色戒完整版

Chapter 6: Castle Part 1

As Michael followed Captain Roland into the castle, one of the guards couldn\'t help but whisper, "Why do we have to treat this monkey-like royalty? He is just a monkey. Sure, he has some connections with Oz, but he couldn\'t be that close, right?"

"I mean, it\'s weird, but it isn\'t a good idea to question this kind of thing while doing our job."

Michael couldn\'t hear what they were saying and hummed while he walked through the hallway to the King\'s throneroom. But Captain Roland heard everything; he was one of the most skilled knights in the castle, and his hearing had been heightened to a level unachievable by the common man or even elite fighters in the kingdom.

He stopped before kneeling in front of Michael, "Sir, the room is here."

"Don\'t you have to escort me in for the safety of your king?" Michael asked.

"It\'s fine, Sir Michael. The King thinks of you as an ally anyway." He said before opening the door for Michael to enter.

"Okay," Michael replied before entering, not paying much attention to Roland.

As the door closed, Roland looked at his two guards with a sharp eye and walked towards them slowly, "What were you thinking?!" He whispered while grabbing one of the guards by the collar.

"Sir? I don\'t know what you are talking about, sir…." The guard replied.

"What were you thinking?! Talking behind Sir Michael\'s back, didn\'t you hear what he said? Oz is here! He could hear everything that you say, everything that you think. Don\'t forget this, Sir Michael is not just close to the great Wizard…." He whispered before drawing closer to the guards, "He is the Great Wizard\'s only friend. And we know how hotheaded he could be. So don\'t push your luck. Both of you."

"Yes, sir!" The both of them replied.

They have been lectured on a lot of things by the Captain, but most of the things that they have been talked about were about small mistakes that they have made. But this sounded like a mistake that could end their life on the spot. And it would be if Oz was actually a wizard.

"Good… Now pray that the Great Wizard lets the both of you live." He shot back before entering the throne room.

As he left both of the guards there, they stood still while their eyeballs moving everywhere to see if the Wizard was looking at them, and even though they couldn\'t see him, it made it much scarier to think about.

"Ah, Captain Roland, you\'re here!" King Adrian IV smiled as he saw his favorite Captain walking in.

"Yes, my Liege." He said before standing beside him.

The King then turned to Michael, "So, Uhm, where is the Great Wizard?"

"The Great Wizard is here…" Michael replied as he looked around the windows.

King Adrian looked around and tried to find the Great Wizard, but no matter how hard he tried, he could see him, "I don\'t see anyone else in this room other than you and me."

Captain Roland then stepped closer to the King and whispered into his ears, "Sir, The Great Wizard Oztanfil is here… It\'s just that he only appears to those who seem worthy."

As he heard this, the King glanced toward Michael, who had his hands together, staring into the King\'s eyes.

The King gulped as he looked at the situation, \'So, he is testing me….\' The King thought as he looked around and stayed silent.

\'And he sent his friend to do it… But what is the test?\'

Michael then stood up, not touching his food, "Uhm, I don\'t really eat meat." He said as he looked at the food that was prepared for him."

King Adrian looked at Michael\'s plate and immediately saw the mistake they made. The monkey race was vegetarian, and they would never even think of eating meat.

"Oh, I guess the chef made a bit of a mistake then." The King chuckled before Captain Roland picked up the plate.

"I will replace the food, Sir Michael; what would you like instead?"

Michael thought about it as he kept looking at the window, waiting for George; all he had to do was stall for time till George climbed up the window.

"Uhm, a dessert that has banana in it," Michael replied.

"A banana. Of course!" King Adrian said before standing up and drawing closer to the Captain\'s ears, "Tell the chefs to use the most expensive bananas that the kingdom has."

The Captain nodded, "As you wish." He walked out as fast as he could.

\'Come on, George, where are you….\' Michael stared out the window.

Meanwhile, George was on the ground floor, he could see the window, but the only way that he could get up there was by climbing the pipe.

He then surveyed the area to see if he could do just that, but there were two guards standing there, and if they saw him climbing up to the window where the King was, they were definitely going to be suspicious of him.

George thought about it and realized that to get the guards to get away, he must have the ability to command them to move them out. And what better way to do that than to pretend to be the castle guard leader?

He looked at his ring and turned himself to Captain Roland before walking up to them.

As they saw him walking towards them, they stood still.

"Sir?" One of them asked.

"I need you both to go out of the city and see if there is any suspicious activity…" he said.

The guard nodded but realized that the Captain was supposed to be in the room with the King and not here, "Of course, sir, but aren\'t you supposed to be in the room with the King? And aren\'t we not permitted by law to do the job of the city guards?"

George remained at a standstill as he heard this. Had he already messed up this early?