How could he not know it was first light? The birds were already testing their first notes of the morning, and the sky had begun shedding its ink-dark gloom for charcoal, then for a washed-out blue-grey.
He wondered how wonderful it was that nature kept its steady pace no matter what transpired.
Taking a deep breath, he looked up the sky through the glazed roof.
He let out a long breath, then turned to the High Eunuch. "I need a hot bath."
The High Eunuch bowed in acknowledgement as he withdrew from the King's presence. As he stepped through the archway, a bright smile touched his face—visible only if one stood before him. The King's countenance had lightened; the spark in his eyes had returned. Nothing pleased the High Eunuch more.
Back at Ajab's Chambers:
The first threads of sunlight slipped through the curtains and found the Prince's face, prodding gently at his closed eyes until sleep began to loosen its hold.
He lazily covered his eyes with a hand
"Why do we bother having curtains if they can't keep enemies from passing through?" his voice was hoarse, but clear enough.
A thick, steady voice that seemed to anchor the air around it resounded. "Only friends pass through anything in this Kingdom."
"An enemy to the Prince is an enemy to the Kingdom… and one is freely passing through…"
Ajab's eyes stayed covered as he tried to drift back to sleep.
"Ohh." The voice carried a jeering awe. "I didn't know it was that easy to be an enemy to the Kingdom."
Still sleepy, Ajab turned to the right side of the bed, eyes still shut.
"I'm not sure what you mean. My tutor said an enemy to a Prince is one against the Kingdom, but he lied. My father wants to kill me, yet I don't see the Kingdom rising for their Prince, how's that for a true lesson? Hmm?"
"How does the King want you dead?"
"Too much tutoring is attempted murder. You're part of the problem if you don't see it"
"Wow. I guess when even morning light is your enemy, even the King wouldn't be spared"
Ajab scratched his cheek as he tried sinking deeper into his bed; the voice was becoming disturbing
"Go away. You're disturbing" he really wanted nothing to do with being awake that early, and he didn't need anything that could ruin his rest.
The room fell quiet. It was peaceful again, and he could resume his sleep. He had no plan on thinking on anything but as he closed his eyes the entire conversation played back in his head, and like a ghost rushed back to resurrection he lifted himself into a seating posture on his bed, his eyes still shut. He wasn't sure he wanted to open his eyes to confirm, but that was definitely 'Father's voice'.
Slowly, he opened his eyes to the figure in front of him.
"Wow" he said softly, for lack of better words. The kind that meant, 'what a wonderful day I had to begin in this style'. He blinked, and blinked again
The King returned his blinks with a blink of his—only that his was just him blinking.
Ajab's face began twitching in a very concerning way as he attempted an innocent expression. It failed miserably — his sleepy face kept getting in the way.
The King raised a brow that said 'what are you doing?'
"Ahem..." Ajab coughed, "Good morning Father" seeing as his face wasn't in agreement with him today, he decided not to kill himself over it.
The King's eyes were on him — not dark or stale, just the eyes of a father looking at his unruly son.
He exhaled. "I see you had a good rest." His eyes darted toward the sunken bed.
Ajab's gaze followed before going back to the King, he didn't say anything to refute or support the motion, just blinking stares.
The King turned "They have your bath ready, take a wash and come with me"
"Hmm." Ajab nodded. One of the mysteries of this palace was right before him — effective bath waters that always chose the right moments to avail themselves.
Trying to move himself off his bed, Ajab noticed something odd— he couldn't feel his legs.
He flung the sheets covering him to see where his legs had gone. His legs were there, perfectly intact… they just felt like distant objects that belonged to someone else. He squinted his eyes, looking at his legs with the curiosity of a starved man who wanted to make sure the thing he was seeing was actually food and not another stone.
Noticing that his son hadn't left the bed yet, the King turned back, spotting Ajab's unmoving stare at his legs, he asked "What is it?"
Ajab lifted his head slowly to meet his father's inquisitive gaze, his face was furrowed, he wasn't sure either "I can see my legs, but I can't feel them"
The brows on the King's face tightened "Have you tried moving them?"
He just couldn't feel his legs, he hadn't tried moving them, waking up to not feeling his legs was taking a little time to digest.
He straightened back as he tried pulling his legs to the off side of his bed.
DENG...!
Like hot metal hooks fixated on his skin trying to rip it off alongside his whole legs. A pain came all at once, threatening to pull out his legs from his spine. "Ah!" A painful groan escaped his lips as he fell back, back straightened on his bed.
It felt like liquid fire was being poured over his legs, accompanied by hot, needle-nimbing pains.
He couldn't afford to roll, as every movement of his legs turned the pain to an all out fiesta. He could only move his head, and bite hard on his lips.
The King bent over to take a closer look before straightening himself. Nothing on his face showed worry for the state his son was in. Instead, he chuckled.
The pain in Ajab's legs was hitting him hard enough to not make sense of the happenings around him, but he was sure he heard someone laugh. He opened his eyes that had remained shut since his groaning and found an almost gleeful smile on his father's face.
He looked around, half-expecting a performance that might explain why his father chose this moment to find something amusing. There was no way he was the performance. Right?
But he was certain his father's eyes were locked into him. What was so funny?
It was hard to feel anything else asides from the pain, but he was certain he felt enough rage to cause an eruption.
The King came closer again, holding his head in place, he said, "Breathe, breathe, it only gets worse when you move"
He was thankful his father reached out, but he still had his gleeful smile on.
"I'll move you."
As soon as the words left his father's mouth, Ajab was lifted with one arm like a dangling duck and tossed into the hot tub.
WHAT?! Where was his dignity?
And—no, wait—he was already on fire. Why throw him into another one?