I.
As evening approaches, a star falls from the sky, only to be lifted up once again on the morrow. That fact amazed Chestar Dayne in his youth. Starfall, every day. A rather measly thought to a man-grown, but it made Chestar believe. Believe his homeland to be more important, somehow, than the rest of the world. In his toddler years, when he had first heard the story of how Starfall came to be, he got it rather mixed up, as children do with most anything. He thought that one evening long ago, instead of falling behind the deep horizon like always, the great star in the sky fell down to earth. It confused him how the Sun came back up the next day and every day after. He thought, well it must've kept going! Deep deep down all the way through the earth, so as to be able to pop back up on the other side of the horizon the next day. He found evidence to embolden his theory too.
One day, wandering through the vast vineyards and numerous granaries of Torentine, four year old Chestar found an old deserted well, with its foundation all but completely withered away from erosion. So it just looked like a big deep hole in the ground. The young boy knew nothing of fear, or mortal danger, so he did the stupid thing. He went in. He wanted to see where he would pop out at the other end! But as you should well know, there was no other end, save for some mossy rocks and a few inches of water about 12 feet down. Down in the well he would stay, trapped, for four days while the whole region searched for him avidly. That tiny reserve of water would end up saving his life, for he would have died of dehydration without it. Multiple times during his stay in the well did he hear mobs of people walking around, yelling his name. One group even came so close as to illuminate the top of the well with torchlight. They may have heard him yelling for help too, had the group not consisted of a dozen drunks, hollering and laughing away, drowning out the voice of the small four year old trapped 12 feet underground.
It was not until evenfall on the fourth day that some farmer's dog happened across the boy while chasing a rabbit. The dog yipped and barked down the well, circling it. The farmer immediately knew he had found the boy when he heard faint cries for help down the well, even though it had grown too dark outside to see down there. The farmer was rewarded hansomely, with his prize being a quaint but substantial farmhouse twice the size his own, with at least thrice the farmland of his previous abode. He kept both homes and became one of the largest distributors of wine in the region. The only thing that rubbed him wrong about the whole encounter was the queen's reception to the return of her late husband's son. Rather than embracing the young boy and asking if he had been alright, she immediately scorned him and sent him away. This made the farmer grit his teeth, but he held his tongue. It would have been out of place for him to say anything.
This memory of the well haunted Chestar for his whole life, but he never forgot the lesson it taught him. No matter how much faith you have in yourself, there must always be room for skepticism, lest you end up in a well. Though he was young, he remembers vividly how certain he was in his star theory. And it crushed him, to find out that he had been mistaken.
Chestar Dayne was a bit of a trouble child growing up. The incident with the well being only the first time he would get helplessly lost. The second time would be two years later, during a festival thrown in honor of Lysaria Dayne's new marriage to the heir of House Fowler of Skyreach. Although uncommon, Princes have been known to move into their brides ancestral seat if the princess is heir to the more powerful kingdom. During all the fun and commotion, Chestar once again wandered off, eluding even a member of the Queensgaurd who was commissioned to keep an eye on him during the festival.
This time he meandered his way down to the fishing river. The area was more scarcely populated than usual, due to the celebration. This was no place for an unaccompanied boy either. Along the river ran rocky cliffs and the occasional subtle waterfall, and the river itself was a rager. Whitewater amassed at every turn and waterfall, and jagged rocks lined the riverbed. Fish had been jumping throughout the river and one in particular caught young Chestars eye. It was a thin quick silverfish, zipping through the water at lightning speed, only this one had a slight purple sheen to it when the sun hit its scales just right. This fish mesmerized him and he found himself running along the riverside to keep up with it. Too bad for him that he stopped paying such close attention to his footing, because after merely 15 seconds or so of chasing it his left foot slipped out from under him on a wet, mossy rock, and he proceeded to tumble down along the steep cliff face. He slid off a moist slab of stone and took a sheer drop straight down about five feet. His back suffered the blunt of the fall, shredding up his clothing and his skin. It took him twofold. His back received several gnarly gashes, with a small rock shard actually imbedding in his muscle tissue. The fall also nearly caved in his solar plexus, leaving him absolutely out of breath. He then proceeded to splash right into the raging river. Unable to breathe and in excruciating pain, Chestar was soon to die underneath the rolling rapids.
Then, as fate would have it, a hand. A hand reached in the foamy water and yanked out poor little Chestar and set him aside the river, patting his back. The boy reeled up in pain and the man saw the blood starting to flow from the tears in his garb. He was coughing up water, and trying to suck in air at the same time. You've never seen a boys face grow so purple. After he regained color and stopped gasping, he started crying profusely.
"That fall really did a number on ya, eh? Saw the whole thing. Aye, you're Chestar Dayne! I've saved you before! God's grief child, do ye have a deathwish?" Chestar looked at the man through teary eyes. Yes, it was the farmer that had saved him years ago.
"Well, you're safe for now. Until i turn my head again and you're most like to be playing with a bear. Ehehehe." The boy let out a little giggle between his sobs.
"I go by Orion, mean it anything to you. Let's get you back to that wretched queen of yours." He pulled off the boy's shirt and the damage was worse than he hoped. He lifted him over his shoulders and started down the path back to Starfall.
On arrival to the kingdom, Orion saw men gathering torches and bloodhounds, seemingly in attempt to go find the boy.
"There's no need you bloody fools. I've the boy with me. Where is this damned beloved Queen of ours?" A couple men pointed towards the largest tent of the 20 or so that had been erected for the Festival. Orion approached the tent from behind, startling Queen Lysaria when he popped around the corner with Chestar on his back. The queen gave a curious look for a moment, then saw Chestar and lost interest.
"At least it didn't take you four days this time."
"M'lady, pardon my insolence, but you need take much better care of your son. He nearly died today, again!
"He is not my son. You know this well Orion, and I had proper provisions in place. I even had one of my own take time out of this important day to watch the little devil. Incompetent fool he was. So much a fool he is the Jester you see before you now. Look isn't he silly? Mhahaha."
"Your grace, look at Chestar's backside. He is in need of immediate attention from the Maester. Where is he?"
"Dumb shit. What did he do now, get in a fight with a pack of wolves? He is over there, haggling some merchant for Crow's feet or what have you." Orion jogged to the Maester, revealing Chestar's back. He threw up his arms, said "Forget it." to the merchant and ran off with them down to the Maester's quarters.
Several hours later, after the Festival had come to a close, Orion found himself once again at the feet of the queen.
"How is the little troublemaker? Hope he didn't break his back, or maybe I do. He wouldn't be able to run off and give me headaches anymore." Orion hated this queen with a burning passion.
"He is thankfully going to be just fine, your grace."
"Hm, yes, very good I suppose. Tell me Orion, what would you have of me this time? You seem to be the only reason the boy still breathes, and this is your second time at that. What would be your reward, good man? You want the boy for keeps? Mheh." She was merely poking fun, but the thought excited Orion very much. He hadn't considered it, but instantly, yes. That's what he wanted.
"I would be honored to take him as my own your grace." The queen seemed taken aback. She didn't think he would actually want the rascal, he wasn't his. But thinking over it again, she realized it might be a perfect solution for her problems. Chestar wasn't hers either, he was the son of her late husband and his late wife, before remarrying to Lysaria. And now that she had remarried, it was time they create a new heir to the thrown. She never wanted the runt to begin with.
"He is yours then, if you wish. He will lose all lordship and his claim to Starfall, though he can keep the name."
"Well, I will have to ask the boy what he wants. That's of most import. Thank you kindly your grace, may I be dismissed?" She nodded and waved her hand towards the door. Orion was ecstatic. He could hardly wait to ask the boy, but it had grown late. Best wait for the morrow.