The Minecraft Story: The Kingdom: Chapter 3

Commandant Eversaw stared down the trio with tired, sunken eyes. The bags under his eyes looked as if they'd tear off his face with their weight. His breathing was deep and shallow like the exhale of a cow. He had entered the room one minute ago and said nothing once he sat down. For a whole minute, he stared at the trio as they slowly became increasingly uncomfortable, except for Rolf who was almost falling asleep.

"Commandant," Titus broke the silence with his soft, gentle voice, "I understand we made an error in judgement tonight, but-"

"Error?" Eversaw interrupted, "An error, you say. Tell me something, how many errors in judgement have you had in the past three months?"

The room was silent again. Steve and Titus looked down at the floor, not wanting to look into the red eyes of the Commandant. The silence was broken when Steve said under his breath, "Too many."

"Way too many," Eversaw snapped, "Recite Clause One of the Charter of Defense for me."

"To each their soul, to community their blood, preserve the peace with your life," the trio recited in full.

"Now answer me this, how does assault, excessive intoxication, and bribery preserve the peace, the peace that our founder, Thomas Brines fought for his life to achieve?" Eversaw yelled. Neither dared to answer, even Rolf was finally starting to realize the trouble they were in. "You're a disgrace to the Defence Corps. I wonder how our founder would feel to see our own soldiers pissing on his legacy." They kept their mouths shut. "I'm done dealing with your buffoonery. I'm officially charging all three of you with insubordination and dishonorablely discharge you from the Defence Crops."

"What? Commandant wait-" Steve pleaded.

"Enough!" Eversaw slammed his hand down, "You will also be held in the detainment center effective immediately, for tomorrow you will appear in the courthouse to be charged for your crimes. Guards!"

A group of six guards entered the room and began to tie the trio's hands behind their backs. "Wait, Commandant, I started the fight, it wasn't their fault I swear! Titus is a good guy, he's always got my back y'know. And Rolf was wasted out of his mind, he didn't know what was going on, he still doesn't!" Steve pleaded.

"They are and have been complicit in your antics and will be punished as such," said Eversaw with a blank face and uncaring monotone voice, "Throw them in the hole."

…

The iron door slammed shut behind Steve. He turned back to see the guard locking the old door which looked to be barely hanging on its hinges. He looked around at their cell. The floor, ceiling, and walls were made up of stone bricks, many of which were covered in moss due to its age. It was small and empty except for the four beds. There was a small window made of iron bars that had a view of rocks and granite. A single torch above the door illuminated the room.

"Great job asshole," Titus said as he threw himself into one of the beds, "Just couldn't let it go could ya."

Steve sighed, "He was an asshole."

"He was completely fucking right about us," Titus snapped, "We were nothing but a bunch of freeloading bums. Everything was great for us, but oh no, you just had to go fight the guy."

"We reallys beated his assss," Rolf slurred as he fell into bed.

"Shut up you drunk piece of shit!" Titus yelled.

"You think I wanted this to happen?" Steve argued, "And you're welcome for trying to stick up for you back there."

"You wouldn't have had to if you didn't punch the guy in the first place," Titus argued back as he sat up in his bed.

"Screw you man, I'm not gonna sit by and let him call us freeloaders" said Steve.

"Why?" Titus snapped, "What do the guards do all day? They sit around and every once in a while, a stray mob comes by and it's dealt with. We don't do anything around here and I was perfectly content with that."

"Oh yeah, well maybe I'm not," Steve spat, "If you want to be a lazy piece of crap then go ahead, maybe I want to be more than just sit around with my thumb up my ass."

Titus laughed, "What? You want to be some type of hero? You want a statue of yourself in town square like the founder?"

"I…no…not a statue," Steve stuttered, "I just want to be something more, do something more than this."

"Well, that's probably not going to happen now. Don't you know what they do to criminals? They send them into the unexplored sections of mines, possibly for ten years. You know what's down there?" said Titus

"Of course I know what's down there, my father was killed in the mines," Steve said as he stared down Titus.

"Heyyy guys, takes it easy guys," Rolf put his hands on both their shoulders, "I knows it's baaad, but at leasts we togethers for its. I gets to woooorks in the mins wit muh brothers."

"Come on Rolf, you need to sleep it off," Titus said as he guided Rolf back to his bed.

Steve crawled into bed as Titus tucked in Rolf. His eyes stared out the window into the pure darkness, knowing that this was all he'd see for the next ten years."

I'm sorry father. He thought. I just couldn't help myself.

…

"Alright, the last of the tnt has been tied off, Chief" said Ivor.

"Good, tell the troops we're almost ready," said Chief Boruzo.

The old Captain addressed the three soldiers standing before him. Their chests had tnt strapped to their chests and he could tell they were hesitant about their mission.

"Do not be afraid!" yelled Chief Boruzo, "Look up and take one final look at the stars! This is all for the grand dream! One day, we will bring back our master and he will guide us into eternal bliss, all of us!" Boruzo lifted his arms towards the sky, the moonlight reflected off his grey skin. "To fulfill that dream, we need supplies. And to get those supplies, we need sacrifices. You have been chosen and you will be rewarded in the afterlife with all of your fallen brethren!"

The three cheered as they were handed the flint and steel.

"Now go, the Sun will rise soon," Chief Boruzo ordered.

They ran down the hill as fast as they could towards the wall. It lit up like a beacon in the darkness. It didn't take long for them to enter the field in front of the wall. It was large and they were completely exposed. However, they'd been scouting the wall for a week. They knew these guards were lazy. Most of the guards slept on top of the wall. Those that were awake paid no mind to the field, preferring to indulge in drink or small talk.

They sprinted as hard as they could, this was their time to prove themselves worthy to enter their master's kingdom. The eternal reward awaited them. As they got close, some guards began to notice them, but their reactions were too slow.

As they lit the tnt, they all screamed, "FOR THE ILLAGERS!"