by C.L. Mozena
Chapter 4
“Please, have a seat,” Empress Anita offered, gesturing to a couch behind the desk. Orion didn’t move. His shock of realization of what was happening paralyzed him. He wasn’t afraid, though. He thought about how his father would be proud of him for looking the empress in the eye and not being afraid. He was stunned when he also realized that he was more afraid of going back to his father than he was standing here with the empress of the lunimorves. “Don’t worry, you have nothing to fear from me.” Orion only eyed her suspiciously. She sighed. Several minutes passed before Orion spoke.
“You said you had information for me.” He was starting to feel stupid, wondering how he was going to get back home, and even if he wanted to. He felt comfortable here, although he didn’t understand why. Maybe it had to do with the fact that, he now knew, he looked just like the lunimorves, where as he stood out like a sore thumb back home. “You said that I’m half lunimorf. How is that possible?”
“So you’d rather skip the pleasantries, then?” She smiled. Orion frowned. She looked down and sighed. “You’re so like your father, Orion.” She looked up at him. Orion didn’t budge. “I know because he and I spent a lot of time together.” She paused. “I am your mother, Orion. I just couldn’t say so in the letter.”
“What?” Orion didn’t believe her. He knew that his father had spent nearly a year here on Lunspae, and that it was probably spent as a slave of the empress, but he couldn’t make himself believe for an instant that his father would have enjoyed his time here. Not with the way he spoke about it when asked. His father made Orion believe that the lunimorves tortured him to the point of death. “I knew my mother, and she died years ago. If that’s all you have to say,” Orion puffed up his chest and put on a show just like his father did when he became overly annoyed, “I’ll just return home now.” He turned to go.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” she sighed. Orion paused near the doors with his back to her. He looked over his shoulder as she said, “That telblec woman your father was married to wasn’t your real mother. If she was, you would have been born as a normal telblec, with black skin and hair.” Orion turned and watched her closely, but she wasn’t threatening him in any way. He knew very well that she could have her warriors come and attack him at any moment, but nothing happened. “Don’t you see, Orion?” she said as she slowly approached him, “You have my skin, my hair, and my eyes. Well, one of them, anyways,” she added.
“Humph,” Orion turned away from her grumpily as he raised his hand and ran his fingers around his empty eye socket under his eye patch. His thoughts drifted back to the night he lost his eye. He remembered all those times he daydreamed about killing every living lunimorf for what he had to go through. He thought about Lady Raina and her pretty face. He thought about all the excited and nervous faces of the ship’s crew. He thought about Empress Anita, his mother. No, I don’t believe it. Not yet. He wanted to believe it. All his life, he had been taught that lunimorves were monsters. He had seen more lunimorves today than ever before, and he had yet to see a single monster. He realized that the lunimorves were just people like the telblecs. Maybe the lunimorves keep attacking because they think that telblecs are the monsters, Orion thought. The silence seemed to grow as the minutes ticked by. A loud knock broke the silence and made Orion jump back.
“Come in,” Empress Anita said, with her sweet, flowery voice that seemed to melt through Orion’s defenses. The doors burst open and two boys about Orion’s age paraded in, arguing to each other. They stopped the moment they seen Orion. For a while, nobody spoke, the three boys just stared at each other. Orion stared in disbelief at himself standing beside the doors. Well, himself in different clothes, red hair, and two bright green eyes. The two of them just stood there, staring, while the third, older, boy looked from one to the other. Empress Anita chuckled at the sight of the boys gawking at each other.
“May I introduce my sons,” she said to Orion, “Princes Rick and Joshua. And this is Prince Orion, from Olhoe,” she added, addressing her sons. She paused. None of the boys seemed to have heard her, so she went on, “As you can see, Orion, you and Joshua are twins.”
“No way!”
“Impossible!”
“You’ve got to be joking!”
“Couldn’t be!”
“How-?”
“Settle down, boys,” Empress Anita stood up, “and let me explain.” The three of them fell silent at once. Empress Anita sat down neatly on a decorative chair, Rick slumped on the couch, but Orion and Joshua just stood there, eyeing each other suspiciously, as if the other might change suddenly and reveal the joke.
“You three all know that the lunimorves and telblecs have been at war for many years,” she began, “each trying to eliminate the other.” The boys nodded. Everyone knew that the war had begun long before they had been born, although nobody knew why. “Well, not every lunimorf hates the telblecs, and vice versa. There are many people on both sides who don’t care about the other, and would prefer peace. However, there are more people who want to dominate the other race than peace makers, so the war continues.
“Less than twenty years ago, the telblecs dealt us lunimorves a hard blow. King Frederic killed my father, Emperor Edward. I was devastated, as was the rest of the kingdom.” She paused at the memory, tears welling up in her eyes. Rick and Joshua shared her grief, while Orion smirked. She continued, “And I wanted revenge for my father’s death.” Orion paused when he heard the note of anger behind her words. He remembered his father telling him that the lunimorves had captured and tortured him for a year. Now he knew why. “So I had King Frederic kidnaped and brought here, to the palace. I wanted revenge. I had intended to humiliate and kill him, but,” she paused again, reliving the moment. Her voice was barely above a whisper, “I couldn’t.
“Instead, I enslaved him,” she said, raising her voice back to normal, “and forced him to do my bidding as my manservant. He resisted me at first. No, resisted is too gentle a word.” She leaned back, searching for the right word. “Fought. Yes, that’s better.” She sat up again, surveying the boys. “Yes, I’d say he fought me as best as he could. But with a little, ahem, discipline,”she looked at each of the boys in turn, “I eventually had him waiting on me, hand and foot.”
“You’re joking.” Orion turned towards her, unable to imagine his father in such a degrading position. “He would never bow to you, or anyone else. Never!”
“Oh, but he did, Orion. He did.” Empress Anita said, slyly. A shiver ran down Orion’s spine as she spoke. “A little discipline can go a long way.”
“What sort of ‘discipline’ did you use, Mother?” Joshua asked, playing on Orion’s frustration. Orion glared at him.
“A collar,” she said simply. The boys stared at her. “This collar,” she explained, “was remote controlled. It had spikes on the inside that dug into it’s wearer’s skin, and sent an electrical jolt at the touch of a button on the remote. I could change the voltage, too.” Orion’s frustration was replaced by horror at the thought of such a thing. “After a few jolts, he got the idea not to disobey me.” Empress Anita’s voice was menacing. Orion was wondering just how far she would go to get her way. Fear began trickling up the back of Orion’s neck. She sure didn’t seem like the sweet, delicate flower that she made herself to be. He now understood why his father was reluctant to speak about the time he spent here, and why he always seemed to raise his hand to his throat when he did. Orion once again began wondering if he’d make it back home with his life.
“So what happened then?” Rick asked impatiently, jerking Orion out of his thoughts and back to Empress Anita’s story. Rick seemed rather bored with what she was telling them.
“Like I said,” Empress Anita had regained her sweet, girlish demeanor, “he learned fast. And he also figured me out quickly, too.” She sighed, “He really knew how to catch me with my guard down. N
ot only did he do everything I told him to, he tried his best to please me. He spoke in such a way that... He moved like... The way he looked at me...” She couldn’t finish her sentences. With her eyes half closed, she drifted back to the days when he was with her. A dreamy smile spread across her face. The boys glanced at each other.
“So what you’re saying,” Rick said, putting two and two together, “is that you fell in love with him?” He sounded both shocked and disgusted. Orion and Joshua just stared at her.
“Well... yes. I guess I did.” Empress Anita let out a girlish giggle. “But he really turned up the charm. He certainly was a clever dog, I’ll give him that.”
“What do you mean?” Orion asked. He was just as disgusted as Rick as unpleasant images of his father with this woman began drifting in his mind.
“Don’t you see, Orion?” She turned to face him. “He knew that if he played my emotions just right, I might let something slip so he could escape.” She looked down. “That’s all he really cared about.” A tear slid down her cheek. “He never really cared about me like he pretended to.” Her emotional pain only made Orion angry.
“Well, duh!” He exclaimed. “I don’t blame him. If I was captured, I’d do anything I could to get free.”
“Yes...” She was still miserable, “I suppose anyone would, but...” Her voice trailed off as she let her thought’s wander.
“But what?” Joshua asked.
“Nothing,” Empress Anita wasn’t paying attention to the boys anymore. She was lost in her memories.
“So how did you get him to mate with you? It had to have been hard enough just to get him into bed, let alone...you know.” Rick sat up, clearly annoyed at the whole story. Orion and Joshua looked at him funny. “I mean, you had to have mated with him, or these two,” he jabbed a thumb at the twins, “would never have been born.” His question woke Empress Anita from her daydream.
“Huh? Oh, right.” She regained her composure and resumed her flowery voice. “He actually went willingly. I like to think that it was because he fell in love with me, too, that we spent that night together.” She looked down. “But now that I think about it, he was probably getting desperate. He had been my prisoner for almost a year, you see, and he had tried everything else to get free.
“As you can guess, I got pregnant from that night.” She smiled and looked up at Orion and Joshua. “Pregnant with twins, but he didn’t know.”
“So how did he escape?” Orion was now curious.
“Yea, that’s what I’d like to know, too,” added Rick. “You seemed to have had him right where you wanted him.”
“He didn’t,” she sighed. Orion looked at her, surprised. He had been expecting some heroic story about his father breaking the collar off and fighting a hundred lunimorves at the same time on his way out. “No, Orion, your father didn’t escape on his own,” Empress Anita said, reading Orion’s expression, “I let him go.”
“Why?” Orion and Rick said together. Joshua remained silent as he listened. She sighed.
“After that night, he seemed depressed. He still did what I told him to, but with less enthusiasm as before. He began talking about his life on Olhoe. He told me about his schooling, his training, and about his sweetheart back home. He told me how he figured everyone thought he was dead and how she would have moved on, found someone else, and gotten married. He even began to wonder aloud at what her children were going to look like, and how many she would have. He would openly cry whenever he talked about her.” Orion had trouble imagining his father crying.
“He really laid it on thick, didn’t he?” Rick asked with an ‘I would have known better if it was me’ attitude. Empress Anita looked as though she had gotten slapped in the face.
“Yes, yes he did.” She sighed. “He even began talking about how he was going to die sad and lonely here on Lunspae, without ever seeing his sweetheart again. What was I supposed to do?” She looked at each of the boys in turn, but they remained silent, so she continued. “I had to let him go. I didn’t want to avenge my father’s death anymore. I cared about Frederic. It hurt me to see him so upset.” Orion gave a ‘puh’ of indignation. Empress Anita became defensive. “I did care! I loved him! And that’s how you were born, Orion. Take it or leave it.” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “You are my son, whether you like it or not.”
“Okay, fine,” Orion said, not really believing her story, “but that doesn’t explain how I ended up growing up on Olhoe.” He glared back at her.
“Well...” Empress Anita looked ashamed. “I took you to Olhoe shortly after the two of you were born.”
“Why?” Orion demanded.
“Because I...” She fumbled for the right words. “You... you were going to die.” She looked up at him. He was still trying to understand what she had just said, so she continued, “You and Joshua were not separate when you were born. You both were joined near the heart. I was given the choice of risking both of your lives, or guaranteeing that one of you would survive while the other died. I chose the latter.”
“And then you left me on Olhoe to die?” Orion was enraged that this woman be so cruel as to torture a man she planned on killing to give her a son that she didn’t care about. Tears began welling in his eyes as he realized that she hadn’t wanted him, or done everything she could to save him. At least his father kept him, even though he reminded his father of all the horror that had befallen him while he was here. She cringed at his words.
“I left you in your father’s care.” She stood up. “I thought he would enjoy taking care of his son, even if it was only for a short while. I also didn’t let him know that you were a twin to protect Joshua. I didn’t want him taking both of you. You weren’t supposed to survive, Orion.”
“But I did. I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“Yes.” She smiled at him. “You’re alive and well. I hadn’t expected it, but I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Yea, right.” Orion turned away from her, his anger threatening to explode.
“I am, Orion,” she said, walking up to face him, “and that’s why I brought you here. I want you to live here with me and your brothers.” He gave her a ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ look, but she continued. “I’m serious, Orion. You’re my son, and that makes you a prince here, too. You would get the finest of everything. Large rooms, delicious foods, the best silk, and the freedom to go and do whatever you wanted, just like on Olhoe. And you wouldn’t have to worry about not fitting in, like on Olhoe.” She watched him as he turned all this over in his head. He knew what she was talking about. He remembered hearing whispers about how different he was from other telblecs. He remembered asking his teachers about it and being told of a random color mutation. Now he knew the truth. It wasn’t some stupid mutation. He was half lunimorf, and he bore the resemblance.
He also realized with a jolt that that was the reason his father didn’t like him. His father didn’t think he was worthless because he only had one eye, or because he was afraid of fire. After all, nobody else cared about that. It was because of his lunimorf heritage. That was why he wasn’t allowed to become a warrior. That was what the whispers were all about. That was why his father hated him so much. His father seen Empress Anita and her cruelty every time he looked at Orion. Tears welled up as he began to understand that, while he spent his whole life on Olhoe, believing the telblecs to be his people and the lunimorves his enemy, he would never actually be one of them. The telblecs would hate him, just as they hated the lunimorves. Now that he knew the truth, he also knew that he couldn’t go back.
He hung his head and felt a hand on his shoulder. He thought it would be Empress Anita, his mother, but it wasn’t. He glanced over his shoulder to see that the hand belonged to Rick, his older brother. Half-brother, Orion reminded himself, but brother just the same. Rick was smiling at him. He fought to restrain his tears as he gave hi
s brother a small smile.
“This is so weird!” Joshua spoke up, ignoring the obvious emotional pain Orion was feeling, and walked around to face Orion. “It’s like looking in a mirror, except that my reflection is wearing something else.” He leaned closer to Orion and pinched his loose shirt sleeve. “I mean, what is this you’re wearing? Did you know that your chest is showing?” Orion suppressed a chuckle at his twin’s natural goofiness as he looked down at himself. His shirt was open from his shoulders down to his waist, where the edges were crossed and tucked into his pants. “Is this really what telblecs wear?” Joshua asked. Rick raised his eyebrows in fascination at Orion’s strange outfit.
“No, no,” Orion said, feeling better. He had always wanted a brother, and now he had two. They both seemed nice enough, and from what he heard about lunimorves not being very good fighters compared to telblecs, he figured he could handle these two if something happened. “It’s just that this is what I feel comfortable in.
“And your hair, Orion,” Joshua continued, not seeming to hear Orion’s answer, “It’s so long. Is that why you wear your shirt open? Because otherwise people would think you’re a girl?” Orion’s face went red as Rick burst out laughing. He could hear his mother giggle from where she sat, watching them.
“No! Hair length represents rank and authority on Olhoe. My hair is the longest in all the kingdom, next to my father’s because I’m the prince. I wear the clothes I wear because they’re comfortable, not because my hair’s long.” Orion said with a hint of frustration. He just noticed that both Rick and Joshua had very short hair. It could only be a few inches long, at the most.
“You mean, ‘our father,’ don’t you?” Joshua asked. Orion gave him a confused look. Rick spoke up.
“Well, if you two are twins, that means that you have the same father, right?” Rick looked from one to the other.
“I guess so,” Orion answered gloomily. He didn’t want to think about his father right now, but Rick was right.
“Man, I’m glad Mother didn’t leave me on Olhoe,” Joshua spoke loudly. Orion’s anger began creeping on his face, but before he could say anything, Joshua continued, “Because then, my hair would have to be as long as yours is, and I don’t think I’d like that.” Orion and Rick both laughed. “Still, I’d like to meet our father.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” Orion’s expression grew dark as he remembered how his father had told him he was worthless, and had lied about the reason behind it.
Suddenly, the doors burst open. All four of them turned to see King Frederic struggle inside with half a dozen guards trying to restrain him. The look on his face was murderous. Rick jumped between King Frederic and the others, ready to fight. Pride sparked up in Orion’s chest at the thought of his father coming to rescue him, then was drowned out by terror. He had almost forgotten their fight, and how much trouble he was in. He wouldn’t be surprised if his father wanted to beat him bloody again.
“Remember, Orion,” Empress Anita had gotten up and spoke softly in his ear, noticing his frightened expression, “you are a prince, part of the royal family. Your father is not.” Orion glanced at her. “He is the intruder here. You have all authority over him.” Orion heard these words and they stirred something inside him as he looked back at his father wrestling with the guards and Rick ready to fight. This was his family, his mother and his brothers. They didn’t think Orion was worthless, they accepted Orion the way he was, pyrophobic or not. That something started bubbling up inside him, clawing it’s way to the surface like a hungry beast, desperate for freedom.
No, I can’t, Orion thought, He’s still my father, I have to do as he says.
So I’m just going to let him drag me back to Olhoe, after everything I’ve learned here? I’m gonna let him take me away from my family? He’d beat me to a pulp for sure! He hates lunimorves.
He’s my father!
I’m a lunimorf prince now.
I can’t!
I can. And I will!
“Enough!” Orion was as surprised to hear his own voice as everyone else. The room fell silent as all became still. Every eye was upon Orion as he stepped past Rick, and gazed down on his father as a cat would look at a mouse. King Frederic shrugged the flabbergasted guards off and stood to meet Orion.
“Well,” King Frederic said indifferently although he was trying to keep his temper. “I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses, Orion.” He glanced hatefully at Empress Anita and turned towards the doors. “Let’s go. We’re leaving.”
“No.” Orion sounded much calmer than he felt. King Frederic turned around again to look at his son.
“What did you just say?” His voice was getting dangerous. Orion hesitated, but didn’t move. “I said,” King Frederic repeated, “What did you say to me?”
“I said ‘no’!” Orion replied with a confidence he had never felt before. Orion was home, with a family who cared about him and accepted him as one of them, and nothing was going to change that.
“You’re in enough trouble as it is.” King Frederic said through gritted teeth. “Don’t make it worse.” He was shaking with anger.
“I’m not going with you.” Orion’s voice was rising and tears began welling in his eyes, “I’m never going back!” Orion shouted. His anger getting the best of him, King Frederic lunged at Orion, trying to grab his wrist. Orion dodged, hitting King Frederic in his left eye, which was already sore and swollen from their last fight. King Frederic howled in pain and clutched his eye as Orion landed a kick that sent King Frederic flying, crashing into the opposite wall in the hallway. “Guards! Arrest him!” Orion cried. The guards, who had stepped back to watch the fight, ran up to King Frederic as he was getting up. Quickly, they snapped chains on his arms and legs and led him away to the dungeon. Before they left, King Frederic gave Orion a look of complete loathing. Orion returned the look and watched them go. He was shaking badly at what he had just done. Panic began rising in his chest, but vanished quickly.
“That. Was. Stupendous!” Rick exclaimed after King Frederic had been led away. He bounded over and clapped Orion on the shoulder. “You’re not half bad!”
You’re gonna like it here,” Joshua said much more calmly than Rick, approaching Orion from the other side and trying to pretend the fight hadn’t happened, “Even though your hair is so long you look like a girl.” Orion turned to his brothers who were both smiling at him, and looked up at his mother. She was smiling at him too, but her eyes were sad.
“Excuse me, boys, I have work to do,” she said. “Why don’t you two take Orion for a tour of the city?” she asked in her usual flowery voice.
“That’s a great idea, Mother!” Rick was excited. He and Joshua began arguing over where they would go first, but Orion didn’t share their excitement. He was watching Empress Anita carefully.
“You’re not going to let him go like last time, are you?” Orion eyed her suspiciously.
“Hm?” She looked surprised. Orion just stood there with his arms crossed, waiting for an answer. “No,” she sighed, “I won’t let him out. You put him there, so only you decide if he stays or goes free.” She put her hands on his shoulders. “You’re growing up, Orion. You’re sixteen years old now. It’s time you were treated like an adult.” She hugged him. “And I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you, my son.” Her words caught him off guard.
“Hey, are you coming, Orion?” Rick called. He and Joshua were halfway out the doors. Empress Anita released him as Orion turned to face his brothers.
“Yea, I’m coming!” Excitement began to swell in his chest as he tried to put the memory of fighting with his father behind him. “Are we really going out into the city?” He had never been allowed outside the palace walls before.
“‘Course we are. Let’s go!” With that, the three boys left the room, and Empress Anita was left alone with her thoughts. She sighed, glad that the three of
them were getting along so well.
