The trek back to Persia felt like an eternity. The small caravan slowed things considerably and Nadir felt like at any moment he would simply go mad and scream with frustration. He found himself often staring at the limp figure that lay on the floor of the cage, hour after hour, blank faced and mute.
Raito, the main keeper, sidled up to Nadir one tedious afternoon and said, "You wonder why it's bound and chained, why we keep it locked up like that? Even why we say 'it' instead of 'he'? Well, let me tell you friend - there used to be three of us."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm saying it has killed."
Nadir had to laugh at this absurdity.
"It's true. It's powerful, much more powerful than you think. You've got to keep it hungry so it doesn't get too strong, so you can't feed it much. Always work in twos; if it gets you alone it'll go after you. And it doesn't hurt to give it a solid thrashing so it knows his place - which it mostly does."
Nadir held his tongue, unsure of what to say.
His disgust and confusion was evident on his face, because the man continued, "I can see you don't want to believe it, you're moved to compassion. I'm telling you, that will be your end. I told you it killed one of our crew; it's also killed a priest."
"A priest?"
"Yes, one of those Catholics. Supposedly taught it how to speak, how to read. Then one day it turned, snapped his neck."
Nadir scoffed again. Raito shook his head with a faint chuckle and they kept moving on.
On the edge of a bleak little town, a group of fellow travelers greeted Raito and his compatriot, Sylvester. The men led them to a traveler encampment near the woods and Nadir had to admit, it was nice to have varied company. Perhaps it would be alright to rest here for a night…
Of course, as Persians, Nadir and Darius drew attention, but not the same attention like their cargo. Within minutes of putting down stakes, a gaggle of children were crowded around the cage, many of them probably the exact same age that the child was. They pulled up the canvas cover, shouting and poking sticks through the bars. Inside, the boy lay still, suffering their abuse without stirring. Sylvester eventually sent them away and they ran from the cage, shrieking with terror, delight, mischief.
Over a dinner of fresh rabbit, spit-roasted, Nadir and Darius made decent conversation with those around them, working through each other's limited French. Across the fire, Raito leaned close to a couple, listening as they spoke animatedly and motioned towards the cage. An older woman interrupted them, also gesturing in the same direction. Raito nodded and called Sylvester over. The violin came out and the boy inside the cage scampered to retrieve it, the only thing that seemed to animate him. Soon, a beautiful, entrancing music filled the air, and all of the faces that turned to him with revulsion before now looked upon him with silent wonder. Nadir once again considered the part he was playing in this child's journey and how this all would end. With these thoughts, he retired to his tent, the ceaseless music following at his heels.
At some point the playing stopped and there was only the music of crickets in the fields and wind throughout the trees. After an hour or so of staring at the bare walls of his humble tent, Nadir finally gave up his fruitless pursuit of sleep and rose to make himself some tea.
Suddenly, on the other side of the tent flap, there was a commotion - clanking and clacking as if a house was being erected on the spot. Poking his head outside, he saw Sylvester and Raito wrapping the child in chains, more manacles and locks hanging off of his frail-looking arms and legs. Chains wound all around the wheeled cage, staked to the ground.
"What's going on?"
"We got a hot tip about an interesting opportunity. We've got to leave this one on its own for a moment but don't worry - there are others around if you get into trouble and of course, there are the chains."
Nadir polished his pince-nez with a corner of his shirt. "...Isn't that excessive?"
Raito shook his head dismissively. "You won't believe us until it's at your throat. Just leave it, you fool. We'll be back within half an hour. Get some rest."
Feeling uneasy at the sight of a small child being bound so cruelly but unable to do anything about it, he went back to his tent and his tea.
Reclining on the cushions, he must've felt comfortable enough to doze off because he awoke after a time from a dreamy half-sleep. There was something - someone - in the tent, too small to be Darius, staring down at him with eyes that shone in the dark like a cat's.
Certain a sudden movement would startle him, Nadir, not knowing what else to do, said, "Ah, welcome - I was about to pour more tea!"
The child froze, staring as Nadir groggily got up and fumbled for his half-empty teapot in the dark. He stumbled through the basics of preparing another pot, sweat beading on his forehead, half wondering if the child truly was wild enough to attack him or if he was simply curious. Nadir was quite curious himself and didn't want to waste this chance. The child, poised to bolt through the opening, slowly, cautiously crept closer.
"Make yourself comfortable" Nadir gestured towards the pillows across from him, his heart hammering in his chest.
The boy nodded, then spoke in a crystal-clear voice, "I can see you are frightened of me...I won't be long."
"Frightened? You seem a bit scared yourself…" Just as the pot started boiling, the boy knelt on a pillow across from Nadir, his eyes like two stars in the gloom. He remained tense, set to run. Nadir haltingly looked up, finally meeting his unblinking gaze. "I'm glad you came by for a, err, chat…"
"You mean you wonder how I got out. It is a trick I do and if you tell them I got out, they will beat me and bind me and I will have to find another trick - but I shall find it." The boy spoke in flawless, polite French with an air of tremulous, put-on bravery. Nadir had the sensation he was hosting a strange little diplomat from a curious foreign country.
"That's very clever of you. I wouldn't tell them, though. That's rather rough business…" Nadir steadied his shaking hand as he poured two cups of tea. "You don't have to wear that around me, you know."
The boy didn't remove his bulky mask nor did he accept the tea, simply kneeled quietly, watching Nadir.
Nadir placed the cup in front of him and said, "I have just the thing for us - don't tell Darius but - " he dug through one of his leather satchels "- I've selfishly hidden away some treats. Here we are…" He placed a few slices of Turkish delight on a napkin and lay it between them. The boy looked down at the jewel-like candies, his hands clenching on his knees with desire, yet he made no move to take one.
"Do you have a name…?"
The boy's head snapped up. "No. And I have no use for one. Whatever I would be named, they would call me other things anyways."
"Do you know how old you are?"
"No."
"Where are you from?"
"They say I am from France but I have as much use for a country as a name."
"And your parents...your mother…?"
"I think I had a mother once...There was a woman that I remember, she was the first person who sold me."
Nadir's heart dropped within him. What kind of mother would do such a thing?
He continued, "You are very well-spoken. Did you go to school…?"
The boy shook his head. "There was a priest who traveled with the carnival I was a part of for a while. He taught me how to speak...and read."
"A priest…"
The boy's muscles tensed up, his shoulders creeping up around his ears. "You have heard I killed him. Well, I did. He couldn't answer me correctly."
"Answer you?"
"Well - !" The child dug his fingers into the knees of his threadbare pants. "He couldn't say! He couldn't say why, if I was a human being like anyone else, I was in a cage! I thought I was an animal, you see; the other animals lived in cages like me! He was the one who decided to teach me to speak and to read! Why? Why?! I could've been a dumb animal, not knowing how to speak, not knowing what people say about me...He insisted I was a human and yet couldn't answer why I belonged in a cage! He had the audacity to show me - a mirror! And I saw - -!" The boy looked down, his hands twisting the fabric of his clothes. "Well - it was a bad lookout for him! I rather lost my temper…"
Nadir sat in silence, watching as the boy wrestled with both anger and regret.
With a sneer in his voice, he said, "He taught me all about God, too, and forgiveness and absolution of the soul." The boy looked up again. "There's not much there for me."
Nadir spooned a bit of sugar into his tea, collecting his thoughts. "Those men said you killed another…"
"Yes."
"...and that was…?"
"He tried to touch me in a way I didn't appreciate. I didn't quite lose my temper then; I thought about it and made a decision." He added with a bitterness beyond his years, "It was worth the beating. They won't kill me; I make them too much money."
"Why don't you kill both of them? If you could so easily do it…"
"One day when I'm stronger…" There was a harsh edge to his words. "...I will kill them both and take their money - all of the money that I've rightfully earned! - and — and buy a bigger cage!"
"A bigger cage?" Nadir blurted. "But you would be free then!"
"The cage is to keep the others out!" The boy gave a mirthless laugh as if Nadir couldn't possibly be more stupid. How strange, how sad, Nadir felt; an innocent twisted through and through.
He continued, scratching at the rough cloth mask, "Perhaps I could have a very high tower where no one could climb, or a home deep underground where no one would go...with a maze so people would get lost...very dark so they can't see…"
The boy seemed to drift in his thoughts and grew quiet. Nadir still had difficulty picturing the frail, almost skeletal child before him committing a murder. Perhaps this was another game, another part of the act. But if it was true...and if the shah - or worse, the little princess - discovered he had a talent for drawing blood, no doubt they would yield performances from him beyond the violin.
After a few more moments of silence, Nadir continued. "Where did you learn to play? You are a wonderful musician."
"Oh, I had to learn by myself, but it wasn't hard. After I had killed the other one, they hurt me quite badly in retaliation. We were at a big fair and they were doubly cross with me then; I was too sick to be on exhibit. That was really a problem of their own making! Anyways, I heard beautiful music being made on this instrument, and the music revived me, so I asked for one. It took a lot of insisting unfortunately; they're quite stupid. Obviously the act has improved now that I have my violin...and I get what I want, too. At least now I'm more valuable to them, so they take care of me a bit better, and I get to play my music."
"Ah…" Nadir took a long sip from his tea. After a moment, he motioned to the candies between them. "Don't you want some of this? The tea's a bit strong; helps to make it a bit sweeter. Go on - take some."
"I don't want any," he said coldly. It was a bald faced lie but Nadir let it go, not wanting to press the matter further. The intense denial of even a shred of happiness must've had its roots in years of terror and cruelty. Why reach for something only to be punished for wanting? Nadir wondered if he could ever untangle the boy's mind or if he should even bother; he himself would no doubt be punished for wanting something better for this young soul.
"Ah - how about this?" Nadir brought out his pocket watch. "Would you like it?"
Now the child's eyes blazed with longing. His hands almost made a move to reach for it but he pushed them down, tucking them under his knees.
"No! No, I don't want it!"
"...are you afraid they'll think you stole it?" The boy didn't answer. "I won't tell; it can be our secret, just like the sweets."
The boy softly whimpered, straining to suppress his simple desires, watching the watch twirl on the end of its fob.
His eyes snapped to Nadir. "Enough with your idiotic questions, you - you - you great booby!"
Nadir had to laugh; it was a ridiculously childish insult.
Undeterred, the boy menacingly hissed, "I have some questions of my own!"
"I imagine you do; that's why you must've come in for a bit of civil conversation." Nadir polished his pince-nez on the corner of his shirt, then perched them on his crooked nose once more. "I will answer you as best I can; ask away."
"Where are we going?"
"We are going here - " Nadir again stretched out his hand again, the pocket watch sitting in his palm, showing the enamel depiction of the Persian palace. " - to the kingdom of Persia. Your presence was requested by the king himself."
"...a palace...a king…!" The boy gave a soft sigh, the threat that iced his words melting away, daring to barely trace one finger across the surface of the watch. "Does he want to purchase me?"
"Well…I would hate to put it that way…"
"Why? If it's true, just say it. I would be...honored...to be purchased by a king."
There were many slaves in the palace, it was true. While it wasn't a life he would choose for himself, if there were no other choices, one could do worse. A palace was still a palace. Seemingly without realizing what he was doing, the boy took the watch from Nadir and lovingly caressed it, fixated on the miniature palace, his mind dancing with fairy tale visions.
"Are there musicians there, too?"
"Yes…"
"And a court jester? A knight? A magician?"
"No, we don't have anyone like that at court. Mostly boring viziers, advisers, heads of state…"
"Is the palace really so lovely…?"
Nadir waved his hand. "Perhaps the reality won't live up to your idea…"
The boy's bony fingers swirled over the shining palace with its twinkling stars. "What about a princess? Every palace has a princess, right?"
"You've been listening to a lot of fairy tales, haven't you?"
"Well?"
"Yes…" Nadir gave a little cough and looked down at the tea in his cup.
"Is she beautiful?"
"...as all princesses are…"
Suddenly, the child cried in anguish. "...Oh, maybe they won't like me!"
Nadir said softly, "You play very beautifully; I'm certain the shah will be entertained."
"It's not that!" The boy desperately clutched at his mask. "It's this!"
Nadir was at a loss; that gruesome face was exactly what would appeal to the princess' black heart. May Allah forgive him for the ill thoughts he had against her but her reign of capricious terror was already unbearable and she was only a child herself. He wiped away a bit of powdered sugar from a Turkish delight that stuck to the corner of his beard and pondered how to proceed…
The opportunity to speak again escaped him; the child turned suddenly as if hearing something deep within the night. "They're coming back soon. I must go."
"I have a feeling I didn't get to many of your questions. If you'd like to drop in for tea again…"
The boy snorted as if the invitation was beneath him, then turned and as soundlessly as a cat slipped through the tent flap.
Nadir let out a breath that had caught in his throat. What a strange turn of events...This creature was unlike anything he had ever encountered, a child that spoke as if he was a world-weary traveler yet was easily lost in the fog of a fairy tale; a boy that spoke of killing with a cold and distant tone yet was entranced by a little enameled painting. The face of a devil, the music of heaven, and where his heart lay, Nadir wasn't sure.
As he put away the little tea set, lost in his thoughts, he saw that the entire pile of Turkish delights had vanished.
