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ลำดับตอนที่ #7 : Chapter 7: The Secret of the Moonlight Pearl (บทที่ 7 นัยแห่งไข่มุกแสงจันทร์)
CHAPTER SEVEN:
THE SECRET OF THE MOONLIGHT PEARL
Clang!
Felin was jolted from his sleep by the sound of
the metal bars crashing close. The warmth from the prince who had
been lying nearby was gone.
Felin’s eyes
widened in panic as he bolted upright. As always, the stupid prince wasn’t used
to obeying orders. Told him not to slip away while he’s sleeping!
Cursing inside
his head, Felin turned to his neighbor and hollered.
“Uncle! You
see where that knucklehead went?”
The prisoner
jolted a bit, but he realized Felin was talking about his cellmate.
“The giants
took him to work. You’re hurt, aren’t you? So he asked them to let you rest for
now.”
Hurt!
What a shame
of an injury. He’d rather he smacked his face down instead of his butt. He
wouldn’t dare let Kalo do the job this way.
Felin
blushed faintly, then fumed.
Speaking of
Kalo, for god’s sake, can’t he just behave for once? Told him not to sneak
off and still he did.
Stubborn
little pain!
“What are
you to Prince Kalo of Kanoval?”
The neighbor
prisoner asked. He edged closer to the bars, looking at the young lad sitting
moodily on his own.
Those large
brown eyes slid to him, and the boy smiled a little. He didn’t seem annoyed in
the least that a complete stranger was poking into his personal stuff.
“How d’you
know that’s Kalo?”
“I’m from
Kanoval.”
Felin’s eyes
glinted with interest.
“That Moonlight
pearl,”
Felin started
when asked about the object hanging from his neck, before grinning once more.
“Wow, you’ve
got sharp eyes! This baby's quite a specimen, you know. But I say you’d better not
try stealing from a thief.”
“It’s
yours?”
Uncle asked with a relieved smile this
time. Felin considered it then decided to confess.
“No way, it’s
Kalo’s. He said I could have it.”
The last
sentence was a big lie. But, anyway, he’d worn it for what must have been ages
now. And Kanoval’s far from poor. A little gift for a friend wouldn’t hurt,
would it?
Felin grinned;
pleased with his reply, but Uncle froze. His eyes widened before his expression
tensed.
“Give that
pearl back to Kalo!”
Felin raised
his eyebrow, making clucking noises in his throat.
“Well, it’s
none of your business. And, after all, it’s just a pearl, I’m sure Kanoval
would be perfectly fine without it.”
The slick
liar assumed the Kanovalite was just possessive of his prince’s treasure, but Uncle
still looked stressed as he continued matter-of-factly.
“It concerns
the future of Kanoval.”
“The future
of Kanoval?” Felin repeated. “A pearl that decides Kanoval’s future?”
“Haven’t
Kalo told you about the importance of the pearl?” The Kanovalite stared wearily
into space. “Kalo can’t be that thoughtless.”
The mutter
drew Felin’s attention.
“And how is
it important?”
Uncle
glanced over briefly, his familiar sharp pair of blue eyes reminiscent of the
absent prince, his face shown he was deep in thought. Finally, he let go of the
truth.
“It’s a royal
secret.”
A royal
secret…
Felin
repeated in his head with eyes as wide as he had ever opened, before slotting
on his Pharaoh’s Mask.
“So you knew
as well?” He pulled a serious face as he attempted to pry further into the
secret.
“What? And
you said Kalo never told you!” The Kanovalite retorted without a pause. “You
know it’s a princely treasure and you still dared take it from him?”
Princely treasure?
Expensive.
The thief concluded with a heart so inflated he could barely contain it under his
ribcage.
“I thought
he was just pulling my leg.” He went on seamlessly, and the uncle
who didn’t realize he was being fooled got even more stressed out.
“Moonlight
pearls are very rare. They’re pearls bathed with the magic of the Queen of
Snowland. Takes more than a century to make only fifty of them. They’re so
expensive only kings could afford them, so it’s tradition for the kings of Eden
to give the pearls to their sons as symbol of princely authority. Who’ll joke
about such a thing?”
“Are they
really that expensive?” Felin’s voice echoed with uncontainable excitement. His
eyes sparkled as he fingered the pearl in glee.
“That’s
not all of it. The Moonlight pearl is considered a significant engagement gift
a prince would give to his future consort.”
An
engagement gift!?
Felin jolted
out of his senses as he quickly let go of the pearl. Reminiscing his own past
with it, he blinked profusely before bursting out a roar of laughter.
And he’d
wondered why the dolt was so reluctant to part with it!
The
earsplitting laughter drove the stressed-to-exploding-point Kanovalite further
up the wall. He whipped around and glared at the insolent little rascal, but
what he saw sent whatever he was about to say sliding back down his throat.
A girl!
She was
adorable and attractive. And though he could still see traces of the irritating
boy in her, her face was sweeter and she was much cuter.
“You…your
highness…”
“Aw, Uncle!
Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me!” Felin simpered. “Calm down. I can be a
boy and a girl. Sounds weird, but let’s not talk about it. Long story.”
Felin
rambled on, not even noticing the bulging eyes of the other prisoner, then switched
to asking.
“And what exactly
are you to Kalo?” Even though her voice was sweet, but her speech was
still blunt and frank, like the playful boy she was.
“I’m Kendel
Wanebli, ex-prince of Kanoval. Kalo’s my nephew. I’m his father’s younger
brother.”
The answer didn’t
surprise Felin in the least; instead, it intrigued her even more
“And how on
earth did you end up here? Dunno you like it better behind bars than in the
palace.”
Kendel
smiled at the poke.
“I’m no
longer a prince. Gotta leave Kanoval and wander the world.”
Felin froze,
before sighing wearily.
“I knew it.
The father-and-son-fighting for-the-throne tradition of those bloodthirsty folks.”
But the ex-prince
misinterpreted that and replied somewhat unexpectedly.
“Good thing
you know. Remember, don’t have kids until Kalo’s king.”
Kids!
The advice
had blood surging up to Felin’s face and heating it up quite effectively.
“And only
one kid is enough.” Came the second part of the advice. This time the one going
to have kids swore loudly.
“Who the
hell’s going to have kids for that idiot!?”
Ex-prince
Kendel froze. He glanced at the girl whose Moonlight pearl he assumed was her
mark as Kanoval’s future queen, who was blushing furiously.
“Kalo is the
prince born of the King, the most important prince in Kanoval.”
“And what
the hell does that got to do with me?”
“Because he
is important, the thing about his heir is also important.”
The girl
trembled, her hands gripping the bars so tight her knuckles shone white.
“But when
the time comes brothers must also clash, so a single child would solve that
problem.”
Thonk!
The
beautiful girl kicked the metal poles with all the strength she could muster. If it wasn’t for the
bars, Kendel would have been flying like a boxing bag for charges of being
concerned for Kanoval’s future.
“Tell that crap
to your niece-in-law! Not me!”
The former
prince looked at the said future niece who was doing her best rejecting her own
status perplexedly. Though Kendel wasn’t really happy about her neither-boy-nor-girl
mystery, but if Kalo wants her, who could stop the boy from marrying her?
But at least
there’s the big thing about her manners…
He made a
note to himself then changed the topic.
“You haven’t
told me your name. What are you called? And where are you from?”
The beauty’s
large, round eyes turned to him angrily, boding her unstable temperament. Then
she answered stiffly.
“Felin Debereaux,
the Thief of Baramos.”
It was
perhaps the first time the thief clearly pronounced her job.
The Sun
had sunk low on Giantcity, and each round they entered the enormous captors brought back their
prisoners, until every one of the humans were safe in their cages…
Everyone,
yes, except for one.
The torches
on the walls were lit. Many of the prisoners started their evening talk, filling
the tower with chatter.
Felin craned
his neck for the umpteenth time, searching. He’d made up his mind not to care,
but his stubborn heart just won’t listen.
Idiot. Always
making me worried.
Soon it was
chowtime. The giant wardens would ladle food into the trough lining the front
of each cell, and after that it’s up to the prisoners to either find some
container to scoop it up or use their bare hands to sup, the latter of which
was so embarrassing and shameful as it was no different to how animals eat.
But only
that couldn’t bother Felin one bit. In fact, there was only one thing now that
was making him frantic. Glancing at Kendel, he who claimed to be Kalo’s
uncle, Felin edged closer to the bars between their cages and called.
“Kendel.
Kendel!”
As soon as Kendel
moved over, Felin asked.
“Why isn’t
Kalo back yet? Is there another late-night round?”
Kendel
looked stricken with concern.
“I’m beginning to think…that
he might not come back at all.”
Felin froze.
His head started spinning and his heart drummed in panic.
“You’re
saying…that…” His voice came out as a mere shaky whisper.
“There’s one
job that the prisoners won’t return to their cells: being a doll for Princess
Berita of Giantcity. Kalo’s good-looking. Perhaps he caught her eye...”
Kendel hadn’t
even finished when Felin lost whatever restraint he had. He scrambled to the
front bars of his cage and hollered.
“Oi! Hey!
Giant guy! Yes, you! I’m talking to you!”
The young
giant started at the noisy yells and turned around.
“Give me to
your Princess Berita!”
Felin volunteered
and Kendel nearly jolted out of his skin. The giant froze, then studied him
hesitantly.
“Well, I
know I’m not that much of a hunk, say, but I—” He paused as he racked his head
for his selling point. “—but I’m weird, you know! I can be a boy doll by day…
and a girl doll by night!”
“A girl doll!?”
The giant repeated in his booming voice. The other prisoners poked their heads
out curiously and the tower immediately swarmed with chatter.
“You can bet
your bum your princess will love me!” The little pain was so skilled at selling
himself that Kendel felt like kicking himself for confiding in him.
“Interesting.
Hop on, then!”
Hearing the
giant’s permission, Felin whirled around and gathered up his belongings. The
situation was getting so surreal Kendel couldn’t come up with any way to dissuade
him, especially after Felin’s smile and his parting remark:
“He’s
always being difficult, that moron. He can’t do without me.”
******
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