by C.L. Mozena
Chapter 15
Orion felt refreshed when he woke up the next morning. His wounds, having been healed the day before, left nothing but scars. Orion looked around and sat up, disturbing a sleeping Star on his chest. She tumbled down Orion’s torso, landing in his lap. Stretching and yawning, she didn’t seem upset at the rude awakening. Orion didn’t see anyone else in the room, and the door was shut. A fresh aroma of eggs and sausage filled the room, enticing Orion to get up. He found fresh clothes laid out over the stuffed chair for him. He got up and got dressed, this time in red, with yellow-orange trim. Courtesy of Josh, no doubt, Orion thought. It was still Orion’s preferred style, and, thankfully, there were no gems on this outfit.
He quickly finished dressing and sat down at the table where his breakfast waited for him. He scarfed it down, barely tasting it. A squealing Star met him on the table, begging for some breakfast too. Orion obliged her with a small piece of sausage. Star tackled it, growling and purring at the same time. Orion watched as she pounced on the food, bit it, then batted it away and pounced again. Once she finished with her little game, Orion scooped her up and headed out.
“Good morning, Prince Orion,” a servant bowed once he seen Orion up. “I have been waiting for you. Your mother would like to see you in her rooms.”
“Yea, okay,” Orion said. He was sure he was going to be in trouble. After all, the only times a servant had been sent to retrieve him was when his father wanted to yell at him for something or other. But I’m not on Olhoe anymore, Orion thought, and this is my mother, not my father. Maybe I’m not in trouble. He followed the servant through the halls and too his mother’s rooms. He still couldn’t believe how similar her rooms were to his old rooms back on Olhoe. He had expected her to cross her arms and glare at him when he got there, but when he entered, she did something he didn’t expect.
“Orion!” she cried as she threw her arms around him and bawled into his shirt. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Rick healed you, didn’t he? Oh, I’m so sorry, baby! I never imagined-,” She cried into his shoulder again.
“Mom,” Orion took her shoulders and tried to push her off of him. Her reaction startled him. He knew that if he was with his father, he’d be getting yelled at about how dangerous it was to be outside the palace, and criticized for needing to be rescued. “I’m okay. It’s no big deal, really.” He finally managed to pull her off of him. Her face was red from crying, and her eyes were bloodshot.
“Of course it’s a big deal, honey. You could have been killed!” She started sobbing again and fell against him. Orion sighed and let her cry. Orion felt Star on his left shoulder, playing with his small braid that hung in front of his ear. After a while she pulled away, sniffling, and said, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” he said looking into her wet eyes. It was still a little unsettling to see the same bright blue eyes look back at him that he saw in the mirror all the time. He smiled at her, and she managed a small smile. She took a step back and regained her composure.
“Now, then,” she said, taking a deep breath, “Would you mind telling me what you were doing outside the palace walls without your brothers?” This was what Orion was waiting for, but she didn’t sound like she was accusing him, she only sounded concerned.
“Well,” Orion started, “Rick had already gone off for his private studies that day, so Josh and I decided to go into the city without him. While we were there, we met Sandra, and she wanted to take a walk in the park, and Josh wanted to do something else, so we split up. Sandra and I were in the park picking bramble berries when we were attacked.”
“Didn’t I tell you when you first came here that you could go out into the city as long as you stayed with your brothers?”
“Yes,” he bowed his head, ashamed he had disobeyed her. He felt even worse that she wasn’t yelling at him like he knew his father would have.
“Don’t you think I would have had a good reason for that?” she asked. Orion nodded, but didn’t look up. “And what do you think that reason might be?”
“You didn’t want me to get hurt,” he mumbled.
“That’s right.” She stepped closer to him, touched his face, and raised his eyes to hers. “Orion, there are a lot of people - lunimorves - who still view you as the prince of their enemy. They’ll try anything to get to you.”
“I’m sorry, mother,” Orion said, “It’ll never happen again. I promise,” he added, still staring at the floor.
“I know it won’t Orion,” she replied, “And that’s why I’m suspending your trips to the city, with or without your brothers, until further notice.”
“What?” he jerked his head up and met her eyes, “but you can’t! It’s not-,”
“It’s not what, Orion?” she said, sternly, “Not fair? Fine then, you tell me what punishment would be more fair. You took advantage of the privilege to go out into the city, so now I’m taking it away.” She looked expectantly at him.
“But how will I see Sandra if I’m not allowed into the city?”
“You should have thought about that before you snuck out on your own, Orion.” She crossed her arms.
“But-,” he started, but she gave him that look that meant that she didn’t want to hear anymore. He hung his head with a ‘yes, ma’am’, and turned to go.
“Orion, you know I’m only doing this because I don’t want you to get hurt, don’t you?” she asked, slightly worried. He stopped, nodded, and left her rooms.
