CHAPTER 15 : THE GREAT SHIFT

The surging vehicles marked by the growling engines and squealing tyres sent me jolting out of my slumber. My eyes drifted quickly to the foggy window, the window pane illuminated by the shimmering headlight of the numerous vehicles that arrived on the extensive castle ground.

With the chains scraping the floor, I paced to the window and glanced below at the vehicles that were static at the concourse.

King Sylvester had disembarked, exuding an air of pride and arrogance as he watched two grim faced men dragged out from the storage bay of the van. They were in chains and looked battered.

From my vantage point, there was a soft knock on the door to the room I watched the brazen spectacle below. Lorna's voice sounded from behind the doorway "It's time to go, Vera. The King wants you.”

Soon the doors flung open, Lorna and some guards hurriedly walked in.. One of them immediately unlocked the chains that bound my wrist and ankle.

With a curt hand gesture, they led me through a labyrinth of