Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 40
"Aman." Adonis bowed. "It’s good to see you again."
"Please," Aman motioned towards the chairs, "have a seat."
"How have you been, your majesty, and you brought along some beautiful ladies."
"I’ve been well, Aman," Adonis replied. "But I have urgent matters to discuss with you. Could you clear the room?"
A slow smile crept onto King Aman’s face. "I would have to deny your request, your majesty."
Adonis narrowed his eyes. "Alright." His voice was dangerously low.
"So, what has brought you to my doorstep, your majesty? This is a rare occasion indeed."
"I’ve come bearing news from my father and his council," he paused. "We need you to supply grain. A large amount of it."
"Do we not already send yearly supplies of grain, your majesty?"
Adonis rested his arms on the table, leaned forward, and clasped his hands together. "Well, it is not enough."
"I see," Aman said. "And if we cannot send the grains? What happens next?"
"We will just have to take it by force." Adonis’ voice was cold.
"Is that so?" Aman said quietly. Then he smirked. "I’d like to see you try. Guards, seize them!"
The guards enclosed them from all sides.
Adonis turned back to the girls, shook his head, and they sheathed the little knives they’d hidden.
The guards bound them and took them to the cell in the basement.
"Wow," Doris retched. "This has to be the worst place in the world. Why does it smell so horrible?"
"Keep your voice down, Doris," Astrid said. "Your voice makes me want to vomit even more."
"That doesn’t even make any sense." Doris retorted.
"Can the two of you please behave?" Andrea said. "This place is awful enough as it is already."
They were all put in different prison cells.
"So what do we do now?" Astrid asked.
"We wait," Adonis said.
"Till Augustus comes? " Astrid asked, "That would be a wonderful idea, if they don’t kill us all first."
Astrid got up and looked around her cell. There were no windows, the floors were damp, and the gates were sturdy.
"It’s going to be hard getting out of this place," Astrid said. "This place looks like a hellhole, but I think it’s made that way intentionally."
"Tell us something new, Astrid," Andrea said, her tone dry.
Astrid rolled her eyes and sat back down.
They had no idea how the days passed or how their men fared. They hardly survived through the days with the meals brought to them.
When two days had gone by, Adonis began to pace restlessly in his cell.
"You know, there’s no reason to be worried," Doris said. "The only thing we can hope for now is that they capture the kingdom as swiftly as possible."
"Hope will not win us the kingdom, Doris," Astrid said. "We would need to be able to get out of here as soon as possible."
A soldier came in with breakfast for the four of them, and he threw the bread into their cells recklessly.
"Guard," Andrea called just as he was about to leave. "Guard, please, I would like to relieve myself."
The man grunted but turned and opened her cell. Immediately, he tried to bind her in chains, but she headbutted him. He staggered a few paces back but stood his ground. He removed his sword from its sheath and charged at her.
Andrea dodged a few times, but the space around them was too narrow, and the sword cut her thigh.
"You’re going to pay for that," she hissed. She brought out the knife she’d kept hidden and swung at him.
Finally, Andrea got close enough that she pummelled his face hard and then drove her knife into his neck.
Andrea wiped the splattered blood off her face and unlocked the other cells.
"That was nicely done," Doris said.
Andrea rolled her eyes.
"Now that we’re free, what do you suggest we do now, prince? "
"We don’t need to wait for my soldiers to get here before we kill Aman. We find him, and this business of ours will end faster than we know it."
"It will not be easy, Adonis," Astrid said thoughtfully. "I’m sure soldiers are swarming the entire palace. They might end up killing us off before we even reach Aman."
"There’s no use overthinking it now," he sighed. "We either stay and wait and possibly be discovered, or we do something to end this battle quickly."
The girls said nothing.
"Let’s go," he said, and they tiptoed out of the cells.
Astrid slit the throat of a soldier who was at the entrance of the cell and dragged his body in.
"Why don’t we split up?" Adonis suggested. "We’d be able to find Aman faster."
"No," Astrid said, her tone forceful. "I cannot lose anyone else. We stay together."
Carefully, they climbed a few flights of stairs. There was no sight of Aman, but they fought a handful of soldiers.
"I don’t think we’re going to be able to find him, Adonis," Astrid said a little loudly over the clangs of their swords.
"We’ll just have to forge ahead, Astrid. The men will soon be here any minute now." He said.
They climbed another flight of stairs, which led them to the east wing of the palace. The floor was empty, all the rooms were unoccupied, save for a maid servant who happened to pass by. freёwebnovel.com
Adonis raised a hand to his lips, and the woman all but flew away.
Just as they were about to keep searching, the commotion in the town through one of the windows caught their eye.
"They’re held up," Adonis said, his jaw tightened.
"They’re going to have a lot of casualties if they stay stagnant inside the city.. They need to move forward," Astrid said.
"You think I don’t know? It’s my men who are getting butchered out there," he retorted harshly.
"And we are the ones who will get killed if they do not make it on time," Astrid fired back.
Adonis racked a hand through his hair.
"Let’s go!" Astrid commanded.
Quietly, they moved to the west wing of the palace, watching for soldiers. Fortunately, they did not need to search long.
They heard voices come from behind a door, and Aman was one of them.
Adonis signalled for them to hold on for a while before they charged into the room.
"Everything is going according to plan, your majesty. We’re holding them long enough for the bombs to be ready."
Adonis and Astrid lock eyes instantly. This was bad news. Exceptionally bad news.
Doris, who was by their side, mouthed bombs to Andrea, who nodded.
"How many men do you think are in there?" Astrid asked in a hushed tone.
"We will just have to find out," he said and rushed into the room. The girls followed closely behind him.
There was a total of fifteen men in the room, most of whom were soldiers.
This isn’t looking good for us, " Doris whispered.
"Shut up," Astrid replied.
"You disappoint me a lot, your majesty," King Aman said. "Do not tell me you wish to win with just a bunch of women."
"This bunch of women is much more capable than you’d even imagine," Adonis retorted.
"Go ahead and show us," He mocked, "guards, finish them," Aman said. "Wait, I want his head. Who ever bring me his head will be rewarded generously."
They all charged at the four of them. Swords wooshed in the air, with some of the soldiers dodging a few blows.
Astrid swiftly bent, missing a sword by a few inches. Then she immediately drove a sword into his heart.
Andrea and Doris fight side by side, protecting each other from the swords that come their way.
Before long, all the soldiers were on the floor, but Adonis and the girls did not come out unscathed. There was an ugly cut on Adonis’ thigh, while Doris sustained a wound to her side.
They turned to face the remaining men in the room. Eyes blazing with anger.
"Are you finally convinced now, Aman?" Adonis said.
Aman’s lips twitched upwards. "I should have known the empire would not let ordinary women stay by your side." He raised his head high, "What is it you want for my life and that of the men in this room?" freewebnovel.cσ๓
"Whatever bomb you are trying to set off on my men, I suggest you stop it at once."
"It is too late for that, your majesty," Aman said. "Before the command reaches the men, it will be too late. The bombs would have set off."
"Tell me how to stop it, now," he growled.
"It has been buried in a few strategic locations and will be detonated from one specific location. Once the rider I have sent reaches my men on the battlefield, the men light the fuse, and the bombs go off."
"Astrid," Adonis immediately turned to her, can you ride?"
She nodded.
"Please, save my men," he said. "Run as fast as you can, use a horse, get to me men immediately. Tell them to fall back, I’ll finish things here."
