by C.L. Mozena
Chapter 36
“Help!” the voice came out of nowhere. All Orion could see were trees. The palace was gone, and Orion stood in the forest. He looked around, searching for the mysterious voice, but he couldn’t determine where it came from. As he was about to give up, he heard it again. This time, it came from his right. Orion ran through the trees and the underbrush until he reached a small clearing. In the center of the clearing was a large, green creature, both frightening and frightened at the same time. As Orion approached the creature, he heard it cry for help again. Orion was about to touch the creature when an odd ringing blared out across the forest. Orion’s vision went dark.
Orion woke in a cold sweat in his bed, his alarm ringing in his ear. He shut it off, the dream still fresh in his mind. What was that creature? he wondered. As Orion got dressed, the image of the forest and the creature faded, but Orion couldn’t shake the feeling that something or someone needed help. He finally put the dream out of his mind and he concentrated on other, more important things.
His birthday was only a week away, and he planned on enjoying it, whether Tanya liked him or not. The celebration was going to be pretty much the same as his seventeenth birthday, except that Orion planned on finishing his dinner, and saying goodbye to his guests, rather than collapsing in the hall. He remembered his last birthday, when he went through the transformation. The pain of the transformation started at the beginning of dinner, forcing him into bed before the feast was over. Everyone had been concerned for their prince, then shocked and amazed when they saw him with wings the next day.
Orion had been following Rick’s advice and ignoring Tanya, but he decided to give her an invitation to his birthday celebration personally, just to let her know that he was still available if she wanted a friend. He was still ‘going out’ with the telblec girl, and would be taking her to his birthday celebration, but he was ready to let her go as soon as Tanya showed the slightest interest in him. He hadn’t told anyone about their fight, afraid that if his father got wind of it, she would be in big trouble. He even had to lie to Rick about how he cut his arm on something inside his private room.
Standing outside of her room, he brushed out any wrinkles in his clothes and took a deep breath. Just before he knocked, he heard voices floating out through the doors. He wasn’t one to eavesdrop, but the voices were rather loud.
“I don’t care how pretty they are, Lee!” Tanya’s voice came through the closed doors, “I’m tired of being left alone so much while you go off with all of your girlfriends.”
“They’re not my girlfriends, Tanya,” Lee replied, “Those girls are just showing me around the palace and teaching me about the telblec culture. Did you know that it’s common for a man to have lots of women around him at the same time?” Orion’s brows knitted. Yea, he thought, common for a man who has no sense of commitment. Orion knocked, not wanting to hear anymore, lest he burst in and started yelling at the both of them.
“Come in,” Lee called, exasperated. Orion opened the door.
“Oh, no, not you, again,” Tanya tuned her back to Orion and sat down. She didn’t seem as angry, just a bit peeved.
“I just wanted to give you two this,” he said, handing Lee an invitation sealed inside an envelope. He stepped over and handed one to Tanya, forcing himself to look like he didn’t care that he was standing next to the most beautiful girl in the world. He held out the invitation and turned his back to her once she took it.
“What’s this?” Lee asked, opening the envelope.
“It’s an invitation to my birthday celebration next week,” Orion said, making himself sound bored. “The whole kingdom’s invited, and all the servants are busy letting the kingdom know. There was no one else to bring you your invitations, and since I wasn’t doing anything, I figured I’d do it,” he shrugged. Actually, the other invitations had gone out almost two weeks ago. Orion had to stop a servant in the hall and sweet talk him into letting the prince give out these particular invitations. “So, anyway, hope to see you there,” Orion said without enthusiasm as he left the room.
