Chapter 13: Chapter 11 – Orb is Poisoned

That night, after putting Orb back to bed, the guarding specters circulated Orb’s bed in unspoken alarm not sure if the danger was over.

Meanwhile, few servants were summoned to clean the chamber, hide the traces of the little fires that Orb had caused, put the scattered pieces of furniture back in their places and remove the damaged ones.

The butler was sent to fetch the physician in secret to examine Orb and determine his problem.

When the physician came that night, he finished checking the places of Orb’s pulse, and changing the bandages on his body, which were wet with Orb’s heavy sweating.

However, examining Orb’s back was very careful and deliberate that it took the frowning physician so long to finish. He stood facing Akinos beside Orb’s bed.

“Your Highness, he’s been poisoned,” he spoke, his tone of voice palpably confused.

“Poisoned?” Akinos echoed cautiously and in disbelief.

Orb has been under his protection for ten days; he has been guarded and watched the entire time. How could that happen?

The prince immediately suspected the very few servants who knew about his secret and were allowed into the place.

“Did he drink it?”

“No, Your Highness.”

“Was it in his food?”

“No, Your Highness.”

“What then? Won’t you speak?” Akinos questioned earnestly.

The physician, was hesitant and troubled by the late discovery of the apparently not recent condition, and that was what he strived to explain to Akinos without looking like a fool who was not good at his work.

 “Your Highness, the deep wounds in his back were made by a whip, and that whip must have been saturated with a poison which, through his wounds, entered his blood. The traces began to show now, but it has been working for some time.”

“Are you telling me that he has been poisoned and you found out just now?”

Behind Akinos’ icy tone and composed complexions in the half-lit room, the physician felt his frightful silent rage.

The physician could only sweat profusely, and said in an apologizing tone, “Your Highness, I have never seen a poison so dangerously complex. It is so developed that it kills gradually and cannot be detected at first.”

The physician gulped, and then went on, “His heartbeats are irregular, and his body temperature is rising again. Even the color of his wounds is turning black. The poison is now running through his body and messing with his energy centers and his ability to think. You told me that in the last fever attacks, he babbled in strange languages, but tonight he used his energy to fire devastating balls of light, and he disappeared and reappeared randomly. You see, Your Highness; these are symptoms that his body is currently suffering a state of inner chaos.”

Akinos stood with both arms at his sides and with clenched fists as if he was preparing to punch the physician. The physician read his angry body language and struggled out of fear to finish his sentence.

“If we don’t get the poison out of him, his brain might completely lose control of his energy and it would be hard to stop him, and I…”

Akinos took a step toward the physician. “Is there more to say?” he whispered in a cold, menacing voice.

“Y—y—yes.”

“Speak. Don’t be afraid,” even though he said that, Akinos’ aura was intimidating.

The physician did not dare to wipe his sweaty forehead. “I am afraid that the seal also plays a role in activating the poison. His body does not seem to accept the seal from the beginning; there is some form of resistance, because if the seal were fully functional, it would have controlled the effects of the poison and curbed its flow and activity in his blood,” he said.

“I see—,” Akinos’ expression was disturbed, “So what is to be done?”

“Can I get the whip which was used to lash him? If we find traces of the poison on it, we can get the right antidote. Until then, there’s nothing I can do.”

Akinos startled the physician by resting his palms on the old man’s shoulders. He was silent but sparks of anger flew from his eyes. He was angry at the incompetent physician and the cunning attendants of the Carnival.

They fooled his friend and handed him a poisoned slave, who would soon die in his hands without anyone discovering the matter.

They must have planned it, but who was behind it? And why? where did the whip come from? Where was the best place to start looking?

***

At dawn, Akinos teleported from his Imperial suite to the Imperial Prison Building, where Syrphadous had imprisoned Vermon.

His sudden presence in the middle of the main prison corridor alarmed the guards, who knelt before him, without any of them questioning the purpose of his visit so early in the morning.

Without a moment’s delay, Akinos ordered the prison warder to show him to Vermon’s cell. When Akinos followed him through long dark corridors, he ended up in a secluded cell.

There was not a single guard outside, but who would dare to stand in the same place occupied by the Glorious Knight of the Empire?

When the prison warder left Akinos standing behind the bars, he saw his friend’s hands and feet in iron chains, and his white shirt clean with no signs of blood stains on it.

Vermon did not seem in the least bothered, he was lying on the ground with one leg over the other in apparent boredom.

When Vermon sensed the presence of the prince in the place at that hour, he furrowed his eyebrows, and guessed that something has happened.

Akinos passed through the bars and stood inside the cell opposite his friend, who straightened himself and stood up.

“The place looks neat and spotlessly clean,” Akinos said while scanning the small cell.

“Of course, you know I cannot stand dirt,” Vermon retorted indifferently, “I made my requests clear.”

“Yes, I am sure you demanded a change of clothes too, but I am also sure they hide…” Akinos said while suddenly pulling Vermon’s shirt up, “ugly, bleeding flesh!”

“I shall be fine,” Vermon grinned while gently moving his friend’s hand away and tucking his shirt into his pants.

Akinos recounted in a serious tone the details of Orb’s strange yet dangerous fit of ravaging the place, and the physician’s late diagnosis of his condition and the reasons behind that.

Vermon all the while listened to every word in wondrous patience and silence that foreshadowed an imminent emotional explosion. Akinos for the first time sensed that his friend was extremely mad.

Vermon, at last, spoke. “The bastards had prepared the whip in advance for Orb. They had enough time before the Carnival began to arrange for this, especially after I had, like an idiot, told everyone about my bringing a valuable slave from Empamalangon in our secret gathering places,” Vermon paused for a moment, “the bastards made sure to use that whip in the Game of Endurance.”

“Do you suspect anyone? Do you have someone in mind?”

“Not one but two,” Vermon retorted furiously. He stretched his hands, breaking the chains which had been wrapped around them without making much effort.

“I have Tarsus and Barloschios in mind. Their suspicious behavior on the day of the Carnival should never be overlooked, and I want to pay them a visit now,” he sounded excited.

Akinos looked over his shoulder, “shall I silence them?” he simply asked.

Akinos meant eliminating the guards though they were stationed in corridors far away from Vermon’s secluded cell.

He was just making sure that no one witness the absence of his friend from the place.

“No need to kill them; they won’t know I’m gone,” standing with his hands akimbo, he added, “none of the guards actually dare to come here.”

“If none of them comes here, then who did this to you?” Akinos sounded sarcastic as he stared at Vermon’s shirt on which large stains of blood began to form.  

“It doesn’t matter,” Vermon grinned. “Syrphadous instructed his people to lash me late in the day, thinking he can deprive me of good sleep. Of course, he underestimated me!”

Vermon looked earnest when he suddenly added, “anyways, no one else dares to stand in front of me after that.”

Akinos could not help but smile at his friend’s savagery, unperturbed by neither torture nor pain.

“Then, let us not waste time. Let us go to the house of Tarsus first,” Akinos said.

***

The house of Tarsus was, like many Arkosian houses, divided into two main parts. The front part, which was always available to receive guests, consisted of large rooms. On either side, narrow corridors led to the back part where his bedroom, his study, and his council room are located.

The front and back of the house were separated by an inner courtyard with a large water fountain flanked by small trees.

That morning, Akinos and Vermon appeared in the inner courtyard of Tarsus’ quiet house together after Akinos had grabbed his friend by the arm while he was in prison, saying resolutely, “Let us leave together and appear in the same place together.”

“Are you afraid that I will beat you to him?” Vermon sneered as he asked his friend, who was still holding his arm tightly, even after they reached the desired destination.

“Vermon don’t let him see you. You know he’s the talkative type. If he divulges to the minister your escape from prison, it won’t be easy for me to help you. Leave it to me, you may intervene only when I give you an explicit order.”

Vermon let out a deep sigh, revealing his impatience, “Understood.”

The two found Tarsus in his private study, which had walls covered with gigantic mirrors. His sleeping head was resting on the surface of the low table, upon which pages of his new book were strewn.

That book, like his early ones, was another failure; filled with insincerity and nonsense. Tarsus reeked of bad alcohol, which they assumed that he had too much of the night before.

Akinos took a glass vase from a corner before standing behind Tarsus and pouring the water inside the vase over his head.

Tarsus woke up in a panic, straightened up, and saw the glorious reflection of Akinos standing above him on the wall mirror.

Akinos threw the vase to the ground, shattering the glass, and scattering the roses.

“Y—Your Highness!” Tarsus shouted.

Tarsus turned around to face the prince without standing up as his legs were numb because he had slept for many hours in the same place.

He heard the prince’s voice, asking him in an icy tone laced with a great loathing. “Who suggested The Endurance Game, Tarsus?”

That was Akinos’ way of managing conversation with someone he disliked, a clear refusal of compliments and phrases that would waste his time.

It seemed from his question that the matter was urgent and could not be delayed. Tarsus remained on his knees, staring at the prince in a way that was considered arrogant and disrespectful.

“Your Highness, what are you doing here?” Tarsus wondered with an idiocy that provoked Akinos and Vermon who were observing him in disgust.

Akinos took out his sword, keeping it in its scabbard, and slammed its hilt against Tarsus’ wet head.

The man instantly lowered his eyes to the ground and heard Akinos say coldly, “I asked you a question, Tarsus. Who suggested The Game of Endurance? That disgraceful finale of your disgusting Carnival?”

Tarsus kept receiving moderate blows to the head, along with a few insults from the cold-voiced Crown Prince, and felt his heart almost beat out of his chest as he regained some courage to answer.

“I suggested that game.”

“Why?” Akinos did not stop what he was doing.

“No, Your Highness, I did not plan it. I only announced it at the request of the Treasurer of the Empire, Lord Barloschios,” Tarsus corrected himself.

“Why?”

“He wanted to test the slave of Vermon, son of Uthus. He told me that Vermon’s slave drew his attention, as he did not show fear and hesitation like the rest of the slaves, and that he seemed proud, and looked at our games with disdain, and I agreed on that.” Tarsus spoke very fast. “Then, the slave proved his distinction during his fight with the son of the Supreme Minister, and through the Endurance Game. The nobles still speak of his extraordinary performance,”

Akinos stopped hitting Tarsus. “You said that Barloschios wanted to test him?” he asked.

Feeling the scabbard of Akinos’ sword hanging over his head, Tarsus expected that Akinos would strike him again or begin to tear him with his blade.

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“Your Highness, he didn’t say it outright, but that’s what I really think, because at the end of the carnival, he told me he wanted to have that slave.”

“Who chose to lash him?” Still maintaining a straight back and a cold tone, Akinos hit Tarsus’ head again with the same intensity.

“I did not intervene in those details; I only announced the idea at his request, and after he pressured me. I was eager to make that slave participate. I don’t know anything else,” Tarsus has completely lost his nerve.

“Are you saying you didn’t plan it with him from the start?" Akinos’ words were filled with doubt and disbelief.

Tarsus suddenly bowed until his head touched the edges of the prince’s shoes as he answered tearfully, “I swear I’m telling you the truth. He asked me to announce the game after Ayege, son of Syrphadous, confronted the slave of Vermon, and then I saw him talking to the attendants of the carnival afterward. I don’t know what he said to them.”

“When did he do that?”

“While the slave was resting at the shed.”

Akinos looked where Vermon was hiding. “Will this please you?” he asked.

Vermon did not show himself yet, the fool philosopher thought that Akinos meant him by that question.

“What, Your Highness?” Tarsus, who remained prostrating to the prince, asked not knowing the intentions of Akinos.

Suddenly, Tarsus’ body received painful blows with the scabbard of the sword. The philosopher did not dare to move or object, but he cried in pain, knowing his sin and feeling the prince’s inner wrath upon him.

Deaf to his groans, Akinos continued to strike Tarsus with cold features and pressed lips for some time and eventually stopped but after leaving him unconscious with broken bones.

***

When Akinos and Vermon teleported to Barloschios’ private palace, they found it quiet and peaceful in that early hour of the morning.

The status of Barloschios as the Treasurer of the Empire was reflected in his luxurious lifestyle and elegant sense of fashion.

His palace was famous for its elaborate mosaic floors and frescoes that depicted scenes from world wonders and legends.

Its interior decorations were not only varied and luxurious, but also rare that many nobles were unable to emulate.

All of this because Barloschios took care of the details of his residence himself, which reflected his cultured and complex personality.

There were only servants in the palace since Barloschios had his slaves killed recently in the Carnival of Shadows.

Undisturbed, the two friends went around the palace and its rooms looking for its owner, until they found him in a room full of wonderful antiques, precious jewels, and priceless treasures.

The place was gleaming because of all the jewels, gold, and chests in which the marvels of the world were hidden while Barloschios, lost in deep thought, was smoking the poisonous blue-smoky stick of Pawzon.

When Akinos walked over to the center of the room, Barloschios was lying on a purple-colored sofa with various colored cushions adorned with sparkling jewels.

He did not look surprised by the prince’s standing before him, but said in a deep and dreamy voice as if reciting poetry, “What brings you here, Crown Prince of Arkosia?”

Akinos would not waste his time and Vermon’s by exchanging silly pleasantries with people they dislike.

Furthermore, the two friends shared an aversion to Barloschios, who also felt the same for them due to a few accidents and unfair rivalries in the past, which were enough to make the three unwilling to stay together under the same roof for a long time.

“Your Lordship, Tarsus told us that you were the one who suggested the Endurance Game at the Carnival of Shadows,” Akinos stated earnestly.

“True.”

Barloschios answered honestly and with extreme ease as he was known to be outspoken; not afraid to confess his crimes or even be punished for them as long as he was confident in his judgments.

That was the only good thing about him whenever someone confronted him.

“Did you come up with the idea of poisoning the whip that the Carnival attendants used to lash Vermon’s slave?” Akinos asked him in the same serious tone.

“Poisoned?” Barloschios straightened up quietly upon hearing Akinos’ question, and asked in bewilderment, “Are you saying that the whip used in the Carnival game was poisoned?”

Accusing Barloschios of poisoning a whip used by the attendants at the carnival got his attention, and so did its connection to Vermon’s slave, whom Barloschios wanted to take for himself and had previously declared so to his close friend Tarsus.

The man listened to Akinos in a provocative calm that always exasperated his haters.

“Yes, Your Lordship. The attendants have lashed the slave with a poisoned whip, and the poison has penetrated through his open wounds into his blood. He has been sick for ten days, and his condition is getting worse. If we do not find out the kind of poison used on the whip immediately, it will be impossible to cure him.”

Barloschios finished smoking his poisonous stick, put it on a plate of glass resting on a metal stand near him, and then crossed his arms.

“I had no part in choosing the whips used in the game, and I know nothing about poisons,” he retorted earnestly without moving his eyes away from the cold face of Akinos.

He then, paused for a moment, before adding, “The truth is that, in the meetings I have attended in the past few days, I have not heard anything about poisoning the slaves who participated in the game with a whip.”

“Tarsus saw you talking to the attendants during the third round,” Akinos said.

“True, I spoke to them while Vermon’s slave was unconscious in the slave corner, and I asked for his turn in the Endurance Game to be delayed to the end,” Barloschios spoke proudly.

Akinos advanced a few steps until he stood a few centimeters from Barloschios and asked earnestly. “Why?”

“It is a purely organizational and aesthetic issue. The carnival had a wonderful ending because Vermon’s slave ended it with such an amazing performance. Imagine if he had given that wonderful performance first and was followed by a handful of weak slaves who couldn’t bear ten lashes! The game would lose its luster and distinction, don’t you agree? The victor always comes last!”

Barloschios said this with his eyes sparkling with a strange excitement like Vermon’s every time he spoke of Orb. “I also hoped to talk to him at the end of the game and convince him to abandon his master,” he added.

“What?”

“And live with me,” Barloschios smiled and showed off his charming fangs as he finished speaking.

“How dare you!”

After being provoked by Barloschios’ last words, Vermon finally roared in protest, and Akinos sighed at his failure to manage the conversation until he reached that sensitive point for Vermon.

“Ah, Vermon. You decided to join the conversation at last.”

Barloschios crossed his legs and said in the same amused and provocative tone, “What? You won’t show yourself? How extraordinary to see the Crown Prince and his companion the Glorious Knight of Arkosia pay me a visit for the sole purpose of saving the insignificant life of a slave!”

“You cannot deny that he is of value, Lord Barloschios,” Akinos calmly retorted.

“Indeed,” the fanged man grinned.

Vermon showed himself at last and stood beside Akinos, his fists clenched at his sides. Barloschios quickly added, “It’s fine, look behind you,” he waved proudly, “All these precious items I have prepared for you, in exchange for your slave.”

 “You want to trade for Orb? Do you think I’ll let you?” Vermon exclaimed in revolt, “How could you say that when you’re a high official of the empire? Will you break the law for your own personal interest?”

Barloschios let out a sarcastic laugh as he looked at his two guests standing before him. “Don’t talk to me about breaking the law when you’re supposed to be in prison! I know that you were locked away in the Imperial Prison!”

“Are you threatening me?” Vermon glared.

“I’m not. I’m asking you to forget the laws in my presence. No one likes preaching.”

Barloschios stood up suddenly, his face only ten centimeters apart from Vermon’s, and insisted, “I want Orb, and you can take all that is in this room.”

Vermon’s eyebrows stiffened in a frown as he fixed his wide eyes on the eyes of his opponent, “What is the secret of this interest in him?” he questioned.

“He’s my type—a first-class. A proud good-looking young man with amazing fighting skills and physical endurance,” Barloschios whispered in a voice dripping with desire.

Vermon was furious and instantly barked. “You want him to satisfy your own desires?”

“Is it not why you keep him too?”

Vermon shoved him aside in response to that provocative question and hissed, “My relationship with him is none of your business.”

Barloschios was not in the least irritated, quite the contrary. He enjoyed provoking Vermon to get a reaction, a vicious look on his face, and bulging veins in his neck.

The cunning devil stood smiling and listening attentively to Vermon.

“Now, tell me. Why do you seek to poison my slave and at the same time seek to own him?”

 “I told you that I had nothing to do with the poisoning. In fact, I am as upset to hear about it as you are!”

Akinos looked at his angry friend. “Vermon, he’s telling the truth. You know Lord Barloschios well. He likes to brag about his crimes and fears nothing!” he confirmed.

Barloschios smiled proudly at Akinos’ statement as if it was a compliment. “It is true that I am a tyrannical demon! However, I have my own principles!”

“Principles? I doubt that you have any,” Vermon sneered, “You kill your slaves as if they were flies.”

“For the second time, I warn you, Vermon. Do not preach to me and forget yourself. You have a history of killing your slaves for no apparent reason,” Barloschios whispered in a cold tone. “What makes you so different from me this time? What and who can guarantee the safety of Orb with you? In fact, from what I have seen, he is suffering with you, and his life is in danger.”

And as soon as Barloschios finished his last sentence, he startled Vermon with one blow of his palm that rested on Vermon’s chest.

Although it was a blow of medium intensity, it was enough to push Vermon back to the end of the room.

Vermon then vanished and reappeared in front of his rival preparing himself to pounce on him.

“You swine!”

“Calm down, Vermon. Stop it, Barloschios,” Akinos commanded. He stood between the two. “We will believe you for now Barloschios, but I must ask you to not say a word about my investigating this to anyone.”

Barloschios smiled while scanning Akinos’ face. “Your Highness, if I may be so bold, I want to be with you on this investigation,” Barloschios spoke earnestly.

“No!” Vermon instantly objected turning his anxious eyes to Akinos who remained silent for one moment.

“I can help you; I have connections and treasures necessary for a bribe,” Barloschios bluntly bragged.

“You know, the crass honesty of yours makes you look vulgar despite the expensive clothes you are wearing! Tsk, tsk, tsk. How unsophisticated!” Vermon mocked.

“Fine,” Akinos said.

“Akinos!” Vermon gasped turning his gaze again at his friend who went on addressing Barloschios, “I want to know where the whip is, who brought the poison, and how they used it on Orb, and why.”

Barloschios bowed his head as he said in a deep and confident voice, “I thank you for your trust in my abilities, Your Highness, and it is my honor to accompany you,” he straightened up and added, “if I may, I suggest that we start at the Forest of Shadows.”

***

Thank you for reading this chapter

NOTES:

Pawzon. Pronunciation Guide [Pa-ow-zon (sounds like thousand)] is a smoking stick containing a substance that affects mood. It is consumed for non-medical purposes, especially among the rich who can afford it.

• The lovely chibi illustration is done by https://www.instagram.com/vvivon_/

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