It was morning so, the crew was ready to begin their journey again. They could see the Lava Falls from a distance of about two kilometres. They were standing at the extreme point of a mountain and their aim was to lead their feet to the cave beside the Lava Falls. John said "It would be a few minutes to reach there. I hope we can cross that cave if we begin the journey now." "Yes you are right but we shouldn't forget that the opposite side is unknown to us. There may be aggressive creatures or it may be the cutest one." replied Hobert. "You are right but we cannot stop." said Drake. "Let's go." said Lucy and they marched towards that cave.
THE CAVE OF JAGUARS
Within an hour they reached the cave. They were totally unknown about the fact that it wasn't an ordinary cave but the famous cave of jaguars. "I think we shall now hold our weapons tightly. I shall take the lead. So, I shall be taking a lighted piece of wood as our torch is dead." said Hobert. The crew led themselves through the cave. It was bitterly dark but was cold inside.
After a few minutes of walking, they heard some absurd noises of running feet. "Did you hear that?" whispered Lucy. Hobert gave a signal to stop walking any more so that they could hear the sound clearly. The sound was getting louder as the minutes passed one by one. Suddenly a pack of Jaguars came rushing towards them. The crew was so frightened that they immediately changed their mind and took their way backwards. The Jaguars were just a few metres away from them but their speed of chasing was increasing time to time. The crew however weren't so far from the exit and they jumped out of the cave leaving the Jaguars behind and got themselves into the deep river caused by the Lava Falls. They however managed to get up from the river to the shore but Lucy couldn't tolerate the situation and she fell ill. Her body was burning like flame. Hobert said giving his feelings to concern, "Are you okay. It seems like you have caught a fever." "Don't worry, I can walk." replied Lucy but her lie couldn't hide behind the truth for much time. She fainted and fell down on the ground again and this was the second time she fainted. Hobert thought that they couldn't take a risk with her life so he ordered John to look for a village nearby where they can take them to heal her. "Her condition is becoming worse." said Hobert. "Hey." shouted John. "Look at the map, it says that there is a village nearby named 'Lady Villa'. I think that we can take her there. But it seemed that men are not allowed there. Should we...." Hobert stopped John in the middle of his speech and said ,"Now listen to me very carefully. We are going there for her treatment. No matter what restricts us from going, You understand." shouted Hobert and his tears fell down on the ground. "As you wish." replied John in a low voice.
REACHING THE LADY VILLA
They started running to reach the village as fast as possible as they wished Lucy's recovery. After a moment of running they found themselves near the village but they need to cross the pond in order to reach there. They found a boat which was tied along with a tree. As they came closer they saw two boatmen. Reaching still closer revealed that they weren't boatmen but women. Hobert asked them if they could help them or not but they said "It's the 'Lady Villa'. Men are not supposed to be here. We can help the women if you wish but. But you three are not allowed." Hobert requested them to take Lucy and begin her treatment as soon as possible and to take the three of them to their queen as they wanted to beg for their allowance. After thinking for some time one of the women told that she will take the girl to the Treatment Hall. And the other woman will take the three men to the queen. Their thought gave Hobert a sense of relief. Lucy was taken to the Treatment Hall where she would be healed whereas the male friends were taken to the queen of the village.
CONVERSATION WITH THE QUEEN
"Your majesty, we have found these three men at the shore. They were begging for taking them to you and to help a woman as she was ill." said the boat-woman. The queen signaled her to leave the court. Look at them. We have found men in our village. Do you all know that it's after a hundred years that a man had stepped the soil of this village." said the queen. "Then how women are born?" asked Drake. The queen replied, "The husband's of all women of this village take the women to the Lava Falls for a year. If the baby is a boy then he will be a citizen of that tribal kingdom and if the child is a girl then she will be the citizen of this village. Well, men are not allowed from that kingdom to step on this village and nor us on that kingdom. People get married at the Lava Falls and need to spend a year inside the cave. After the child is born people reach their village based on their gender along with the child. This tradition of marriage is followed only by the citizens but the Queens and Kings have different laws. According to our mythological book, a queen or a king cannot marry a citizen, it must either be a king or a queen or another person of opposite gender who doesn't belong in these two villages. This is the reason why the king of the tribal kingdom and I are unmarried as we don't like each other. I don't like blacks and the king doesn't like whites. But it is my earnest wish to have a baby. So, I am inviting you to sleep for a night with me young boy. You don't belong to that kingdom and you are not black." "Your majesty, you are gorgeous. None of the queen could be as attractive as you. But I am already in love with another girl. I don't want to hurt her as she trust me more than herself. I'm sorry." replied Hobert. The smile on the gorgeously looking queen suddenly disappeared and she said "I don't want you to love me. I want you to sleep for a night with me. That girl will not be able to know anything about this matter." "Yes your majesty, you may be right but it is equally important for lovers not to hurt each other's trust." replied Hobert. The queen became angry and she ordered her ministers to take Hobert's friends and make them prisoners. They tried to run from there but they couldn't. "Mind you Mr. Hobert, this could be the last night your friends as well as your lover if you don't follow what I am telling." Her ministers took his friends to the prison underground and Hobert was not able to think what needs to be done now as he was totally helpless at the moment. Hobert didn't want to betray Lucy.
THE STRANGE PERMISSION
"Your majesty, can I have a night so that I could prepare myself for the night in which I need to sleep with you?" asked Hobert. "Yeah sure. But not more than this night. Tomorrow my servants will prepare our bed. Don't worry as it will the the most comfortable one. Have a good night and prepare yourself." replied the queen. "Thank you, your majesty." said Hobert and left the hall. He was given a room which was well furnished from inside.
Hobert laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He was thinking for a plan to escape the situation and save his friends from the prison. But he was not able to make it.
Hobert woke early in the morning and washed his face. The queen instructed him to be present in the hall before ten but it was six so, there was not enough time for him to think quietly. Time was running thus posing a danger to their friends. His heart was fluttering like a ball. The hands of the clock was turning fast. He was not able to make out how to tackle the situation. He became completely hopeless because of his helplessness but he had to take a decision. He must either accept the Queen's order to save his friends and betray Lucy or reject it to let his friends die but save his lover's trust.
- To be continued