6. Witness
A normal jail holds bad apples that committed some atrocity and got themselves locked up for good. It's a place of confinement, where you're kept in one single cell and only let out for instances of food or some other necessary activity. It has many rules and regulations that are upheld and kept, and its inhabitants are treated like the criminals they are-at least in the Kou Empire they are.
The first time he had disobeyed his "master", he was given a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. The bruises and cuts he suffered have left scars, permanent reminders of that moment. In an "apology", he had brought Judal to his quarters and presented him with "gifts"-golden braces, he'd called them.
Judal was only six when they were placed on him. He knows better now. He knows that they're shackles, handcuffs. Does that mean that he's also a prisoner? That he's done something terribly wrong? It's not like he lives in one of those jail cells, but he feels so trapped. He supposes all of those times he murdered and killed were wrong, but he was only trying to follow his orders like a good boy does. To think he spent all of that time trying to make his master proud, only to become a monster.
He hates when people look at them. He can't help but wonder if they see something beautiful, a priceless piece of jewelry that would be worth something on the market. He envies that they can see that. Whenever Judal looks at them (and he always tries not to), he feels sick inside. It's a reminder. A constant reminder that he is a tool, a toy, and there is nothing he can do to change it.
When Sinbad so much as glances at them, he loses it. Screaming at him, cursing, rambling about how Sinbad has no right to judge him - even though Sinbad wasn't. Sinbad feels nothing but pity for Judal. He knows that Judal would hate that, resent that - but that's how Sinbad feels. Sinbad cannot end Judal's suffering. Sinbad cannot even try to make it a little less hard on him. Such is the burden of being the king of Sindria.
No, Sinbad can do nothing to help Judal.
Nothing.
He can only witness.