Emptiness

Chapter 15

Vabaaga country

Varog City:

He had never seen anything like this. Never in his life as a Crown Prince of Zeta had he seen such admiration for a Prince.

Granted, he was adored by his people of Zeta. They think of him as a kind Prince and a humble boy who would become a great king, but he had never seen people of a country respecting and thinking this highly of their Prince, not even in his Zeta.

Prince Ziyou Raaga, the fourth Prince of Vabaaga.

Prince Ziyou wasn’t even the Crown Prince, but the way the people respected him and admired him was unbelievable.

Even though Nolen himself was a Crown Prince, and went to Harkon, Zeta’s ally and even visited Taldona and some other countries that weren’t allied to Zeta, yet to maintain peace among them and communicate about their trade as Zeta’s economy relies on exporting their abundant food supplies.

Zeta has no sea routes since Zeta was surrounded by lands and shares borders with Vabaaga, Harkon and Winrock on all sides. So, Zeta primarily relies on Vabaaga and Harkon for trading with Sea routes.

Vabaaga and Harkon have the sea as part of their borders.

Vabaaga shares its borders with Zeta, Avarius, Harkon on three sides and a sea on its fourth side. Vabaaga was the second strongest country when it came to the navy.

Veron had been the strongest country in the navy, and they ruled the world of sea, often colliding with Vabaaga and Zeta through trade, yet Veron had been the King of seas and oceans until it was conquered by Sarse.

So, Nolen had gone to not only the countries that are allied to Zeta but also the neutral countries and had made trading agreements. Granted, he was too young to understand all this, and his grandfather handled things. But, he had been the face of Zeta and future King, so it was necessary for him to accompany his grandfather to many countries in this Efras continent.

He had seen many Princes and even met with many Crown Princes, so it was a wonder to see people loving a Prince like this.

There were many people on the streets, and Nolen looked at them through the window of his carriage.

Music…

Feasts…

Dancing…

Singing….

Games like archery and melee…

And he had even seen plays being played by actors on stages raised in the villages.

It was amazing to see the celebration of such a level.

No, it wasn’t a festival of any kind. Instead, everything was for a single person’s birthday.

It was going to be Ziyou Raaga’s birthday in three days.

And, to see preparations and celebrations on this level, even on a day before the birthday, was mind-blowing to see.

He had decided to visit the nearby temple of Goddess Uruni as he heard how popular the temple was growing, so he had been curious to see how the Goddess Uruni was, tagging along with Ziyou when he heard how Ziyou was going to visit the nearby temple.

Nolen had arrived just two days before to celebrate Ziyou’s birthday with him and in a week he would have to retrieve back to Zeta as he could not Visit Vabaaga for a few years, since Nolen’s Grandfather had decided to involve Nolen in the military town where most of the Zeta’s army resided.

Things were getting serious as he was now the official Crown Prince of Zeta. He would be crowned as a King in a few years, and Nolen was scared of it sometimes.

Many people might like the idea of being a King and Nolen’s dream was too, to wear the Crown his grandfather and father had worn and ruled the entire Zeta. But, Nolen was afraid sometimes that he was too young for all these things and might one day fail to rule Zeta the way his ancestors did.

Was he worth the Crown and responsibilities?

Nolen was plagued with fear of failing his Grandfather.

Now, Nolen was living under his Grandfather’s shadow that shielded him from everything. Soon, in a few years, his Grandfather will retrieve back to the position as advisor, leaving Nolen the responsibilities.

Nolen sighed, letting go of such thoughts, and decided to enjoy the way the nature of Vabaaga lured him in.

Nolen had gotten up earlier and took Ziyou with him, insisting they travel in Nolen’s Kogan’s cart. Ziyou had been exasperated with his requests but had given up and agreed to Nolen accompanying him.

His Kogan carriages were the fastest, and they could reach Densta state earlier than hours when they travel by horse, so they both had taken the Kogan carriage and visited Densta state by the afternoon and had lunch in the Governor of Densta’s house.

The temple here was not as grand as the ones in Zeta, but the people visiting the temples were a lot more than in Zeta.

Densta state was even more filled with forests, more than the ones in the capital state. Vabaaga was a land of forests.

After that, they had left from Densta state as Nolen could not stay out of the capital state for longer, due to security reasons, as they could not take any risk with Nolen’s safety, since if something happened to Nolen while he was staying here, then Vabaaga had to face his grandfather’s wrath.

They had stopped in a few of the villages to enjoy snacks on their way, and that’s where Nolen had seen the plays, and Nolen understood why Ziyou was in the disguise of guards, as the people would recognize him and mob him.

The plays were all about Ziyou Raaga, how he had saved a village in Densta state from the snakes, how the crown ceremony was blessed with snakes and the glow on his Crown.

There were many variations on these plays, but every one of the plays made Ziyou as a version of an all-powerful Prince who was very kind to his people.

Ziyou shied from the celebration of people and soon went into their carriages, avoiding people.

That was why Nolen had stopped visiting the villages to enjoy the snacks of different villages and look at the celebrations going on, for Ziyou was not comfortable with being in public.

They had reached the capital state, Berca, and were going towards the capital city, Varog. They will reach the palace within the night.

Until then, he enjoyed the beautiful sight of Vabaaga, as Ziyou remained silent. And Nolen didn’t want to disturb him. Nolen gave the space Ziyou needed.

Ziyou never interacts with many people, and the few he interacts with, he always keeps his distance even then.

Ziyou was a silent person who kept mostly to himself. There wasn’t anyone he had seen Ziyou interact friendly with. The times he smiled were also even rare.

These people of Vabaaga weren’t just celebrating his upcoming birthday. It was like worshipping.

They were all reverent, worshipping Ziyou Raaga, and were considering him to be the person who had come to save them.

Nolen got goosebumps when he heard the united chant of Snake Prince Ziyou Raaga in one of the villages he stopped by. It was wonderful to see how the people of Vabaaga loved their fourth Prince.

But, this only made Ziyou uncomfortable. That was the last village they had stopped by, and Nolen had decided to return to the castle of Vabaaga, knowing the celebrations were worsening Ziyou’s mood. He was even more distant after they got into the carriage.

The King had questioned Ziyou what did he want for his birthday in the courtroom, like how he had asked Prince Lehan months before when Nolen visited Vabaaga that time too.

Ziyou had asked the King to deliver the leftover foods during the celebrations of his birthday to all over the villages, even to the lowlifes and nameless. This had touched everyone’s hearts, and the ministers and the officials, along with everyone in the court, had risen up, hailing long live Prince Ziyou Raaga.

None had thought about it like that.

No Prince cared about people in the villages or did anyone supply the poor with food.

Prince Ziyou had unbelievable depth in understanding of people of Vabaaga.

The rainy season was coming to an end in Vabaaga, and they had to welcome winter in a month or two, so the providing of food would help people.

It was no wonder the people worshipped Prince Ziyou Raaga, as he was thinking of them even at this young age.

But he didn’t understand why Ziyou was running away from people. If he does things like this for people, then obviously, they will love him like this.

Nolen guessed it might be because of Ziyou not being in a good mood.

Nolen had seen how things were not going well in the Raaga family. Ziyou and his siblings never did get along, but things seemed to have gotten worse as the King was too not behaving like usual with Ziyou.

And that was the reason Nolen had decided to accompany Ziyou, not wanting to leave him alone.

Ziyou was at fault, it seemed, for even the King, Ziyou’s own father himself, was angry. If only he had opened himself and been friendly with his siblings, then things wouldn’t be like this.

He didn’t know much, but it seemed Ziyou remaining distant wasn’t helping matter much.

He had wanted to speak about this with Ziyou since he was Ziyou’s friend and wanted him to be happy, not like this cold person who kept everyone at bay.

They had reached the castle too, and if he lost this chance, he wouldn’t have another chance like this to speak with Ziyou.

Nolen glanced at Ziyou from the corner of his eyes before clearing his throat, gaining Ziyou’s attention.

“I am sorry to say this, Prince Ziyou. I’ve wanted to speak with you about things.”

Ziyou looked at him, remaining silent, and Nolen took it as a sign to continue.

“If you continue to be this cold to everyone, there won’t be any happiness, neither your family nor you.”

Nolen slightly looked away from Ziyou’s eyes as it was scary to watch them for longer time, and now, it seemed even more intense.

“They’re your family, right? If you could just let your siblings in your heart, you….”

Nolen was cut off by Ziyou’s cold look on his face.

Did Nolen cross the boundary Ziyou had created?

“If you don’t know about things, then it is better to not involve yourself with it, Prince Nolen.”

With a glare, Ziyou got out of the carriage, which Nolen didn’t realize had stopped in the stable of the castle.

Nolen gulped his disappointment and hurt, wondering if Prince Lehan had lied to him.

Prince Lehan had told Nolen about how Ziyou was not involving with the family and how it was upsetting their father, Hagen Raaga.

All he wanted was Ziyou’s happiness, and no matter what Nolen did for it, Nolen was always doing it wrongly.

Nolen, like always, cannot understand Ziyou.

Nolen got out of the carriage, ignoring the bowing Knights and soldiers, and moved towards the castle where his guest room was, all the while watching how Ziyou was walking towards the training field instead of going to his room.

Did Nolen fail again to understand Ziyou?

Nolen admired Ziyou a lot. He thought that Ziyou was being distant from his own family because of his attitude.

He thought he would help Ziyou somehow by solving this issue. He thought the family would be the biggest support and wanted to give Ziyou the feeling of belonging to a family.

Guess Nolen had misunderstood the situation.

Nolen knew whatever steps he took forward with Ziyou was now nothing compared to how many steps he was pushed backwards now.

Ziyou would not let Nolen close anymore; even the little bits he showed about himself would be shut off to Nolen.

Even though Nolen only wanted Ziyou’s happiness, he always failed to understand what Prince Ziyou was going through.

~~~~

Iri looked up at the moons and thanked them for providing light in this darkness.

Della and Niten, Iri.

Solum’s exasperated voice echoed in his mind, making Iri chuckle despite the situation.

Solum always tried to make Iri learn about things. He was forever grateful for it.

Solum doesn’t know how much it means to Iri.

Iri had been Sixteen a few years back. And as, Sixteen, all his wishes were to see the outside world, at least once before he died.

He had wanted to not die in that small cubicle and to know about the world.

He not only escaped the cubicle somehow but also had managed to get friends like Solum and Mico.

They had built a house for him and provided whatever education they could for him.

They don’t just do things for him but teach him how to do them so that he can stand independent yet, at the same time, stand with them.

He was forever grateful to both of them, especially Solum.

Solum was the one who would always remain close to his heart and would always stay special.

Iri knew Mico guessed that already and didn’t begrudge Iri, as he too felt the same.

Solum was the gem this Vabeo doesn’t deserve.

Ever since he came to know about how society works, he had been shocked by the life Solum lived.

Iri now understood the reason Solum insisted that Iri stays here and not to follow him.

Iri cannot imagine anyone being cruel to his Solum.

How can they?

Solum was a lowlife in the society, and even the lowlifes treated him worse, and his own mother treated him cruelly.

Iri cannot digest the fact that they were treating his dear friend, the one that mattered above all, like this.

He didn’t know how anyone could beat up the person who showed the world to a person like Iri.

Iri had known that he was from the Horns family, and Solum, along with Mico, had informed him about how his class was hunted and kept for experiments and such.

Iri understood the reason behind why he was kidnapped as a kid, taken away from his home.

Iri knew if it was someone who found Iri years back, they would have given Iri to the officials and would have gotten money in exchange.

Solum could have sold Iri to officials and could have gotten money, and escaped the life of being lowlife and would have gained the authority to have the last name with that money.

But, what did Solum do?

He took care of Iri, risked his life to steal medical books from the school since he didn’t have Egav and stayed with Iri till he healed.

Solum didn’t just leave it like that. He had taught Iri how to speak properly and made him remember the way how to use his muscles properly. Solum provided him with food until Iri could learn to hunt and get food on his own.

Solum didn’t have any Egav and used whatever skill and tools he had to build tents for Iri, to make Iri’s life better.

Iri didn’t know the value of it all those days back. But, he knew now what a risk Solum had taken with his life to protect Iri.

Solum would lose his life if someone knew that he was hiding a Horns in the forest. And, Solum had risked it all, not even knowing that Iri and Solum would become good friends.

Solum was the kindest person in the entire Vabeo.

Solum never flinched away from Iri’s horns and only encouraged Iri to learn how to use his powers and Egav. Because in future, Iri must face a situation where he has to defend himself, and for that, he has to know how to use his Egav and his powers in his horns.

Solum…

Solum had done everything for Iri…

But, he was angry with Solum for hiding things from Iri.

Why did he do that all the time?

Did he think Iri was a child and hid it?

Or did he think Iri would not care?

Iri didn’t know, nor did he know the reason for Solum hiding things from him.

Did he think Iri wouldn’t notice the bruises on Solum’s body whenever he visits Iri?

Did he think Iri wouldn’t know how he was limping the last time Solum visited him?

Iri may not know many things since he had been held captive in the cubicle for many years. But he does notice things.

He wasn’t that ignorant.

Solum didn’t share the details with him, and Iri had let it go, not wanting to ask questions and upset Solum. That was why he had let things be the way they were until yesterday.

Yesterday, Solum came to Iri’s house with many wounds on his body and collapsed on Iri as soon as Iri reached him.

Iri had been horrified to see Solum this way.

How?

When Iri questioned Solum, he had replied back with a smile, saying that he had to fight a wolf on his way.

Did Solum think Iri was stupid or something?

How was it possible for to be attacked by a wolf of all things when there were no claw marks on Solum’s body?

But he didn’t question Solum since he was too busy with healing Solum.

Iri had used a wet towel to wipe the dried blood away and cleaned the wounds and bruises.

He had gone out of his home and busied himself with plucking medicinal plants all over their hut and made a paste out of it before applying it on Solum’s wounds and dressed it, just like Solum taught him.

Iri lit an E-fire, the way Mico had taught him, and made water to boil before preparing a vegetable soup with the vegetables and spices he picked from the small garden Solum had grown for Iri.

Iri had forced Solum to drink it, at least half the bowl, before resting.

Iri was scared the whole time while treating Solum yesterday.

Solum had protested when Iri asked him to lie on the bed this time, saying where Iri would sleep.

Iri had teared up, seeing how Solum thought of Iri’s comfort even in the delirious state he was in because of the medicinal herbs he added in the soup.

Iri had stayed with Solum beside his bed all night, worrying about him, not knowing what to do as he doesn’t know how to use Egav and heal Solum quickly. If only Mico were here…

Iri had cursed himself for not knowing how to use Egav with intent properly.

Yesterday night, Iri had felt pain around the area where his horns were.

As he held Solum’s hand in one and clutched his horns, he was startled to find images of Solum’s past.

If Iri closed his eyes, he could still remember every memory of Solum that he got in his mind yesterday.

Solum was probably five or something and was cowering in the corner of a room, blood everywhere as the woman beat him up with a stick.

“I swear, Mother. I didn’t do anything. I swear. I didn’t kill father. Trust me.”

Iri opened his eyes and crushed the leaves under his feet, feeling rage engulf him at the way Solum’s mother had been treating him when Solum was just five or something.

A man dragging Solum by his ear, not so gentle and pushed him on the ground when he reached an area where huts of various sizes were.

“Look, this will be the last warning. If this cursed boy stepped in the school again, then that will be the end of all of you.”

People gathered around were furious with Solum, and despite the way Solum tried to be brave, Iri still spotted his trembling hands.

Iri didn’t know how anyone could be this cruel to a child like Solum. And, to think Solum risked it all to learn and be better. Iri admired his courage and the drive to rise above society even though it had chained him with the title of lowlife.

Darkness surrounded Solum, who was curled in the small room, that looked too similar to the cubicle Iri had been in, and it was heart-wrenching to see Solum clutching his stomach and whimpering as loud as possible.

“Please, Mother. I am hungry. I am really hungry. Please.”

To see the one who had provided food for Iri starved like this had pulled Iri’s heart and had made Iri to take a decision.

Solum was standing in front of a man with a stick yet faced him bravely.

“Please, My Lord, give me at least half of the money for the work I’ve done.”

The man’s face got twisted with anger that made him look horrible and ugly.

“How dare a lowlife like you even look up at me and question me?”

The man had decided to beat Solum with the stick he was holding.

They don’t even give them money for the work a lowlife has done? Was the world that bad? What was wrong with not having the ability to use Egav?

Was this the world he had dreamt of witnessing when he was Sixteen?

It felt like the world itself was a cubicle Sixteen had been in, and it was filled with cruel people.

“Admit it, boy. Do you have the pearl?”

Solum was tied up against a pillar and was being beaten with sticks and whips.

“No…”

Solum whimpered, but none of them took pity on him.

Solum looked like he hadn’t eaten for days.

“You’re the bane of our existence. You’re the reason our village is going to be destroyed by the higher class people.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t steal any pearl.”

He was slapped in the face.

“You dare talk back even now? Looks like the beatings wasn’t enough to plunge that wicked tongue out.”

Solum kept silent, probably knowing that the people around him had lost patience.

“You listen carefully, boy. If you crossed the line next time, we would begin by chopping parts of your body. I will not put our lives and the village at risk just for a stupid boy like you. Do you get it?”

Solum remained silent, and the people spat on the ground near Solum before untying Solum and leaving him like that.

Solum’s eyes glistened with tears.

And, that was the last memory Iri had of Solum before Solum gave into unconsciousness. Yesterday night had been terrible beyond words.

He had tended to Solum all the while Iri felt unbearable sorrow and guilt

He had seen and felt how much Solum goes through.

Iri felt the pain, the sadness, grief and love Solum had…

Solum loved Iri and Mico a lot more than he thought. He risked everything for both of them.

And, Iri cannot see Solum suffering, not even because of them.

The way tears trailed over Solum’s cheeks in the last memory had brought rage and sadness in Iri’s heart.

A deadly combination that had made Iri to snap.

He had woken up in the morning, taken care of Solum and given him medicinal herbs that helped him sleep so that his body might recover. He had then closed the hut’s door, taking a path he had watched Solum take whenever he left Iri.

Iri had secretly followed him for some miles, watching Solum go when he really missed him.

And he took that path today evening, using the darkness as a cover; he moved through the forest and walked the path Solum usually walked.

Iri can feel something rising in him….

He can feel the way his horns hurt, as if wanting to release the anger and power in them.

Solum….

Solum was everything to Iri….

As he had already promised to himself, if something happened to his Solum, Iri would burn the world.

He can never tolerate anyone hurting his Solum.

Iri stopped when he exited the forest and spotted a small village, only visible through the torches they had lit near their huts.

None can hurt his Solum and get away with it.

Every one of them has to pay for the crime of touching his Solum.