Journey For Love

Once upon a time, on the high rolling hills of Oregonia, a young prince ruled over his kingdom in a giant castle. The castle, made of only the finest materials, housed the prince, Orion, and his four younger sisters. Orion’s parents, the King and Queen, passed away from a fatal bout with a flu, thus leaving the Prince and his sisters to rule the kingdom. Orion, being the firstborn, was entitled to the crown. His evil uncle, however, had been ruling for many years while Orion matured. This devious man, King Liam, was mean and cruel. There was not a hint of love in his dark eyes.
One day, as Orion was sitting on his future throne, Aaron, the court’s royal housecarl, came rushing in the doors.
“Master! I come bearing news from the royal counsel!” he panted.
“Come, enter and be peaceful, my friend. What have the counsel to say?” inquired Orion.
“They unanimously decided that before your inauguration in a week you must find a woman and her yours. You must marry before you will be allowed to take the throne.”
Orion’s brown eyes widened. “Am I not enough for the people of Oregonia!?” he boomed, his voice reverberating through the cold hallways of the castle. Orion stood up with such force that the chair he had formerly occupied tipped over and hit the ground with a thunk. He made eye contact with Aaron and, with immense passion, stated in a deep, firm voice, “You tell the royal counsel that they can burn in the fiery depths of hell below.”
Orion stormed off to his bed chamber. For an entire day the halls of the castle were void of his hearty chuckle. It seemed dreary to the cooks and servants, as if the sky had suddenly become grey. Although no one could put their finger on what it was exactly, something was definitely different. It seemed to many that that day was the longest day anyone has ever drudged through in the castle.
After the storm had mostly passed, Aaron went to Prince Orion’s chambers to speak with him. The tall wooden door creaked open and Aaron’s jaw dropped. There stood a dapper young man, wearing a beige roughspun tunic, a black belt, and green knit pants. No crown sat upon his head. He was almost unrecognizable.
“W-… What are you doing?” stuttered Aaron.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Orion replied. “I’m going to find a maiden worthy of the kingdom.”
Aaron smiled at Orion’s suddenly submissive attitude but couldn’t stop wondering why Orion had changed his mind. It was like Orion was a completely different person. Aaron shook his head, laughed, and wished the prince luck on his new-found journey. He’d need it in Oregonia.
Orion stepped out of the dark castle hall into the cool fall air. He took a deep breath and inhaled the aroma of leaves and livestock. Perhaps this isn’t the most appealing scent to some, but to Orion it was his childhood. It was playing in the rain at night. It was playing hide and seek with the guards around the market. It was his mother after she would come inside from caring for her horses, even though she really didn’t have to, and it was his father after he would address the kingdom about taxes or political jargon Orion didn’t understand at the time.
Orion closed his eyes and smiled. “This is it,” he thought. “This is where I begin the rest of my life.” Orion walked down the steps from the castle that sat in the right corner of the village but in the dead center of the kingdom. He waved at the people that passed him by while the sun beat gently on his face. He was happy. Orion could not remember the last time he felt true happiness. Was it the last time his mother held him close and told him to behave? Was it the last time his father lovingly pat him on the back and tousled his hair? Orion didn’t know. He shook his head as if doing so would rid him of the dark things in his head.
Puffing his chest out, Orion strolled into the market. After browsing the local produce, Orion spotted a young woman with long golden locks sitting under a tree. She had big green eyes and a pointed nose.
“Excuse me, m’lady,” Orion said quietly, so as not to startle her. “May I offer you a fresh apple, straight from the tree?” He asked suavely as he picked an apple from the branches above her.
She glanced up at Orion with fire in her eyes and snapped, “Make like the bees and buzz off!”
The prince backed away, taking that as his cue to move on. Time and time again Orion was rejected. Every woman he ran into treated him like manure and drove him back deeper into the ground. Orion was beginning to lose hope. No one would recognize him in peasant clothes, but he didn’t want a woman to love him solely for his money and fame.
Orion stared at the ground and kicked a pebble. He plopped down on a log next to the path leading to the tavern. With his head resting on his hands, he got lost in thought. He saw two butterflies flutter by like they were playing. Smiling, he thought, “How nice it would be to have that with someone… To love them so much that you can be yourself and not feel the need to cover anything up…” Now, of course we all know that butterflies don’t have that thought process, but we will let Orion wallow in his self-pity for a little bit.
His thoughts were interrupted by a crystal clear voice. Orion’s eyes snapped into focus on an old woman. She was beautiful. Her hair was long, curly, and silver. The skin that must have been through so much was like porcelain; the only wrinkles she seemed to have looke as if crows had danced at the corners of her eyes, leaving shallow imprints of their feet on her face.
The woman smiled and a gentle breeze moved her curls ever so slightly. “Hello,” she said so softly Orion could barely hear her. “My name is Blinda. I was sent to help.”
“What? Sent by who?” Orion interrogated.
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Blinda replied. “All that matters is I am here,” she continued, “for you.” She took Orion’s hand into her own and continued on as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. Blinda told Orion that the place of his success would not be Oregonia, but somewhere else far away. The place Orion would find true love was not anywhere close to the vast kingdom he ruled, but rather, love would be found in the far off land of Arisha, a meager farming community.
Orion pulled his hand away and, after a few seconds, lifted his head to thank the woman, but she was not there. Instead, he discovered a butterfly with a white arrow on its back. The arrow pointed south, the direction he would need to go in order to reach Arisha.
The sky had turned dark and heavy clouds loomed over the sea. “Bad sailing conditions,” Orion thought. It would not be easy to find a boat to take him to the trading ports of Arisha. Of course, Orion could just have used one of the many boats docked in the port just behind the castle. Whether or not he even thought of those, we will never know, but for now, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he just wanted to do it by himself. Let’s view it as a way for him to show independence.
By now, the evil (temporary) King Liam would have heard about Orion’s expedition. It angered him beyond anything you could believe. King Liam was in his chambers on the top level of the castle’s main hall. He paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, again and again. “What can I do about this?” he muttered fiercely, slamming his hands down on the table.
Outside of King Liam’s door, he heard Aaron run up to Lilia, one of Orion’s sisters, and inform her that Orion was on his way to the land of Arisha and may not be back for a couple of days. Liam’s eyes brightened and his mouth curved into a sly smirk. “Yes,” he whispered, tapping his fingers against each other. “Yes, this is it. I will let him go to the land of Arisha and, if he makes it there through the storm, I will close all of Oregonia’s legal ports until the day after his inauguration. That way he will not be able to make it back in time and I will continue to rule over the kingdom for the rest of my life! It’s brilliant, I tell you! Brilliant!”
King Liam cackled and a bolt of lightning cracked outside, illuminating the dark sky into a pure white for a split second.
It was all very cliché, you see. Liam liked to claim individuality but he was your typical villain doing your typical villain business, ruining people’s lives, stealing candy from babies, etcetera, and etcetera. You get the idea. Now, we go back to our hero.
Orion had run up and down the dock, begging each sailor and each captain to help him. He ran and ran for hours. The sun sank lower and lower in the sky. Orion felt like giving up. It was hard for him to even pick up his legs at this point, let alone run to look for a boat.
Finally, when it seemed like all else had failed, while Orion was squatting on the grass and rubbing his temples, a man approached him. This man was tall, heavy, scruffy, and had an eye patch over his left eye. His grey hair fell out from under his blue hat. The curls framed his eyes, causing the wrinkles to become even more defined.
“The name’s Gruff,” he stated, his voice deep and gravelly. Orion could already tell he was keen on small talk so he skipped to the point.
“I need a boat,” Orion said meekly.
“Well,” Gruff scratched his chin and continued on, “the weather ain’t too good for sailin’. It would take a mighty fine price for me to even think about takin’ ya.
Gruff stared down at Orion with his one good eye half shut. Orion nodded and reached into his pocket.
“Here,” Orion whispered, staring at the ground. Gruff reached out and Orion unfolded his fingers. In the palm of Orion’s hand sat a pin. This was not just any pin, however. It was made of gold, real gold, with a ruby set into a bulb at the end. “You see, Mr. Gruff, I’m not really a peasant,” stated Orion with a chuckle. Gruff stared at him, wide-eyed and jaw dropped. Orion went on, saying, “My father was the king, and my mother, well, you guessed it. She was the queen.” As Orion continued to explain his predicament, Gruff nodded solemnly. Orion finished his story and Gruff was speechless.
“Take this back, my prince. I insist!” Gruff stammered.
“No,” said Orion. “No, you may keep this. It is yours just as long as you get me where I need to go.”
“Yes, majesty,” Gruff bowed and put out his hand, pointing to his boat and continued, “Where shall we be heading?”
“To the farming land of Arisha. And don’t call me ‘majesty’. Today, I am just like you, my friend.”
Gruff smiled and pat Orion’s back. “Alright, friend. We must be off if we are to beat the storm. Danger is coming; I can smell it.” Gruff wrinkled his bulbous nose and Orion noticed Gruff’s eyes. They were grey, dark grey, and swirly like the eye of a storm.
Orion and Gruff walked toward the boat. Orion somehow felt lighter as if he would float away if Gruff did not have his hand resting on his shoulder. Perhaps he was relieved that he had finally found a way to get to Arisha and find love. I, for one, have my doubts about that. Giving Gruff the pin symbolized Orion letting go of his responsibilities to find love. That pin was the only thing he had on him tying him to royalty and now that he had gotten rid of it, he could truly find someone who loved him for him. He was no longer pretending, but I digress.
The two men stepped onto the boat. It was old and crusty, but it would work. Orion sat on a stair leading up to the platform Gruff was standing on. He put his head in his hands and did something he’d never done before; he prayed.
“I’m not really sure how this works or how to start, really… But, I guess I’m going to give it a shot. Whoever’s up there, I hope you’re listening,” Orion whispered, his hands clasped together. “I need your help. I’m asking for just a bit of guidance. Please help me find a woman, an honest and loyal woman who will truly love me. That’s all I ask. Uh, amen?”
Orion picked up his head and stared into the stars. “I hope that worked,” he thought.
Back in Oregonia, King Liam was busy preparing an edict. He was closing all of the ports in the kingdom so that Orion could not get back in, that is, if he made it to Arisha alive. Liam was smiling when he handed the announcement to Aaron.
“Get this out by nightfall, slave.”
“But, m’lord,” Aaron spoke quietly, reading the announcement carefully before continuing on, “the prince. Orion. He is in Arisha. He will not make it back in time for his inauguration ceremony. We’ll have to postpone!”
“What!?” exclaimed Liam. “This cannot be postponed, he mustn’t take the throne! He is far too immature! What of me?!”
“Well, sir, you knew this day would come. It was in the details of the agreement you signed…” Aaron slowly drifted off into silence as he saw the King’s fingers reach down to the sword sheathed on his belt. Liam’s fingers slowly wrapped around the handle and in a flurry of commotion he whipped it out. Aaron drew his dagger. Liam thrust, Aaron dodged left, then right, left, right, and down before finally popping up and Aaron drove his dagger through Liam’s heart.
Liam looked down upon the small shiv of metal protruding from his heart and fell to his knees. He gasped for air and fell upon his stomach, lying dead on the floor. Aaron called for the guards and explained the situation. The guards dragged Liam’s lifeless body out into the night and placed him outside the village walls, leaving him for the animals as he was not to be buried in the family tomb. Until Orion’s return, Aaron would have to reign as king. Aaron walked up to the throne, his hands still red with the blood of the former evil, sat down and began to cry. He cried until his throat was raw and his eyes could cry no more. His sobs echoed through the hallways and everyone gathered into the throne room and simply watched.
Aaron cleared his throat. “Um, I am going to take over reign for the next few days. Just until Orion gets back. If you need me, I’ll be in my chambers.” With his head hung low, he stumbled through the hallways and into his room.
The boat rocked violently on the monstrous waves. Orion could hear Gruff’s voice straining over the crack of lightning. Orion could not see anything but water and pitch black sky. Lighting struck the boat and the old wood caught on fire. All Orion saw then was the orange blossom of flame. Orion ran up to where Gruff had been standing and screamed his name. “Gruff!” He waited, but with no response. “GRUFF!” Another long wait and there was still no response. Orion looked around frantically and spotted a piece of ply wood. He dove for it and wrapped his arms around it as a giant swell rushed over him, dragging him out to sea. The last thing Orion remembers is hugging the piece of wood, wet and shivering, while he stared up at the sky, pleading for the sweet release of death.
The next thing Orion knew, he was laying on something soft and warm. He grabbed a handful of what he was laying on. Sand. It slipped through his fingertips. There was a sound of footsteps rushing over towards him. Orion squeezed his eyes shut, sure he was going to face immense pain only momentarily.
The footsteps stopped and Orion felt a thump as someone fell onto the sand next to him. A small, soft hand rubbed his cheek. He blinked his eyes a couple of times but he could not see the person above him, for he the sun was making everything look black in comparison. He blinked some more and lifted up his hand, slowly but surely rubbing his eyes. His eyes came into focus upon a gentle face of what seemed to be an angel. She had red hair spilling out beside her soft and delicate face. Her nose was a gentle ski slope, her eyes icy blue. Her mouth had a gentle curve before her pink and plump lips split into a smile.
“Are you ok?” She asked gently.
“Who are you? Where am I?”
“My name is Brie. You’re lying on the shores of Arisha, right outside of Flaggerena to be exact.”
Orion reached up and caressed her porcelain skin. He smiled and introduced himself. She smiled and repeated her name and place of origin. Brie help Orion sit up and gave him some fresh water out of a small tankard. Orion could not stop smiling and she gave him a strange look.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” She prodded.
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve been looking for you… Well, not you in particular, but you.”
“Listen, mister. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
Orion took her hand and pleaded with her. “Have dinner with me. Get to know me. I’m to find a wife before my inauguration. I’ve been searching for someone like you. You could’ve left me for dead, but you saved me… I owe you everything.”
Brie smiled and, after a lot of begging, agreed to go to Oregonia for dinner with Orion. Orion smiled and took her hand once again, asking her to lead him to the nearest port. With the weather clear and no storm in sight, they boarded another boat and set out to Oregonia. Brie slid her hand into his and, interlocking their fingers, watched the waves crash against the boat. Orion knew that this was it. The day he had been waiting for. He knew what love meant and he knew what loyalty and honor to your kingdom meant. He looked across the surface of the pure blue sea and smiled, imagining what expanses the future would hold.