The royal courts were pretty much empty.Only the queen and a few guards were present. Joanna stood before the queen with her face down.The queen was calm and collected but anger was vivid on her face. Darius stood beside Joanna and observed his mother, he could not recall the last day he had seen his mother angry.
"Where is it?" The queen broke the silence.
Joanna looked at the queen with more questions than answers.
"Where is what your highness?" Joanna asked.
"I will have you thrown in the dungeons if you do not speak up! Tell me where the hourglass is?" The queen shouted.
Joanna was in tears,she did nothing but mind her own business from the moment she stepped in the palace and now she was being accused of a crime she knew nothing about. Her chest heaved up and down, unable to contain the anguish burning inside.
"Mother, the hourglass is where it has always been," Darius intervened.
"Guards! Throw her into the dungeons until she speaks up." The queen ordered.
"Please don't,I don't know what you are talking about,am innocent please, your highness!" Joanna pleaded in tears as the guards pulled her away.
"Mother please,there must be another way," Darius tried to reason.
"You prefer a servant over your father's life?" The queen questioned with disdain.
Joanna continued to scream and plead for her freedom but her screams fell on deaf ears. She found herself in a dark cold cell with no one to run to. Ten minutes ago, she had the world in her hands and now everything was crumbling down. She did not know what the Queen was talking about, she had never seen or touched an hourglass she only knew that they existed. Joanna cuddled herself against the wall and weaped. Her life was never going to be the same again, the Prince would eventually turn against her and she would have to spend the rest of her remaining days in isolation, far away from the light of day.