The palace



“Did you see her?” The Queen asked the messenger.



“Yes my Queen. And she’s as beautiful as you”, he said, smiling and she smiled too. 



“I can’t wait to have her in my arms. Sending her away was so difficult for King James and I. The king couldn’t bring himself to send his little girl away but he had to do it and now he’s not even here to welcome her back home”, she said, tearing up. 



“Mom, Not again”, Derrick said, walking to his mum and he sat by her on the bed. 



“At least we’ll all be here for her”, he said, wiping her tears away. 



“Please leave us”, he said to the messenger and he left. 



“I still wish he was here”.



“I also wish the same mom. But he’s gone and his demise was a sad one but mum we have to move on. The Janricans are getting stronger and we really need Hope to come back now. I know Fredrick is helping and controlling things now. But a prophecy is a prophecy”, he said to her. 



“From what I hear, Fredrick is doing a good job. It makes me sad that he would have to vacate his position for his sister”.



“He has to understand. It’s no one’s doing. God has said what he said”.



“You see why I need your father to be at my side. He’s the best person to solve this case and now he’s left me all alone to drive a wedge between my kids”, she said in tears. 



“Just pray to God and seek guidance on how to go about this”.



“I will. You’re so understanding Derrick. Sometimes I wish your two brothers were as understanding and wise as you are”.



“Thank you mum but they both have their unique characters”, he said to her and she smiled. 



*



Fredrick was having a meeting with the Lords and they were deciding on what to do about the lands which were taken from them. 



“I think we should just pay the Lord General and let him handle the soldiers”, one of them said. 



“The soldiers are not enough to take over those lands. We have to send more”, another said. 



“More soldiers to recover the land? I think doing that will make us vulnerable. We can’t send all our soldiers out there to just retrieve our lands”.



“So what exactly do we do because I think sending these few soldiers there will just be a sacrifice. The king of Janrico knows what he’s doing and I think he’s just inviting us to a blood bath”, Fredrick said. 



“I think we should hire more soldiers from our neighboring country”, one of the Lords said. 



“And how do we plan on paying them?” Fredrick asked. 



“You could sell more of the lands or increase the taxes”, another said. 



“I just think we should focus on putting a king on the throne because a country without a king is deemed weak”, one added.



“Having a coronation at this dire time is not the best”.



“And we don’t even know when our Princess is getting back”, hearing this made Fredrick angry. 



“So you all intend to crown a princess who doesn’t even know that she’s a princess yet. A princess who has been away from the kingdom for 20 years. A princess who thinks like a commoner? You got to be kidding me”.



“It’s not our doing my Prince. It’s the prophecy”, one of the Lords said. 



“Prophecy be damned! Have you forgotten how the monarchy works? Every first born son of the king is the next king”, he said angrily.



“This meeting is adjourned till next week”, he said, walking away in anger. 



When he got to his room, he met Penelope on his bed. 



“Oh my love, you look so tired and sad. What is it?”



“What are you doing here? I told you what happened between us was a mistake. I have a wife for Christ sake”, he said to her. 



“Oh Fred, don’t be like that. A mistake can’t happen more than twice”, she said, crawling to him. 



“On all those occasions, I was drunk”.



“We were both drunk in love”.



“Penelope please leave me. I need to rest my head”, he said, diving on his bed. 



“Then I would just keep you company and I’m really good at massages. You look like you need one”.



“Not now Penelope”, he said, turning away from her. 



She climbed onto his back to give him a massage. One thing led to another and then they slept together. 



*



Penelope was sneaking out of his room and was pulled away. 



“Gosh. You scared me”, she said to John. 



“How’s everything going on your side?” He asked her. 



“What do you think?  You know I’m good at what I do”, she said twirling her hands in his hair and giving him a seductive grin. 



“I know baby”, he said, lifting her up and he took her to his room. 



*



The little city



Kierra was with her friends in her mum’s shop playing a game when Darnley stopped by. 



“Hello Kierra”, he said and they were all surprised to see him. 



Gwen quickly sat up and pulled her dress up but Miriam glared at her and pulled it back down. 



“Hi Darnley”, Kierra said, as she got up on her feet.



“Uhmm, can you relay a message to your dad for me?”



“Yeah. Why not?” She said, smiling. 



“Uhmm can we talk in private?” He said. 



“Yeah sure. Let’s talk outside”, she said and they both stepped out. 



“I went to his workshop but he wasn’t there. Tell him that I’ll need him to come to the harbor tomorrow morning to take measurements of some of the equipment”.



“Alright. I’ll tell him”.



“Thank you”, he said and he was about to leave. 



“Uhm Darnley”, she called out. 



“I was wondering if we could hang out sometime”, she blurted out and then she covered her mouth when she realized that she said. 



“Uhmm. Don’t mind me. I’m just being silly”, she said but he smiled. 



“Yeah sure. You can come by the harbor anytime”, he said with a wink and she smiled.



“I’ll see you then”, he said and he left. 



Kierra jumped up in excitement and went back inside.



*



In the evening, Kierra’s mum returned from the market and Kierra made up an excuse to leave and then she left. 



She was so excited to meet Darnley so she quickly rushed to the harbor. 



When she got there, her excitement dropped when she met him with Delilah. They were so engrossed in their conversation and were laughing out loud. 



Kierra saw them and quickly turned around but Darnley called out her name. 



“Kierra”, he said and she turned around.



“You’re here. Please come and join us okay”, he said to her and Delilah glared at her. 



“What’s this pauper doing here?” She asked. 



“She said she wanted to hang out with me and you know I’m already a nice person. So I agreed”, he said shrugging and Kierra got upset. 



“Jerk!” She said in her head. 



“So crayon. You had the guts to ask my boyfriend to hang out with you?” Delilah asked, getting up. 



Kierra was upset and embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. 



She had heard the rumors about how arrogant and mean he was but she was giving him the benefit of the doubt and now she was hurt. 



Delilah started raining insults on her and she just turned around and left. 



She got back home in tears and dived on her bed. 



She was crying when she heard the door to her house open. 



“Dad? Mum?” She called out. She knew it wasn’t time for them to be home yet, so she was really surprised. 



She stepped out of her room and someone grabbed her.



The palace



Fredrick was in the Bishop’s office arguing about his rule. 



“I’m sorry Fredrick but I can’t be of help to you. We can’t turn a blind eye on what was revealed to us by God”.



“How do you even know you saw what you saw? What if you’re misinterpreting it wrong”, he asked. 



“I wasn’t the only one who had this revelation”, the bishop said. 



“Since that day, do you still get the same revelations”?



“No but if we pray about it again, I’m sure we’ll get the same revelations”.



“That’s crap. If she was indeed meant to rule, don’t you think you’ll be getting constant reminders”.



“When God has revealed something and we’ve acknowledged it and working towards it, he doesn’t have to remind us unless we sway away from it”.



“Do you know what I think? I think you all just tired of seeing the men rule and now you want to put a woman on the throne. I know my dad and the kings before him failed you but I promise to uplift our country”, he said, smiling. 



“You think we all want to see a woman rule? We know the men are always rulers but when God has spoken, he has. You can’t uplift this country, it’s only God who can”.



“I’m going to speak to God myself! And I’ll get my own revelation. I’m the rightful heir to the throne”, he said, hitting his hand on the table. 



“My first job as a king is to replace you. We can’t have close minded people like you”, he said and he left angrily. 



He walked to his mum’s chambers and barged in. 



“What the heck is wrong with you?” Warrick yelled.



“How dare you walk into mum’s room like that?” Derrick added. 



“Wow, if it isn’t mummy’s boys”, he said, grinning. 



“You startled her”, Warrick said. 



“I’m sorry mum but I seriously want to speak to you”.



“About the throne, I suppose”, Warrick said to him. 



“Don’t you have some traveling to do? Why are you even her? I thought you wanted to be a alone prince. Let those who are concerned about the throne and the people speak”, Fredrick said to him. 



“I’m here because mum needs me”.



“Yeah sure. Mum, I need to speak to you”.



“Go on”, she said to him. 



“I want to speak to you alone. I don’t want anyone interrupting”. He said and his brothers stared at him. 



“Leave us”, Queen Valerie said to them and they glared at him. 



“You all are just cowards. If you were in my shoes, you wouldn’t want anyone to take the throne but because you’re nowhere close to the throne, you’re both acting this way”, he said to them. 



“Fredrick that’s enough. Warrick and Derrick please leave us”, she said to them and they left. 



“Mum you can’t let Hope take the throne. It’s not right. How do you even know that the prophecy is true?” He said, sitting by her. 



“Fredrick, I understand you. I really do but...”



“I thought you loved me mum”, he said to her. 



“No baby, don’t say that. I do”, she said, cupping his cheeks. 



“When I was little, you told me stories of how I was going to be a great King and now you just want to disgrace me. What did I do to deserve this?”



“Oh Fredrick, I wish I could do something about this. I really looked forward to you being the next in line but it’s not my doing”.



“I’m not going to stay alive and watch a little girl rule this kingdom and take my throne. It’s either I die or I take the throne”.



“No no Fredrick, don’t say that. You know I love you so much. You brought me so much joy when I gave birth to you. If you die, I don’t know what I’ll do to myself”.



“Then fix this. If you let her take over the throne, I’d kill myself and then you can ask the Bishop if this was part of the prophecy too”, he said and he got up to leave. 



“Fredrick don’t do this to me”, she said to him. 



“Fix it mum. You’re the queen”, he said and he left. 



Queen Valerie got furious and cried out loud. 



“James, why did you leave me to go through all this alone”, she said, crying. 



“God why did you take him away from me and why are you dividing my family. What did I do to deserve this? I’ve done nothing but served you all my life and this is how you want to repay me?” She said, lamenting. 



She continued to lament till she slept off. 



        *



The small city



Kierra screamed as she was being taken away. 



Her captor covered her head with a sac bag and took her away.



He took her into the woods and dropped her down. He tied her hands to a tree and then took off the sac bag. 



“Who are you and what do you want from me?” She yelled but the guy ignored her and she started screaming. 



“Well well well, look what he have here”, Delilah said, approaching them. 



“Delilah please help me”, she said to her. 



“Help you? So that you can run off and ask my boyfriend to hang out with you”, she said. 



“Delilah, I’m so sorry, please help me”, she said and Delilah gave an evil laugh. 



“Shut her up”, she said to the young man who captured her. 



“No no no, please. Help help help!!” She screamed and the young man shoved something in her mouth to shut her up. 



“I’m going to teach you not to mess with my man. Beat her up”, she said to the man and he did. 



Kierra cried in pain and Delilah grinned throughout. 



“Stop”, she said to the man, then she tore her clothes and slapped her. 



“Next time, don’t mess with me or my man you pauper. You should thank your stars that I let you live”, she said and she spat on her. 



“Untie her”, she said to the man. He untied her and they left.



Kierra just sat there crying. She was too weak to move and her whole face was swollen. So she just sat there and continued to cry. 



*



Meanwhile Kierra’s parents were searching for her and they were really worried.  



It was late in the night and they still couldn’t find her. They had gone to all her friend’s houses and no one knew of her whereabouts. 



“Oh my God. If we don’t find her, we’re doomed. The queen is going to kill us”, Mary said, lamenting and pacing back and forth. 



“Where could she have gone to?” Maxwell said, worried. 



“You see why we should have told her the truth and sent her off for her training”, Mary said to her husband. 



“Now you’re blaming me. Aren’t you the one who’s been avoiding her?” He asked. 



“Because I’m scared to lose her. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her”.



“Hmm. Let’s focus on finding her first and then we’ll both tell her together”, Maxwell said. 



They both went round the city again and came back to their house. 



Mary started crying and Maxwell had to console her.



As they were both in their chambers praying, they heard a knock on their door and they quickly ran to the door. 



When they opened the door, they saw a man with Kierra in their arms. 



“Oh my God”, Mary yelled. 



Maxwell quickly took her from his hands and he took her inside. 



“What happened to her?” Mary asked the stranger. 



“I don’t know. I was walking by the woods and I heard her voice and when I got closer, I saw that she had been beaten up and her clothes were torn”, he said to her. 



“Oh my God, thank you so much. May God bless you so much? What can we do to repay you?” She asked him.