thanks for the update obehid hmm it's like musa has become spoiled now abi when I advised nehud to buy a good whip and he refused I knew this day will come. obehid tell musa that he should not come back because if he does eh I'll hire strong boys (osins) and after they catch musa and Tie him down, I'll distribute strong chiboga whip to all of them to use to flog him till he forgets how to use Panasophy.

ayshow6102:
thanks for the update obehid hmm it's like musa has become spoiled now abi when I advised nehud to buy a good whip and he refused I knew this day will come. obehid tell musa that he should not come back because if he does eh I'll hire strong boys (osins) and after they catch musa and Tie him down, I'll distribute strong chiboga whip to all of them to use to flog him till he forgets how to use Panasophy.

Smh

@tunjilomo well, I guess we'll see if it's a tantrum or not. Why is Nebud keeping its lineage secret? I don't really know for Nebud sha. I think it might be that it's not yet ready to accept what it is yet...

@maynation the wait is not too long now, update coming soon

@spixytinxy as in, that's the question oh, I guess we'll find out

@Rynne I like your persistence! Only time will tell

@barag thank you for reading and enjoying. I'll relay all of this advice about opening up back to Nebud. Maybe it will listen

@Fazemood we will fight oh! Chai, you're calling my precious Nebud ugly

@ayshow6102 wow, why so violent? Musa has every right to be hurt by Nebud's lies. After Nebud pretended that it was coming to Chiboga for Musa and then Musa finds out that Nebud was lying. Hopefully time will heal this rift between them

Part 20
--------

I had not had the time to fully appreciate the size of the library the last time I’d been here. Now, as I stared at the tall shelves and the stacks of tomes, I could feel nothing but awe. If I survived Chiboga I was going to use part of my wealth to build a library just like this one. I thought of that future dwelling which I would build. It would have a gymnasium like the one in the Kaiser’s Chateau in Katsoaru. My personal cleaning room would have a wide canal with falling liquid, just like the cleaning room in Lastmain. And my library would be like this one. I would have the best of everything.

If I survived.

My mind drifted back to Sensu. I could not help wondering if the uspec still lived. It had looked so close to death the last time I’d seen it. The thought of Sensu sent my mind journeying to Fajahromo and the vault in Damejo. There was something familiar about that name. It was as if I had heard it somewhere before. Recently. My thoughts stirred with the familiarity of the port, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not recall it.

Fajahromo. I thought of the uspec in its sibling’s vault right at that moment. Had it found my ring? Did it know of my identity? I found my mind shifting to thoughts of Lahooni. It was a hooni port. I imagined that it would be filled with quicksand, as the kute ports were filled with okun. Nothing like this boga port completely covered in fog. There would be portals in Lahooni, several of them. I wondered what the Kaiser’s dwelling would look like. It would be impressive, imposing. I tried to picture it. My birthright. And if I found the ring, I could claim it. I could become Kaiser. It felt so unreal. Was that my future then? Was that what awaited me if I survived this trial in Chiboga? That was of course, if Fajahromo did not reach the ring before I could.

The chiming of a bell pulled my focus back to the room. I watched as a wall dissolved, and an imp emerged from it.

I was taken aback to see an imp in this port. This was the first imp I’d seen outside of Aurelion. The imp wore a long black tunic with a very distinct engraving on the top left. It had streaked skin and empty eye sockets. It dropped to its knees in front of the young uspec and bowed till its head touched the floor.

“Bring me the tomes in this list.” Sophi tossed a small scroll onto the floor beside the imp’s head.

“Yes master Sophi.” The imp said. It picked up the scroll, stood, and went back into the gap in the wall.

We stood in front of one of several reading areas. These areas had circular tables and chairs around them. The area was encircled by more shelves, filled with books. All the furniture in the room was made of hard fog. I found the intricate designs mesmerizing.

Sophi pulled out a chair and sat. “You may sit while we wait, chief.” It ordered.

“Gratitude sirga.” I sat on a chair on the other side of the table.

The young uspec was alone with me today. There were other soldiers in the library, but the room was so big that I could not see a single one of them, behind the shelves.

“Are you wary chief?” the young uspec asked.

It stared keenly at me.

“What is there to be wary of sirga?” I asked.

“Well the war of course. You do know that it commences tomorrow, don’t you?”

Everyone knew that. In fact, Sophila had commanded a large feast for the evening, to celebrate the last night before the commencement of the war. The commander and the dons were to be there, as well as every other golden capon currently in the port. As a chief, I was not invited, but as Sophi’s guard for the day, Yakubo and I were to be in attendance. The soldiers were having a different sort of celebration in the barracks. There would plenty of cheap food and wine. Arexon gave orders for the soldiers to gorge on it. I wondered if they realized that they would die tomorrow. Yakubo and I were to be stationed in the Castle during the war. It meant that we would not be close to the real action for a long time. Not until the plenum broke through the defense in the hangar, and came into the Acropolis.

Sophian estimated that it would take months for that to happen. The first contingent of soldiers stationed in the hangar, would be marching there just before the feast in the Castle began. A hundred serf soldiers, fifty bosses, twenty five heads, and two gurus were part of the initial deployment. I did not know how they would all fit into the hangar, but I was glad that I was not one of them. So many of them would be dead before the end of the next day.

I sighed. I’d listened to Musa’s talk about the plenum and the chasm, and on the inter-port trail, it had simply been an amusing tail. I had thought of all the fighters and found them all to be fools. Perhaps if I had known how close I would get to the real war, I would not have thought so lightly of it.

Musa. That was another sore topic. Just thinking of the imp tempted me into a fit of rage. I knew that it had remained with me in Sensu’s underground cave. It had removed its appearance, but it had remained with me. Even though it had not spoken, I knew it had been there. How else could I explain the fact that the hard fog entrance suddenly softened when I was close enough to climb out of the hole? Then it mysteriously hardened while I was out. Musa had been standing there, with the key in the fog, but it had been silent. It had heard me call out to it, but it had remained silent.

I spent that night, and the ones that followed, in the barracks. That was three days ago now. Three days of hard battle training, of sparring with soldiers, officers, capons, anyone that Arexon appointed me to. I woke up in the morning. I ran a course of pillars and then I fought. I fought on a ground filled with okun, this Arexon did to simulate the blood that would stain the hard fog grounds during the battles. I slipped. I banged my body against the hard grounds, got back up and continued. I had lunch and followed the meal with fight. I fought until the next meal. And when the time for me to sleep came, what did I do? I slunk around like a thief, hiding behind dwellings to steal away from the barracks so that I could go back to my suite and check to see if my imp was safe. I yelled for it. But it never showed itself.

There was a part of me that was glad for the imp’s continual invisibility. I was not sure what I would do to it, if I found it now. Not when I was so angry. It would be better if my mood improved. But when it came to Musa, I was not sure that my mood could improve. Did the imp not know that I would worry? I would understand if it left, but why not tell me. Why not tell me before it went off on its crusade to find its heir? I thought of how ironic it was that I was the heir Musa so desperately wanted to find. In fact, it would serve the imp well if it left me in Chiboga, only to go to Damejo and find that I was the one it had searched for all along. I decided then, that I would never tell the imp of my true identity. That would be a good punishment for the worry that it caused me. As if I did not have enough to deal with, without having to worry about one foolish imp.

“Chief?”

I looked up at the young uspec, only then remembering that we’d been talking. “Forgive me sirga, my mind drifted.”

“So, you are wary then? The commander says that it is permitted for a soldier to be afraid. But you must not allow that fear to interfere with the performance of your duty. Do you understand chief?”

“Yes sirga. Gratitude.” It was difficult to keep the sarcasm from my voice. A young, giving me advice about fighting. I’d faced my death every week in the pits. I’d spent nine years looking death in the face and laughing it off. But this uspec who had never seen a fight, thought that it could lecture me on fear.

A small retinue of imps appeared. They all had their hands filled with tomes. One after the other, they placed heaps of tomes on the table. I was just about to reach for a tome when I saw an imp trip. It let go off the tomes in its hand, dropping them so that it could hold onto the side of the table for support, before it fell. The clumsy imp dropped the tomes right on Sophi’s feet.

The uspec jumped up. “You oaf!” It snapped. It struck out with its right hand and struck the imp on the side of its head. “Pick those up quickly before I have you whipped.”

“Yes master Sophi.” The imp hastily gathered up the fallen tomes and placed them on the table.

Sophi picked up one of the tomes and brought it over to my side of the table. It pulled out one of the chairs beside me. As it sat, it said, “this tome is something of a guide. A SYNOPSIS OF THE RELEVANT WORKS RELATING TO THE STUDY OF SPECTRA.” It read out the title. “I would advise that you read this first. We have all the tomes cited in this one, so you can choose which you would like to study in more detail.”

“Gratitude sirga.”

Sophi nodded. “The commander counsels that it is in the general’s best interest for all the soldiers in its army to be at peak performance of all their skills. That includes spectra.”

“You quote the commander a lot.”

“I quote all great scholars.” It replied.

It pushed the tome towards me. Then it reached out for another tome. It was the one that it had mentioned to the teacher, the tome about the blessed eye. I caught glimpses of the bolded title on the cover of the book, before the uspec pulled it towards it and began reading.

I ran my fingers over the title. A SYNOPSIS OF THE RELEVANT WORKS RELATING TO THE STUDY OF SPECTRA. I committed that name to memory. I wanted to remember exactly what tome to get for my education on spectra. I would acquire this book as soon as I left Chiboga. This and all the others relating to the magic. Then I would learn control of the magic of my eyes and become as dangerous as Manus. I found the thought appealing.

It bothered me that I still could not create an okun as Manus had done so effortlessly. I could speak through my pain emotion to the okun once it was created, but I could not pull it forth myself. I opened the tome and flipped through the pages. I was mesmerized by what I saw in it.

The tome began with a bibliography which contained the list of all tomes cited in this one. The tome was structured by referenced tome, and so the bibliography contained the name of the cited work as well as the number of the page in which the discussion of that work began. I glimpsed the names of tomes cited. Some had strange names, others had names with familiar terms. I saw one with ‘de trop’ in the title, and another which had ‘commoner’. ‘Irira’, the name stood out to me. I was just about to flip to that page, when just below it, I saw ‘irirakun’ and ‘emotions’ in the same title.

I chose to start at that page instead.

An irirakun is born with a deep bond to the souls of its spectrums. This bond is one which could enhance the irirakun’s use of spectra. In this tome, the authors show cases where an irirakun who’s learned how to reach to the emotions of its spectrums’ soul, is far superior in spectra than one who is not irirakun. But, with this preponderance of innate spectra skill, comes a difficulty with mastering the magic. Once an irirakun reaches through its emotions to the soul of its spectrum, it becomes overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emotions that the soul responds with. They are kindred spirits. But sometimes, kindred spirits set out, unknowingly, to cause harm to each other. An irirakun must first master the magic of its primary soul (the eye that it was born with), before it can unlock the magic of the eyes that it has acquired. This tome goes further to…

Sophi’s gasp, broke my concentration. With difficulty, I pulled my focus from the tome, to the eye of the young uspec who gazed at me in shock. “You are irirakun?” It spoke with amazement, “you have the magic of emotions!”

The scales on my neck were no secret. It was plain that I was irira, so, I saw no need to hide the truth. “Yes, sirga, I am.”

The uspec jumped up. “Sire keeps the liquid that we imbibe filled with emotion blockers. It has always said that it does it because it has seen the chaos which a single irirakun can unleash on an entire port.”

“Emotion blockers?”

“Yes, it is in the liquid that the soldiers stationed to the Castle imbibe as well. They are made with pansophy, used to hide emotions from those with the power to take them. Of course, irirakun can still find the emotions, but they must have a superior knowledge of the magic to be able to use it.”

Emotion blockers. It had to be what Xavier and Musa used to hide their emotions from me. The pious had found a way to give that to those without pansophy? That did not surprise me. Suddenly, my fight during my first day at the Castle made sense to me. That was why I had been unable to reach for their emotions.

“You are irirakun! You must let me study you Nebud. I am fascinated by the magic of emotions. Have you ever wielded it? Sire says that the emotion blockers are the price we pay for allowing iriras in our port, but I have never met a kun. I have seen many iriras, but never an irirakun. It must be fascinating.”

I realized that I had never seen the young uspec so animated. It stood, its hands by my arm on the table, as it peered down at me. I almost found the intensity of its excitement unnerving.

“Irirakun?”

This voice did not belong to the young. I rose my head, and found Sophian standing in front of our table. Immediately, I jumped to my feet and saluted the uspec. I congratulated myself for my alacrity, my seeming eagerness to salute it. I had to keep Sophian believing that I was truly grateful to it.

“In clover, chief.”

I let my hand fall down from my chest.

“Are you truly irirakun?” it asked, its voice as unanimated as ever.

“Yes sirga.” I replied. And then, on a stroke of pure genius, I thought to add, “does this displease you?”

“No, chief, not at all. In fact, it is quite the contrary. More and more each day, I am beginning to laud my decision to allow you keep your life.”

“I am truly grateful, sirga.”

It nodded. “Do you have practice with the manipulation of emotions?” it asked.

“Yes sirga.” I replied. “I have little practice.”

“We will change that. Starting tomorrow, I will have you trained by the pious. They will know how to improve your manipulation of emotions. They will even help you get past the spectra block that irirakuns are known to have. You will be our ultimate weapon chief.”

“It will be my honor, sirga.” I lied. I could not think of a worse prospect than being trained by pious. They had pansophy. They would find the secrets in my head. They could learn of Sensu and its underground isolation. They would know of the ring and see that the last brio was actually the coffer, not the ring that we had expended so much effort into finding. They could learn of Musa. And Arexon. They would learn of Arexon’s secret, they would see that Arexon had pansophy.

“The commander has pansophy?” Sophi’s voice was filled with shock.

“What?” Sophian snapped.

I stared disbelievingly at the young uspec. How had it known?

Sophi stared at me with its mouth agape. “I saw it in the chief’s thoughts, pater. The chief was thinking of the commander’s secret, and it said that secret was that it had pansophy.”

“Impossible.” Sophian spat out. “Well chief, what do you have to say for yourself?”

I was stunned speechless. What had I done? I owed everything to Arexon. It had saved my life, numerous times. It was Arexon who had led me to Isthum’s dwelling. If not for Arexon, I would never have found Sensu, and heard its message about the key. And how did I repay Arexon, I allowed a young uspec to steal my thoughts. How had I been so careless?

“Chief!” It snapped. “Would an inquest be necessary?”

I shook my head. The words started coming out my mouth before I could stop them. “Commander Arexon has pansophy. It used this magic to heal me when I was wounded in Aurelion. It is no secret amongst the high-ranking soldiers.”

Sophian’s jaw clenched. I saw its fury. I could not feel its anger emotion, but I could see the rage written plainly in its face. What had I done? What had I said? How had I said all those things? I could not think of why I would say them. I owed no loyalty to Sophian. Perhaps it was the threat of the inquest. But no, no, I could not have been so callous as to implicate Arexon for fear of an inquest, could I?

“The feast is beginning.” Sophian announced. “We must go to the great hall.” After saying that, the imperial one turned around and stormed off.

Sophi and I followed silently in its wake.

Damn.... Nebud must learn to control his thoughts better...

Nehbud, from one trouble to another

Serioualy Damn!

Damn it, Nebud, why?

You can never say the depth of Nnebud's Ineptitude, I know Obehid will still give him a easy escape buthe needs to be up and doing, speaking of which should be encapsulating... Arexon is in the line of fire because Idaho's carelessness as it is..

obehiD:


@Fazemood we will fight oh! Chai, you're calling my precious Nebud ugly

Eyaa! Sorry na

obehid thanks for the update

Honestly I don't really know where this novel is heading. Its totally opposite from its beginning. And definitely from the past story. Where is Nebud heading? What is the need of the long details of its education when it can not even use it wisely. I am totally disappointed with this Uspec.

Obehid sorry but I am not seeing any improvement in Nebud and its getting difficult to focus on this story as each episode passes.

As interesting as this story is, Nebud and Obehid are making it tiring.



Nebud is all there making irrational decisions and Obehid only came up with the shortest update I have ever read. Like I waited from Wed to Saturday for this small update?

I think arexon z 1 of d best and most powerful uspec wt regards to pansophy... I believe he'll be able to hide his pansopic ability frm d pious ones... His dad mustve thot him smtin abt dat... Sweet story tho...

Fazemood:
Honestly I don't really know where this novel is heading. Its totally opposite from its beginning. And definitely from the past story. Where is Nebud heading? What is the need of the long details of its education when it can not even use it wisely. I am totally disappointed with this Uspec.

Obehid sorry but I am not seeing any improvement in Nebud and its getting difficult to focus on this story as each episode passes.

Dnt 4get dat dis is nebud tellin us his life story... The education he's getting will help him bcom who he i. Just like sophian wants to teach him how to evade emotional blocks. I also think this war is where arexon might die...

Chai, you people are making Nebud run for cover oh! LOL! Nebud is sorry. It sent me to apologize to all of you for the mistake it made. It had a lot on its mind, with Musa's disappearance and the uncertainty of its own future, that it was not thinking about the young uspec standing beside it, and its pansophy. If Nebud could take back this mistake that it made, it would, but it can't. Please, it's not perfect, but who is? Abeg bear with it

@Smooth278 I don't disagree but it's not so easy. Hopefully Nebud learns something from this.

@spixytinxy as in, trouble after trouble, it just wants to live peacefully but the forces won't let it

@HotB I agree, even Nebud shares your sentiments

@tunjilomo It's been asking itself the same question since it happened. Why indeed? It feels so guilty.

@phoenixchap Nebud is trying to be less ineptitude, but every time it thinks it's made a positive stride...anyway, me in my own small way, I have to help it now. Nebud has really suffered in this life, if I can make things easier for it, I want to do that. As to Arexon, chey, see Nebud's shame oh, hopefully the fire won't burn it too hot

@ayshow6102 thank you for reading

@Fazemood I won't lie, I was sad when I read your comment (especially the bottom part). Like, you've been with me on this story for so long. I remember when I was writing In-between and you always made a point of commenting after each chapter (asking questions, sharing your feelings...you really made it interesting), I really appreciated that, and that is why I really hoped that I could keep this story interesting for you. I'm sorry that I haven't done that. The truth is that Nebud is not a perfect protagonist. I find it very hard to write perfect protagonists especially when I'm writing from their head. It is definitely very different from the last one, I think the last two were much more straight-forward (there was a villain and our hero tried to vanquish it). With Nebud, it's a completely different type of story. And I do agree that it's long, when I started, I thought it would be a novella, but this is turning out to be the single longest book I've ever written (much longer than In-between), but it is going somewhere. The pieces are being laid now and there is an underlying thread to it all, but I understand that it could be a hard story to read (which is my fault). So, anyway, I just wanted to say that although it would be sad to see you go, I understand if the story no longer holds your interest. I just want you to know (in case that was your last comment) that I remember how much of an interest you've taken in this series, and how you've always made the point of commenting. I am VERY VERY grateful for that. Thank you and thank you for sticking around as long as you have even though Nebud has been annoying you

@maynation I wrote a song for you (more like edited from Holy grail):
It's amazing I'm in this maze with you, I just can't crack your code,
last week you're screaming 'Obehidryte', this week you're so cold
LOL. At least you still think it's interesting so that's good. I'm sorry that the updates can't be as long as you like. I have a lot of other things that I'm working on as I'm writing this, so the updates won't always be long. But sometimes they are long, sometimes they are short (this is actually the norm length of an update), but always they are consistently posted on Wednesdays and Saturdays

@olite93 Hmmm, I want to say more about Arexon, but I can't spoil it. Thank you, I'm happy you're enjoying it!

Fazemood:
Honestly I don't really know where this novel is heading. Its totally opposite from its beginning. And definitely from the past story. Where is Nebud heading? What is the need of the long details of its education when it can not even use it wisely. I am totally disappointed with this Uspec.

Obehid sorry but I am not seeing any improvement in Nebud and its getting difficult to focus on this story as each episode passes.

Hey take am easy aii, it's a complex story (plot twists and turns are a sine qua non)...

It is about how Nebud became who he currently is... His recollections of his past and the events that helped shape who he became. Reading it piecemeal update by update is quite difficult because of the suspense and anticipation for the next update and development of the story. I'm positive it will all come together like a beautiful tapestry at the end...

PS: ObehiD thanks for the good works so far, if possible please increase the length of the updates as per popular demand...

obehid more engine oil to your elbow seriously speaking this story is the reason you I look forward to Wednesday`s and Saturday`s. it has given meaning to those days of the week

@Smooth278 I understand that reading it piecemeal makes it hard to remember all the details and the way that the plot develops. I wish that I could write it all and release it, unfortunately I can't. Like I mentioned earlier, I have a lot of other things I'm working on and so, unfortunately, I can't make all updates as long as everyone would like.

@ayshow6102 wow, that's really flattering and very humbling. Thank you, I really appreciate that.

Part 21
---------

Yakubo was waiting by the entrance to the grand hall, where the feast was set to take place. It saluted, upon sighting us, and kept its hand on its chest, till Sophian stormed by it. Yakubo turned its troubled expression to me. It fell in line behind Sophi, just as we walked into the hall.

“Assiduity!” A loud voice yelled. I recognized that voice as belonging to Arexon.

“Assiduity!” A number of soldiers picked up the cry and chanted one of their own. This sound was echoed across the room several times, until all sounds halted and all soldiers, Yakubo and I included, turned to face the dais at the front of the room. We all saluted in unison.

There were several uspecs already standing on that stage. Arexon stood to the right of the highchair. The chair to the left of the highchair was left empty. A magistrate stood behind the chair beside that one. From the bands on their arms, I could tell that there were two other silver capons, and five golden capons on the stage, but none of them were familiar. There were also other pious ones standing on that stage.

Sophian made its way across the large hall. It climbed the steps up to the raised dais, and then it stopped behind the highchair. Its gaze zoomed over to us. It gestured impatiently for us to approach. For a second, I feared that it meant to confront Arexon right then and there. Then I noticed its gaze was on Sophi. It was merely gesturing for its offspring to join it on the raised dais. The young uspec marched forward, its steps uncertain, as it made its way past the rows of saluting silver capons. Finally, Sophi reached the dais. It stood behind the chair to the left of Sophian’s.

“Assiduity!” Sophian announced. It followed its announcement with a salute of its own. Sophi saluted as well. All uspecs in the room stood, and those who were not soldiers, bowed their heads in deference.

Sophian brought down its hand. “In clover!” it yelled.

The civilians rose their heads up from their neck bow, and the soldiers brought their hands down. We all stood at attention.

“Tomorrow we fight. Tonight, we feast!” Sophian bellowed.

“Tonight, we feast!”

Sophian nodded. It pulled out its highchair and sat on it. Sophi sat next. Then the other uspecs on the dais, followed by every other uspec in the hall. I stared at the stage, wondering where the Kaiser was. Yakubo poked me in the side with its elbow. I turned to stare at it, and it gestured with its chin, to empty seats at the back of the room.

We made our way over.

The hall was filled with long rectangular tables, having long benches on both sides. Yakubo and I sat close to the end of one these tables. Places had been set, with plates and utensils for each uspec. The tables were filled with trays of meats and grains, loaves and cakes, pitchers of wine, and empty goblets.

No one ate until Sophian was served. Serfs appeared. Four of them walked onto the dais. They filled Sophian’s plate with portions of meals, and its goblet with wine. Sophian picked up a piece of cake from its filled platter and tore of a chunk. It put that chunk into its mouth and chewed. That was when the real feast began.

Musical notes drifted into the hall. I looked around and found an interior balcony. This balcony was covered with light curtains, so I could not see the people playing the instruments. The conversations began.

I grabbed two loaves of bread from a tray, placed one on my plate and the other on Yakubo’s. Yakubo filled our goblets with okun.

I frowned at the drink. “Okun?” I asked.

“Better than wine.” Yakubo replied. “It is not wise to get drunk the night before battle.”

I agreed. I thought of the uniforms that we would be required to wear starting the next day. The security in the port would be tighter. It would be so much harder for me to go into the Civilian’s camp undetected. I thought of the soldiers who were at that moment, marching in their iron armors to the hangar. The wartime armors were made for the boga spectrum, as such, there was no cloth worn on the chest, as the bogas already had iron spikes protecting their chests. The armor was made up of a helmet which covered the head and extended all the way down to the top of the shoulders, leaving only the face exposed. The armors that the silver capons wore covered every part of our body, except our chest. I had been made to fight with that weight, it was not one I looked forward to donning with the day’s break.

Yakubo handed me a tray of meat. “What is it?” I asked.

“Smoke bear.” It replied.

I had never had smoke bear flesh before. I put only a few chunks of that meat onto my plate, choosing to be much more generous with the nama meat, which I was familiar with. We ate in relative silence. There was the sound of the music being played, and the sounds of conversations, but there was order to the talk, as if we were all too cautious of the imperial seated on the stage, to sink to the raucous which would occupy a feast such as this, in the barracks.

“Where is the Kaiser?” I asked Yakubo.

It was another uspec who answered. This uspec was also a chief who served in the castle. “Involved in much more pleasurable exploits.” It replied with a smirk. The soldiers seated by it laughed.

I drank my okun. It was chilled, I appreciated that.

“You should not inquire about the Kaiser.” Yakubo whispered to me. “Things like that are noted here.”

I nodded.

A loud bang sounded in the room. All conversations halted immediately, as we turned our focus to the source of that sound, the dais.

“You dare lie to me!” Sophian yelled so loud that everyone in the hall heard it clearly.

The music stopped playing.

“Chief Yakubo!”

Yakubo froze mid bite. It stared dumbly between the meat on the fork in its hand, and the dais.

“Chief Yakubo!!” Sophian bellowed.

Yakubo’s fork dropped loudly. It jumped to its feet, almost tripping over the bench in its haste to climb over it. Yakubo’s approach to the stage was a mix between running and marching. The indecision in its movements made its motion hilarious.

“Nebud!”

I must have been expecting it, because I was already rising before I heard my name. Although, as I marched to the stage, with much more composure than Yakubo showed, I realized that Sophian had not called me chief. It appeared that we were on a first name basis now, how flattering.

Yakubo was standing in a salute by the time that I joined it. I saluted as well, doing my best to keep my gaze from moving nervously to Arexon. Did it know what I had done? It was obvious from the tense set of Sophian’s shoulders, and the anguish on Sophi’s face, that the conversation had been about Arexon’s pansophy.

“In clover!” Sophian ordered. It appeared so enraged that even that order came out as a yell. In this one day, I had seen Sophian show more emotion than it had in the entire time that I’d been in the port.

“Chief Yakubo, do you subject to the inquest?”

Yakubo’s eyes darted to me, before stopping to rest on Arexon. I took the opportunity to stare at Arexon too. Arexon’s gaze caught mine.

It knew.

I swallowed nervously. What had I done? Yakubo was still staring at Arexon when Sophian snapped, “I asked you a question Chief Yakubo.”

“I…I…” I had never seen Yakubo appear so flustered. Arexon nodded at Yakubo, before looking at me, and then turning its gaze to the platter in front of it. Yakubo’s gaze turned back to Sophian. “Yes, imperial one.” It stated.

“Yes, because the commander has given you permission?” Sophian barked. “Who do you serve? Arexon or me?”

Yakubo’s gaze darted to Arexon again, but this time, Arexon did not raise its head to stare back at Yakubo. “You, imperial one.” Yakubo’s voice shook. Even I could tell that its answer lacked credibility.

“Well?” Sophian yelled. “What are you waiting for?”

A pious one stepped down from the dais. It took its time walking towards us, and then it stopped in front of Yakubo. It placed its hand on Yakubo’s shoulder.

Yakubo flinched at the touch.

My heart pounded in my chest. Was I next? I had never before wished for pansophy more than I did at that moment. If I had pansophy, I could deflect my thoughts, make sure the pious one saw only what I wanted it to. Now, I knew too much. I thought about all the lives that would be affected by the knowledge in my head. My mind darted to Musa. They would learn about Musa, about its pansophy.

The pious one took its hand off Yakubo and turned to face Sophian. It bowed slightly before speaking. “The chief confirms it imperial one. Commander Arexon has pansophy, and its pansophy is no secret to the capons. In fact, the commander has used its pansophy to come to their aid many times. They are loyal to it.”

“Traitor!” Sophian snapped. “How dare you? How dare you plan this coup?”

Arexon exhaled. It rose its head and stared Sophian in the eye. “I would never plan a coup against you.” It swore. “Never. What I do for my soldiers, I do it in the name of your line.”

“Liar. Not just a traitor but also a liar. Pansophy! How dare you? Who gave you permission to obtain this? How did you achieve this? Who are your coconspirators?”

“There is no merit to learning its name.”

“I decide what has merit and what does not!”

“Pater.” Sophi called out in a low voice. “Please, this should be done in private.”

Sophian turned to stare at its offspring. Sophi bowed its head. Sophian took a deep breath and then let it out. “This feast has ended!” it bellowed. “When you think back on this day, remember that you owe the cancellation of this feast to your traitor commander. When you are asked why you were not allowed to revel in your last festivities, recall that the blame rests solely on Arexon! I dismiss you! I dismiss you all!”

The uspecs rose hurriedly. There was a mixture of hesitation and anticipation in their movements. It was as if they were eager to obey Sophian’s command, but were equally eager to remain and listen to the conclusion of the proceedings. Yakubo and I remained, as well as all the uspecs seated on the dais.

“Who gave you this magic?” Sophian asked.

“Sophian, I have never used this to harm you. If anything, I have used my pansophy to turn soldiers to your cause. They fight for you, instead of against you. They never riot, never rebel, they simply obey you. It is because I ensure that they see the benefits of serving their serfdom peacefully. I am, as I have always been, your loyal friend, Sophian.”

“You are no friend of mine! You are a serf. That is all you are, and that is all you will ever be! When you refer to me, do it by my proper rank, or I will have your tongue cut out.”

Arexon shook its head. “I know you do not mean that, I know that it is only the anger that talks.”

“My pater told me that I was being overly cautious when I said that we could not trust you. It was eager to release you, to stick to its ‘word’ and end your serfdom. But I knew better. I knew that you would try to steal control of our army, that you would turn our soldiers against us. I knew what you were doing even though I could not see how it was being done. Now, I see.”

Arexon’s previously calm face filled with a mask of fury. “You kept me a serf?” it asked.

“I kept you in your place!” Sophian snapped in reply. “I want the name of the pious one who gave this to you. I want the name of the one who plots against me.”

“I do not know its name.” Arexon’s voice remained level even though its clenched fists shook with rage.

“Liar! Speak the truth for once in your life. Tell me the truth, and maybe I will consider allowing you to serve the rest of your life in the position that you now occupy. If you lie to me again, it will be the last thing you ever do.”

“I tell no lies. I do not know its name; I only know that it was a pious. It came to me the night after my…after Arigad’s death and told me it had a gift for me. It gave me pansophy, then disappeared. I have never seen the uspec again.”

I frowned. What an intriguing notion?

“Who did it say the gift was from?” it was a pious one who asked this question.

“There is no merit to that question. Have I not proven myself to you imperial one? What have you asked of me that I have not given? When you prolonged my service did I rebel? What did I do but continue to serve you as loyally as I ever have? Should my word not be sufficient?”

“How can the word of a liar and a traitor have any significance?”

“I never lied to you.”

“You never told me!”

“Please…”

“I want the name. Or do you deny knowing the name of the uspec who gave you this gift?”

Arexon spoke through clenched teeth. “The pious one said that it was a gift from the mighty Calam.”

The gasps that filled the room seemed to echo the shock in my mind. My sire was responsible for giving Arexon pansophy? Was this the real reason why Arexon had taken so much care to ensure that I remained alive? Did it feel indebted to my sire? Why had Arexon not told me this? I turned to stare at Arexon, but the uspec did not look at me.

Sophian shook its head. “Uspecipytes are plotting against us in our own port!”

“I am no Uspecipyte!” Arexon yelled.

“Then why would Calam give you pansophy? Why? What did it ask for in return? What Chiboga secrets did you sell to Calam to pay for your pansophy?”

“I gave it nothing.”

“You lie! Every word out of your mouth is a lie! You will tell me the truth, or your suffering will be so unbearable that you beg me for death. Take it to the scourge!” it ordered.

“Pater!” Sophi called out. “The commander has never betrayed us, how…”

Sophian slapped Sophi. The strike cut off the words that the uspec had been about to say. “Go to your suite.” Sophian ordered.

“But pater please, the commander…”

“Now!”

Sophi sulked down from the dais.

“I said take the traitor to the scourge!”

Sophi stopped walking.

The soldiers on the dais rose and went towards Arexon. They reached out to grab it, but Arexon shirked their hold. “I can walk.” It said.

Arexon did not so much as glance at me as it walked by.

“Commander…” Sophi called out.

“Take Sophi to its suite!” This order was clearly meant for us. Yakubo and I approached the young uspec. By the time we reached it, Arexon and its escort had already left the hall.

Sophi walked out on its own.

None of us spoke as we made our way to the North wing of the Castle. We were just about to walk into the corridor which led to the North wing when the young uspec turned around.

“I will go unaccompanied from here.” It ordered.

“But sirga…” Yakubo began.

Sophi shook its head. “I want to be left alone. I am going to my suite, I just want to go there alone.”

“Yes sirga.”

We stood there watching as the young uspec made its way past the curtains which led into the wing.

My mind returned to Arexon. I could not help but wonder what fate awaited the uspec. The scourge was surrounded by equipoise, it would be free of magic there. Would Arexon go willingly? I was just thinking of how I could save Arexon from the mess that I had gotten it into, when I saw familiar white fumes, to my right.

I turned around and followed those fumes.

“Where are you going?” Yakubo asked.

Oh my world

What I see "Nebud is an Uspec of destiny. Its Pater saw tomorrow, hence, made pansophial/spiritual arrangements for it. Nebud's ignorance sometimes, is a necessary tool to its victory."

U are doing a good job, @Obehid.
U are easily the best on NL, with reasons .
Anyway, ride on. Don't rush it.
In fact, I started afresh from the beginning, and I think I picked up a lot more understanding (could be spectral).

Obehid thanks for the update. You make me look forward to Wednesdays and Saturdays

OluwabuqqyYOLO:
Hello, everyone. This is the voting link to Nairaland's Literature Section Awards of the year.

https://www.nairaland.com/5505304/nairaland-literature-awards-year-2019

Please vote for ObehiD for 'best sci-fi/supernatural'. That's No. 5.

Honestly, she is easily the best I've come across in recent times. This current story makes me look forward to Wednesdays and Saturdays, and I often wish she'd update on Mondays too so my week could be off to a great start. In fact, this was the only story I could read when I fell sick a month ago.

I know this does not apply to only me. Please do well to show some love and support to this incredible writer who's introduced us to a world we have perhaps never heard of or imagined.

Ghost recons, avid writers, edakun show some love. She is most deserving of the award and whatever rewards might come with it. Remember, she has never asked you for a token. I know writers who are far off her level and still charge fees or move their stories to other sites. Obehi is not like that. Thanks.

Note: voting starts on November 7. Get ready.

Hello, everyone. The voting has started. Please, vote for Obehi; the lady is just incredible!

If I no comment wetin I gain even if the comment no get gain? Arexon won't suffer there for sure...

@ObehiD your updates are magical they kept me glued.

Pls all dose commenting should go and vote obehid, she really deserve it.https://www.nairaland.com/5505304/nairaland-literature-awards-year-2019
Cc
Utimategeneral
Cassbeat
barag
HotB
Phoenixchap
Ayshow6102
Smooth278
Tunjilomo
Fazemood
May nation
Olite93
Rynne
Decoderdgenius
Bluehaven
Aphrodite's
Geosilye
Peaceyw
Siralabai
Oroolorun
Niwdog
Miab
Dhehbor
Monalicious
Elyna
Lukfame
Ewawumi
Tuhnday
Damibiz
Queenitee
Hisgrace0000001
Cyber5
Hadampson
Popeshemoo
Mhistahrah
Ekopsparaayara
Moyeni
Correctguy101
Reallordzeus

spixytinxy:
Pls all dose commenting should go and vote obehid, she really deserve it.https://www.nairaland.com/5505304/nairaland-literature-awards-year-2019
Cc
Utimategeneral
Cassbeat
barag
HotB
Phoenixchap
Ayshow6102
Smooth278
Tunjilomo
Fazemood
Maynation
Olite93
Rynne
Decoderdgenius
Bluehaven
Aphrodite's
Geosilye
Peaceyw
Siralabai
Oroolorun
Niwdog
Miab
Dhehbor
Monalicious
Elyna
Lukfame
Ewawumi
Tuhnday
Damibiz
Queenitee
Hisgrace0000001
Cyber5
Hadampson
Popeshemoo
Mhistahrah
Ekopsparaayara
Moyeni
Correctguy101
Reallordzeus

Voted



Lirusehn, Queenyprinxex, Prinx55555

Please come and help me vote for Obehid please.

You don't have to belong to this section to do this.

spixytinxy:
Pls all dose commenting should go and vote obehid, she really deserve it.https://www.nairaland.com/5505304/nairaland-literature-awards-year-2019
Cc
Utimategeneral
Cassbeat
barag
HotB
Phoenixchap
Ayshow6102
Smooth278
Tunjilomo
Fazemood
May nation
Olite93
Rynne
Decoderdgenius
Bluehaven
Aphrodite's
Geosilye
Peaceyw
Siralabai
Oroolorun
Niwdog
Miab
Dhehbor
Monalicious
Elyna
Lukfame
Ewawumi
Tuhnday
Damibiz
Queenitee
Hisgrace0000001
Cyber5
Hadampson
Popeshemoo
Mhistahrah
Ekopsparaayara
Moyeni
Correctguy101
Reallordzeus

Please I dont undastnd how the voting is done, can someone put me through

maynation:


Voted



Lirusehn, Queenyprinxex, Prinx55555

Please come and help me vote for Obehid please.

You don't have to belong to this section to do this.

Okay dear.

How do I vote..?

Queenyprinxex:



Okay dear.

How do I vote..?

Please follow this link
https://www.nairaland.com/newpost?post=83657157&topic=5505304

And quote it with



2 Obehid The Marked: In The Spectral Existence.

5 Obehid The Marked: In The Spectral Existence

6 Obehid



Thanks.

Rynne, please take note.

maynation:



Please flow this link
https://www.nairaland.com/newpost?post=83657157&topic=5505304

And quote it with


2 Obehid

5 Obehid

6 Obehid



Thanks.

Rynne, please take note.

Done