able to give me an escape in the end, even if it wasn't anything like what I expected it to be.
I'm awoken by the bang of the door flying open, and I sit up with a start, gripping the letter from Edward that hadn't left my hand all night. I'm expecting another guard to come down these steps, but it's not.
It's my father. At least, that's what I tell myself, even though all I see in front of me is a monster. He's shook off any pretense of caring and I don't even recognize him anymore. Has it always been this bad? It occurs to me that maybe my mother had been shielding me from who he truly was. Or maybe when she died, the good inside him died too.
He stalks closer, assessing me in the same eye he would his enemies. I catch something shiny in his hand. A knife.
My body fills with fear and I push myself further into the corner, despite the cuffs digging into my wrists. He's thrown me, shaken me, but never has he used anything to hurt me. But I had a feeling everything was different now.
"Isabella," my father tsks. "When your mother told me we were having another child, I had hoped for a boy. Just in case anything were to ever happen to my heir. But then you were born," he says, pointing the knife right at me. "That was a disappointing day. But then, I figured, I could use this to our advantage. Elisor wanted Maria for Jacob but I got to her first, and offered you instead, securing two alliances. And then you had to go and fuck it all up!"
He squats down, trailing the knife over my neck, then up and across my cheek, pushing harder into my skin. I cry out in pain as blood starts to trail down my face, dripping onto my hand.
"Shut up!" My father says, whipping his arm around. His elbow connects with my shoulder and I fall back against the wall. "All you had to do was be an obedient daughter and marry Jacob. He already was having doubts after meeting you. Apparently, you didn't impress him in the bedroom."
I'm absolutely horrified listening to my father talk about what had happened with Jacob. Was it something he had approved? Jacob did say he had been given pointers on how to "handle" me.
"When that judge mentioned your little performance in front of our own people, going against my word, I did some investigating. Your brother was smart enough to let me know that that guest wasn't his. And the guards let it slip all the things your lady-in-waiting has seen you two do. How dare you risk our alliances, you slut! I'll be lucky if Jacob still decides you'll do."
My father seems to have completely lost it, because I try my best to dodge his attacks as he swings his knife, making shallow cuts along my body while he launches into his tirade.
"And then you have the nerve to make me look stupid in front of my people! When I say something, they should trust me! Not you! I'm in charge."
I was barely able to hold in my whimpers, getting lightheaded from the smell of the blood and the pain. I bit my lip to hold in the scream that threatened to erupt from me as he dug the knife deeper into my skin, dragging it across, before lifting and making another mark.
"Father, please stop," a voice floats in from the darkness engulfing the stairs. I force my eyes open to find Jasper watching from the stairs. The lack of surprise on his face tells me he's probably been watching this whole time. "This isn't necessary." At least he has the decency to sound alarmed by our father's current behavior.
"I wanted you to see what kind of person your sister is. A traitor!" My father tells him, keeping his eyes on me.
"Father-" Jasper inhales a shaky breath. Is this it? Will he finally stand up to him? "You're going to be late for our meeting with Maria's family."
My father finally turns away from me, his control over the kingdom and the power he loves so much is the only thing that can distract him from me.
"Thank you, son. I can't be late to that," he says, giving Jasper a half smile, leaving me bleeding on the ground with my brother.
"Jasper, you have to help me out of here. Please," I beg. I can see the conflict in his eyes. He wants to help me, but he's scared of our father too.
"I'm sorry," he chokes, trying to hold back his own tears. He turns his head, refusing to look at me, climbing back up the stairs.
"Jasper please!" I scream, knowing he can hear me. "Jasper!"
This time, when the door slams shut, I don't bother muffling my sobs as they echo through the room.
Thank you all so much for the wonderful reads and reviews! Don't worry, Bella won't be going through it for much longer. See you all soon :)