by C.L. Mozena
Chapter 7
Since the boys didn’t have studies that day, Orion began his lessons with Joshua the next morning in the courtyard. This courtyard was set up very similar to the one back on Olhoe, with twisting, cobblestone pathways, brightly colored and fragrant flowers, tall, lush trees, and neat flowering bushes. Lamps were stationed every few yards along the pathways, and there was a stone fountain in the center. The fountain only had three levels, instead of five levels like the fountain on Olhoe. Joshua began the lesson by showing Orion simple things, like creating light pictures by bending and filtering colors from the natural light. It took Orion several hours and a lunch break before he finally filtered the color red from natural light. It took much more energy and focus to make the light do what you wanted than Orion thought at first. He was exhausted, so the boys decided to end the lesson for the day.
“That wasn’t too bad for your first day, bro,” Rick said as he sat down on the grass under a large oak tree. “You should be able to get the rest of the colors in less than a week.”
“Really?” Orion looked up at Rick from where he was slumped on the grass. Rick smiled and nodded. “I can’t wait.” Orion began fiddling with one of his gold gauntlets.
“What are those?” Joshua asked, noticing the sun gleam off the gold.
“These?” Orion asked, holding his sleeves back. “They’re weighted wristbands. I have matching anklets, too.” He raised his pant cuffs to show them.
“Those are neat,” Joshua said, examining Orion’s odd jewelry, “but why are they weighted? Wouldn’t they be more comfortable if they were light weight?”
“Probably, but then there wouldn’t be any point wearing them,” Orion explained. His brothers exchanged looks, so Orion continued, “I use these to make myself heavier for training. See, when I started training, the other boys were older and stronger than me. The only way I’d be able to train with them is if I got stronger, too. People use hand-held weights to strengthen their arms, so I tried doing that, but it wasn’t enough. I came up with the idea of wearing weights on my wrists so that I could train with the weights while I was doing other things. Bertha, my training instructor, took me to the royal jeweler to fashion the weights into something that would look nice. He made these wristbands and matching anklets for me. I started out with five pounds each, and I’m up to sixty pounds each, now.”
“Do they work?” Rick asked, “Did you get stronger than your friends?”
“Yep. They can’t catch up to me, now,” Orion chuckled at the irony.
“Would you mind if I took your idea and wore the same? It seems like a really good idea,” Rick said.
“I don’t mind. The only problem with these is that they can’t get any heavier than sixty pounds.” Orion ran his fingers over a gauntlet. “There isn’t anything heavier that these can be made out of.”
“Maybe I can help with that, bro,” Joshua said as he reached over and took Orion’s wrist. Holding his hands over and under the gauntlet, he closed his eyes. The gauntlet began to glow bright green, then fade and return to normal.
“Hey, it’s heavier!” Orion exclaimed as he tested it by moving his arm around. “How’d you do that?”
“Oh, that’s just another aspect of fysimae,” Joshua smirked. “There’s no limit as to how heavy or light you can make something. Now, give me the others and I’ll add another ten pounds to them, too.” After Joshua had finished with Orion’s gauntlets, the three of them took a trip to the jeweler in the city, where both Rick and Joshua ordered wristbands and anklets similar to Orion’s. Rick wanted a set for the weighted training, but Joshua wanted them because he thought they looked regal. The two sets of bands would take a few weeks to make, so the boys left the jeweler’s and explored more of the city.
Without intention, they found themselves in front of the flower shop where Sandra worked. Orion watched her arranging potted plants on a large step shelf outside the shop’s front window. Spotting the three boys on their horses, she abandoned her work and glided over to them.
“So how’s your little zupzie doing, Prince?” she said airily, batting her eyes at Orion. Orion scowled. The last thing he wanted was to remember that awful scene he made after he had dropped Star.
“She’s fine,” he said quickly, “How have you been?”
“Oh, I’m alright,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Been busy, you know?”
“Yea,” Orion didn’t really know, since he never worked a day in his life, but he didn’t want her to know that. He tried to think of something clever to say to her, but nothing would come to mind, so he stammered, “Uh, your flowers are pretty.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, turning to the horse. “You are such a friendly thing, aren’t you?” she cooed while rubbing the horse’s muzzle. In return, the horse nudged her, looking for a treat. Orion, his face growing hot from being second to a horse, climbed down and stood next to Sandra.
“You know, I picked her out from the other horses back at the palace,” he lied as he stroked the horse’s neck.
“You have good taste, Prince.” She turned her attention back to the horse. Orion beamed at the compliment.
“Would you...I don’t know, care for a ride?” Orion asked, feeling his face redden again.
“Orion, we don’t have time,” Rick trotted up on his horse. “We’re supposed to meet mother for dinner in half an hour.” Orion glared at his brother.
“And I have to get back to work,” Sandra explained, “before-,”
“Miss Sandra!” A burly voice called from the doorway. Turning, Orion saw a man who was rather large around the middle, wearing a soiled apron over a dirty shirt and pants. He didn’t have a beard, but stubble covered his round face. “Did you finish with those plants?”
“No, sir,” Sandra answered. Turning back to Orion, she said, “I need to get back to work. I’ll see you later, then, Prince?”
“Uh, yea, sure,” Orion stammered, fiddling with the horse’s reins. Sandra kissed him on the cheek before hurrying back inside. Orion stared after her, sighing.
“Come on, lover boy,” Joshua’s voice startled Orion, “we gotta go home, now. Get on your horse.”
“Uh, yea,” Orion looked around, not sure how to get on a horse. His mind was spinning from Sandra’s kiss. He had never been kissed before, except by his father’s wife, and that didn’t count.
“You put your foot in the stirrup, stupid,” Rick said as Orion was trying to shimmy up the reins like a rope, making his horse whinny.
“Oops, heh, right,” Orion felt himself blush as he forced himself to pay attention to what he was doing. Finally settled properly in the saddle, the three of them trotted their horses back to the palace. Orion’s mind wasn’t on dinner, it was on Sandra and her kiss. He wondered if she really did like him, or just liked the animals. After dinner, Orion trained with Rick, showing him the exercises he did every night, and explaining how they helped him get used to the weighted gauntlets. They trained for the rest of the night, Joshua sitting by, watching them.