Stripped of his assets

Henry lay on the cold, wet stone floor of the city prisons.

He had been there for a long time, perhaps too long that he no longer remembered when and how he had arrived there.

The prince had passed out on the floor and hadn't opened his eyes since.

He no longer felt anything anymore.

That feeling, unpleasant as it was, made him feel safe.

However, he was awakened by an unpleasant and painful sensation.

Henry quickly opened his grey eyes and squeezed his knees to his chest in an attempt to regain body heat.

-Wake up your majesty!- one of the guards who had the task of guarding the small and cramped prison mocked him.

He was not a royal guard, he had a less noble and graceful appearance, he was thus a man who had long since passed middle age and smelled terribly of rotten cheese.

This nauseating smell created a notable impression on the prince as well as retching.

He had been hit through that man by a bucket of ice water, which had caused shivers throughout his body.

Now that the prince was awake his pain began to rise to his body: his back was red and swollen with beating and his arms full of bruises and cuts.

All of this hurt and Henry couldn't understand why guards at the service of his family could have used so much violence on him.

His body, reddened only by the blood of his own wounds, was cold and wet from the water as well as being completely naked from all clothes.

Henry soon realised this and out of shame at not showing his naked noble body to a stranger he managed to huddle in one of the darkest but wettest corners of the cell.

The only thing that the guards had left intact were the prince's beautiful and long golden hair that reached halfway down his back.

The prison guard looked curiously at the prince's body, every detail of him, sometimes giving malicious and perverted smiles.

Henry could not understand how the guard could be so amazed by the beauty and harmony of the prince's body, thinking he had never seen the body of a noble without clothes.

-I wish I could receive some clothes...- asked the prince as his voice trembled from pain and fear -at least something to cover my private parts- Henry ended up asking trying to escape the look of the guard.

The man at those words showed a cruel smile that made Henry shiver with fear.

-A beautiful sight like this doesn't happen every day...- the guard commented keeping his eyes fixed on the man's body.

At those words the prince's face seemed almost paralysed as he stared into the darkness of the cell.

Outside it was not possible to see any light, so it must have been night.

-I want to talk to someone! I want to talk to my sister!- asked the prince, hugging himself for the cold.

As soon as he finished saying this he glimpsed through the bars the small and gentile body of his younger half sister.

At that sight the prince got up from the floor and hurled himself against the bars of the cell, bringing a certain surprise to Isabelle, who took a few steps back.

-Isabelle! Isabelle, I beg you free me! I'm a prince, this is not my place...- the man prayed extending one of his wounded arms out of the cell.

At those words the princess slowly regained her composure and took her little hands one inside the other blushing slightly on the face.

-Henry please, to see your body without any clothes makes me feel embarrassed...- and at those words the man took steps backwards, moving further away from the bars of the dark prison.

-I came here, to tell you about the discovery of a sad fact of which I have only just come to know- continued the young woman pulling out a large bunch of letters from behind her back.

They were sent in different dates, written with different types of paper but the split seal of sealing wax was always the same, that of the Lily of France.

-These...- the young woman began to speak showing more letters to her half brother -these letters of French correspondence...I found them in a secret drawer of your desk in your rooms- the princess admitted opening just as a test one of the letters .

-These letters however are written in French and for this reason it was not possible for me to understand what you wrote to your mother's family in France- Isabelle admitted, putting the letter back inside the envelope.

At those words Henry turned pale he was afraid that history would repeat itself.

-Nothing compromising, I swear- the prince begged in a panic attack collapsing to his knees on the damp floor -I conversed only with my maternal family, they just want to make sure that I'm okay...-.

-And they certainly would not be happy to know that Henry, their precious grandson could die in the same way as their beloved daughter, with his head under the blade of the guillotine- the young woman threatened, giving her half brother a critical and angry look, and at those words the prince burst into desperate tears.

-Don't do it, I beg you- pleaded the man -please don't do it...don't do it...- he repeated himself several times in panic and pleading further.

-I won't do it- Isabelle reassured him making him immediately stop crying and letting the man glance at her waiting for an answer -I am not as cruel as our father but I warn you, hard times will come for you and for France- threatened the young woman by tearing the letters into a thousand small pieces and letting them fall to the floor.

-Please, provide my brother with clothes to cover his private parts, what I saw this evening is scandalous- said the young woman as she left the prison slowly followed by the guard of the cell.

Henry was terrified, his grey eyes now harboured deep dark circles on his pale face, he couldn't live like this, he was literally going crazy.

And so barely pushing his body out of pain back to the darker part of his cell, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.