Author's Note: Hola people! This is a story about Orian, a young Eyrien Queen whose character is mentioned but not explored in Queen of the Darkness. In the beginning of the book, her family signs a contract to serve in Ebon Rih under the rule of Lucivar Yaslana. This is the untold story of her life after Witch unleashed her power to cleanse the blood. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: The Black Jewels Trilogy and all of the characters mentioned in those magnificent books belong to Anne Bishop, and not, sadly, to me. The plot of this story, however, does belong to me, Crianza, just so you know!
Prologue Disclaimer: Part of theprologue of this story is a scene from Anne Bishop's Queen of the Darkness, but told from the point of view of two-year-old Orian. Some of the dialog is what appeared in the book, but everything else did not. Just incase you can't figure it out, it takes place on the coach ride from the service fair and the first night at SaDiablo Hall.
Prologue:
Orian was very, very bored. For all her two years of practice at amusing herself, which usually entailed breaking things, screaming very loudly, and generally causing trouble, she couldn't think of anything of interest to do. Snuggling her stuffed wolf, Woofer, tighter to her chest, she let her eyes wander around the coach. It was mostly full of Eyriens, with a few people of other races sitting together across from her. One of the non-Eyriens, a man, smiled at her, and she grinned back. Even at a very small age, she had learned that a cute smile could charm just about any male alive. She took a few steps toward him, holding out her stuffed animal so he could see how neat it was.
"Woofer," she said, holding it up high so he could get a good look.
The man leaned towards her, admiring her toy. "That he is. What's his name?"
But she had already told him its name! Apparently he wasn't very bright. "Woofer." She said with a bit more emphasis, hugging the animal close. When he glanced with interest at the toy, her smile turned into a glare. Woofer was hers! She had better remind him. "Mine!"
"Right you are." Amusement danced in the man's eyes, but his gaze slid from her to something behind her. Slightly put off, Orian opened her mouth to say something cute to regain his attention, but she was cut off by her mother's terse reprimand.
"Orian, don't bother the Warlord." Her mother's hand settled on her shoulders and restrained her against her mother's stomach. She and the man talked some more, but Orian wasn't listening. Her attention had already wandered off, and she was now watching her father, who was gazing at the nice man she had been showing Woofer to with a strange expression on his face.
When he came over to them, she raised her arms up in a silent plea to be picked up, but he ignored her and instead herded her and her mother back to their seats. Aggravated with males in general, she set about trying to annoy her older brother, Alanar, by continuously pinching his arm. Unfortunately, she had never actually managed to make Alanar show any emotion besides resigned patience, and it seemed that she wasn't going to succeed in irritating him any time soon. In fact, instead of frowning and snarling like her father would have done, he picked her up and put her in his lap and smiled at her. Six-year old Alanar had the patience of a man five times his age, and then some. This did not bode well for Orian's future. She hated patient males who gave her tolerant looks and didn't even react when she did something silly or made loud noises and such.
She pulled her wings in against her body and leaned against her brother, deciding to play with Woofer for the rest of the ride. Every once in a while, she tugged on her brother's arm and asked, "We there?" And every time he would shake his head no and give her that patient, brotherly smile that seemed to be the only expression he wore when she was in the room with him. Finally, after what seemed like forever and a day had passed, the big Eyrien man who had told them to get in the coach was ushering everybody off. When she opened her mouth to ask Alanar, "We there," he cut her off by saying, "No, not in Ebon Rih. But we're here…"
"What's 'here'?" she asked, brushing her wavy black hair out of her eyes so she could see better. The huge stone building that towered before them was the most imposing structure the two-year old had ever seen.
Shrugging, Alanar was about to tell her that he didn't know when he heard one of the men say, "SaDiablo Hall." When he repeated the name, she grinned up at him as if the name itself had made her happy, and quickly ran ahead, eager to explore. She didn't get very far, however, before her mother lifted her up and settled her on her hip.
"Behave yourself!" her mother whispered harshly in her ear, and because she was being held tightly enough that it was a struggle to breathe, she had no choice but to comply.
When they entered the building, the first thing she saw was a little boy flying high above them, giggling with mischievous glee. Squirming, she tried to get free of her mother's arms so she could play too, but Dorian had a tight grip and wasn't letting go. Orian settled for watching the big Eyrien chase the boy around the room, but when he was caught by a different, wingless man who he pummeled mercilessly, she giggled with wicked glee. After being returned to the Eyrien, he seemed to calm down a bit, at least until she grinned at him.
"Baby! Mine!" he yelled, struggling to get to her. A huge smile split her face, and she was about to start screaming to add to the fun when her mother squeezed her arm hard enough to turn the scream into a loud gasp.
"Shut up!" Dorian commanded under her breath, and Orian reluctantly complied.
A few minutes later, however, she and Alanar were taken from their parents, along with all the other children, and led to the nursery. Dinner was a messy, but filling, affair. It had been quite some time since Orian and Alanar had been able to eat their fill, so they stuffed themselves with a vigor that caused their caretakers to exchange a few worried glances. They were not the only ones shoving food into their mouths at a dangerously fast pace however, and the adults were forced to run from one child to another in a frenzy that amused the children so much that they ate with even more speed just to see how fast the women watching them could run.
There was nothing like a full stomach to put a child to sleep. Except in Orian's case, she was too excited to be tired. In the large playroom, she and Alanar played tag in the air, and soon all of the other children who could fly joined in. The adults were yelling at them to stop and come down for their baths, but being Eyrien, none of them were paying any attention.
"Puppy!" She yelled and pointed at the animal that had just stuck his head into the room. She tucked her wings against her and dived down towards the ground at a somewhat uncontrollable speed. The 'puppy' in question, a small brown and white dog, backed up slightly and let out a small, panicked whine. Orian landed gracelessly in front of him and fell back on her bottom. Normally she would have started crying, but she was too interested in the puppy to care. Grabbing onto his silky fur, she used him to hoist herself up from her position on the floor. He whined again, but leaned forward slightly to sniff her face. Orian giggled and began to pet him with a gentleness that belied her earlier, rougher contact with the sceltie. She held her stuffed animal up so he could see and said, "Woofer!" Letting out a soft bark and wagging his tail in response, he took a few steps closer and sniffed the little toy.
Behind her, many other children had gathered to look at the pretty dog, but she didn't want to share him with anyone. She had seen him first! She whirled around, the excited light of impending battle in her large, golden eyes. Unfortunatly, she didn't get to fight with anybody because a woman rushed over to her and swept her up into her arms. Orian squirmed mercilessly, but the woman wasn't letting go.
"Ladvarian…." The woman said sternly, and the dog tucked his tail and trotted out of the room. Orian heard her muttering something about idiotic furry beasts who couldn't follow even the most simple directions, but she didn't understand so she turned her full attention to getting out of the woman's grip. Sadly, two-year olds really couldn't compete with full-grown, adult muscle, so Orian was stuck. Shaking her head, the woman shouted something to the other adults and they began to round the children up. The girls were taken to one room, and the boys to another. Beds placed in neat rows lined the walls, all covered with large, overstuffed comforters.
On the other side of the room, a door opened up into a large bathroom with three tubs. Orian was carried there and made to stand still while her clothes were stripped off. Then the woman plunked her down in one of the huge basins and turned on the hot water. After being scrubbed within an inch of her life and dried quickly with a soft, fluffy towel, a large nightgown was pulled over her head and she was placed in one of the beds in the other room. Come to think of it, she was kind of sleepy. After all, it had been a very big day. Before settling into the warm mattress, she yawned and stretched her wings, extending them to their full length and then folding them back down to her back. Then she lay down, closed her eyes, and pulled Woofer tight against her chest, and dreamed of pretty brown and white dogs that had Eyrien wings and played tag with her.
Important Side note: Did anyone notice when they were reading Queen of the Darkness and Dreams Made Flesh that Orian's mother and Marian's mother share the same name? Do you think they had the same mother, or that it was just a coincidence? It can go either way, so input would be really appreciated!