The Forgotten Princess

Chapter 21: The Beginning of the End

That got Marc and I's attention really quickly but with our hands and legs bound. We were helpless as we were forcibly grabbed and dragged from the back of the truck. That didn't mean we stopped struggling making it as hard for them as possible to drag us. We wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Get off me," I screamed as i was finally pulled from the truck.

Cameron laughed before walking towards me. He grabbed my face by the chin. His fingers digging in. I glared at him which only seemed to amuse him more which in turn made me angrier. The sick idiot was loving every second of this. The glory and the gloating. He was so sure of his victory. Of his success.

"Amusing, princess. I will give you that."

The guards then continued to drag me towards a fairly large building but to get there we had to go through a throng of people. Some were being bandaged and treated but most were doing fine. They watched in intrigue looking at me as if i were some caged animal. An attraction to be fascinated by.

The Forgotten Princess.

People began to cheer for Cameron and his success him finding me which made me more sick. The majority of these people wanted me dead. Yet, some looked on. Angry and clearly frustrated and it made me click on that not all of these people wanted this. Some were being forced to fight in a war because of their alpha's. Some were just prisoners of this horrible war.

The building got closer but I never stopped struggling. I would fight to till the last breath but I was weak and relatively untrained. There were still so many things of this life which I don't understand and haven't yet learnt that I was just at a full disadvantage. Marc and I were dragged through the front doors before they went to take us in different directions. Myself left and Marc write.

"NOOOO!" Marc roared as he fought viciously with his guards.

For a moment he managed to free himself and was running towards me but more guards descended on him. Beating him. Kicking him to the ground with so much force that I yelled out.

"Get off of him. Leave him alone. Marc!" I screamed, which was all to the amusement of Cameron.

Marc was now unconscious. Bleeding from a head wound and being dragged on the floor in the opposite direction to me. I kicked and screamed wildly. Calling Marc's name and unable to stop the tears from falling down my face. How could Cameron do that to his own son? He was truly a monster.

I was dragged into a bedroom which was large but bare. Things had been stripped off of the walls and it became clear this town had been part of the kingdom and ransacked. They tossed me on the bed before strapping me down to it. It was a struggle but with three of them pinning me down, there was nothing I could do and it was then that my imagination ran wild.

What were they going to do to me? Why was I here?

It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. Time was slipping past me as I waited here alone. This was probably another tactic of Cameron to scare me and make me more nervous. In the end though, I was terrified. My mind running rampant with all of my fears.

Finally, two women walked in. Both of them upset and looked at me with concern but they remained quiet. Each of them were carrying things from what looked like a medical kit, to bottles and were those hair extensions?

They carefully and respectively cut away my clothing before tending to my wounds and cleaning away the dried blood. They stitched and bandaged my cuts on my side and my leg before wiping me down with a cloth. Cleaning me.

"We need to move you to the bathroom. If you fight us, you will be made unconscious and we will continue or work that way. Do you understand?" one of the women asked trying to be as forceful as possible.

I nodded. The beginnings of defeat beginning to settle in. They untied me and we moved to the bathroom where my hair was stripped of its dyed colour and the extensions were put in to make me look like how I was before all of this went down. I somewhat felt like me again. Not hiding or pretending. At least I was going to be me when I die.

They then went on applying make up. Covering marks and bruises and just generally trying to brighten my appearance. He was making me look at my best before he was going to kill me. The sick bastard was going to show me to my parents looking relatively healthy and then have me killed in front of them to really crush them and their morale as well as the morale of the people. If my hatred of him wasn't already there, it certainly was now.

I was then clothed in a white dress. It had two straps which were thin and delicate and the whole thing flowed gently to the floor. The material was light and fluttered as I moved making me look innocent and even more of a sacrifice than I was before. White shoes were added to the outfit and the image of my sacrificed self became apparent.

The women left the room leaving me alone to wallow in my worry and fear. I didn't hear the click of the lock so the door to the room was still open. I wasn't stupid enough to think that the door wasn't being guarded but I wasn't going to stay here and wait for my death.

I barrelled through the door catching the guards temporarily unawares and I began running down the corridor with them soon hot on my heels. It didn't help that I was wearing a stupid dress but I continued forward anyway. I had to try. I had to do something. I was eventually caught with a hand grabbing the top of my arm roughly. I turned to punch him but I other hand was held back by Cameron.

"Oh, you do brighten my day Annabella. Such entertainment. Come. Let's go show your parents their pretty little daughter before I slit her throat in front of them."

The guards pulled me after them and I knew I couldn't escape. I couldn't get away from them. I was tempted to shift but on my own I couldn't take down everyone inside the house, never mind all of those people outside the building. I was taken outside and everyone was already moving into the forest. People cheering and chanting. All clearly moving towards the final confrontation.

On and on through the forest we went. Cameron just in front of me. It was some time later that Marc and his guards caught up beside me. He was dressed in black trousers and a black shirt. Stark contrast to me. He looked at me and his expression broke my heart. He looked defeated and scared. Maybe this was the end.

Eventually the crowd grew to a halt at the treeline of a huge clearing. Cameron continued forward into part of the clearing but Marc and I were forced to stop in the midst of the crowd to continue to hide us from my parents' side.

Cameron stopped eventually as two figures emerged from the crowd on the other side. My parents' army. There figures were small and stuck behind the crowd of people I could barely see them.

"Come to final stop this ridiculous war?" My father shouted, his voice deep and full of authority,

"Wishful thinking. Instead I have a proposition for you." Cameron smoke with arrogance evident in his voice.

"We will not make a deal with you. You have killed for power Cameron. You aren't fit to rule and your jealousy has ruled you. Stop fighting and we may spare your life!" My mother shouted.

I was being pushed forward now. Marc was pushed to the edge of the clearing where as I was pushed further forward beside Cameron.

"I wouldn't be so sure when I have your daughter. The one you fought so hard to hide. I found her and now she will die if you don't give up your fight," Cameron shouted and smirk plastered on his face.

I was pushed on to my knees beside him and he came up behind me, drawing a blade. He pulled on my hair which tilted my hair back, exposing my throat and pressed the blade to my neck.

I watched as my mother took a step back in shock and the fury that came across my father's face. Their disbelief and pain was evident. Here was there daughter who they hadn't seen properly except for secret photos sent by Catherine, in the arms of the enemy with a knife to her throat.

"So what's your choice, your majesties?"