Page 17 of Six Types of Apology

Putting down his fork, Orion looked at the one man who would literally follow him anywhere. John wasn’t getting any younger, and the frantic traveling they’d done in recent days, camping out under the stars, and cooking over a fire had not done his personal valet any favors.

“I’m sorry, John. I realize this situation is not ideal, and has not been fair to you either. As I said just before, if you feel the needto return to the Tyrion castle, I know Onyx would find a good position for you there, if you wanted one.”

“And I’ve already said I’m not leaving your service, sir. But you do have your long term future to think about. Technically you are a part of the Faast royal family now. Do you believe the situation with the Crown Prince of Faast is totally hopeless?”

“He’s not here, so what does that tell you?” Orion picked up his fork again. “Honestly, about the only thing that would convince me to even speak to the Crown Prince of Faast again is if I saw him grab a pickax and offer to help us without being asked. And after he’d done that, he’d still need to offer me six types of apologies for his disgraceful behavior.”

“Six types of apologies, sir?” John grinned. “That’s the closest I think I’ve heard you come to making a royal decree in all the time I’ve known you.”

“I’m not sure there are six ways a person can apologize,” Orion admitted. “But one way six times would work, too.” Spooning the last of his eggs into his mouth, Orion swallowed and added, “Thank you for breakfast, but let’s get this foot of mine wrapped. Ryan and the others will be waiting.”

“You do need to consider more than your immediate future, sir,” John said, but he finished his own meal and picked up the plates taking them over to the bowl that served as a sink. Then he went to his bag and pulled out a small pouch that Orion recognized as the first aid kit John never went anywhere without.

“Are there precedents for my situation, do you think, John?” Orion pushed back his chair and lifted his foot as his aide came over. “I don’t want to cause any problems for Onyx by going back to Tyrion, but I’ve never even been to Faast. I doubt I would be welcome there.”

“The moment you married the crown prince the royal family of Faast took on the responsibility of ensuring that you are housed and cared for.” John worked quickly, putting a form of topical ointment on Orion’s blister, which was quite large, and then binding it securely with some strips of a gauze-type material. The ointment must have had some magical properties, because the sting from the blister immediately started to ease.

“It would be a bit of a hike traveling from Faast to here every few months though. Grab me my boot, would you please?”

Taking it, Orion slid his foot into it and laced them up. Standing, he said firmly, “My focus today is to try and find that second crystal seam Ryan has found indications for. If necessary, we might be able to take a small house locally to here for a few months and reconsider our options after that. I do appreciate what you’re saying though.

“While the Faast royal family has a responsibility toward me, I also now carry responsibilities in my new position. Unfortunately, my brief time with the crown prince didn’t give me any indication of what those responsibilities might look like beyond attending social functions. So perhaps a discreet message sent to the queen of Faast wouldn’t be out of place in this situation? We could draft something up over the weekend, perhaps?”

“I think that would be an excellent suggestion, sir.” John looked visibly relieved, and Orion realized that while he preferred not to think about his husband at all, as the humiliation he’d suffered at the hands of that man was still too raw, he did have responsibilities and a duty of care to the people who still looked up to him.

“I’ll leave you to take care of things here for me then,” he said, forcing a smile. “I’m off for another day with a pickax and shovel. Wish me luck. I have a good feeling about today.”

“Good luck sir, and sir, as it is the end of the week and the men will be going back to their own homes for two days, did you want to stay here, or should we find alternative accommodations for a few days as well? Perhaps somewhere with a bath?”

“And somewhere where we can get a hot meal without you having to cook. I agree. That inn on the border is only an hour’s ride from here – the place we stayed as we traveled here from Carntan. We’ll make our way back there later this afternoon.”

“Excellent idea, sir.” John nodded and Orion left him to do his chores as he went outside to where Ryan was waiting for him.

“Is today the day, do you think, Ryan?” he asked, joining the man in front of the fire. It was a chilly morning, with the mist still rising from the hills around them.

“I believe we’re close, sir.” Ryan agreed. He was a big man, not prone to speaking much, but he was a hard and honest worker and Orion trusted his expertise. “We’ll know one way or the other by this afternoon.”

“That’s exciting.” Orion chuckled. “I’m seriously looking forward to a bath tonight as a celebration.”

“Aye, the utilities are a little sparse for comfort, but we have enough here to get the job done.”

“If this mission today pans out, hopefully those conditions can improve. Let’s get moving.”

Chapter Sixteen

Although Orion called the makeshift camp and the project it was attached to a mine, the term was a bit of a misnomer. A mine implied dug out shafts or large pits in the ground, but there was nothing like that in the Tyrion mountains. Instead, the mountains were filled with a series of caves, many of them going miles deep into the mountaintops, interconnected at often surprising points, but exposing the core of the mountain itself. The caves were caused over centuries of erosion, weather events, and the natural movements of the earth.

It was in one of those caves not far from the camp where one of the first natural crystals were found. Since then, Ryan and his crew had sourced more than a hundred individual samples all from the same cave system. The geologists, thrilled with the finds, confirmed each of the samples likely came from the same seam, and logic dictated that seam ran back into the mountain.

Orion thought about the implications of the project as he followed Ryan into the mine, his pickax in hand. Compared to bordering countries, Tyrion was relatively poor. Most of the land was covered in mountains, with only a few valley areas where people could grow crops and farm animals for food. Understandably, those same valleys were where most people lived, close to those necessities.

Tyrion did have a small port, but King Oscar didn’t see the need for a navy, so the opportunities afforded by access to the sea were limited to those hardy souls who didn’t mind making their own boats – heading out in often treacherous conditions to secure fish for their families and to sell at local markets in the town around the castle.

If we had more readily available access to magical crystals, that would be a huge saving to the country overall, not tomention the employment opportunities the magical crystals would create in all areas of the population.

“The main seam heads off in that direction,” Ryan said, stopping and pointing to where the cave system disappeared off to the right. “But a couple of the men were exploring this other side,” he pointed to the left of where they were, “and they found four crystal samples in the one cave.”

“Is it possible it’s the same seam, exposed from a different angle?” Orion looked from one side to the other. There was no way, from where they were standing, to know how far apart the two finds were.

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