Thousand And One Night 3/?
Title: Thousand and One Night
Chapter/part: 3/?
Characters list: To see all go Here
Chapter Characters: Orlando, Christian, Marton Csokas, Sean Murray, OMC, Alan, Liam
Warnings: Au
Disclaimer and general info: Here and later General information.
Chapter’s note: I probably changed the age of Marton to what he really is, but this is fiction… betad Inwe
Previous Chapters: Intro, Chapter 1, Chapter 2
Chapter 3
As soon as the door was opened the two guards stood to attention. Christian notified that the Prince was ready to be taken to the dining room. They nodded and were ready to do their task.
The oldest of them, Marton, was the first of the small escort. He had been in the duty of the palace since Isabella was born. Christian fell into the back, as his duty was to make sure the Prince was hidden.
Orlando dragged in his footsteps, and soon Sean walked right into him.
"I'm sorry, my lord," the young guard mumbled, trying to smooth out the caftan.
"Sean!" Marton's voice echoed in the hall. "You know that you should be on your guard and never get too close."
Sean hung his head. He knew that all too often he let his thoughts wander. It was not the first time it had happened. He did worry, though, that something worse would happen. He did need the work and he was still new in his assignment of guarding the Prince.
Orlando just stood still, waiting for the reprimand to finish. He felt like it was his fault. He was very tired and hadn't felt like facing the day and so he had walked too slowly. He could have told what had happened, but he rarely spoke in a servant's presence so he didn't stand up for Sean.
When Marton seemed satisfied, they continued walking to the dining room. In the hall, they passed a few guards and servants. When they arrived there were even more that stood guard. They nodded in greeting and one opened the door.
Entering the room Orlando could see that he was the last to get there. He silently walked to his place at the corner of the main table. After being seated he felt Christian adjust his clothes. He thought it was so stupid to sit there and have someone else do things for him that he would be able to do himself. But, as a Prince, he did know that this was what was expected by him.
When Christian finished he would sit down on the floor behind the Prince. If Orlando could have had his wish, his friend would be sitting beside him and not be forced to attend him so carefully.
As soon as he was seated perfectly a servant placed a plate in front of him with his breakfast. Orlando carefully lifted the veils so they would hide the food and he would be able to eat and still not reveal himself. Thanks to years of training he was very good at it.
He wasn't that hungry, so he only nibbled at the food. There was some fruit on the plate and he put them in his pocket for later.
It was a good ten minutes before Orlando realized that he hadn't been paying attention to what his father was talking about. He realized this when Omar raised his voice and Christian poked Orlando in the back, alerting him to pay attention to what he was being told.
It was a repeat of what Orlando had been told before; how Omar had decided the courtship would take place and how it had been arranged. During the morning the Prince would continue with his lessons and training, while in the meantime Omar and his adviser Alan would meet the prospective candidate to hear why they thought they would be worthy for the Prince and tell what sort of background they came from.
"Then we will eat lunch and have our daily siesta," Omar told his son.
"Would I meet the man or woman at the lunch?" wondered Orlando.
"No, we will tell you what you need to know about the candidate," his father answered.
"So it is only in the afternoon I'm really is expected to attend and be given the opportunity to see who wants me or where I get to choose?"
"You have to hear about the candidate or you can't make your decision, so we will eat lunch together."
"Okay." Orlando tried to work out how to plan his coming days.
After thinking for a moment, Orlando asked, "Where will they show me what they can do?"
It was the adviser that answered the Prince's question. "We will ask them what they plan to show you and what they say will advise us where we will be. Hopefully it will be in one of the entertaining rooms or one of the patios, as long as it is in the palace."
"So if they can't show it in the palace… they will be rejected?"
"Yes. It is for your safety, and to avoid anyone trying to kill us," the Marjahdan confirmed.
"After they show their skills, you have to listen to a story they tell you before you decide if he or she would be worth considering," Alan continued informing the Prince.
"Father, if there is more than one that I like what will we do then?" Orlando hoped his question showed that he was interested.
"I've said you need not feel that you must decide at once. If there are any special candidates they will get another chance to show more of their skills and tell another story," his father said.
"What if they come from far away? Should they stay here while they wait for a new audience or will have to go home?"
"To give most of them a chance it would be best if they go home and come back after a few months, my Prince." the adviser said.
'It could possibly continue for years, thought Orlando and sighed in audibly. He so much would have wanted it to only take, at most, a month. To sit hidden under the veils, watching and listening to stories was a long way from what he could think of as spending an enjoyable day. "Is there anyone that you have turned down, never to be given any chance at all?" Orlando asked instead of his actual thoughts.
"Of course there is. There must be some standard; you don't take anyone from the gutter." Omar clearly showed he didn't like to be questioned by his son in such an uneducated way.
Orlando went back to being silent, so he could think on how to get some of his friends to an audition without awakening anyone's suspicions. He looked over at his father, and would there not been any fabric covering his eyes, they would have directed a venomous gaze at the Marjahdan. He didn't think the question he had asked was wrong. The rebel in him wanted to say that everyone was worthy of an audience, wealthy or poor. He didn't want to marry one just because it would be good for the country or look good to the outside world. Orlando wanted to be able to love the person.
As the sounds from his family dropped to a murmur Orlando began to have trouble keeping his eyes open, so he gave into the urge to sleep, hoping that no one would notice. The others weren't worried that the Prince was silent because he had talked more than he usually did. Orlando often didn't say much when there were people who weren't family or his tutors close. He preferred to play that mysterious Prince and what his friend Drew thought to be oppressed.
What didn't seem to be more than a minute Orlando could feel Christian poking him in his side. He cursed his difficulty sleeping last night, but the disappointment that Craig hadn't showed up at the square where he and his friends always meet had worried him. Usually they were open with each other and tried to let the other know when they couldn't see each other. Not hearing anything this time made Orlando nervous. On top of that, he had dreamt something that really made him feel restless, though now he couldn't remember what.
Looking at the others, Orlando saw that everyone had finished and was breaking up. He carefully let his half finished plate out from under his veils, and then rose. It was time for lessons. For the most part, he did look forward to them as he had come to love his teacher Liam, but today he didn't want to go.
Christian was at his side as soon he was standing and righted his clothes. Coming outside the door Sean and Marton was there to accompany him. Orlando was a little more awake and also wanted to get away from his family so he walked a little faster, which meant that Sean to repeat his earlier mistake.
They went back half the way they had gone to the dinning room, but then they took the corridor to the left, walked three doors down. Sean had stopped just inside the corridor and Marton knocked on the door.
"Enter." Liam's voice sounded.
Marton opened, looked around and then let the Prince inside.
Orlando turned to Christian before he entered. "You can take leave until lunchtime."
"Yes, master," Christian replied, bowed and stood left until the door was closed.
The room that Orlando was led to was the study, as Mondays were always set aside for reading. Liam was seated at the desk that was placed in the middle of the room. He looked up from the role he was reading.
"Greetings, my Prince. How do you feel today?"
Before Orlando replied he looked around and saw Marton had closed the door. The only window in the room had its shutters closed, so no one could look inside. Yet there was still enough light in the room, making it unnecessary to have any lamps lit. Noticing that it was only his teacher Orlando lifted and folded his veils back.
"I'm tired. I had some lively dreams last night," he said, knowing he could not lie as he most likely had darks rings around his eyes.
Liam watched his pupil, slightly concerned at the tiredness he could see. It wasn't the first time he noticed that Orlando was tired. There had been at least a few times during the last few years, though it could have been more often, as the Prince didn't always lift his veils. There where times they weren't alone and then Liam had to make sure Orlando didn't show himself. He had tried to learn why, but the Prince was good at avoiding things and being silent. It was another thing he wondered, why the Prince did not say a word, even though they knew each other well by now.
His thoughts were broken by Orlando asking him, "What have you planned for me to do today?"
"I had hoped that your father by now had decided that you didn't need more of these lessons. You have come here longer than others, so it becomes harder and harder to find things for you to do. If we could have been able to walk outside the palace without drawing any attention to you, there would been things for you to learn by seeing it and maybe also taking part in them. It would have been different than what I would have been able to reconstruct here. Since that isn't a possibility, because you will be sitting and listening for several days, I thought might like to tell me your thoughts, feelings and wishes.
The Prince didn't reply immediately; instead, he went to one of the bookcases that were in the room. He slowly let his finger follow the back of the books.
"Do you mean what I think of my father finding me a partner?"
"Yes. If your life had been anything like normal, you would probably have already found one and maybe even had a child of your own by now."
"You know I would have wished for a normal life and not to need to wear veils all the time. I think Father has been too overprotective. Has it really been such a treat to the kingdom to have me hidden? Is there anywhere in the world who have made such a drastic decision?"
Liam could hear in his voice how weary Orlando was and he could fully understand that. He would have been too if he had been in his Prince's shoes. Now he could only try to make the best out of it.
"Do you want to talk?"
"No. What would you do if I said I actually wanted to go to my room and sleep?"
"I wouldn't do anything, but if your father knew I let you out we both would get the third degree. So we will compromise. You can lie on the sofa here and we can do the talk tomorrow instead - and I mean it."
"That is fair and I will think about it." Orlando had turned his back to the bookshelf and faced his teacher.
"You do not think about it. It is a demand for you when I let you off today." Liam took a few steps towards his pupil.
Orlando moved to the sofa and nodded. He lay down, considering the subject closed.
Liam could only shrug his shoulders. The Prince was in a strange mood and he could not do much about it. He went back to his desk and resumed his reading.
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