Barloschios spent a few minutes gazing at the fireplace before directing his gaze at the marble slab in one corner of the gallery. He brought that new slab recently to his gallery and intended it to be a sculpture of someone magnificent.

He never thought he could have Orb as a model. Even though he was interesting and distinctive, Orb was nothing but a lowly slave who did not deserve to be immortalized by his creations. It was true that Barloschios desired him, but he hated him, loathed him, and wanted him to be toyed with, tortured, and killed.

From an aesthetic point of view, however, Barloschios considered seizing the opportunity and sculpting Orb. His emaciated limbs and bony, long fingers were attractive. His messy wet hair curtaining his damaged eyes, looked wild. His kneeling opposite the flames in a submissive pose was dramatic. That was too beautiful and ethereal to waste, and Barloschios wanted to turn that into a piece of art.

Luckily, that marble slab was one of the few stones that survived Orb’s energy attack. The white marble stood in one piece, thanks to the lord’s barrier, amidst dunes of white sand that used to be beautiful, sculpted works of art Barloschios created himself.

It was astonishing to witness Orb’s few seconds of destructive power for the second time that turned almost all his precious carved stones into heaps of sand. That destructive impact also reached the long wall mirrors, the huge glass windows, and the glass door of the antique grandfather clock. 

Barloschios walked back to the corner and searched for another hammer to resume what he had started, for the stone head of the old one had been turned into dust. He found different types of chisels and metal hammers inside the toolbox and thought they would suffice for the time being, even though he liked working with stone hammers.

He did not need a sketch or a clay model to carve what he wanted. Barloschios was extraordinarily talented and could accurately visualize things and turn them into something tangible. He only needed to look at something or someone just once to start the journey of creating stone beauties. Everything about Orb, his model, was engraved in his extraordinary memory.

When he stood before the marble stone, holding a metal hammer and chisel, he began hammering gently as if nothing had happened an hour ago in his white marble hall. He was very focused for a few minutes when he heard a familiar, delicate, laughing voice.

 “Lochi, what will you carve this time?”

Barloschios’ hands were instantly paralyzed. He glanced around the room and saw no one. He was all alone in that chaotic space. He heard the soft laugh again, which compelled him to hold his breath for a few seconds, to make sure. Yet he only heard the echo of the firewood crackling and the ticking of the old grandfather clock, which had not stopped moving for decades.

“M—Mana?” he spoke in a voice hoarse with emotions.

Mana was very beautiful, very simple, and very kind. She was the only woman who won Barloschios’ heart and ardently made him desire her to make her his wife. Prior to his becoming the Empire’s Treasurer, Mana used to visit Barloschios in his white marble gallery.

Shy as she was, she did not speak much but loved to silently watch him carve statues, organize the place for him as he worked despite his constant complaints, and gently feel his finished and unfinished works with her bare hands.

What made him madly fall in love with her was her sincere love for him, her deep respect for his talent, and her loyalty to his heart to the point of waiting for years for him to propose. Although her family saw him as self-absorbed and without a future, as he was wasting his family name and fortune on stone carving, she believed in him and fought her family for him. That faith in him was all that he sought and wanted. For that beautiful faith, he did the impossible by marrying her.

Mana was undeniably beautiful. All the colored dresses she wore looked soft and lovely against her white skin. Her almond-shaped, green-colored eyes shone with warmth and love whenever she gazed at him and his creations. Her small pink lips invited his for deep and light kisses day and night. And her long brown hair bounced wildly behind her back which he loved to braid every morning for her.

Barloschios was also in love with her sweet voice. To hear more of it, he had always encouraged his shy wife to talk about anything, ask questions, and hum a song for him. At other times, he asked her to read poems for him when he worked on carving his statues, smoked his Pawzon sticks, or strolled through his gardens with her at night.

Despite his sophistication, Barloschios’ manner of flirting with Mana was too emotional and romantic in a silly and embarrassing way. He enjoyed speaking with Mana in a low voice, tenderly and fondly. His complimenting her sounded so often blunt, yet sincere, but he was always rewarded for his innocent love and sincerity.

At one time, when he complimented her beautiful, sweet voice by saying that she sang all the time, she chuckled out of embarrassment and ran out of the room, but the poor lover spent long hours searching for his shy wife until he found her hiding in his gallery.

Under the desk where she hid, he slowly crouched, embraced her, and locked her in his arms as they kissed. As far as Barloschios remember, that spot of the gallery was one among many strange places in which they made passionate love.

When he spent a fortune to plant trees, flowers, and shrubbery in their garden, he told her that he adored the green color because it was the beautiful color of her eyes. Mana felt extremely shy that she could not look him in the eye for some time. However, before going inside their mansion, she held his hands and kissed them, then showered his face with kisses.

Barloschios was overwhelmed, and the urge to kiss her back drove him to teleport them to the gazebo in their garden. He knew that kissing her was not enough, it was always not enough, and for that, the jealous lover wished his intimacy with his wife to be protected by the curtains across the open sides of the gazebo.   

Despite her embarrassment and chuckles, Mana loved his way of showing his love for her and never interrupted him when he spoke. She also loved his deep, husky voice and his touching her and playing with her wild strands of hair every morning.

Barloschios asked Mana so many times not to let the servant do her hair, for he disliked anyone touching his wife and her hair. “Let me do it. I don’t like others touching my treasures,” he always complained.

So she complied gladly by allowing him, every morning, to braid her long chestnut hair himself into one thick braid resting on her little shoulder. She knew he loved it that way because it always ended with him kissing her ear, nape, and lips.

***

Barloschios then served as the Treasurer of the Empire, where he was entrusted with receiving, keeping, and disbursing public revenues and controlling the Imperial budget as ordered by the emperor. Possessing a vast knowledge of the treasures and wonders of the world, Barloschios was also in charge of organizing well-researched and heavily funded expeditions for treasure hunting around the world to increase the empire’s resources.

Barloschios was indeed a rare talent of Arkosia and a genius financial planner who held that position at a young age. However, that brought not only glory and pride to the young man and his empire but also ignited envy and grudges in the hearts of his peers, who could not rest until his life and sanity were destroyed.

Even though the mansion was already packed with hundreds of slaves for their service, Barloschios had wanted to gift Mana a slave to assist her and run errands around the vast estate. Still, she rejected his gift so many times on different occasions. However, his idea of a gift became a matter of urgency, which increased after he was appointed to his new position, and Mana finally complied with his wishes and accepted his gift.

Barloschios hence enslaved a woman for Mana from the Kingdom of Wempamalangon.[1] He chose the female slave himself because his sense of protectiveness and jealousy would never allow men around his wife, regardless of their status.

However, that slave woman was the beginning of his calamity and the drastic change in his life. Unfortunately, Barloschios’ enemies from the Imperial Palace found their way to that slave. They paid her a fortune to hurt Mana first, as they knew about Barloschios’ deep love for her.

The slave woman, who came from a village known for practicing black magic, cast an evil spell on Mana. At first, Mana lost her voice completely, therefore, her ability to talk. That spell also caused her to sleep all day and wake up at night to attempt jumping through the windows and off high balconies.

Every time Barloschios tried to prevent her from jumping and killing herself, she beat him with her angry fists or any object that fell in her hands. Yet, he never tried once to defend himself or control her with his Uthusian energy for fear of hurting her, and so he received her blow after blow patiently but heavy-heartedly.  

Unfortunately for Barloschios and Mana, their other slaves conspired against them with the slave woman, despite their good treatment and peaceful life in the lord’s household. They proved unfaithful and greedy when they worked together with the new slave woman and kept the matter of the evil spell a secret from their master. That happened because Barloschios’ enemies bribed the other slaves as well, with money and riches, and by that, they ensured that the lord remained oblivious to the conspiracy of his slaves.

The news of Mana’s madness spread around the empire like wildfire. Everyone talked about the crazy wife scratching with her long nails the face of The Treasurer of the Empire, biting him, beating him, and leaving his body with bruises. Hence, Barloschios became the laughingstock of the Imperial Palace and the object of pity in the Capital, but he paid that no heed.

Barloschios’ tragic domestic life did not affect his fulfilling his duties in the Imperial Palace, for he was intelligent and capable, and no one could find fault with his work. During those times, he traveled around the world in search of a cure for his wife. It never occurred to him that there might be any reason, however insignificant, to suspect foul play by his own slaves. It never occurred to him that they harbored evil intentions and plotted against him and his innocent wife.

Barloschios did not have the capacity to hate. He only loved Mana so much, could not imagine his life without her, and did the impossible to keep her safe by his side. Although her illness was sudden, and she did not bear him any children after many years of marriage, Barloschios was bewildered and saddened but never let that affect his love for her.

***

When the physicians of the empire and other kingdoms could not come up with a proper diagnosis and cure for Mana’s condition, Barloschios felt that they had failed him. Hence, he took it upon himself to find the cure and save his wife.

He searched his old books every minute he could spare, reading about the wonders and miracles of the world and hoping he could find something extraordinary the traditional medicine could not do, until he read about the stone of Fiyana.[2]

That rare stone, rumored to be found on The Edge of the World[3], was described as having an incredible glass luster. It glows green in the darkness and turns pure and transparent in the light. The book stated that it heals incurable diseases by carving a blade from it to stab the heart of the ailed. Once the stone’s energy spreads throughout the body, it cleanses the blood and organs of any ailments.

The idea was crazy, but Barloschios was desperate and willing to try anything. So he made long preparations to set out on his important sea expedition. He was ready with his own ship, men, money, maps, knowledge, and willpower.

***

On the night of the voyage, Mana woke up and, surprisingly, could speak with a clear but gentle voice.

“Lochi,” she turned her eyes to where her husband was, “my beloved.”

Barloschios, sitting on a chair opposite the bed and studying the map that will take him to The Edge of the World, abandoned what he was doing and rushed to sit on the edge of the bed opposite his wife.

“What is it, love?” he whispered as she lifted her hand and cupped his cheek.

“I am sorry. Oh, you are cold and gaunt! It breaks my heart,” she spoke softly. He held her hand in that position while listening to her voice he missed so much. Barloschios could not hear it for three years and was blessed to hear it for the first time that night.

“I’m fine, my love,” His voice shook, and he swallowed hard.

“Really?”

He nodded. His heart was racing and aching. Barloschios, who had never cried in front of anyone his whole life, let his tears fall that night. He felt no embarrassment or shame to cry in front of his Mana.

“My Lochi is always good,” she smiled. Mana circled his neck with her free arm and pulled him down to her. “Stone carving is a lost art, but you revived it. I’m so proud of you.” She whispered, “Never look shabby when you carve, Lochi,” her voice began fading, “never look shabby at all times.”

“I—I love you, Mana,” he sniveled.

Unable to speak again, Mana kissed Barloschios quivering lips and wanted to laugh at his wet face and sentimentality but could not. He did not say much after that but devoured her lips and pressed his body against her.

He knew she wanted him, for she kept kissing the side of his neck. She always did that when she desired him. He knew he wanted her, for heat flowed through his entire body and caused his lower abdomen to throb painfully.

Barloschios could not remember the last time he made love to his wife, but that night they did it passionately as they used to. It was a gentle and warm night which ended with Mana sleeping peacefully in his arms.

***

That dawn, Barloschios went on the expedition to The Edge of the World aboard his ship and crew, seeking the stone of Fiyana. He was reluctant to leave his wife behind, but considering the length and dangers of the journey, in addition to the complexity of Mana’s condition, it was not easy to take her with him.

By the end of that year, he returned home in a poor state after ten months of absence. Despite his wealth, Barloschios did not change his clothes for weeks, did not wash, did not have decent meals, and did not have enough sleep. He returned to Arkosia feverish, exhausted, gaunt, and stinking but hopeful. He returned after finally finding the rare Fiyana stone.

He also returned with a chest of gold coins and assigned his butler to distribute its contents among his servants and slaves, as he always did whenever he returned victorious from an expedition. Despite his special mission, he never forgot his generosity toward his servants and slaves.

However, he discovered that his wife’s condition had worsened because of her frequent use of sedatives and other drugs he did not know about during his absence. She became like him, extremely emaciated and haggard.

Barloschios was overwhelmed and resentful of the servants and her slave, particularly for what they did to her without his permission. He was determined not to let that slide and to discipline them but postponed that until Mana’s recovery.

Barloschios was busy forging the blade of the Fiyana stone himself. Once it was completed and to ensure he did not harm his wife, Barloschios tested the blade on himself first. Therefore, he stabbed his heart once, and despite the terrible pain he experienced at first, he did not bleed when he pulled it out, and the blade was also clean. Miraculously, Barloschios recovered from his fever immediately.

Barloschios was still unsure and wanted to try the blade again on someone else. Thus, he looked among his servants for someone with a chronic illness and remembered that his old gardener suffered from periodic and rhythmic shaking of one hand. The following morning, Barloschios stabbed the old man out of the blue while working in the garden amid the horror-stricken faces of other servants who stood watching the shocking scene.

Yet they saw that the stabbed man neither fell dead nor bled; he only grunted with pain as his master pulled out the knife, to their utter astonishment. They heard him rebuke his young master.

“Don’t you just stab people without prior notice, my lord!” he complained, “It hurts, you know.”

Barloschios did not apologize but remained for hours, watching his old gardener resume his usual work. The old gardener’s hand stopped shaking completely as if he had never suffered from illness. Barloschios observed him closely the next day and the day after and continued doing so for three more days until he confirmed the blade’s effectiveness and that it was completely safe.

The following dawn, Barloschios caught Mana attempting to jump out of the bedroom balcony in one of her night fits. She grew more aggressive and harder to control due to the drug’s effect, which still contaminated her blood. As a result, she bit him, kicked him, and struggled like a maniac, but he endured until he wrapped his arms around her and paralyzed her limbs with his Uthusian energy.

As he carried her in his arms, it pained him that he treated her like that every time. He laid Mana’s paralyzed body on the nearest sofa and walked over to the other side of the bedroom. Barloschios decided then to take his magic blade out of the secret compartment behind his favorite painting on the wall. Meanwhile, Mana hummed, whined, grunted, and wailed like a wounded wild beast until he stood before her with the blade in his hand and stabbed her in the heart.

***

End of Chapter (35)

 

[1] Wempamalangon (West Kingdom): [Pronunciation Guide: Wem-pama-langon (the g sound as in gun)]

[2] Fiyana (Magical Stone): [Pronunciation Guide: Fee-ya-nah]

[3] The Edge of the World: An endless abyss that divides the great ocean at the southwest part of the world. Protected by curtains of dark thick fog and sea monsters, the place is almost inaccessible, uninhabited, and considered dangerous.