Tapestry of Power

He was rather handsome in his own way. His long, auburn hair flowed freely over his shoulders and down his back. That in itself lent him a somewhat wild aspect, but it was his eyes which truly gave him the look of some inhuman creature. They were piercing eyes, so intense and blue that they defied description. They were like the eyes of some exotic specter looking out from beneath his dark and brooding brows.

Everyone else within that hall was filled with merriment, but Orion did not even smile. He was lost deep in thought; troubling thoughts they appeared to be, for his brow was deeply furrowed and his mouth grimly shut.

"Orion!" a cheerful voice broke into his thoughts. Orion started from his reverie and, turning slightly, found himself looking up at Prince Gideone.

The Prince was several inches Orion's better in height and slightly leaner also. He was a few years Orion's elder, but that meant little considering Orion had yet to reach even the age of thirty. Orion was, no doubt, the better of the two when it came to brute strength, but Gideone was every bit as good a warrior.

It was rumored that the blood of High Elves flowed through Gideone, but, if those rumors were true, the High Elvish quality showed itself through no more than his black hair. His eyes were not even black but instead a very dark brown.

He cut altogether the most dashing of figures, and his closely cut black beard did naught but add to his image. It was not for nothing that all of the women of Nor looked upon him as the most gallant and swashbuckling of heroes.

"Your Highness," said Orion as he bowed before the Prince.

Gideone laughed and said, with the most aristocratic sounding of accents--common to all well-bred Norians--"Orion, this is a night of rejoicing, but you stand here and look as joyful as one being forced to eat his own stomach! Look at all the maidens--young and fair every one of them--and know I that certain ones of them would give all they posses to dance but a single dance with you."

"Someone should teach them not to commit such folly, Your Highness," replied Orion, "for 'tis unwise of a young maid to give all she has for a single dance with any man, much less with one who would not even make a good partner at the moment."

"Nonsense! You could dance better than most even with both your legs broken and your hands tied behind your back."

Orion had to smile at the images Gideone's words brought to mind, but he replied seriously, "Nay, nay, I will not dance... unless, of course, you command it, Your Highness."

"What good would commanding you do?" cried Gideone. "You'd still not be enjoying yourself, which is the whole purpose of celebrations."

"Yes, Your Highness."

At Orion's reply, Gideone's hopeful features fell. He looked out over the many people gathered there and then turned back to Orion.

"I see that nothing I can do will make you enjoy this evening," said the Prince suddenly solemn, "so I can but leave you to your melancholy. But remember this, Orion: war comes swiftly upon us. Take what joy you can now, for there will be precious little of it in the months to come."

"I would that I could, Your Highness," replied Orion.

Gideone turned and, leaving Orion to his sad solitude, returned to his merrymaking.

Orion, for a while longer, stayed in the banquet hall and watched those who celebrated the feast of Pallath-gaon, but such mirth, when doom he knew lurked so close, bided not well with him, and he soon slipped silently from the hall.