Chapter 5: Pretty boy

The next two weeks were boring and mundane, so much so that they are hardly worth mentioning. There was only torture every couple of days to interrupt the regular routine of planning, plotting and completing the Emperor's tasks.

That is, until one day in the mid- morning, when the guards brought in a new face and things got exciting. When the guards dragged him in, he was thrashing around so much, I couldn't say much about him, except to say that he was shorter than me and had a lean thin build. After they dropped him on the floor, they tuned to leave. But he scrambled after them with desperation and tried to pull at their clothes, begging them not to leave him here. One of the guards had no patience for his antics and struck him hard. The blow landed on his left temple and he fell to the ground and stayed there. The guards left, barring the door behind them.

I watched him cautiously from afar. I could see, now that he was still, that he was actually very good looking. Too good looking to be in a place like this and not get himself into trouble with at least a dozen inmates. The prison life would be hard on him. I knew what happened in here at night after lights out; the weak were subjected to the sexual desires of the stronger prisoners (whether they were willing or not). There hadn't been a single night since I got here, that the low grunts, groans and moans of at least three or four couplings could be heard. I stayed in my personal rectangle and left them to their own devices. I never told them my night vision was much better than my sight during the day, and through my eyes, their lewd acts were as clearly visible as if they were done in broad daylight.

"Get a look at this one!" I heard one man say. I looked up to see the newcomer was surrounded by all the other men, some craning their necks, trying to get a glimpse of him. There were grim laughs as another man said, "Looks like we got ourselves a pretty boy!"

"I know what I would do with him!" boasted a stocky man in his late forties. That earned more rambunctious laughs. One man said to his prison buddy, "I'll hold him for you if you hold him for me." They laughed at their joke.

I wondered if I should protect this young man. On one hand, he was nice to look at, and he would suffer far less by my hand than he would at the hands of the other thirty men. Also, he could possibly come in handy, and may be my boredom cure. But on the other hand, he may slow down the escape plan process, hinder my actual escape, and blow my cover as the ultimate, ruthless overlord of the cell compound. I needed the men to accept me as leader and not question me in any way. I had only acted as cold and cruel as I needed to be to prove myself to them. It was better for me to hurt a few of them in an overexaggerated show of power and dominance, than to not, and have the consequence of having to constantly battle with and injure them. 'Be cruel to be kind.' I thought.

A tinkling clatter caught my attention. At this point, the now conscious handsome newcomer was being manhandled. The excitement and tension in the air was palpable as the men began to pull at his clothes. But my focus was on the four inch long, blue glass object that had clattered to the floor. I needed to examine it.

I rose and glided over the cold stone floor towards them. "Enough!" I yelled in a loud growl.

By now, all the men knew my voice and they obediently stopped, but clearly resented my interrupting their fun.

"Cadmus Brutus," I called.

He stepped forward from the outer edge of the crowd. "Yes, my lord?" he asked me.

"There is a small, blue object, made of glass on the ground over there." I pointed to the place. "Go fetch it and bring it to me."

I watched as the men made way for Cadmus Brutus, who retrieved the object and brought it to me. At the same time as I had kept an eye on Cadmus Brutus' actions, I also took in everyone else's reactions as well. The only one who seemed concerned about my potential ownership of the object was the good looking young man. 'So, you are the owner of it' I thought.

I took from Cadmus Brutus' hand the object. It was a cologne bottle, four inches long, with a narrow body and a fluted foot. It was made of a brilliant blue etched glass. I was almost certain I recognized it as something made me think I had seen it before. I uncorked it and sniffed. The cologne bottle didn't smell like cologne at all. The only thing that hit my nose was the fruity, woodsy and metallic notes that were distinctive and in that combination were only emitted from djinn.

[Djinn also known as Jinn, or male genies in English, had various subcategories.]

'Who was this particular Djinn?' I wondered. I had not recognized him by sight. I brought the bottle to my nose again and sniffed deeper. 'Ah!' I thought, 'Got you.' It was the scent of a Djinn whom I had crossed paths with once long ago, but I did not know him well; we had only met in passing. It was the colour of his eyes that the bottle reminded me of. If I was not mistaken, he was fathered by a lesser demon and his mother was an Earth spirit. ( Djinn are half demon, with the other parent always an Earth spirit, an Earth elemental, or an Earth sprite).

I smiled. I turned to face the mob of men again. With the cologne bottle in my left hand, I walked a bit closer.

"HinHin?" I inquired.

He looked at me in surprise, with his face flushed. 'Perhaps he doesn't expect to hear someone here call him by the nickname his mother gave him' I thought. I stopped walking when I stood before him. The blush reached his ears as he tried to close the opened neck of the simple robes he wore, as currently they had been pulled open to reveal a lean muscled, hairless chest. His efforts to hide his body from my eyes came to nothing as his arms were pinned, so it really wasn't even worth bothering to try.

"HinHin," I said, "Many years have passed since I saw you last; you were much younger then."

"Wait, he said, as if he too had to search his memories, "Are you..."

"Cyrus Tredecim." I interjected. I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be stupid and call me by the name of my essence core (true name).

His face looked a little relieved at knowing someone here, like maybe there was hope after all. "Cyrus Tredecim." he said, as if finally putting a face to a name.

"You look different," I told him, "I didn't recognize you at first."

"I could say the exact same about you." Hinud said.

"Release him." I ordered the men who were still restraining him. When they let go, I reached forward and grabbed the loose edge of his robes. With a skilled hand, I tugged, tucked and knotted the material with his belt, leaving him properly dressed again, the fabric looking crisp. I then pulled him to me and hugged him to my chest with an affectionate manner.

"You owe me a favor now." I whispered in his ear so quietly no human ears could ever hear it. "And that's on top of the fact that I possess the binding vessel associated with you. Don't worry, I'll try not to be too cruel a master."

I noticed him shiver and I wondered if it was my words or the closeness of my lips to his ear.