Chapter 12: Chapter 10 – Orb Meets a Jerboa

 

Over the next two days, Orb suffered high fever and delirium. For the first time since he brought Orb to the Imperial Palace, Akinos heard the sharp wheezing, which Vermon had mentioned before to him, coming out of Orb’s chest. It was audible to an unpleasant and disturbing extent.

When the physician examined Orb, he concluded that it was chronic lung disease. This disease caused the airways to become inflamed and narrowed which brought about wheezing and coughing, but it would not kill him at that stage.

Akinos informed Vermon about Orb’s condition on regular basis, especially when his condition worsened and relapsed.

It was unusual for Vermon, who did not hesitate to express his feelings, to suppress his anxiety and annoyance as he watched the scenes Akinos projected to him with his purple eyes unfold before him.

Vermon, during those times, contented himself with asking irrelevant questions and Akinos answered patiently but with pithiness that did not provoke him. He knew that Vermon felt upset and guilty.

***

Days after Orb’s setback, he was at his best. When he finished eating his late breakfast, he sat up straight and began to look in the direction of Akinos’ desk.

The prince was immersed in reading some official documents related to the foreign affairs of the empire, when he finally noticed Orb, he straightened up in his chair and smiled.

Akinos did not want to have a conversation with his guest from a distance, so he stood up and walked over to him with wide but calm steps. He stood next to Orb’s bedside and looked down at him to return his gaze.

“Is there anything you need?” Akinos inquired without giving up his smile.

Orb, his eyes still fixed on Akinos, asked in his usual calm tone of voice, “Can I borrow a book to read?”

“What would you like to read about?”

 As soon as he heard Orb’s request, Akinos’ eyes sparkled with interest. Though Vermon had previously told him about his doubts regarding the extent of Orb’s knowledge, Akinos was more interested in the reasons that make Orb want to read despite the deterioration of his eyesight.

“Any book about the history of Uthus.”

“Oh! Are you interested in our history?”

“I read about every field. Nothing specific.”

Akinos, stroking his chin with one of his long fingers, thought for a while. He believed that Orb’s choice of a history book on Uthus was not random. I’m sure he’s looking for information that might be of interest to him.

“Hmm, so be it,” he simply said.

When a collection of books was brought to Orb, Akinos watched him carefully picking one with his thin long fingers and leafing through it.

Akinos returned to his desk and pretended to resume reading the documents while observing Orb curiously, whose face disappeared behind the same book he picked earlier.

When a long time has passed without Orb’s turning one page, Akinos who began to run out of patience, teleported from his place and appeared before Orb.

He suspected that Orb was having difficulty reading. “You can ask for help,” the prince spoke with a calm tone that concealed his impatience.

Orb was startled by the sudden appearance of Akinos. “I apologize, Your Highness. I wasn’t paying attention. Didn’t you go back to your desk earlier?”

“Yes, I did,” Akinos smiled proudly. “You must have heard of the abilities of the Uthusians to disappear and teleport from one place to another?”

“Yes, I have,” Orb replied, quietly placing the book in front of him. I also experienced it once with your beastly friend. He bitterly remembered.

“I can help.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. No need.”

“The only eye you can see with is getting worse every day. You are on the verge of total blindness,” Akinos searched his pockets while saying those words in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Th—that will never happen,” Orb sounded indignant as he refused to accept the prince’s statement and tone.

Akinos just realized that Vermon did not tell his slave about the condition of his left eye and chose to disregard Orb’s reaction.

Then, he took out a small twig before continuing. “Obstinacy will never help you. You should be thankful; you are under my protection at this time. I have given you one of my private chambers, and my father, the emperor does not know about your presence in it.”

Akinos did not hesitate to tell him this bluntly, “He would not like to have a slave whose past is unknown in the Crown Prince’s private quarters.”

Enjoying the pained face of Orb, Akinos went on, “I also brought you one of my physicians to examine you and treat your injuries, and I let you use my private collection of books.”

Examining the twig in his hand, Akinos said coldly, “Slaves do not have all these privileges! They should not act as they please, nor should they talk back to their masters—they get nothing of what you have.”

“I’m grateful for all you have done for me, Your Highness,” Orb retorted impassively after being implicitly bullied by the smiling Arkosian Prince.

“I do not mean to brag about my generosity, but I do all this because I am sure that you are an exceptional human, deserving of care and attention. You are very important to my friend, and it is my responsibility to keep you safe and make you comfortable.”

Akinos leaned toward Orb. “I believe your life is important. Why do I feel like you’re trying to convince me otherwise to the point of recklessly challenging your own master in front of everyone in the Carnival and attracting unwanted attention? Why do I see you disregarding my previous warnings to you? Why do I feel that you don’t see your life as important?”

Upon hearing Akinos’ chastising yet cold words, Orb held the book in his hands upside down without realizing it.

He thought that the prince was not requiring answers from him, he was just chastising him in his own twisted way.

Yet, for the first time in his twenty years, Orb has heard that his life was important. Someone, a Crown Prince, just told him that he was important to somebody like Vermon, and that the two of them were trying to protect him and take care of him.

Orb did not fully believe what he heard, but it affected him. Akinos had no idea how his words hit home in Orb’s lonely heart.

He was not sure of the concept of ‘importance’ from the perspective of these two Arkosians since Vermon enjoyed locking him up and constantly abusing him, while Akinos overly indulged him and bestowed upon him privileges no other slave would dream of.

“Are you hesitating?” Akinos sighed. “You may hate us because you see us Uthus demons, who have robbed you of your freedom, tortured you, and mistreated you, but we are like you humans; we sin, we suffer, and we repent. Some of us are good, and some of us are bad.”

Akinos went on while straightening up, “Anyway, I want you to ask for help when you need it, and don’t let your pride cost you your health— or your life.”

Akinos looked in the direction of his desk where a medium-size cage, covered with a dark cloth, was brought by the servant into the chamber and placed on the prince’s desk moments ago.

With a snap of his finger, Akinos unlocked it from afar.

“Come out, Jerboa.”

***

Made entirely of wood, the cage had openings on the front side that let in light and air. It contained a sliding bottom, a bowl for water, and a plate for food.

When Akinos unlocked the door, which he kept closed for days, a sand-colored creature lift the dark cloth and slowly came out.

It was not unlike a kangaroo, but very small, with long hind legs, and short hands. At high speed, it leaped up the box and rested on its tail, which was longer than its body and ended in a fur ball.

“Humph! I won’t come out until you apologize to me for locking me up all those days,” Jerboa gave an indignant response.

“You know I won’t apologize! Stop wasting your time and mine.”

After Akinos said these words, he sat down on the nearest sofa opposite Orb, and in the same sarcastic tone, observed, “And you are out anyway!”

Jerboa was crossing his little hands in front of his chest and turned away from his master in a clear state of embarrassment and defeat.

Raising his voice a little, Akinos teased, “Ah, Jerboa, I thought you were excited to meet our special guest. I know you haven’t slept for days since I told you about his staying with us.”

Akinos then looked at Orb. “Unfortunately, Orb, someone doesn’t seem so eager to meet you.”

Orb’s lips parted slightly, not knowing what exactly was going on or what to say. “It is all right, Your Highness. I understand.”

As soon as the little Jerboa heard Orb’s silvery voice, his large ears pricked up. He turned around to scan the room.

He spotted his guest on the bed a few meters away from him, with his neck and hand wrapped with bandages and his upper half hidden under a white shirt.

Fixing his gaze on Orb, Jerboa put on his little flat hat made of black cotton, and exclaimed in astonishment, “Is he one of the kings of Empamalangon?”

Jerboa then, leaped from his place a few paces until he settled before Orb on his bed. “I am Jerboa, at your service, my lord,” he bowed and spoke in a reverent tone.

Akinos was watching an interesting scene unfolding before him while smiling. He thought of sharing it with his imprisoned friend, but he soon changed his mind.

As for Orb, he lowered the book in a clear shock he could not hide, and then looked at the little creature, who was sitting at his feet.

“I know the features of the Easterners well, and I can distinguish the aura of their kings. You are a native Easterner,” Jerboa asserted, and then questioned. “May I know whose son, are you?”

“I’m not a king,” Orb firmly answered while shaking his head.

However, Jerboa maintained with confidence, “No, it can’t be! I’m never wrong, however—” he fixed his eyes on Orb’s, “What is this? What in the world happened to your eyes? Who assaulted you and took your eyesight? You smell of medicine, and frayed skin—who has mistreated you, noble man?”

There was a moment of silence, but Akinos was certain he could hear Orb’s turbulent heartbeats from a distance.

Yet, he was not sure whether this was a reaction to Jerboa’s panic and emotional voice, or to an unspoken truth only Jerboa could articulate.

Then, Akinos saw Orb stretching his right hand toward Jerboa, inviting him to approach. When Jerboa cautiously climbed his hand, Orb spoke to him softly, “you are full of amusing chatter but your statements about me and—these tears, are dangerous and misleading. Is that why your master kept you in a cage?”

Akinos chuckled as he leaned over the sofa toward the two of them. “Excuse the Jerboa. He is talkative, but he is very kind and affectionate. I assure you these are sincere tears he shed for you.”

Akinos glanced at Jerboa and continued, “he is so good at evaluating others. He never errs in distinguishing the noble from the low.”

Jerboa jumped several times over Orb’s bed, moving left and right, quickly checking the guest. Then he asked, “Please my lord, may I know your name?”

“My name is —Uh… O—Orb.”

A sudden throbbing pain of extreme intensity engulfed Orb’s head at that moment. It swiftly swept through his entire body, and a groan came out of him against his will.

Orb bent over while holding with trembling hands his head and grimacing in great agony. What is it? What’s going on? Orb struggled to muffle his groans.

Listening in shock for some time to the turbulent beat of his heart, Orb realized at that moment, for the first time since his arrival in Arkosia, that he was no longer able to say his real name out loud.

It would not come out of his throat, no matter how hard he tried, and the seal in his hand had an enormous power that compelled him to identify himself with that name Vermon chose for him.

His name was “Orb” whether he liked it or not.

***

“My lord!” Jerboa exclaimed.

Orb did not answer but let out a cough. A feeling of anger had risen inside him because of a cursed seal that robbed him of not only his freedom but also his name.

And for a moment, Orb was afraid that he would forget the life he had prior to Vermon’s abducting and enslaving him.

The stream of his thoughts was interrupted by Jerboa’s emotional voice.

“My lord, are you alright? Don’t tell me that the bandage around your hand hides the seal of Uthus!”

“...”

Jerboa grabbed Orb’s slender hand, which was resting on his head, and asked anxiously. “Are you alright?”

Orb was still feeling a severe headache, which engulfed the front of his face to a point his tongue felt heavy.

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“Ugh—it hurt,” With moist eyes, Orb replied in a faint voice.

Akinos sat up straight while observing Orb earnestly. His eyebrows furrowed for a while, for it was the first time that he had witnessed the efficacy of the seal as it prevented a slave like Orb from even uttering his name.

He had heard that the seal had a mystical power that could produce something like a bolt of lightning in the body of any slave trying to talk about his life before slavery, and that lightning current can paralyze his body or take his life.

“Who? Who enslaved you? Who is your master?” Jerboa sympathetically asked.

“V—Vermon.”

Orb answered with a listless voice, revealing his sudden fatigue, and then slowly sat up again.

“What? Vermon? Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.” Jerboa exclaimed. “He’s in trouble! Did he abduct you from your country? What a disaster! How did he do that? How could he do that? When did he do that?”

In a sudden fright, Jerboa kept dramatically talking to himself as he jumped from one place to another on the bed.

“Jerboa. Please …,” the pale-faced Orb managed to say and stopped the little Jerboa’s fit of panic.

Akinos, who was watching Orb while striking his clean-shaven chin, could tell that his features reflected deep concern about his late discovery of the seal’s power.

Orb also looked unhappy with Jerboa’s blunt comments pouring down on him like molten lead that burned and hurt him.

Akinos did not regret bringing out Jerboa that day and thought about his imprisoned friend. Should I report what happened today to him? I’m sure he won’t like it, he smirked.

“Was he the one who did that to you? Was he torturing you?”

Jerboa asked, feeling great sympathy for Orb as he stood next to him and gently put his little hand on Orb’s sealed hand.

“I’m not what you think, Jerboa. Calm down,” Orb replied solemnly.

“But why?”

Orb was silent for a moment, unsure of Jerboa’s meaning behind his question, so he asked him again, “Why what?”

“Why did he do this to you? How did he get you to this point?”

Jerboa looked at Akinos for an answer, his eyes narrowed in reproach and blame, which Akinos returned with an icy smile.

“You want to know why Vermon used harsh discipline with him? Because Orb continually defied him.” Akinos plainly replied. “He was s a stubborn and disobedient slave who did not listen to my warning and advice.”

Jerboa leaped and rested on Orb’s knee and said with sincere concern, “Please don’t! Vermon can be such a hard master, and he doesn’t like to be challenged by anyone, whether a noble or a peasant, an old woman, or a child.”

“...”

Orb neither responded nor bothered to object or explain the reasons for his stubborn behavior with Vermon. It did not matter to him what Vermon would do because he would resist either way.

Then, he heard another but sympathetic question from Jerboa, which gave him a feeling of comfort and reassurance.

“Are you still in pain?”

“No—,” Orb gently placed his right palm on his chest. “I feel much better with the care of His Highness.”

Although Orb’s last words were reassuring and polite, something in it stirred Akinos’ desire to comfort him.

“Don’t worry, you are under my protection until you recover,” he said.

Orb could not ask how long this protection will last. Although he was thankful, he remained silent.

He was worrying that it would be temporary, as Akinos said, ‘until he recovers.’ He also was worrying that he would go back to suffer new forms of abuse at the hands of Vermon.

In the meantime, Akinos stood up, walked over to stand beside the bed again and with his long fingers handed the twig to Jerboa, who liked to chew it in his mouth.

Jerboa picked up the twig without saying anything but that was a sign of reconciliation between the two.

Addressing Orb in the same calm tone, Akinos said, “I know that you are worried. However, I have no right to interfere between a master and his slave as long as there is a clear covenant between them,” he paused for a moment, “I can speak to him if you wish.”

“Yes, master. Please, speak to Vermon. Tell him not to be so hard on this noble man,” Jerboa spoke in great sympathy, and took Orb’s hand again. “I’ll talk to him too. You’ll be fine, my lord; rest assured.”

Orb’s features relaxed as he looked at Jerboa in gratitude. He wanted to smile, but his lips were torn. He wanted to cry, but his continuous anxiety was stronger. He wanted to trust them, but it was too early for that.

***

The books on the side table to Orb’s left had caught Jerboa’s attention at the time. He was rolling his little eyes between them and the book that had rested on the surface of the bed.

He recognized it as the one Orb had previously tried to read before his release from the cage. “I can read to you, my lord. I love reading,” Jerboa said eagerly.

“No need, Jerboa. I can see with one eye. I’ll read slowly.”

Orb’s answer was a simple and shameless lie for he needed the help of someone to read such complicated books, printed in a small font, and in the formal Arkosian language that tired his eye.

But how could I ask for help when I am not accustomed to it? He secretly wondered. The prince just told me not to be ashamed to ask for help, as if it were a very simple thing to do.

While Orb was in an internal struggle, Jerboa was embarrassed about hinting at Orb’s inability to read because of his partial blindness.

He was also embarrassed at his own desire to spend his time with Orb because he found him gentle and noble.

Therefore, he said cautiously, “My lord, the Crown Prince had taught me how to read and write, however, I haven’t got an official document to prove it.”

Then, Jerboa picked up the book. “I want to read the book you have. That would be fun for both of us. Don’t you agree?” Jerboa endearingly tilted his little head and Orb could not but comply and appreciate.

 “What book do you prefer?” Jerboa asked, “I know the arrangement of the Imperial Library books very well. I always bring His Highness the books he orders from there myself. I will bring you more books if you want.”

“No need, Jerboa.” Orb was overwhelmed.

Akinos sat back on the sofa opposite the two, crossed one leg over the other, and looked at them in amusement and without any apparent emotion.

“Read me this — slowly, please.”

Orb meant the book which was in the hands of Jerboa then.

“Hmm, History of Uthus, the Great,” Jerboa bowed before Orb in a dramatic show of submission, “your wish is my command.”

Akinos found that funny and thought if Vermon had seen Jerboa doing it, he would have surely burst with anger and skin him alive.

Placing the book between his long feet, Jerboa opened the book and began reading page after page while Orb closed his eyes and listened attentively.

***

On the following night, Akinos woke up after hearing Jerboa’s terrified scream. Akinos found the little Jerboa above his chest waving his little hands and shouting, “Wake up! Master, wake up, please!”

Akinos realized that something urgent had happened in Orb’s chamber. “What happened?” He sprang from his bed.

Jerboa leaped from the large bed to the ground and stood at Akinos’ feet, watching him hastily put on his robe.

“I’m sorry for waking you up, master, but I couldn’t do anything,” Jerboa sounded agitated, “the situation is out of control.”

“Get to the point!”

Akinos’ tone was resolute as he strode across the room. Jerboa caught his big ears in fright as he shouted overdramatically, “he is destroying the chamber with his spiritual energy! Stop him before he destroys the entire palace!”

Although Akinos disliked Jerboa’s overreacting to the situation, he did not reprimand him. He instantly walked through the wall of his suite and stood in Orb’s room which was a complete mess.

Almost every piece of furniture was knocked over completely, the bedding was on the floor and the guarding specters of Akinos were flying around the room at a full speed and in confusion.

Akinos noticed the butler, who was Orb’s direct overseer and responsible for taking care of his affairs.

Terrified, the butler was clinging to the wall. When he saw his master standing beside him, he dropped to his knees apologetically.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. Please forgive this incompetent useless servant.”

Akinos was the cool-headed type who would not allow anything to easily excite him. Therefore, he did not seem interested in the foolish man prostrating before him and waiting for a punishment that would not come; he knew that what was happening now was beyond the butler’s control and power to stop it.

Even the specters, who were supposed to be invisible and surrounding Orb, could do nothing to stop Orb with their limited abilities except materializing to erect a barrier encasing the chamber.

They did that to contain the damages caused by his ravaging fits and prevent the fires he generated from spreading.

Akinos was concerned about Orb, who stood on the bare frame of the bed, with his legs spread and his arms raised toward the silver full moon behind the closed window.

Orb was drawing symbols in the air with his right hand and then wiping these symbols through the air with his left hand.

He was mumbling and weeping in a strange language other than the one with which he babbled during his usual delirium.

For Akinos, that was a rare scene that made him feel thrilled. He finally witnessed with his own eyes a hidden side of Orb only fits of fever could unleash; he possessed great knowledge of foreign languages.

In apparent anger, Orb aimed two balls of light of different colors across the chamber, one ball exploded in the air and set fire to the rack of clothes which was already knocked over, and another ball turned into a massive blast of air which threw the chair on his left at once against the wall.

At that moment, Jerboa arrived and immediately hid behind his master’s legs. “It all happened suddenly! He woke up so agitated, and I couldn’t calm him. Be careful, master.” He shouted.

Akinos flew toward Orb, wanting to contain his power which went berserk, but before he could take his arm, Orb turned into a thick white vapor in the darkness of the place.

This sent a sudden fit of anxiety to Akinos, who did not expect Orb to possess such ability, and feared that Orb has disappeared to an unknown place.

As soon as Akinos landed on the floor opposite the window, Orb appeared again behind him and struck him with his left palm.

Akinos avoided the strike in time, and that was the moment when he grabbed Orb’s arm and saw the seal, under his torn bandage, glowing in a strange red color that Akinos had never seen before.

With his right hand, Orb pulled Akinos’ arm with ease and sent him flying in the air like a small insignificant object, and before Akinos hit the wall, he disappeared.

Testing for himself the power of wielding the air, Akinos came to believe that Orb was more dangerous than he imagined. It felt like Orb was conscious and knew what he was doing.

Refusing to be struck without retaliating, Akinos struck Orb with his bare hand while invisible and dealt a blow to Orb’s stomach that made him fall to one knee.

For a few seconds, Orb evaporated before reappearing in a corner at a high altitude. Akinos grabbed him in the air as he was about to hit the ground.

The prince saw Orb’s feverish face still frowning, his eyes wide open, even after he had sunk into unconsciousness.

***

Thank you for reading this chapter

NOTES:

illustration of Akinos with Jerboa is done by  (on twitter)????

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