**Dagen's POV**
I was locked up in an underground cell. The cell had no windows; it had only an iron gate through which the guards had thrown me inside. My personal guard, Philemon, was separated from me so it was only me in the cell.
The truth was, I could have resisted arrest at their gate and would have made it out alive with brutal force, but I had chosen to be arrested because I had a feeling that I would learn more about Regina in this place. However, hours passed and no one came to see me. I had begun to despair when the gate was opened and an old woman strolled in.
It was not her clothes that told me she was royalty but her demeanour. She appeared to be clad in regality. It was surreal; I was a king, but I wanted to bow my head to greet her.
The gate was closed behind her and when we were truly alone she said, “My granddaughter has spoken the truth, the one you seek is not here.”
“Regina?” I quipped to be certain that we were on the same page.
“Regina? You dare to speak her name lightly? Have you any idea whom you speak of?” she asked, her voice expressing disbelief at what I had just said. I was confused. Did Regina hold another position besides being niece to King Napoleon?
“Forgive me, Your?” I stopped to ask for her title, as I did not want to offend her further.
“You will address me as Her Royal Highness,” her voice was sharp and sounded like it could cut through anything.
“Your Royal Highness, I didn't mean to offend you,” I said to her.
“Regina is a princess of a thousand kings; queen of a thousand princes; mother to a thousand queens; from her loins will come a thousand warriors. You did not know this before; and sadly, Regina does not know it either,” the old woman's voice was sad as she spoke. The tone of her voice almost brought tears to my face.
“Forgive my ignorance, Your Royal Highness. I have offended Princess Regina greatly,” my voice was sober. If I could go back in time to change my behaviour, I would, but how could I have known? She had come to my kingdom in tatters and with no identification.
“She has a great destiny; she will rule over kingdoms, but blood must be shed for that to happen,” if the old woman's voice was sad before, it now bore a note of sorrow and absolute melancholy.
“Blood must be shed?” I did not understand that.
“I hear that my sister lies dead even now. She died protecting Regina's identity. Many think that the wicked one is seeking the lives of her twins, but it is hers they desire; her blood holds value, and they have vowed to make sacrifices with it,” a cold shudder ran through me.
“The wicked one? I don't understand…”
“You have no business understanding. What you must do is to find her; your destiny is tied to hers. You must find her before they do,” she said to me.
“Where is she?”I asked, hoping that the old woman would know, but her eyes were blank.
“That you must find out. But I must say that I finally know who Charlotte looks like. She has your face,” she said with a sad smile and walked out of the cell.
“Charlotte.”
I repeated the name several times with a bright smile on my face and my heart beating rapidly. I had not laid my eyes on her yet but I knew she was going to be beautiful.
Charlotte.
She was my daughter and she looked like me.
I wished I had asked the old woman for the name of the other twin.
******
Time passed in the cell further slowly. I was not sure how much time had passed, but I began to feel impatient and wanted to leave. Not only was the life of Regina in grave danger but the life of my children were. I was ready to go to the ends of the earth to find them. However, I needed to leave this place.
More time passed but I was not released. After what I was later told was a full month, I was released from the cell. Upon my release, I was escorted by Elder Davis, who had made the journey himself to plead with King Napoleon for my freedom.
“You should have told the Council you were coming to the Dark Moon clan,” Elder Davis said to me once we had managed to leave their soil.
“I would never have fathomed that a king would have another king locked up, especially when I did not come to declare war,” I was thoroughly shaken by the situation. It was all very surreal. I could not believe that the man had left me locked up for that long.
“You must thank your Beta; he did all he could to get you out. It was not until he threatened to bring war to the Dark Moon clan that King Napoleon succumbed,” Elder Davis told me.
“He succumbed because you threatened him with war? That is hard to believe,” it made little sense to me. The only explanation for that was that he was a coward.
“He is a coward. He thrives on manipulation,” returned Elder Davis, spitting as he said so to express his disgust.
“Any news yet on Alpha George?” I asked. He had a lot of explaining to do. I still did not understand clearly what his relationship with Regina had been.
“He is still on the run. His daughter has gone under the radar too. It is unclear what he is trying to do,” my mind conjured up the dead bodies I had discovered in his pack that had been used for sorcery and the words of the old woman rang in my mind.
_The wicked one._
Had she been referring to Alpha George?