Rise of a Legend

by C.L. Mozena

Chapter 23

  Each day passed quickly, and the weeks flew by. Alex joined Orion for training in the evenings, and had a set of gauntlets made, too. Before Orion knew it, his seventeenth birthday was only a day away. He had planned to spend the evening with his friends and his brothers, who had agreed to stay there with him, but he found himself in his father’s room again.

  They were both sitting on a couch in King Frederic’s den. The heavy curtains around a large, glass door the led to a balcony had been drawn, allowing the evening sunlight to stream in. Neither of them were very comfortable being in the same room, since they never spent much time together. King Frederic glanced over at his son, still trying to convince Orion to stay on Olhoe. So far, he had been unsuccessful, and Orion looked forward to going back to Lunspae after his birthday.

  “I asked you here because of your birthday.” King Frederic looked down. “I have something for you.”

  “Really?” Orion’s eyes sparkled. The last time his father had given him something the night before his birthday, it had been really special. It was this ring, Orion thought, glancing down at his hand. His father gave it to him when he was five years old, said that it was magical, and that it had secrets. The ring shimmered like there was a tiny crown inside the emerald. Although he couldn’t read it, Orion had seen writing on the inside of the gold band.

  “Yes, Orion.” King Frederic fiddled with something beside him. Orion watched as his father unstrapped the dagger he always wore on his hip, and folded the leather belt. “This, Orion, belonged to my father,” he said, holding the dagger gingerly. “He died years before you were born, when I was a little boy. I was given this dagger when I was old enough to use it without cutting myself to ribbons.” King Frederic paused and raised his eyes to Orion’s. “And now I want you to have it. Sorry I didn’t wrap it up.”

  “You’re giving me your dagger? But-, but you love that dagger.” Orion argued, amazed that his father would give him such a personal treasure. He always thought that his father loved the dagger more than him.

  “I love you, Orion.” The two of them sat there in silence for what seemed like hours, gazing into each other’s eyes. Finally, King Frederic broke the silence.

  “Go on, take it.” He smiled, handing the dagger to Orion. “Just do me one thing, Orion. I want you to wear it during your party.” An idea had just hit him, “And afterwards, I can teach you how to use it.” He shifted his gaze to the fire. “You know, I can block arrows with only this dagger. Even the ones launched by a crossbow.”

  “Really? No way!” Orion was amazed.

  “Oh, sure.” King Frederic looked at Orion again. “It took me a while to learn it, but I did. And you can learn it, too.” He didn’t want to tell Orion that he had actually learned to block arrows during his year of enslavement on Lunspae. Gaining the empress’s trust, he had been allowed his dagger back, and had spent some time with the guards, learning new skills.

  “Wow,” Orion breathed, and looked down at his father’s dagger. The silver handle and gently curved sheath were covered in tiny emeralds, rubies, and diamonds. At a closer inspection, the emeralds took the shape of a dragon, and the rubies were it’s fiery breath. The diamonds seemed to fill in everywhere else. Orion turned it over and over in his hands, taking in every single gemstone. “Thank you, Father. This means a lot to me.” Orion looked up at his father. King Frederic was smiling.

  “Try it on. Let’s see how you look.” King Frederic motioned for Orion to get up. He helped Orion place the leather belt and fasten it. Orion stepped back and turned around slowly. “It suits you,” King Frederic said. Orion trotted to a full-length mirror inside the washroom, and admired the dagger and how it looked on him.

  Wow, Orion stared at the dagger, I can’t believe he actually gave this to me. It’s his only heirloom from his parents!

  “How do you like it?” King Frederic had come in and stood right beside his son. Orion looked at himself up and down.

  I can’t believe how much I look like him. Everyone was right. If I had black skin and black hair, I could be his twin instead of Josh’s! “I like it a lot.” Orion turned, stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his father. “Thank you.” King Frederic hesitated, and returned the hug.

  “I have something else for you, too, Orion.” King Frederic said, stepping away awkwardly. Orion followed his father back into the main room. King Frederic began rifling through the papers on his overly large desk. “Here it is!” he said, pulling a thin, black folder out from under a notebook. He handed the folder to Orion, who opened it to the single piece of paper inside. King Frederic didn’t need to tell Orion what it was for, but he did anyway.

  “As of tomorrow, you are officially a warrior, Orion. You’ve earned it. I’ve sat in on some of your training sessions, actually most of them, and I’m told that you train like that all the time.” He beamed at Orion, who was running his fingers over the certificate, wondering if it was really real. Orion had dreamed of being named a warrior by his father for years, and now it had happened. Orion could feel the tears welling in his good eye.

  “Now then,” King Frederic became serious, “every warrior needs his own horse. You’re no exception.” Orion stared at his father as he blinked the tear away.

  “My own horse, too? Wow!” Orion could barely contain his excitement. Until now, he had to borrow a horse anytime he wanted to ride. “Can I see it now? Please?”

  “Sure,” King Frederic chuckled, “Let’s go down to the stables.” The two of them made their way through halls that seemed to be miles long to Orion. The daylight hadn’t completely diminished yet due to the longer days of late spring. The stable hands were just starting to bring the horses in for the night.

  “Your Majesties,” one of the stable hands greeted Orion and his father. “What can I do for you this evening?”

  “We want to see the foal.” King Frederic replied.

  “Foal?” Orion asked, “You mean we got a new foal?”

  “Yes, and he’s yours, Orion.” King Frederic smiled. “ It would be best if you were able to bond with your horse from infancy.”

  “Oh, wow, oh, wow, oh wow!” Orion began trembling with excitement. He had always dreamed of owning his own horse. “Where is he? I want to see him!”

  “Yea, about that,” the stable hand said, sheepishly.

  “What’s wrong?” King Frederic started to panic. It figures. I promise my son his own horse and it gets sick. Oh, well, I can always give him another one, I guess.

  “Nothing’s wrong with the foal, Majesty,” the stable hand quickly replied, sensing King Frederic’s frustration. “It’s just that there was another one born today. I’ve been waiting to tell you, incase you wanted to give the younger one to the prince.”

  “Oh!” King Frederic was taken by surprise. “So there’s nothing wrong with the first? It’s not sick or anything?”

  “No, Majesty. Both foals are in perfect health, as well as the mares.”

  “Okay, well,” King Frederic looked down at Orion who was standing on tiptoes, trying to get a glimpse of the foals. “How about you pick, Orion?”

  “Huh?” Orion looked confused.

  “There are two new foals.” King Frederic explained. “I promised you one of them. You can pick which one you want.”

  “I can? Really? Thank you, Father!” Orion turned to the stable hand. “Where are they? I want to see them!”

  “This way, Majesty.” The stable hand led them into the stable house where three horses had already been put to bed. “Here’s one of them. He’s in this stall with his mother.” Orion stepped up to the door and gazed at the chestnut mare and her chocolate brown foal. Both horses perked up their ears and gazed back at Orion, the foal laying down. The foal had a large, white stripe down his face and a white spot on his ankle, just like his mother.

  “That’s the younger one, Majesty.” th
e stable hand commented. “The other one’s still in the pasture. Would you like to see it?”

  “Yes, please,” Orion was smiling from ear to ear with anticipation. If this one is so cute, I wonder what the other’s gonna look like?

  The stable hand grabbed a half-filled pail and led Orion and his father to a grassy hill where wild flowers were in full bloom. A mare stood alone under an old oak tree. Orion couldn’t see a foal anywhere.

  “Careful, Prince,” the stable hand warned, “don’t get too close or you might spook her.” He began shaking the pail of feed he brought with him and whistled to the mare. She began trotting away from the tree, towards the stable hand’s pail. Not long after she moved, a lump on the ground got up and took the shape of a large foal. The foal was medium black, with a bright white star on his forehead. Orion stared at the foal as it trotted to it’s mother and stood by her side, eyeing Orion. The stable hand whistled again, and the horses followed him into the stable house, and into a stall.

  “So, what do you think, Orion?” King Frederic asked, “Which one do you want?”

  “I want the black one! Can I have the black one, Father?”

  “Of course you can, Orion. I told you that you could pick.” He and Orion walked to the stables to see Orion’s new little foal that was almost as tall as Orion.

  “You do realize, Majesty,” the stable hand heaved a bale of hay into the stall for the mare, “that this little guy is gonna be blacker than the night in a year, right?”

  “He is?”

  “Yea, he’s gonna shed all his baby fur by this time next year, and grow a sleek black coat.”

  “Ooh,” Orion breathed, trying to imagine his new little dark foal as a large, tough, midnight-black horse.

  “Come on, Orion,” King Frederic clapped a hand on Orion’s shoulder, “it’s time we went back inside.”