Shelby rocked herself back and forth, trying to drown out the beeping in her ears. Her grey eyes taking in the scene around her. The walls padded out with thick concrete blocks, the metal bed pinned to the wall. She shivered as the concrete floors coolness seeped into her slender frame.

She blinked furiously trying to muster some kind of emotion but still none fell. Her body too tired to fight.

She heard the fist slam on her door and she jumped and scuttled back to the bed.

The elder walked in and motioned for her to follow. She glanced at the only other item in the room, the clock.

Right on cue she thought as she noted the time. 6.25pm. Her existence every day since she arrived at the facility depended on the call.

She hurried and shuffled in step behind the elder as he led her to a phone pod.

This had been her routine for the last 2 moons. Every day the same.

The elder stopped and motioned his head towards the pod. The same as he did every day.

It was almost comical, she thought. Every day she would enter this pod led by this elder. Every day she picked up the phone and every day she would be met with silence.

In the beginning she would scream at the silence until the elder would drag her back to her cell pod.

The phone pods were the only private places in this god forsaken planet.

Shelby had been sold to the guardians when she was just 19 and had been here now for two moons. Why her mother sold her she would never understand.

They had a good life before he came. Her and her sister Dafreya.

Dafreya was 4 years older than her and as law dictated on Drona - her planet. Dafreya was eligible to marry. It didn’t take long for him to marry her sister off.

She closed her eyes at the thought of that day. Her sister withdrawn not talking to anyone as she faced her betrothed 15 years her senior. Her mothers new husband smiled down at Shelby licking his lips and gripping her waist before he bent down and reminded her she was next. She shuddered at the thought.

She wasn’t next as it turned out as she soon realised he was possessive of her. Her mother once vibrant was now an empty shell. She didn’t seem to notice the advances of her husband towards her daughter.

Shelby swallowed the bile that rose in her mouth as the image of that day seeped into her memory. The day that changed everything. The day she fought back when he tried to violate her.

She had screamed and kicked out and cried out for her mother. Her mother came. A sinister chuckled rumbled from her step fathers belly as he withdraw and he silently whispered something in her mothers ear before he walked away.

Her mother offered no comfort and her once bright blue eyes turned to steel.

That was the last memory Shelby had for when she awoke she was here.

She felt the nudge of the elders hand in her back as he pushed her into the pod. She fell forward and on to the stool. Behind her a chuckle from the elder caused her to scowl at him.

She picked up the phone as if on auto pilot.

Hello she murmured. Waiting and calling out into the silence.

Something was different this time for something whispered back.

“I’m sorry I had to get you away”

Shelby gulped back the tears and held the phone closer to her face.

“Mum is that you”

The phone fell into silence and Shelby called out once more.

The voice returned more sinister and male than before it was his voice.

“Your mother should not of taken you from me, she has been punished Shelby, just as I need to punish you” It was followed by a scream.

Tears now streamed from Shelby’s eyes as the reality sunk in. The phone slipped from her grasp and her body soon followed to the floor.

….

Shelby opened her eyes but not to the darkness as she suspected but to a white room. It was larger than her own cell. Plants filled the room and a small window looked out into a garden. Shelby kicked her legs from the bed and wandered to the window.

A knock at the door interrupted her visions. As she turned the elder walked in holding out a tray and motioned for her to return to the bed.

She dutifully did as he requested.

“You don’t talk much do you” she said speaking to him directly.

He leant his head to one side and smiled.

He watched her as she ate and removed the tray to the table once she had finished.

He motioned for her to join him by the window.

“Do you know who I am” he asked.

She nodded dumbly “an elder”

He turned and smiled down to her, his blue eyes sparking as a lock of his brown hair dropped down on to his forehead.

Shelby stood rigid as her stomach fluttered.

“I’m not an elder Shelby, I am a guardian”

She looked at him confusion settling in.

“I thought only elders dealt with prisoners” she asked.

He stood silent for a few moments.

“I’m Eric of Plenth” he chuckled

Shelby gasped and stood back. The prince of Plenth, the next in line to be the ruler was her elder?

“I don’t understand” she whispered

He moved towards her.

“Your mother is dead Shelby, your step father Gefin has disappeared”

He reach out to hold her hand and rolled it in his own before continuing.

“Gefin has been under our surveillance for some time. Did you know your mother was a guardian before she married your father” he asked.

Shelby shook her head “none of this makes sense” she replied.

He nodded and let go of her hand

“Your mother gave up her position when she met your father, after he died Gethin thought your mother was a way in. It didn’t take long before he realised his mistake.

Your mother sent you here back to her family for your protection”

Shelby felt sick “Are you my family” she laughed

He chuckled back “You are the rightful princess of Drona Shelby”

Shelby froze and her head felt light as the room started to spin around her. She fell into a blanket of warmth and welcomed the warmth back in.

To be continued