A Queen's Destiny

Chapter 3

"No, Father! Please don't hurt him!"
The King truned aroud and hugged his daughter and asked her, "Are you ok? Did this scum hurt you? Where have you been? What happened?" "Father, I am fine! He is not scum and no he did not hurt me. I have been in his village visiting him. Please, Father, don't hurt him! I-I love him!"
With that, Clara jumped in front of her father to protect Ty. "Father, this is Tyan of Grossmer, my fiancé."
"WHAT!? You're marrying this- this boy?"
"Father, I am eighteen! I've been past marrying age for two years. All I need is your blessing and presence at our wedding. Please, Father, he is a good man. Just give him a chance!"
By now, Clara was in tears and leaning over Ty's lifeless body. He was barely breathing and blood streamed from the large gruesome gash in his skull. Clara stroked Ty's smooth face as she let the tears stream down her cheeks.
"I can tell that you love him, Clara.", her father said in a surprisingly gentle tone as he bent down to kneel next to her, "I really want you to be happy, but you may not marry this peasant! Do you know how bad things would begin to look for the kingdom if you were to be we'd to this boy?" He placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder and waited for her response.
Clara turned to face her father. "For once would you let me chase my heart? I have been cooped up for too long. Father, I need freedom; a life to call my own; someone to love. Please, please do not take that from me now that it is so close. Father, let me live my life outside this- this prison of stone walls and creaking doors! I want to be free!"
She looked at her father and gave her best most convincing smile hoping it would add to the hopeful speech she had just given. Her father only scowled back. "No. I will not let you waste your life away with a ma- boy whom I do not even know. You will stay here where I can watch you, care for you, and teach you some common sense! If you choose to leave with this boy, I will be forced to disown you and give the throne to your sister. Mark my words, Clara, if you so much as set foot outside this castle with that boy, you will regret it!" Clara began to cry as her father stormed out of the cell. Her sister quickly came to catch her falling sister as she crumbled from grief. "Do not worry my darling sister, I have a plan."
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Days passed and Jaria thought hard about her plan, and spent many days in the quiet of the large library that no one hardly ever used.  She would spend hours at a time mulling over blueprints of the castle trying to find a way to sneak her sister out of the castle.  She thought of the East Wing; there was a passage there that lead out into the gardens, but that would be heavily guarded since it was a well known passage.  She finally decided to use the one in the library that no one except she and Clara knew about.  They would meet-.  "Oh no," Jaria gasped," I left Clara in her room alone, and I was supposed to go check on her an hour ago!  I hope tat she is okay!"  After Clara's heart had been broken over Tyan, Jaria promise her that she would wake up every hour to see that Clara was safe.  Knowing that her sister was near her, made Clara feel loved and cared for. 
Jaria raced back to Clara's room and found her sitting up in her bed.  There was a look of pure terror on her face.  Immediately, Jaria wrapped Clara in her arms.  After Clara finally calmed down, Jaria sang a song to help her fall asleep.  Jaria stepped out of the room and closed that door as softly as possible.  Then letting out a sigh, she turned to go back to the library to finish her plans. She gasped as she turned and bumped into her mother.
"Mother!" Jaria gasped
"What are you doing out of bed, my darling?"
"I was getting my book from the library.  I forgot to get it when I went to bed.  May I go get it; it helps me to sleep when I am watching Clara.  She has been insisting that I wake every hour to see that she is safe.  Ever since Father threw Tyan in the dungeon, she has had a terrible time sleeping or doing anything for that matter! I'm worried about her, Mother." Jaria's cover up had turned into a heartfelt confession to her beloved mother, and by the end, she was in tears.
Jaria's mother took her in her arms and said, "Come now, your sister is going to be fine.  It's just a simple matter of heartbreak!  She will get over it in time; you'll see."
The two stood like that for a long time as Jaria cried.  Jaria cried for her sister's broken heart, she cried for her father's ignorance, but most of all she cried for the sister she would loose if she went through with her plan of escape.