A few weeks passed and Alice was sitting in her room, going over some papers her father had given her. The papers contained some of the newest laws passed recently, and Alice was having a hard time understanding them. Frustrated, she threw the papers on her desk and sighed. They were all confusing, and some of them didn't make any sense to her. She decided to go ask her father and see if he could help her. Maybe if he told her the reason behind them they might make more sense. She grabbed the papers and went to the throne room, where she knew her father was. Without knocking, Alice threw the door open and said, "Father, some of these laws-" she stopped short. Her parents and Gregory were in the middle of a court session. The victim sat on the floor in the middle of the room and he was surrounded by guards. When Alice had opened the door, he looked up.
"Thomas!" Alice cried as she rushed towards him. The guards quickly blocked her way, but Alice squeezed her way through and slid onto the floor. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him. Because of his handcuffed arms, he couldn't hug her back. "Alice, I missed you so much!"
"I got all of your letters, but it wasn't enough. I needed to see you," she whispered. Almost immediately, two guards were on them, pulling Alice away. Alice tightened her grip on Thomas, struggling to hold on, but to no avail. Separated, two guards held Alice down. "Let me go!" She screamed, but they wouldn't do so. "Mother!"
"Alice, please stop," Queen Sophie said.
"Guards! Take him away! You know what to do," the king said. A guard nodded and he turned to Thomas. Thomas struggled, but four guards held him down and led him away.
"Thomas! Let him go!" Alice called. Finally freeing herself, she ran after Thomas and tried to grasp him, but the other guards caught up to her. Alice's tears streamed her face. "Please leave him alone! I beg you!" Alice sank to the ground, sobbing, as they led Thomas to the dungeon. After he was gone, the guards helped Alice up and she let them lead her back to her parents.
"Why he is he here? What is going on?" Alice demanded an answer.
"Alice calm down," Queen Sophie said quickly.
"I will not calm down until I know exactly what is happening!" Alice cried.
"Alice, how did you manage to get these?" King Henry held up a handful of paper.
Alice's mouth dropped open. "Those are my letters. They were all addressed to me, so I have every right to them!"
"Gregory gave them to me a few days ago," the king informed her.
Alice stared at Gregory with a look that could kill. Gregory looked at her with a devilish grin. "Hiding them under your mattress was pretty obvious, don't you think?"
"Thomas came to the palace numerous times in attempt to see you. Besides sending you these letters of course," King Henry said. "Your mother went to his home personally & asked him to stop contacting you, but he wouldn't listen. She told him that he would be breaking the law, but he didn't care. To back up his statement, he tried to force his way in today so we had no choice but to arrest him."
"That isn't his fault! I was the one who asked him to keep writing me the letters," Alice said. "You cannot arrest him!"
"If it is what we must do, then we will. Remember Phillip," King Henry said.
"I don't care about Phillip! This is Thomas we are talking about. You have to let him go," Alice pleaded.
"I'm sorry Alice, but we are doing what is best for you," Queen Sophie said.
"What is best for me? Let's see how good this will be for me," Alice challenged as she walked out of the room. She went up to her room, despite her parents calling her back.
For the next two days, Alice locked herself in her room. Since she wasn't allowed to go see Thomas, she decided she wasn't going to do anything but pout. Her mother constantly pleaded with her to come out and eat, but she refused. Her father told her that he was going to make the plans for her wedding whether she locks herself in her room or not, but that didn't bother her. She ignored Gregory's constant calling, telling her she had a lot of work to do.
On the third morning, her father came pounding on the door. "Alice! Open the door now!" he screamed.
"Not until you let Thomas out!" Alice replied.
"This is not funny! Open the door! NOW!" the king shouted.
"Why? Is world war three about to happen?" Alice asked sarcastically, though she didn't know how truthful her words really were.
"It might as well be. I don't have time for your stupid jokes. Open the door!" he ordered.
Finally, Alice opened the door and let him in. "What? What do you want?"
"Did you go through all of the recent court sessions I had? Then took all of the files for the guilty ones still rotting in the dungeon?" he asked.
Alice had completely forgotten to return them. "Yes I did," Alice said bravely.
"Why?" he roared. "What do they mean to you?"
"I wanted to make sure no one was wronged, the way that poor man was," Alice told him. "For your information, I did pay for his freedom. I gave his family money so they could repay the baker and free the man."
"Why would you do that? You are ruining the order of my ruling! This is chaotic!" he screamed. "And I suppose you found more "unfair" rulings of mine?"
"Yes I did actually," Alice said. "For example, a ten year old boy was arrested for trespassing? When in reality, he was just getting his ball that had rolled away? That's ridiculous!"
"You're ridiculous! How dare you free that little boy, and so many more people? Did I not tell you that you are not allowed in the dungeon?" he asked angrily.
"Yes you did tell me and I didn't disobey you. I had someone else go free them for me," Alice pointed out. "The dungeon is actually looking pretty empty from what I hear."
"Yes it is, especially since Thomas is gone! How dare you sneak him out of the dungeon? That is crazy!" the king announced.
Alice looked stunned. "Thomas... I ... he is free?" She broke into a smile. "Oh thank god!"
"Don't play games with me," the king told her. "You are the one who freed him. I will find him, and I will bring him back though, don't you worry."
"Me?" Alice was confused. "I swear I didn't free him. I admit I did free many others, but not Thomas. I wouldn't do so because that wouldn't be fair of me to free someone because I love them."
"It must have been you. Who else would have done it?" the king accused.
"I don't know," Alice said slowly, thinking. "But hey, if he's free, I guess I'll make Mother happy and leave my room."
"Alice, where is he?" her father asked. "Do not lie."
"I'm not lying! I honestly have no idea," Alice admitted.
"Don't think I won't find him," the king threatened.
"Good! Look for him. Waste your whole life tracking him down, only because you let your emotions blind your judgment," Alice exclaimed. "See if I care."
Just then, a man came in the room, followed by Gregory. "My king, it is the assassinator. He is ready to speak," the man said. "But he gave one condition. He wants to speak only to the princess."
The king looked aghast. "What? How dare he?"
"My king, I think it would be best if you let her speak to him. We might not get another chance," Gregory advised.
The king thought for a minute. "Very well. Bring him to the throne room, and Alice will wait for him there."
"He is too weak to move," the man said.
"Then I'll go to him," Alice said.
"No you will not!" the king declared. "I don't care if you have to carry him up, but Alice will not go to him."
"My king," Gregory said. "Let's work with him for now. If we show him that we are willing to listen to him, he will be more willing to talk."
"Did he ask for Alice to come down to him?" the king inquired.
"Yes," the man answered.
"Very well then, but Alice, you are not to do ANYTHING else but talk to that man. Only that man. Are we clear?" he asked.
"Yes father," she answered. Then, she hurried down the stairs, only to be stopped by her mother.
"Alice! Oh honey, you came out!" her mother rejoiced. "I'm so happy you finally came to your senses! Go get something to eat, honey."
"Not now," Alice refused. "I'm needed downstairs, but I promise you I will eat once I am done."
"Why? What happened?" Queen Sophie looked concerned.
"Ask the king. He will tell you," Alice said, and rushed down to the dungeon. A guard pointed to his cell, and she approached him. She gasped. He looked so bad; Alice thought she might throw up. He definitely needed a shower, and it looked like he hadn't combed his hair for a month. His right eye was bruised and swelling, all shades of colors. His lip was cut, and he was coated in dried blood. Alice settled down next to him, despite his lack of hygiene, and said, "Oh my God! What happened to you? I cannot believe it."
The man attempted to smile. "This is what your father ordered to be done," he said, before adding. "Your highness."
He attempted to bow, but pain shot through his face when he tried to move. Alice was frightened. "Don't move. It's okay." She hated all types of violence, even if this man did try to kill her.
"What I am about to tell you is between me and you," he began. "I requested you come here, because I know they will have any place else bugged."
Alice nodded. "That's true. Continue please, and you can trust me not to speak, unless of course necessary."
"First of all, I want you to know that I aimed at you and purposely missed. You were definitely not supposed to be injured. I had clear instructions on that," he said, whispering. "Your father, on the other hand was a target of mine. Unfortunately for me, maybe not for you, I didn't get a good aim. I am truly sorry if I had frightened you."
"Why would you kill my father?" Alice asked.
"Forgive me, but do you really think your father is a good king?" the man asked.
Alice thought for a minute. "I'll be frank with you. From what I had personally experienced these past two months, I do not think so."
"Alright then, I can continue," the man said. "You see, there are a lot of people who believe that, but if anyone dares to speak out, he will be killed immediately. So, we have been working in secret, plotting against the king. You see, we needed to overthrow him, and we believe we have enough supporters now to overthrow him. But, it would be even better if we had you on our side. Princess, we believe you are a fair and just woman, and would be a great queen for us. We cannot wait for the day to come when you finally take over. For that reason, we need to dispose of him quickly."
"What made you think you can trust me?" Alice said slowly. "After all, this is my father you are talking about."
"We have inside connections that confirmed to us your relationship with your father isn't too great. We decided to take the risk," the man said.
"I would have to think about it," Alice said. "I don't know if I can do it."
"If you had the chance, would you make sure you ended up with Thomas rather than Prince Phillip?" the man asked.
"How do you know of this?" Alice asked suspiciously.
"I told you, we have our connections," the man said. "Alice, if we act fast, we can eliminate your father before your wedding comes along. There is still hope for you and Thomas. Don't you want to at least try?"
"Does Thomas know about you guys?" Alice asked.
"Not yet," the man admitted.
Alice thought for a minute. "What do you plan on doing exactly with my father?"
"Anything necessary," the man told her bluntly.
"I can agree to overthrow him, but you cannot kill him," Alice said.
"I cannot guarantee you this," the man warned.
"Can you at least agree to make all your plans away from his death?" Alice asked.
"I won't make any promises," the man said. "But I will try my best to please you, my princess."
Alice took a deep breath, and said, "I'm in."