by C.L. Mozena
Chapter 8
Orion wandered down to the courtyard the next morning. He usually met his brothers there for fysimae lessons before their studies, but Orion couldn’t find Rick or Joshua anywhere. The guard Orion had asked said that he hadn’t seen either of them at all that day. Orion figured that they were just oversleeping, so he sat down on the stone bench of the waterfall to wait. The light spray from the water made Orion shiver in the cool morning air, so he roamed over to the old oak tree. Leaning against it’s rough bark, Orion had a nice view of the courtyard, and would be able to see his brothers no matter which way they came. The breeze carried the fragrance of the flowers past Orion, blowing his hair and ruffling his shirt. Orion had insisted on keeping the same style as he had back home, so the tailors created a new wardrobe for him. However, at the insistence of Joshua, Orion’s clothes were a bit more fancy. The outfit he wore was his usual white, but with rubies studded around the sleeve cuffs, down the sides of the pants, and down the edges of the front of the shirt. He still wore the shirt open, which Joshua laughed at. He had matching boots, with rubies studded down the outside of each, from the top to the heel.
Orion sighed as he fidgeted with one of the rubies on his shirt. He didn’t understand what was taking his brothers so long. He wanted to go find out, but figured that he wouldn’t be able to find their rooms. A gardener came out to water the plants in the courtyard, carrying a watering can and pulling a wagon full of potted plants to be planted.
“Good morning,” Orion said as he trotted up to the gardener.
“Oh!” the gardener exclaimed, startled by Orion’s approach and spilling water on himself. “Good morning, Prince. And how are you on this beautiful morning?”
“Fine, thanks,” Orion replied, “Have you seen my brothers? They were supposed to meet me here an hour ago.”
“Ah, well, Prince Rick has private studies today. You probably won’t see him until dinner,” he answered.
“Private studies?” Orion asked, “What’s that?”
“I’m not too sure, Prince. I don’t know what he studies, just that he does it outside the palace. I guess he’s trying to prepare for the day he becomes emperor.”
“I guess so. What about Josh?”
“You should be able to find Prince Joshua in the library, although I believe he’s already read every book in the palace.”
“Alright, thanks,” Orion said as he started off. He found his way to the library easily enough, since it was located in the same place as the library on Olhoe. Sure enough, he found Joshua sitting behind a table piled with books. He looked up as Orion approached.
“Oh, there you are, Orion,” Joshua said as Orion took a seat next to his brother. “I was wondering where you were.”
“How about outside?” Orion asked sarcastically, crossing his arms, “Waiting for you and Rick to show up?”
“Oh, oops,” Joshua grinned sheepishly at Orion, “I guess I forgot to tell you about Rick’s private studies, huh?” Orion frowned. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ Sorry, bro. Rick takes a day every week for his private studies. I’m never allowed to go with him.”
“That’s okay. What does Rick study when he’s by himself?”
“Who knows?” Joshua shrugged, turning back to his open book, “He never tells me or mother, or anyone. It’s all some big mystery.”
“Uh-huh,” Orion looked around the large library. There were shelves filled with books covering every wall, except for the one opposite the door. That wall had a gigantic window that started at the floor and towered above them to the ceiling, three stories high. There were purple satin drapes with gold trim drawn back to let the light in. Orion could tell that these drapes were for show only, since they would be too thin to darken the room. The main room was domed, with wings going off to either side of the window. The ceiling was painted with baby angels playing among the clouds. Large marble columns stood at the four corners of the main room, and were capped by cloud-shaped marble, giving the illusion that they were part of the painting on the ceiling. Orion couldn’t see any stairs, but he saw that there were two more levels in the library, each with a large opening around the window.
“But you know what I think?” Joshua continued, not taking his eyes off of his book, “I think Rick has a girlfriend out there that he goes to see every week. He’s just too shy to tell anyone.”
“You’re probably right, Josh,” Orion answered, still taking the library in. The one back home was bigger, and had four levels instead of three, but this one was no less amazing.
“So anyway,” Joshua said, folding the book and setting it on one of the stacks on the table, “Would you like to learn more fysimae today, even though Rick’s not here?”
“Sure!” Orion exclaimed. He couldn’t wait to learn all there was to know.