BXBX NOVEL Chapter 196 - Worth It?
"Good morning, Grandpa!" the men replied in chorus.
"No news yet?" he asked.
The men shook their heads.
"We arrived here as early as 5:00 in the morning, no one exited the entrance of the castle yet," replied one of the men.
Terros breathed deeply. "I see... we just have to wait then... maybe the cursed King will release them today," he said feeling optimistic.
"Hopefully," replied one of the men.
They waited patiently in the air.
Two hours later, the sun is getting hotter, they take shelter under the shade of the tallest tree in the area. Each of them takes turn in watching for anything or anyone that might launch an attack on them.
Meanwhile...
Underneath the ground.
The black men lined up the prisoners in front of the King.
"My king, they're ready to go!" the leader of the black men said.
"Good!" the King replied. He looked at Graven. "Choose two of your men to stay behind. They will become my assurance that this time you will obey my command!" he ordered.
Graven groaned and looked at the King angrily. "Why would I choose two of my people to remain here? I won't leave them behind!" he said adamantly.
The King laughed. "That's not for you to decide! If you refused my order... then no one can leave my place!" he said loudly.
Graven took a deep breath. He looked at the downcast faces of his men, he knows that everyone wants to go home now. But he doesn't have the strength to choose any of them to stay in this dark place. He feared that the King will torture them after he leave them behind.
The King saw the hesitation and fear in Graven's eyes. "Are you afraid that I'm going to torture them? Don't worry, rest assured that I won't harm them as long you follow my command," he said.
Graven released a deep sigh and looked at his men's faces one by one. Damn, he can't do it! This is the kind of torture that the King wants him to feel, to make him fell the agony and guilt of doing something against his will. He was torturing him mentally and emotionally!
The King looked at him wearing a bored look in his eyes. "What? You can't choose yet?" he growled.
Graven bit his lower lip in agitation. He doesn't want to leave anyone behind!
"Alright, since you don't have the heart to choose any of them, then all of you will stay here for one month as my prisoners!" the King said. He was about to leave the chamber but two of the prisoners from the back shouted.
"We volunteer to stay behind!" the two men said in unison.
The King looked at them and nods his head. "Good! Take them away and locked them in a room!" he ordered at the black men.
The black men took the two prisoners out of the chamber.
The King then addressed his guest. "Alright, I'm done with you all. You will be released soon!" he said and left the chamber without giving them a second glance.
Graven sighed. He had a feeling that every time he failed to bring Laura here, the King will retain two more men underground until in the end... he is the only one standing!
This can't go on for a long time! He needs to find a way to get rid of the black liquid from their bodies or else they will be forever at the mercy of the cursed King!
A few minutes later.
The black men returned and put Graven and his men inside a room shrouded in darkness.
Then a smoke appeared out of nowhere and infiltrated the entire room, knocking the men unconscious.
The black men entered the room and removed the shackles from the prisoners feet and hands.
Half an hour later.
When Graven and his men opened their eyes, they're already lying on the ground of the castle minus their shackles!
The men wore a bright smile on their faces as huge relief washed over him.
They immediately stood up, bolted towards the entrance of the castle and sprinted like crazy towards freedom outside!
Graven was left behind, devastated by the fate of his two men that were being held prisoner by the King. He wanted to go back underground to save them but he feared that the King will kill them before he can rescue them, besides they have the poisonous black liquid inside their bodies, the King can easily kill them all in one strike!
He released a deep sigh.
Outside.
Terros and the men rejoiced after seeing their comrades running outside the castle's main door.
They greeted them with hugs and loud cheers.
Terros scanned among the men. "Where is your Lord?" he asked.
Due to the excitement and happiness of getting out of the castle alive, they forgot about their master.
They all looked at the door of the castle with confusion and fear in their eyes.
Finally... Graven exited the door...everyone cheered in gladness.
Terros went to Garven's side and hugged him. "Welcome back, son! It's nice to see you again!" he said.
Graven smiled at him. "It was a close call for us, old man! This is our second life," he said, misty-eyed.
"I know..." Terros said.
Graven looked at Calder and addressed his men. "Listened up. Let's vacate this place now before the King changes his mind! You all go back to South Pond Town while I continue finding my missing wife!" he barked his order.
"Yes, my lord!" the men replied in unison.
A few minutes later, the men vanished from the place along with Calder.
Terros saw the sadness on Graven's face. "What is it, son?" he asked.
"Right now, two of my men were being detained by the King underground to make sure that I will bring Laura to him next time," he said sadly.
"That's bad!" Terros replied.
"I know!" Graven said with a gloomy sigh. Let's go back to your place, old man, and continue our conversation there," he said.
"Alright, let's go!" Terros agreed.
The two men disappeared from the castle.
A minute later.
They reappeared in front of the bamboo house.
"I'll just stay under the shade of the tree," Graven said.
"Okay, just take a rest there. I'll have Veronica prepare some food for you," Terros said and went to the wooden staircase, he climbed the stairs in big stride and reached the door in no time.
After he closed the door behind him, a smiling Veronica was already waiting nearby.
"Wow! Graven is back, safe and sound! I'm happy for him!" Veronica said.
Terros smiled. "Yeah, he and his men were lucky to be alive this time. Ironically, they were saved by the antidote administered to them by the King, the same person who gives them the poison itself," he said.
"Well, we can expect more scenarios like this in the future unless we can find the cure that would eliminate the black liquid inside their bodies so that they don't have to go back to the castle again and again," Veronica said with a sigh. The men's problem is now become her own.
"Yeah, you are right!" he said. "Can you please cook some food for Graven?" he requested politely.
"Sure! I'll prepare some food for the two of you!" Veronica said and turned around heading towards the kitchen.
Terros exited the house to continue chatting with Graven. He found him staring at the horizon wearing a miserable look on his face. "Are you thinking of your men that was held by the King at his place?" he asked.
"Yeah and among other things. There's still the missing Rebecca, the problem with my wife, the poison inside my body, and my two men left behind in the castle," he elaborated, counting his bad luck with a deep sigh.
Terros pondered Graven's bad luck for a moment. "Son, your life is not this complicated and chaotic before. Do you know when and how these problems started?" he asked him.
Graven stared at the old man for a few seconds - wondering why he's even asking him the unpleasant question. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Terros sighed. "Son...please don't get mad at me for what I'm about to tell you..." he said.
Graven took a deep breath. "Go ahead... tell me what you have in mind right now."
"You might agree with me or not, but your life went chaotic because of your entanglement with Laura. Is it worth it? Is your wife worth all the trouble that you have undergone nowadays?" Terros asked.
Graven breathed deeply. Does having Laura in his life worth all the trouble? He loved her so much despite of everything, and yet she's having an intimate relationship with his twin brother as of this moment. Is she worth all the trouble? If he based his answer on his recent anger and jealousy, he will answer a big...no!...right away. He has to go back in time when he and Laura were experiencing pure bliss and love in each others arms, he extract strength from those sweet memories.
He released a deep sigh. "I love her so much, old man," he replied. "To answer your question, yeah, she's worth it!" he told the truth.
Terros nods his head. "Okay, since that is your answer, I assumed that you will never give up your wife and you have no plan to surrender her to the cursed King, am I right?"
"Yeah, that's right!" Graven replied.
"So... you're ready to sacrifice your life and that of your men just to protect Laura?" Terros asked in disbelief.
"Not really. As long I'm alive... there still hope of finding the cure that would sever the ties between me and that cursed King. There's got to be a way out..." Graven said confidently.
"Have you ever thought of surrendering Laura to the cursed King? They're the original couple since a thousand years ago? The King won't harm Laura," Terros continue suggesting.
"No...especially that Laura is pregnant with my child or my brother's child," Graven revealed.
Terros eyes widened in surprise. "Oh...that... I did not expect that..."
"Me too..." Graven said.
"Oh...well..." Terros murmured in frustration. He arrived to a simple solution for Graven's problem but met a dead end instead.
"What's in your mind, old man?" Graven asked.
"I have this crazy plan to just surrender Laura to the King so that he will release you and your men from the poisonous black liquid. Then you will find a way to save Laura after you and your men are free from the King's clutches. What do you think of my plan?" Terros suggested.
"It's a good plan. The King won't hurt Laura, but I'm not sure if he will allow his lady love to continue carrying another man's child...What do you think the King will do to the baby?" Graven asked.
Terros was speechless for a moment, using Laura to solve Graven's problem is difficult indeed because there's an innocent baby involved! He shook his head and sighed.
"Food is ready!" Veronica's voice rang in the air.
The men rose to their feet and went to the house to have a good meal in the kitchen.