Free Web NovelChapter 18: Chapter 18
"I want the king, bring him to me!" Adonis ordered. "Do not hurt any member of the royal family."
"Yes, your majesty!" The men answered.
"Augustus!"
"Yes, your majesty." The lieutenant answered.
"Take a few men, sweep the castle grounds. Anything important you find, inform me immediately."
"Yes, you majesty." Lieutenant Augustus bowed and motioned for some of the men to follow him.
They had captured the kingdom. After many days of war and killing, it was finally over.
When they marched into the city, Adonis could feel the resentment. There was an eerie silence as they passed by the people of Silithra. He had no courage to face the looks in their eyes.
Oddly enough, those thoughts vanished when he’d seen Astrid again. Thoughts of their fight together flashed through his mind. The way she’d skillfully dodged a few attacks and even saved his life.
"They weren’t here when my girls got to the castle." Astrid sat leisurely, cross-legged in the throne room. "They got away."
Adonis grunted. "I thought as much. It wouldn’t be a conquest without a few hiccups, would it?"
Astrid cast him a sideways glance. "Isn’t that going to cause a lot of trouble for you?"
"Of course it will. Especially if he seeks help from any other kingdom we’re supposed to capture."
"I don’t envy you."
"I wouldn’t expect you to."
They both sat silently. Adonis began to remove his armor, loud clangs reverberating through the room.
"Thank you," he said, for saving me back there," Adonis said, awkwardly.
Astrid smiled to herself. "I thought you’d never say the words."
"Don’t let it get to your head. I could have taken care of it."
"We both know that’s a lie, but if that’s what you believe, then sure."
"Heavens," Adonis muttered.
"So what do you plan to do next?" Astrid’s voice turned serious.
"A lot of things," he replied. "First, we have to catch that king of theirs and set up control for the salt mines."
"You make it sound easy."
"It isn’t, but that’s the gist of it all." He said. "If we don’t catch him on time, all our effort, all this would have been in vain. He will disclose our plans to the other kingdoms, and they’ll be guarded against us."
"I see," Astrid mused. "But, there’s something I just don’t understand. I know Silithra is well guarded, you said so yourself, but how were most, I mean a large amount of their troops, coincidentally at the border just in time to stop your attack?"
"Patrolling the city? Luck?"
"You don’t even believe that," Astrid said flatly.
Adonis exhaled. "It would force me to believe that we either have a traitor back in Erindros or they planted a spy among us. None of these options appeals to me."
Astrid sat quietly.
"But that’s not really something to worry about, there’s always been spies, " He said. "Erindros has always had spies and many fierce enemies. Nonetheless, we’ve always come out on top."
"Wow.... Good for you."
"I wasn’t trying to brag. Truly." freewebnøvel.coɱ
"How humble. "
There was silence again. But this time it was warm. His body ached all over, his hands and legs were bleeding, but he felt calm.
"How did you learn to fight like that?" Adonis asked, turning to her.
She stiffened in her seat.
"Why do you ask?"
"You fight so well... I haven’t seen a lot of women fight like you."
Astrid heaved deeply and stayed silent.
He studied her. He could sense that it was a touchy subject for her. "You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to."
"I don’t," she said abruptly.
"Alright, it’s fine," he assured her.
Astrid looked around the room, her muscles visibly tensed. "I’ll see what my sisters are up to. Keep me updated."
"Sure," he muttered.
After she left, he breathed deeply again and scanned the room. I look terrible, he mused. His whole body ached. He needed to mend his wounds, or they would fester.
"Is anyone out there?" he called loudly.
It was a young boy, barely seventeen. "Yes, your majesty?" His voice was cold, devoid of any feeling.
Adonis raised an eyebrow at him. He couldn’t be bothered to say much right now; he’d barely survived himself.
"Has my trunk been brought from the ship?"
"Yes, your majesty."
"Where has it been kept?"
"One of the rooms on the top floor, your majesty. I’m not too sure."
"Alright. You may leave."
Adonis headed towards the stairs to the upper floor.
"Your majesty, may I have a moment, please?" It was Augustus.
"Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"
"The men are still out searching, but we haven’t found them. Forgive me for the incompetence, my lord."
"Have all the exits been blocked?"
"Yes. We have men stationed at every exit point in the kingdom. I don’t think they’ve left, but unfortunately, it might take a while to catch them."
"That’s fine. Remember, I need them alive, for now."
"Yes, your majesty."
"Also..." his voice came again, stopping Adonis in his steps.
"We saw Silas back at the beach. He ran off during the battle." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Adonis scoffed. That idiot, of course, he ran back to the ships, he mused. "Do with him what seems fit."
"Yes, your majesty."
Immediately he found his rooms, he shut the door, cleaned up his wound, and dozed off.
The sky had darkened when he opened his eyes again. His body weighed heavily on him, like he had been hit by a raging horse.
"gods!!" He cursed as he tried to sit up.
"Prince." There was a soft knock on the door as someone called.
"Prince." The voice called more loudly now. "It’s me, Astrid." There was a short pause. "You should have some dinner."
"You can come in," he croaked.
"Wow," Astrid chuckled. "You look like death."
"How funny."
"Are you alright though? You look horrible."
"It’ll pass. I just need some more rest."
"And food," she said.
Astrid sighed and took him down the stairs to the dining hall.
"We’re going to be away for a while, aren’t we?" Astrid asked quietly.
"Don’t tell me you regret it now, you’re the one who jumped into my boat."
"I’m being serious here."
"Of course we will, it’s going to be a long campaign. Or a short one if things go according to plan."
"Astrid! Where are you?" It was Andrea and Doris. They entered the dining hall, looking slightly agitated.
"Girls," Astrid said, studying them. "Is everything alright ?"
"And who are they?" Adonis asked.
"My sisters," she replied. "Girls, you already know the prince, of course."
They hardly acknowledged him.
"I think there’s a problem," Andrea said. "I think the castle is under attack."
"What?!"
"We aren’t safe here. We need to leave."
They began hearing noises downstairs, men shouting and screaming to others to take cover.
"gods!! Adonis! How the hell is this happening? I thought you took care of this?" Astrid asked through gritted teeth.
"I asked my lieutenant to check everything, he’s highly skilled, and I trust him with more than...."
"Oh, please shut up." Astrid was seething with rage. " We’re under an attack, and the only thing you can say is that your right-hand man didn’t make a mistake. How the hell did this happen then?!"
"Can you two keep quiet?" Doris hissed. "If you haven’t noticed, we’re under an attack, and we need to get somewhere safe. Shouting at each other will only make things much worse for us. If you don’t want us hurt with our heads hanging, shut it and work together. We need to find a way out of this."
They rushed out of the dining hall and ran through the other hallway.
"Do we go up or down?" Andrea asked.
"Down... Now." Adonis commanded
They ran down the staircase at the end of the hallway, taking the stairs two at a time.
"Your majesty!" Augustus called, rushing towards them as soon as they reached the first floor.
"Augustus!! Thank the gods. What the hell is happening here? How did they enter the castle unseen? I thought you checked everywhere?"
"I did your majesty, our guards are everywhere, but we didn’t discover the tunnel they came in through."
Adonis clenched his fists. Nothing was working. Everything they planned was collapsing in front of his eyes.
"We need to get you somewhere safe," Augustus said with great urgency.
Adonis sighed. "Let’s go."
They rushed through the corridors and were about to leave when Adonis stopped.
"We can’t leave."
Astrid’s eyes widened, and Andrea and Doris glanced uncertainly at each other.
"What do you mean we can’t leave?"
"Once our men leave the castle, they’re going to barricade themselves inside these walls, and we will not have another chance to get these bastards."
"For heaven’s sake, Adonis," Astrid grunted. "You really want to get us all killed."
"You don’t have to come. Go back to the ships, stay, we’ll figure this out."
Augustus clenched his jaw, his face tight. "This is a mad plan, your majesty; they know these walls better than us, and there could be more hidden tunnels we don’t know of."
Adonis glared at him.
"Spare the man," Astrid said. She looked at the girls, and they slightly nodded at her. "We’ll stay. But you’d better win this once and for all."
