CHAPTER 14: Confined

Togon was bored out of his mind. He had been confined to his own room, and was not allowed to go outside for the next few days. The King ordered his home confinement as he thought that there was a possibility that the assassin was still hiding somewhere in the palace, waiting for a chance to kill him. There was also triple the number of guards outside his room. Even his lessons were cancelled, and he had nothing to do at all. He knew that this home confinement was for his own safety, but he could not help but feel like he was being punished.

He sighed and fiddled with the "watch", which was what the assassin had said it was called. He assumed that everything belonging to the assassin has a purpose, and he doubted that the watch was just for decoration. After having the watch for quite some time, he found that the watch arrow moves at constant speed. Hey, this can actually be useful for helping him tell how much time has passed! Togon got his brush and papers out and began with his notes.

After he mastered the watch, he stuck his hand into the bulky, black pack at the corner of the room and felt around for the items. He giggled as he kept himself in suspense of what he was going to get next. It was like a prehistoric lucky dip.

He pulled out a cylindrical object. It was transparent, and Togon could see the water that it contained inside. Wow! This is so cool! What is this material? How is it so clear that he could even see the contents inside? This was Togon's first time seeing a transparent material and to him, it was like magic.

Its purpose? This is easy, it is to contain water, like his water skin. Togon wrote down his new findings in his notes.

Next, he got a very strange pillow shaped object that made crackling sounds as he squeezed it. The colorful, smooth and reflective outer covering crinkled in his hands. It was really light, and seemed to be full of air. Shaking it, clunking sounds could be heard coming from inside. Judging from the sound, it seemed to contain numerous tiny crumbly chunks. He scratched at the outer covering with his nails, trying to reveal what was inside. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be working.

Frustrated, Togon tossed the object to a far corner of his room and went to play with another object instead.

Togon then pulled out a tiny pouch from the black pack. Wondering what it contained, Togon shook it next to his ear. Attached to a long thin strip embedded in the pouch was a small metal piece. The metal piece was just like the one on the black pack. He pulled at it, and the long thin strip split open, revealing the contents of the pouch. It contained several bits and pieces of strange items, such as long, thick strings, a chunk of rubber, and sticks.

Feeling playful, Togon used the string to tie all the sticks together. He then dunked them into the transparent water skin, and pulled them out, dripping wet. Togon proceeded to tie the wet sticks up to his ankle. Laying on his back, he lifted his legs up into the air. As he swung his feet around, the sticks fell out from the knotted string and clattered onto his face and the floor noisily.

"Pfft!" Togon made a sound as he wiped the water that dripped onto his face. This was dumb. Togon had no idea what he was doing. When he thought about what he did, he suddenly felt very stupid and burst out laughing. He collapsed onto the ground again, with laughter.

Togon was zonked. He was high as a kite. This was the result of being confined in his room with nothing to do for a few hours. It was difficult to imagine what this could do to him after a few days.

In this way, he passed his time over the next few days, playing around with Gabe's stuff. Togon had soon pulled out every single object in the black pack and did everything he could with them. He had given up recording his observations, and was just playing around like a delirious drunkard.

"When will this be over?" Togon sighed. He just could not wait until he could go outside and enjoy the fresh air and go about with his activities again.

Then he suddenly remembered: his birthday was tomorrow! Surely they would let him out before his birthday feast?

Just as he was wondering about it, a voice came from outside.

"Your Highness, may I enter?" the voice said.

Togon granted him permission and the door slid open.

"The King has authorized your release from the home confinement. From now onwards, you may leave your chambers as you wish," a guard entered and said.

It took Togon a few seconds for the news to sink in.

"Finally! I would die if I had to stay in here a second longer!" Togon exclaimed, immediately skipping out of his room. The moment he emerged in the open air, he took a deep breath of the fresh air to rejuvenate his soul.

"Ahhh... This feels so good!" He sighed, a dreamy smile on his face, "I'm finally free!"