Chapter II

Keith knocked on the door furiously. He has been waiting for his friend to show up in the village for a long time.

Carolyn opened the door and smiled widely when she saw him standing outside. "Keith! What brings you here?"

"Is your brother here?"

The girl raised an eyebrow, "Weren't you supposed to be together? He left this morning to meet you."

Keith frowned, "I have been waiting for him for the entire morning. He was nowhere to be seen. Are you sure he did not come back home?" Carolyn shook her head.

Keith pressed his lips nervously and took a deep breath. His best friend was not one to disappear suddenly without telling him about it. Something must be going on and he had a feeling it was not good. Alec's night jobs were dangerous and he knew he would have to face consequences someday.

"Are you alright, Keith?" asked the girl. "Is something happening?"

The young man replaced his frown with a smile and caressed the girl's hair. "Everything is alright, do not worry."

Carolyn looked at him and gulped. The way his feline eyes would get smaller when he grinned always made her speechless. "Alright," she whispered and smiled back at him.

Keith left the street and headed back downtown. He thought Alec ditched him, but the situation was more serious than that. He stopped by the shops and asked the merchants about his best friend. Most of them said they have seen him this morning and he looked happy as he usually was. Their answers only made him more confused because it did not seem like something bad happened the night before when he went on a mission.

The dark-haired young man kept asking for his friend until he arrived at the square they were supposed to meet at. He entered a shop and asked the merchant, "Have you seen Alec today? I have been looking for him everywhere."

The old merchant raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't he with you this morning? I'm sure I have seen you both around here."

"With me?" Keith looked at the man, puzzled. "But I did not see him today! I have not seen him since yesterday evening."

"Are you sure? Because I am sure I saw you together earlier. Though it was strange because it seemed like you were fighting. Don't you remember anything?" the man asked as he looked at the younger man strangely.

Keith could not say a word as he was lost in his thoughts. He has not had any drink last night nor this morning, how could he forget meeting with his best friend? He was sure that he has not seen Alec since their sword show yesterday afternoon. He left the shop and walked slowly around the square. The merchant's words kept replaying in his mind, still not making any sense to him. Then he stopped when he spotted something on the ground.

He knelt down and picked a purple bracelet. It looked new, recently made. The young man's heartbeats raced when he read the name carved on it. Carolyn.

Now he was sure that his best friend was in danger.

Alec was back in the dark cell. After the king has spared his life, he ordered his guards to guide him back to the dungeon and left to his chambers. The swordsman was surprised when he stopped the execution. The Mad King was not one to have mercy— unless he needed something. He asked him about Keith and it all made sense to him. Their resemblance was the biggest reason why Alec understood the situation, but everything seemed still confusing to him.

The king and his best friend look so much alike, they could even be confused for the same person when they are not. Keith is a swordsman just like him, from a poor family and has been surviving with everything he could for many years. But the king is different; he has lived a luxurious life in the palace and has taken the throne at a very young age.

Alec has known Keith's family since they were both children and has never heard anything about his backstory or worse— have royal blood. Their resemblance could only mean one thing; Keith and the Mad King were brothers.

But it still sounded strange to him. Why wouldn't Keith tell him about this? And why was the king surprised to hear about him?

Something smelled fishy and it was not the skeletons scattered around the cell. Perhaps his best friend was in danger. 

The next day, the guards woke him up by splashing icy water on him. Alec did gasp from the sudden coldness after he spent hours in the burning cell, but it did not affect him that much as he was used to showering with cold water.

The king seemed to have forgotten that commoners do not have access to luxuries like him.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Alec as the men drag him outside to the palace front yard where he was about to be executed the night before.

They ignored his question and pushed him to the ground.

Alec groaned and looked in front of him to be baffled by the king's charismatic presence. Last night he could not see him clearly as it was dark. The Mad King's feline eyes pierced his body with a single stare, his scar threatened to rip his flesh just by its intimidating occupancy around his eye, and his silky robe showed off his wealth and power.

Alec recognized the man standing beside him. The prime minister gave him a cold stare as he whispered something to his sovereign.

"You must know why I brought you here." spoke the king in a deep voice. "Tell me everything about him."

The swordsman gulped and looked down. Telling him about his best friend meant putting him in danger and it was the last thing he wanted.

"There is nothing to say," replied Alec. "Why are you even asking about him?"

The prime minister widened his eyes because of the prisoner's lack of respect toward the king. "How dare you?!" he shouted. "You do not speak to your king this way!"

The king frowned and approached the swordsman. "Have you not learned your lesson yesterday? Disrespecting me would only lead you to bad consequences— losing your head for example."

"I did not lose it yesterday though," said Alec and immediately regretted it when he saw the flame burning in the king's eyes. He gulped and lowered his head.

"I will not hesitate to slice your neck with my own hands." muttered the king as he moved his face closer to his prisoner. "Now tell me, who is your friend and where does he live?"

Alec did not answer nor raised his head.

The Mad King grew impatient and pushed him strongly until his head slammed against the hard ground, making Alec groan painfully.

"I will not repeat myself," added the king as he grabbed his arm by force, hurting him more. "Tell me where Keith is or I will make you regret the day of your birth."

"I already do," mumbled Alec, making the king speechless.

The blond-haired looked straight at his eyes as he breathed deeply. "Are you not going to tell me?"

Alec shook his head slowly, "I will never betray my friend." he mumbled coldly.

The Mad King clenched his fists and walked back to his throne. He signalled his guards to grab Alec and make him walk closer to him. "I warned you," he said before he nodded to the prime minister.

The man bowed to him and called, "Joshua! Carl! You know what to do."

Alec was surprised to see the two soldiers approach. Both were about the same height and her arms looked very strong. He may be a skilled swordsman but he was terrified now to see the young men walk to him.

"I picked our best soldiers." said the prime minister. "They are going to torture you until you spill the entire truth."

Whoops~ Things are getting hard from the beginning 🤭

The two handsome guards will torture him...

Hope you liked this chapter! ❤️

⚔ Will Alec resist the torture or spill the truth?

⚔ Which characters would you like to see?

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