Chapter 16

"My, you have grown." The older woman spoke. Jaysa noticed that her mother had not aged. She looked the exact same she did that night. "You are no longer my baby girl." The woman giggles. "You've become an adult How is everything." Tears began to well up in Jaysa's eyes.

"Mother… I'm so confused. Am I…" Jaysa's mother put her finger on her daughter's lips.

"Now my darling, you are in a world that you believe should exist." Tears were still falling from her eyes.

"I miss you so much mother. I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything to help you. I wanted to! I tried my best! But I wasn't strong enough and they…" Jaysa fell to her knees crying. Her mother caught her before she fell completely to the ground. Jaysa grabbed onto her mother. She brought Jaysa into a tight embrace.

"It's alright. Remember…" Her mother spoke while wiping her tears away. "… Just believe and maybe someday this will happen." Letting go of her daughter, the woman stood up. The older woman walked backwards a couple of steps. She started twirling around in the meadow. "This… could all be a reality. If only we believe."

"Mother!" Jaysa said with a smile. "You always believed in happiness and peace. Haven't you?"

"And so should you." Her mother gently smiled. Her mother leaned in and kissed her on forehead.

"You must go back. Your destiny awaits you."

"Destiny? What do you mean mother?" Before Jaysa could receive an answer, she felt a burst of pain going through her body. She fell down to her knees arching over. Jaysa looked up at her mother and was in shock. Her mother's expression has changed. Her features were dark. She grinned and said,

"Get up you stupid slave!" Jaysa's eyes flew open and found a boot in her face. She quickly pushed herself away from the foot in front of her. It was now bright in the dungeon. The guards had lit the candles to let the light back in the otherwise dark area. The teenager was so engrossed into her dream that she didn't realize the men had come down the stairs in the area they were at. If the men were down here then that can only mean one thing, the Prince was coming. The general walked into the room. The women were getting accustomed to seeing his face. He looked at the females and began to speak,

"The Prince is coming down here to look at what ugly hags we have in here." The man glared at the women as he began to pace in the middle the room. He stood tall with his hands comfortable behind his back. "All shall listen and obey him. While the Prince is here, you will obey his every whim. Don't talk unless spoken to. There'll be no tolerating anything in the Prince's presence." While the man spoke the two other guards from last night open the cells and brought the women out one by one. Jaysa was one of the women that the guard grabbed roughly by the arm and she believed it would leave a bruise. She stood in line with the other women. Jaysa's head was facing her right side when she heard one of the guard's yell at a woman that refused to move. The man yelled and cursed out at the young girl, but she refused to move. A loud smack echoed in the dungeon walls. It wasn't just one but several smacking sounds. The man was beating on the woman. Jaysa wasn't sure why the woman was acting out, but the sound of flesh smacking flesh began to upset her. Anger filled up Jaysa's body and she couldn't take it anymore and finally snapped.

"Hey! Dumb ass! Leave her alone." The guard that was slapping the unresponsive girl stopped what he was doing. He turned to look at the young girl that called him out.

"What did you say to me?" The man let go of the woman allowing her to fall to the ground. He exited the cell and walked towards Jaysa. "Slave, do you dare say that again?" Jaysa stared at the man. She no longer cared. She lost her mother because she couldn't save her. But she could, even for a moment, help this other girl.

"Yes, yes, I would. And there are some other things that I'd like to say to you. You and your so called Prince." The man, angered, took a step forward.

"Jack." The leader yelled out. "The Prince will be here anytime. We don't have time to deal with these whores." Jack looked at the other guard and grinned.

"We have time. Besides, this wrench needs to be taught a lesson." The man turned to Jaysa. "We can't have this bitch talking bad about the Prince."

"Fine, not like he's going to pick her anyway. Hurry up, he'll be here soon." Jack smirked as he grabbed Jaysa's arm and threw her in a vacant cell. Jaysa hit the floor harder than yesterday when they threw her in the cells. The man had a grin on his face as he reached for the ties to his pants. Jaysa knew what the man wanted to do. She begged and pleaded. She called up to see if someone could help her. When she glanced around, she noticed all the women were ignoring her or not even looking into her eyes. The few that did have their eyes on her, only showed pain and pity. She looked over to the girl she saved. Once their eyes met, the girl turned her face.

Wow. Jaysa thought to herself. She wanted to save this girl, now she's in trouble herself. Guess that's reality. Was this the way that she wanted to go? Does she want to die the same way that her mother did even though her mother tried to keep her safe that night? And what about that dream that she just had? Was that supposed to be her future? The destiny her mother spoke about in her dreams, could that possibly be real. She wanted it to be a reality. She couldn't die before knowing what the future would really hold. Jaysa knew then, she wanted to live. If she wanted to fill the wished she could not die here. Not in a place like this. Fire burned in her eyes. She knew the first step was to escape the situation. She had to defend herself, and that was exactly what she was going to do. The man opened his pants, but his member was still hidden away. The man instead got down on his knees and reached out for Jaysa's legs. He grabbed her by her left ankle and dragged her closer to him. She desperately tried to grab onto something, but there was nothing she could hold onto. The man was stronger than she thought.