Chapter 18

"We are!" She yelled back. "We give life. You destroyed it!" She spoke from her heart and experience. She wanted him to understand where she was coming from. "We are not just a puppet that listens to their Masters every command." She took in a breath and continued. "You need to have your men treat us women with respect. We have feelings unlike you. You have a cold black heart that doesn't even know the word respect."

"What do you know about respect? You are just another woman that had been put on earth for our pleasure, nothing more" the Prince mocked and laughed. If this was her; he knew he would have to push the subject. Jaysa was past all knowledge of sanity. Her anger was shown clearly on her face. The Prince saw her hatred and disgust. Jaysa opened her mouth but nothing came out. So she doesn't have a smart comment to come back with. There was still no response. Maybe she was just a girl that wanted to say what she wanted and that was it. That's the end of her. He was unhappy because he thought it was her. However, he did not show the motion on his face. He would have this woman hung for her outburst. He took a step forward to walk around her when he felt something hit his face. His mind went blank and a sound echoed through the dungeon walls. Before Jaysa could register what happened, the guards rushed up and punched her in the stomach. Jaysa saw the Princess features of confusion before passing out in complete darkness.

Jaysa felt pain up and down her body and was not sure what had happened. She tried to lift up her hand when she realized something was holding on to her wrists. It felt like she was tied down.

"What happened?" She questioned to no one in particular.

"You fought with the Prince. You even smacked him in the face. Then the guards hit you, making you fall unconscious. The Prince ordered his men to take you away. You didn't come back for several hours. Once they brought you back they shackled you up to the wall. Later a maid came down and gave –"

"Erica… Is that you?" The girl was cut off by Jaysa's question.

"Yes." Erica said quietly. "I've been taking care of the wounds that they had inflicted on you." Erica took out a rag and gently wiped away the blood that began to clot. "That care taker brought in some cloths and a bucket of water. I guess the guards didn't know which cell you were originally in and put you in here." Jaysa looked up at Erica. She was lying face down on the ground. She tried to use her strength that she had to lift herself off of the ground and into a sitting position. Her body felt so weak that the chains that were attached to her wrists felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. She looked behind her and realized that she was shackled to the wall. That's what Erica meant by shackled to the wall. Even though she was not technically attached to the wall, she was only allowed to go so far before cutting her off. Erica rinsed out the bloody rag in the water and repeated the process of wiping Jaysa's back. Jaysa remembered being hung up in the middle of the room. However, she vaguely remembered a man that walked in the room and began to whip her. The pain was just too much for her that she ended up passing out. She couldn't remember anything after that. Her thoughts were then broken when her friend spoke again.

"I can't believe that you struck the Prince. Even he was shocked."

"Really?" Jaysa asked. She never thought in her wildest dreams that she would actually strike a powerful man like him. Even if she was mad at what he said and did not believe what he was saying? She had kept so much anger built up inside of her towards all men especially the men in the castle, but she never thought she would actually smack him. Oh God…! She thought to herself. If she hit him, does that mean that should be put to death? Are they figuring out the day for her execution? Freaking out over all the questions that were now floating around in her head she asked her friend. Am I going to die? Shocked at the question, Erica stopped what she was doing and looked at Jaysa. She wasn't quite sure what to say but responded with this.

"I really don't know. They didn't say anything." Jaysa could feel fear build up inside her. She wished to be with her mother, but not like this. She didn't want to die for her actions because she would never get to see what the future would really hold. It was all her fault. She had no one to blame but herself.

What can I do? She questioned herself. I never thought this would happen. But then again, I had a feeling that it would. Jaysa sighed. I guess it's my fault for being a woman that acts like this in this time of age. Jaysa laughed at herself. Erica looked at her friend wondering if she was really okay. First she asked about death and now she is giggling to herself. Did the whipping she received a harmed her mind and sanity? Erica was about to ask if she was all right when she heard the young girls start speaking again. "What's strange is, I actually believed that this world would change. I also felt like déjà vu when I was talking to the Prince. I felt like that same conversation had happened before when I was younger." Erica stayed quiet as she listened to Jaysa story.

"I feel like it happened several years ago, but it just makes me wonder if maybe they were the same."

"What exactly are you talking about? A family member, a friend?" Erica questioned. Jaysa just shook her head.

"No. It happened when I ended up leaving the table to go check out on the sheep."

"No way! That was you." Erica spoke, surprised making Jaysa look at her like she grew two heads. She had no idea why the girl was surprised. "There was a girl that was at the table that says she was going to go after an animal that she saw and disappeared into a storage shed. Was that you?"

"Yes." Jaysa spoke. "I'm guessing you're the girl that helped me out with my vegetables that day as well?" Erica just nodded. "I knew that I saw you somewhere, but I was not sure where. Wow, it's almost like destiny. We met three years ago, and now all have the same fate three years later. I wonder if there is a reason why?"

"God works in mysterious ways," was all Erica said.