The Orb That Waited — Beneath the vaulted roof, while banners breathed dusty velvet smells, Princess Thessaly held a glass orb that looked too plain for coronation watch. Read the full story →
Beneath the vaulted roof, while banners breathed dusty velvet smells, Princess Thessaly held a glass orb that looked too plain for coronation watch. She wanted it to shine before the noon bells, because her mother’s note had said, Hold it until the hall tells you its name.
Nothing happened through the first trumpet, or the second. Courtiers shuffled. A candle popped. Thessaly’s wrist ached around the cool, heavy sphere, but she watched the lion banner instead of the clock. Its stitched paw pointed not at the throne, but at the tall windows, where colored light crept inch by inch across the floor.
At last one red beam touched the orb. A small golden lion woke inside the glass and padded in a circle, silent as sunlight. “So that is where you were,” Thessaly whispered. Ever since, the coronation orb has waited for one patient ray before it glows, and if you follow the banner’s paw, you may find the same secret light.
