by C.L. Mozena
Chapter 35
Tears streamed down his face as Orion ran back to his room, saltwater on the left, and blood on the right from his empty eye socket. Once inside, he made his way to the shielded door in the corner of his den, his private room. The servants referred to it as Orion’s green room, because someone had noticed a green wall inside when Orion opened the door to exit. Orion never let anyone inside, and never talked about the secrets he kept in there.
Ignoring the tingling sensation of the shield and wrenching the door open, Orion stepped inside with the plant Tanya had thrown at him. He found a bag of potting soil and began transplanting, hoping that the plant wasn’t dead. Tears still filled his good eye, blurring everything around him, so that all he could see was the green of the surrounding objects and the black of the potting soil. Completing his task, he placed the plant on an intricate plant stand in the middle of the room, sunlight hitting it just right through a window in the ceiling. The leaves of the plant were wilted and floppy as Orion gave it some water. He stared at it, thinking about what Tanya had said for a moment before pulling out the journal with her name on it. He filled pages with how horrible Tanya had treated him and how he should have her arrested. He didn’t want that, though. She’d just hate him more. He wrote about his thoughts of using his power as the prince to force her to spend time with him, but he didn’t want that, either. He wanted her to be with him because she liked him, not because he forced her too. He decided to keep their fight a secret, locked away in his private room with everything else, including his heart, he decided. He replaced the journal and left to wash up.
“Hey, bro,” Rick was waiting for him in his main room.
“What are you doing here, Ricky?” Orion sounded harsher than he had intended.
“I heard about the newcomers from Josh, and that you have a crush on a girl named Tanya,” Rick paused, “I wanted to help.”
“What can you do?” Orion asked grumpily.
“Well, for starters,” Rick got up, “I can heal your arm before you bleed to death.” Orion rolled his eyes, but the familiar heat was soothing, and it calmed Orion greatly.
“So, what so you think I should do?” Orion said after explaining the situation between him and Tanya, his anger giving way to depression. “She’s in love with someone else, and she hates me. You think I should just forget about her and live my life?”
“Not really, no,” Rick thought for a moment, “But you need to make her think that you did.”
“Huh?” Orion was confused.
“You know, ignore her. Make her think that you’re no longer interested,” Rick sighed, “See, Orion, from what you’ve told me, it seems like she’s been through a lot. She lost most of the people she knew, she lost her way of life, and now she’s in a strange world with strange people and strange cultures. On top of that, she now has new choices to make, choices that she never had before, and your presence is probably too intimidating for her to handle.”
“So I should pretend to ignore her?”
“Something like that, bro. Give her a chance to get used to the idea that she can choose her own destiny. When she understands that, she’ll accept your friendship, I’m sure of it.”
Orion tried his best to put Rick’s advice into practice. He would no longer go out of his way to try to impress her. He didn’t hold her chair for her during dinner, he didn’t hold doors for her, and he didn’t greet her whenever he seen her. All in all, he didn’t even acknowledge the fact that she was even there at the palace anymore. Tanya may have been glad for the abrupt change in Orion’s behavior, but Orion was miserable. He confided these feelings in his secret journal and in Rick, but all he could say was to give it more time.
Orion decided that, as he was pretending Tanya didn’t exist, he’d continue to meet potential brides. The first one he met after he began ignoring Tanya was too loud and showy, but the second was better. Normally, Orion would have dismissed her in less than a week, but he decided to keep her around to help distract him from his obsession about Tanya. Orion wondered just how much longer he could keep the facade up before he went crazy.
