Entertain Me [NamJin]

You Have My Word

Before you read this chapter, I just want to say I deeply apologize for putting this book on hold since 2016. Thank you for all of your supportive comments and encouraging me to update in the last two years. I really hope you enjoy this chapter and the future updates that are yet to come~

-A

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Signs of dawn had yet to present itself in the sky when the entire castle was awoken by the enraged king's booming voice.

"There will be no discussion; I want him gone," the king roared as he stormed into the Great Hall along with a band of trained soldiers. "Bring him to me this instant," the king demanded. Without a word, the men clad in iron-plated armor and equipped with long, sharp halberds wreaked havoc as they marched their way through the Hall. Every castle worker was jostled awake and thrown around carelessly until they finally singled out the convict they were searching for.

Wearing only his wrinkled pajamas, the young prince emerged from the winding staircase that leads to his quarters, sporting wild bedhead from endless tossing and turning. He peered into the room that was the source of all the commotion and witnessed an unsettling sight. His father, the king, was watching as his knights forced all the castle residents to line up on a wall; even the ones who slept in the solar had been brought down. He spotted a terrified Namjoon being harassed by some knights, the poor minstrel seemingly on the verge of crying out for help.

Before SeokJin could approach his father and demand to know what exactly was going on, a slender hand emerged from the shadows and grabbed his shoulder. "Let it be," the Queen of Jamberri spoke softly. The prince huffed and crossed his arms; he watched nervously as the knights examined each male and female's face until they found the one they were looking for. They grabbed the short man's lanky arms and harshly threw him to his knees before the king.

"Let this be an example to all of you," the king announced, addressing everyone in the castle. "Thieves have only one place in this castle." The confused reeve foolishly interrupted the king to tell him that there must be some mistake, but before he could beg for understanding, the knight to his right pulled his tongue out of his mouth and the knight on the left sliced the muscle right off with so much ease, it was as if he were cutting a bite out of his mutton.

The reeve stared at his severed red tongue on the stone slab beneath him as he screamed and cried helplessly, the blood pouring from his mouth dirtying the ground. "Take him to where anyone who defies his king belongs: the oubliette." And with that, the reeve was dragged away, thrashing and yelling at the top of his lungs.

The oubliette is reserved for the worst of criminals. It's a deep, narrow shaft that can only be accessed through a trap door at the surface. The accused are dropped and locked into this bare dungeon where they spend the rest of their days in darkness with no food or water. It is dreaded by all, for it is the slowest, most agonizing way to die. Jin shuddered at the thought.