《I Will Burn Up My Kingdom And Disappear》Chapter 18: The Choked Villages
Advertisement
The five villages north of the Castle of Remna were shouldered by two long chains of mountains at the East and the West. Thus, the five villages came to be known as the Choked Villages.
Travelers used to call them the Green Villages because wherever they walked, they were always grass, bushes, and trees. The locals were always willing to give tons of fruits for free. The villages were an asylum for the poor.
In one of the houses in the villages sat a group of four people. Two middle-aged ladies were cheerful, while a young lady and a young man beside them were both looking downward. The youngsters had just reached eighteen years old. This was an age where they had to marry, sadly even if by force.
The four sat on a wooden floor around a fireplace. The fireplace was busy heating a copper kettle filled with water and jasmine leaves. The tea was reserved for romantic occasions. Its smell and taste brought back passionate memories.
"Going shy you two?" said the middle-aged lady sitting beside the young lady. "After a week or so you two will be arguing nonstop, so forget about shyness."
"Oh, let them," said the other middle-aged lady, sitting beside the young man. "If they are not shy now when will they be?"
"There is a better time for shyness if you know what I mean," replied the other middle-aged lady. She covered her mouth with the wide robe of her orange sleeve. "Shaiva, speak up already. I want my daughter to be the initiator."
"But..." Shaiva looked back at her mother for she did not know what to say. Shaiva then looked at her future husband in front of her. But after a moment she retreated her head down to the fireplace with red cheeks.
The other mother pushed the side of her son named Valik with her elbow. This was the 'agreed-on' move to begin.
"Mother-in-law, I have a question," said Valik.
"Sure, sure, ask, ask," replied Shaiva's mother as if she was waiting for this moment.
Advertisement
"Why is your daughter wearing makeup?" Valik asked. "Why someone so beautiful like her wears it in the first place?"
The body of Shaiva shook and grew redder by the second.
"Good question future son-in-law," replied Shaiva's mother. "Shaiva, answer him."
"it... is... because..." said Shaiva then paused.
"Oh my God, girls these days," said Shaiva's mother as she turned her head left and right. "She was shouting a few minutes ago in the house, and now she forgot how to speak. This is what happens when you read so many romantic stories."
Valek's mother pushed her elbow to her son's sides once again.
"No, Mother-in-law," said Valek. "Let her be shy, for my eyes are feasting on her shy face."
"Stop it," shouted Shaiva at Valek all of a sudden. "I am going mad!"
Shaiva's shout was about breaking Valek's acting mask, but his mother's elbow push put it back in place.
"Oh please, let me drown in your madness," Valek replied.
"Hey boy," said the amazed mother of Shiva. "How about you marry me instead? My husband died two decades ago, so I am open for business."
"No! He is mine!" shouted Shaiva at her mother unconsciously. And once Shaiva noticed that she looked around her and shouted, "I hate you all!"
Shaiva ran away outside the house.
"Valek, continue," said his mother swiftly. Valek obliged and followed after his future-wife.
"Youth these days, they never realize we manipulate them like toys," said Shaiva's mother.
"It is better this way," replied Valek's mother while blowing her steamy jasmine tea. "If we do not decide who loves who divorce rates would skyrocket."
As the old ladies chatted, the smoke coming from the fireplace heated the wooden roof and hardened it. It also warmed the silkworm cocoons on the upper floor. They created the needed silk for the dress of the new bride, Shaiva.
Silk has been a vital commodity that brought plenty of gold for the five villages. Traders from both the Djinn Kingdom and Lorope Empire bought tons of silk from the five villages at a modest price. The traders would then agree with the tailors to sell it to the nobles at six times the cost.
Advertisement
The marriage also required the village men to gather water from the nearby caves. It is a tough and cold journey yet it has been a sacred practice for 500 years. The snow on top of the mountains slides down to caves once the weather gets hotter. When the snow water enters these cold caves, they turn into columns of mild ice, which gets picked up by the villagers.
The next night was the night of the marriage. Decorated candles were lit on every road and on every house. All the five villagers that day circled the newly-wed couple.
A musical instrument of 108 small wooden bars was tied on one side with a leather belt. Once shaken, these 108 wooden bars hit each other and created a snappy sound. 108 is an important number for erasing bad luck. Dozens of people were snapping this wooden instrument around the villagers and the newlyweds.
Shaiva was sitting on a decorated chair at the center of the commotion. She wore a silky-white dress and a white veil that covered her mouth and neck.
Valek sat beside her, wearing a deep blue robe with yellow stripes. The robe was loaned by the chief of his village and felt new after getting used for over twenty marriages. Adjusting the size of the robe was cheaper than buying a new one.
"Once we are done with this ceremony, I have something to tell you," said Shaiva to Valek amidst the noise. "And many beautiful things to show you."
Shaiva did not want to lose to Valek after his steamy words around the fireplace. Her brain was packed with arrows of passionate words after many years of reading romantic stories.
"Please be gentle with me my princess," said Valek. "If you keep saying this my heart--"
Valek coughed violently. It did not make sense for a vast outdoor area to be full of smoke. The villagers around him complained so a few of them searched for the source.
But that was not needed for the explanation came with a sharp yell.
"Enemies! Run away!" said one of the villagers. He spotted a well-armored army approaching him. The soldiers held a burning stick that lit the houses of the villages.
"It is the Lorope Empire!" shouted a villager after he saw their flag. The women wailed, and the men ran to a small weaponry store. They opened the store but found it empty.
The smoke mixed with cries, and soon enough, they were mixed with blood. The army of Lorope stabbed the crowds one after the other. Piles of dead bodies lied on red grass. The villagers did not resist; they did not know how to resist.
When a person is surrounded by such calamity, it is normal to protect what he treasures the most. One villager hid his gold and silver from the Lorope army. Another hid his children in wooden barrels or abandoned storage houses.
Valek instead turned his eyes to his new wife. Shaiva turned into a statue, her body could not accept what surrounded her. Her warm memories bled, and her future evaporated.
Valek held her hand shouting, "We are running away!". He pulled her with a strong force that returned her to her senses and made her feel safe.
But the moment Shaiva stood up from her chair a black sword dug itself into her back and appeared on the other side of her chest. Shaiva's hand slipped from Valek's, and she fell on the grass unmoving. Her silk clothes were dyed red.
"How... did this happen... my dreams," said Shaiva while crying.
The world around Valek turned dark and painful. He immediately looked with fiery eyes at the one who stabbed her.
"Happy marriage," said the one who had stabbed Shaiva. It was no one other than Emperor Lustratous himself.
Advertisement
VRMMO: The Unrivaled
Lu Chen used to be a ranker of the most popular VRMMO game, Spirit of Grief. After a car accident turned his dreams into dust, his disability left him incapable of escaping the pit of mediocrity he was thrown into. Helpless and defeated, his story ended.Two years later, the Eternal Moon Corporation launched a new VRMMO called "Heavenblessed", and Lu Chen stumbled into another terrible accident that left him in a complicated situation far beyond his ability to handle. That won't stop him from rising to the top, however. Not again.Come witness the rise of the sword-wielding zombie and the relationships he makes during his journey to the apex! For riches and bi- ahem, for career and love!He wields a demonic sword from Hell, he dons armor shining with Heaven's light. His boots stride across the sky as his helmet devours the souls of his enemies. On his left side sits the Goddess of Death. On the other, the Angel of Beauty.From the land of ice and death, a generation of Asura Kings rises, their roars reverberating throughout the world.Tremble in fear, noobs!
8 8156Refining the Mountains and Rivers
A young man's life changes when he stumbles upon a mysterious item. Qin Yu had never been a lucky person. Weak of body, bullied by his peers, and with only his friend as his family, he struggles day-by-day to live. But everything changes when he stumbles upon a little blue lamp. An immortal and demonic cultivating adventure.
8 3344Mortal Cultivation Biography
A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, he must successfully traverse the treacherous path of cultivation and avoid the notice of those who may do him harm. This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with devilish demons and ancient celestials in order to find his own path towards immortality.
8 1050Dragon Prince Yuan
Destiny stolen at birth, the prince of the once mighty Great Zhou Empire, Zhou Yuan, has been plagued all his life by a fatal poison, forced to suffer powerlessly until one day when fate draws him into a mysterious domain where he meets a beautiful girl in green, a bizarre dog-like creature and an unfathomable old man in black.Join Zhou Yuan as he is thrust into the whirlpool of destiny while he seeks the pinnacle of cultivation.
8 1057Ranker's Return
In the early days of the virtual reality game, Arena, meleegod was the strongest ranked player! He deleted his character and suddenly left. In order to restore his bankrupt family, he returned to Arena!"Do you want to create a character?"
8 1715Monarch of Evernight
Qianye rose from hardship but was felled by betrayal. From then, one man, one gun; he tread the path between Evernight and Daybreak and became a legend. Even if Evernight was destined to be his fate, he still intends to become the ruler who dictates.
8 22861