After his rather vague response the crown prince went on to delve into other matters, particularly the issue that concerned Kathrine most.
"Theodore is currently living in the castle, to put it more precisely, he's become one of the Emperor's adopted. He's schooling with the rest of the nobles, and the Emperor has sworn to change his name once he reaches thirteen." Dominic lectured, fulfiling his end of the bargain.
Kathrine gasped, "No, they can't take him too." She whimpered in disbelief, swaying her frantic head from side to side.
Her entire family had been wiped out completely over the course of the past nine years, and her baby brother Theodore was the last remaining royal, save for herself, who was still alive. Considering he was nothing but a baby when the military overthrew her family, he had no recollection of who he truly was.
It pained Katherine to realize that the same man who had murdered her family in cold blood was pretending to be a savior to her brother, clothing and fattening him up, like cattle waiting to be slaughtered.
The Emperor would teach him to slander the name of the royal family of 'Ashbourne' just like the rest of the noble brats and whip him into one of his heartless men.
Prince Dominic went on to explain, "At the moment, the nobles are vying to have the bastard royal prince under their wing. The Emperor's interest can only be piqued for a limited time. I give it a year before his infatuation with Theodore reaches it's peak." He took an abrupt pause once the car steered itself towards the grand estate, which housed the royal castle.
Or at least, what it used to be. Now, it was nothing but a breeding house for the young nobles set to become fine men under Emperor Fletcher's command.
Finding courage, Kathrine asked, "What will happen to Theodore once Fletcher loses his interest?"
In the past, Kathrine had been subjected to a number of torment and torture due to her reluctance to address the Emperor by his title. Which was why she clenched her jaw and fists, prepared to take a slap or two for discrediting the Emperor.
However, his son didn't seem to care. Indifferently, he replied, "The nobles will most likely shuffle him around, and in fragments, they will break down the false armour of nobility he bears, before completely abandoning him to his fate." After he had given such a frightening prediction, he waved his fingers and interjected swiftly.
"Or something of the sort."
Kathrine narrowed her eyes and wondered to herself, 'Which was it?'
But more importantly, she wondered why the colonel had gone through the trouble to escort her from the prison yard, and explained all this to her.
Could it be for the sake of the friendship they shared once upon a time? Kathrine shook her head and dismissed the idea, she stole a glance at the prince sitting next to her and drank in his features.
The prince had a commanding presence about him along with black hair and piercing blue eyes. His jet-black hair cascaded sleekly over his forehead, accentuating his strong features and adding to the allure of his striking appearance. The contrast between his dark hair and icy-blue eyes created a captivating intensity that seemed to freeze the very atmosphere around him.
No, Kathrine was convinced that Dominic had his own agenda for doing this, and decided to keep her guard up the entire time.
The car halted by the large water fountain, where about ten uniformly dressed guards were stationed. At her arrival, they surrounded the car on all sides.
Kathrine couldn't tell if this was protocol to escort the prince, or caution for such a 'dangerous' prisoner such as herself. She laughed at the idea of Emperor Fletcher hiding in his throne room, and deploying his men to quickly apprehend her, before she could go up there and spank him.
The guards were rough with her, like the warden at the prison yard, and pinned her against the car for frisking. But she was used to this much, nine years in prison was no joke.
However, one of the guards tried taking liberties with her and slid his hand down her back and attempted to rest it on her behind. Kathrine struggled against it, but the guard overwhelmed her in strength and began to grope her shamelessly.
*Snap*
Katherine's heart skipped a beat, when she heard the ear deafening cry from said guard, as he fell unceremoniously to his knees, holding up what seemed to be his dislocated wrist.
The rest of the guards backed away from Kathrine, scared out of their minds at the brute display of strength from the colonel.
Dominic wasn't done though. He raised his leg and stomped on the already broken wrist, breaking whatever was still intact.
A nervous sweat ran down the swell of Kathrine's breasts, when she casted her timid glance at the primal gaze of the man she had just ridden with.
"Do it again, and I'll take your entire arm." Dominic threatened then spat at the guard. He raised his gaze and gave each guard a warning glare.
"That goes for the rest of you."
Certain that he had made his point quite clear, the prince gestured Katherine to follow, then turned towards the see through stairway leading to the castle.
At first, Katherine was hesitant and took two reluctant steps, but when she saw that not one guard had any intention of stopping her, she picked up the pace and followed him inside.
However, as they marched down the halls, Kathrine's thumb grazed against her index finger. A gasp escaped her lips, as she widened her eyes in realization that the spatial ring she concealed from the prison house was no longer on her finger!
"Where is it?" Her eyes went here and there, searching for the ring, but it was a small thing and was concealed so it couldn't be easily detected.
The prince who was walking in front halted his footsteps and glanced over his shoulder at her. "Did you say something?" They were now standing at the long doors to the throne room.
Katherine's heart skipped another beat, it seemed to do that quite a lot around prince Dominic.
But the woman wasn't stupid. If she, as a prisoner on death row were to reveal that she had somehow gotten her hands on a spatial ring during her sentence, what little kindness he was extending to her, would become a thing of the past.
Hence, she lowered her head, "I…asked, where are we?"
Dominic eyed her for a bit, wondering why she of all people would not recognize her former castle.
"The castle of Ashbourne. And as for why we're here, you'll be delighted to know that you've been granted a trial." The prince informed her.
Katherine pursued her lips, "Trial?" Katherine echoed, uncertain if she had heard him right. However, all her doubts were silenced when the throne room doors parted way for them to walk into.
Inside, Katherine found herself standing at the middle of the room, surrounded by the most high ranked personnels in the kingdom.
And, at the apex of it all seated on the blood sullied throne of her late father, Atticus Von Ashbourne. Sat the former general of the kingdom, husband of duchess Primrose, and father to Dominic.
Emperor Fletcher Radcliffe.
The man she wanted to kill.