Prologue |
Chapter One |
Chapter Two |
Chapter Three |
Chapter Four |
Chapter Five |
Chapter Six |
Chapter Seven |
Chapter Eight |
Chapter Nine |
Chapter Ten |
Chapter Eleven |
Chapter Twelve |
Chapter Thirteen |
Chapter Fourteen |
Chapter Fifteen |
Chapter Sixteen |
Epilogue
The Earth was just beginning to wane, slowly succumbing to the swelling darkness of the Moon's shadow as it did month after month. Surrounding the blue-green planet, the stars twinkled and shone as the endless dance of the cosmos spiraled onward. On the gray-white pearl that was the Moon, a young couple sat together on a bench and gazed up at the tapestry of the universe that was laid out above them, but most of their thoughts were focused on each other. There were so many memories here in the small garden on the edge of the Moon Castle property. Although they were closer to discovery within the castle's inner walls, the young couple felt safer here in this secluded hideaway than they felt anywhere else on the grounds. The sky was clear and the stars shone brightly upon them as they relaxed on the stone bench beside the marble fountain, enjoying the evening and the company of their love. "Delphi, the Light-Bringer," Princess Serenity recited, her eyes fixed on three bright stars surrounded by an arrangement of dimmer ones. "Talpha, Health and Heart," she continued as her gaze roamed over to another cluster of lights off to the right. "Tell me, what constellations do you know?" Endymion's head drooped and he turned his glance away from the star-speckled heavens. "None," he muttered, averting his eyes in shame. "Astronomy is not considered an important field of study for servants. We are taught nothing more than what is deemed essential to our work." "When I am Queen, I will make sure all classes have the opportunities they deserve," Serenity said softly. She reached over with her left hand to take her lover's right, weaving her soft smooth fingers among his rough, calloused ones, and leaned her back into the firm muscular flesh of his shoulder. "For now, I shall just have to teach you myself." She lifted her free arm to point at the dark skies, and the stable hand followed her gesture. "The images of the Ancients are inscribed in the stars to remind us of our origins," the Princess explained, feeling a touch of pride in her new role as teacher. "At least, that's what the philosophers say." Endymion smiled brokenly as his beloved pointed out the constellations. He was interested, but at the same time the lesson was a bitter reminder of his inferiority. Not only was he being educated by someone younger than himself, solely because his class prevented him from learning these things years before, but the stories of the Ancients were the very essence of the fundamental difference between the peoples of the Moon and the Earth. While Endymion was the product of eons of common evolution on a rural, primitive planet, the young woman holding his hand was decended from an ancient and enlightened race of interstellar travelers. No matter how hard he tried to forget it, so many things reminded him that he was little more than dirt beneath her glass slipper. "Actually, there is one heavenly body I can recognize easily," Endymion interrupted, desperate to distract his mind. "Serenity, the Goddess." "But Selene is over there - oh." The Princess stopped and blushed as she realized the stable hand was not looking at the sky, but at her. She let her arm fall to her side and gazed into his dark eyes, feeling them reach into her and explore the depths of her soul. "Serenity is nothing without her guiding light, her companion constellation, the one who makes her complete," she said softly, squeezing her lover's hand. "Her valiant knight, Endou." She angled her chin upward for a kiss - but once again she noticed it: the brief flicker of her beloved's face before he followed suit, the momentary tension that passed through his body. Before their lips could touch, she pushed away from him and straightened up on the bench. "All right, what is it?" she asked, a slightly demanding hint invading her usual gentle tone. She had hoped he would tell her himself, given time, but enough was enough. "What? I don't understand." Endymion blinked, momentarily caught off-guard by Serenity's words and the sudden loss of her warmth against him. "Lately, whenever I mention your name, you flinch," the Princess explained quietly. "What is bothering you?" A flash of terror consumed Endymion's features, but in an instant, it faded, and he sagged, defeated. There could be no more hiding this. "I had hoped-" "What, that I wouldn't notice?" Serenity interrupted. "How could I not notice? I love you, with everything I am. No matter how hard you try to hide your feelings, I will see through it." Endymion was silent, hanging his head. He was caught. Serenity's eyes bored into him as she patiently waited for his answer. He could not delay this moment any longer. "I have not been completely honest with you, Serenity," he admitted quietly, staring down at his hands in his lap. "What do you mean?" The Princess struggled to remain calm while every fiber of her being erupted into fear. What if he said it was all a lie, that he did not love her? Tendrils of cold snaked across her skin and she could barely keep herself from shaking. Summoning all his willpower, Endymion forced himself to raise his head and look into Serenity's eyes. He could see her fright plainly even though her expression was calm, and he knew then that he had been a fool to think he could hide anything from the woman he loved. "My name is not Endou," he said, quivers of dread rolling into the pit of his stomach. "It is Endymion." Princess Serenity blinked. Her face contorted with confusion, and she searched the stable hand with her eyes momentarily to make sure he was not the Earth Prince in disguise. She was caught between relief that it was not the man's feelings that were false and puzzlement over the meaning of his confession. Her mind reeled with possibilities and then went blank. "What is the meaning of this?" she stammered, unsure of how to proceed. "Is this some sort of jest?" "Not at all," the distressed stable hand replied hurriedly, her wary expression making him ill with worry. "When the Earth Prince was declared our future King, it was suggested that I change my name." "I am not amused," the Princess replied, narrowing her eyes. "I love you; do you think it's funny to claim the name of a man who hurts me?" Her mind was spinning, and her voice wavered with brewing tears. She did not want there to be any connection between her treasured beloved and her lifeless fiance. "I am telling the truth," Endymion insisted in a pleading tone. "Everything else about me is genuine, I swear it." He reached out for Serenity, but the young woman recoiled from his touch, leaning back on the bench as she stared at him in befuddled disbelief. Frustrated, the stable hand ran his fingers through his hair and turned away. "This is exactly why I did not tell you sooner," he muttered, cursing himself for not revealing his secret before the Princess discovered it on her own. "I was afraid this would happen. I had to wait until you trusted me, until you believed in me as a person and not a name or position." Turning back to the Princess, he stared into her troubled eyes, unblinking. "If you love me, Serenity, you will believe me." "This has gone on long enough," Serenity replied in an irritated tone, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but it's foolish to argue this further. I have studied Earth's history extensively and I know that the name of Endymion is reserved for the Golden Kingdom's royal line. It can't possibly be yours." She glared at the stable hand - and softened as she watched his face change into uneasy confusion. "What?" the young man whispered hoarsely with widened eyes. "How - how can that be? Through my entire life, that name was all I had to hold on to, my only memory, the only relic of my past. How could it be a lie?" His voice cracked and his words became more frantic, and he quaked on the bench and buried his face in his hands. After all this time, all these years of believing, had his own name truly been a mistake? "No, it can't be!" "You're not joking, are you?" the Princess breathed, pressing one hand to her mouth in horror as her normally reserved and confident lover approached the verge of tears. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She slid back to his side and wrapped her arms around the shaking man, holding him firmly against her. "I remember that name, I am certain," Endymion said numbly. "You are mistaken, Serenity. If I know nothing else in this universe, I know my own name, and it is Endymion. No royal house or social law can take that away from me." "I may be wrong," the Princess conceded as her beloved calmed in her arms. "I have never been the best at memorizing names and facts, as Sailor Mercury is always quick to remind me." The stable hand straightened up and looked directly into Princess Serenity's blue eyes, his own smooth midnight gaze as calm and sincere as it had always been when he spoke to her. He took both of her hands in his, gently caressing her smooth skin. "My name," he said, "is Endymion. Will you believe me?" "Yes," the young woman whispered, although her heart was still discontented. "Then, say it." Endymion lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them again and again, longing to hear the clear dulcet tones of his beloved's voice speaking his true name at last. "Please." "En - Endy -" Serenity choked on the word, the sour taste it brought to her mouth undeniable. Tears welled up in her large eyes. This name only brought one image to her mind, that of a cold, heartless shell of a man with auburn hair and a bitter soul. "I can't!" she wailed, her beloved's pleading expression driving daggers of regret into her chest. "How can I assign the name of one who hurts me so badly to one I love so much?" Endymion stared at his lover, stricken, his dark eyes begging to hear that one precious word fall from her lips, and he saw the pain clearly in her face. His was a name she had assigned to a man she disliked. There was no longer any hope that she might be able to speak it with tenderness. Sorrow overtook the young man's heart. He had finally confessed his one secret, and the Princess would still be unable to address him by his true name. "Endy," Serenity suggested desperately, eager to ease the agony in her beloved's face. "That is not a false name, but it is not his either. May I call you that?" The stable hand nodded slowly. Endy. It was a start. At least, it was not a lie. Perhaps someday she would find the courage to overcome her aversion to his full name. Still, he could not prevent disappointment from settling over his spirits. Serenity slid toward him and leaned against his body once again, wrapping both arms around one of his as she laid her head on his warm shoulder. "It's a term of endearment, really," she rationalized aloud, sensing that the man was still not quite happy with the arrangement. "An affectionate nickname, Endy." The couple fell into an uneasy silence, both of them troubled by their own thoughts. For the moment, the Earth-born orphan swallowed his bitterness at being left with half a name, rationalizing that after lying to Serenity he was lucky she was still by his side. He was, however, immensely disturbed by her words. Searching what little memories he had of his early childhood, he was certain that the name he had been born to was Endymion - but if that was a royal name, then it couldn't be so. Had he been wrong about his name this entire time? That would explain why Miss Amaris was never able to locate his parents, but the thought of having no clue to his origins at all was unsettling. Princess Serenity was quite unsettled herself. She was relieved that the stable hand's secret had not been more serious. In the grand scheme of things, a name was a relatively minor detail. At the same time, she could not ignore the fact that he had lied to her. Yes, it was a small untruth, but how could she be certain he was not hiding more from her? Her lover's body seemed to have lost some of its warmth, and she shuddered. How well did she really know the man she had given her heart to? There was also the matter of the name itself. Even if he had been born on the Moon, all Earth people were aware of the traditions of the Golden Kingdom; until recent decades there were very few of their race living off their home planet. Certain names were of special significance and were only to be used by the royal family. It was impossible that an Earth-child of common blood would be named Endymion. Obviously, her lover was mistaken about his name, but Serenity had not the heart to insist that was the case. Yet, she had heard him addressed by that name before, although it had not made sense. "I had a dream about you," she said quietly, staring off into the shadows of the garden. "In the dream, your name was 'Endymion'." She heard the man suck in his breath. "It was?" A shred of relief penetrated Endymion's worry. He had not heard of any Lunarians having prophetic dreams, but perhaps it was a royal gift. In any case, it was evidence that his memory was not flawed. "You called me 'Sere'," the Princess continued. "We had a child, a little girl. Our daughter." Endymion smiled and wrapped his arm around his young lover's waist. If only it could be true. "What was she like?" "Sweet, and full of energy," Serenity sighed, trying to relax into his embrace. "A beautiful child with a loving heart." "She would have to be, with you for a mother," Endymion whispered, kissing one of the buns of crystal hair at the top of her head. "Tell me more, Sere." The nickname sent tingles down Serenity's spine, bringing back memories of the dream and the little rose-haired girl whom she had held in her arms. Small Lady. An impossible child of dreams who could not possibly exist. A lump rose in the woman's throat. "It was all very unreal, really," she muttered, feeling tears beginning to prick at the corners of her eyes. "We lived in a palace, and the Sailor Soldiers were there, but we were on Earth. It was quite strange. That could never happen, obviously," she added bitterly. Endymion sighed his agreement. A life with the Princess was a definite impossibility. He loved her with all his heart, but here on the Moon, such emotions mattered only within one's own class. Their days together were certainly numbered. Even if they tried to run away from their destiny, the Moon was not as big and open as the Earth. There were only a few cities, and outside those the surface was uninhabitable. It would be hopeless to try to disappear. He looked down at the lovely young woman in his arms and could not imagine going back to a life without her, nor did he want to. It was a pity, really, that they were not on Earth. Earth. By all accounts it was a primitive, animal place, a backward world whose people were locked in an endless struggle for survival. Still, with its large size and vast population, the lovers could be free there. Endymion felt he would gladly embrace such a life if it meant he and Serenity could be together. "Sere?" "Yes, Endy?" "Do you ever think about going to Earth?" he asked carefully, idly stroking his beloved's hair with one hand. "Why?" Serenity replied, puzzled. "It's a dreadful place," she said automatically, before remembering her fiance's rather pleasant description of his home world. "If we went to Earth, your dream could come true," Endymion said quietly, gently rocking the Princess in his arms. "We could start a new life together, raise a family..." "If only that were possible," Serenity sighed. The stable hand stopped rocking her. "Why isn't it?" His heart was trembling in his chest with budding excitement. It could really work. This blissful time with his beloved would never have to end, would never become a mere wistful memory. Serenity sat up and turned to face him. "Surely you must be joking," she said, but the stable hand's face was more serious than she had ever seen it. He gazed at her with earnest intensity and fire in his dark eyes. "Think of it, Sere," he urged, leaning toward her. "We could be free of all this, free of the sleepless nights and secrets, free to be together and live our lives the way we choose." "Leave the Moon? Endy, I couldn't," the Princess protested, anxiety filling her face. How could he ask this of her? It was a lovely dream, but it could not be more than that. "Why not?" Endymion demanded, his voice becoming louder than he meant it to. "I know it's a strange, cruel world, but I would be with you. We could find our way together." He reached toward her, but Serenity left the space between them. "How could we get to Earth, anyway?" she argued. "The public teleportation stations won't be reconnected to Earth until after the wedding." "You have access to the royal facilities, do you not?" Endymion reminded her. The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded. It would be hard for them on Earth, but not as hard as living without Serenity. "Endy, what you're asking me to do is...is...ludicrous," she burst out, shaking her head in disbelief. "I have responsibilities. I can't just walk out on my role as Princess." "What other options do we have?" Endymion shot back, growing frustrated. This was the perfect solution, why wouldn't she even consider it? "We can't go on like this forever. You will be married to the Earth Prince within months. Is that what you want?" "No! You know that is not what I want." Princess Serenity wrung her hands in her lap, wishing she could tell her beloved what he wanted to hear, but it was unthinkable. Every moment of her life so far had been dedicated to her future role as Queen. Without that, she was nothing, and the thought of going to Earth frightened her more than anything. "I love you, Endy, and I want to be with you, but-" "Well, what then?" the stable hand interrupted, his frustration sowing the seeds of anger. "After your wedding day, we never see each other again? Or did you plan to keep me as your secret lover when you are Queen, just another servant at your beck and call?" Endymion did not know where these cruel words came from, but there they were. Had these doubts been lurking inside him the entire time? "Now you're simply being unfair." Unlike her engagement, there were no rules of propriety governing this relationship. This man was closer to her than even the Sailor Soldiers, and Serenity was free to act and speak as she pleased around him. For once in her life, she did not have to take the heat lying down. "I have an entire world depending on me to become its Queen. I can't just ignore that. I would never treat you like an object, Endy. You mean too much to me." "You mean everything to me. Everything." Unable to bear her crystal blue gaze any longer, Endymion got up from the bench and wandered over to a nearby rosebush, staring down at the soft red blooms whose petals enfolded and embraced one another. "What are your plans for our future, then, Princess?" he asked bitterly. Going to Earth was their only chance for happiness and she had dismissed it so easily. "I don't know!" Serenity glared at the man's back as she rose to her feet herself. She wasn't ready to make decisions like this. She just wanted to be with her lover and forget about reality for a while. Why did he have to bring up the difficulties of their relationship? "I know what I want," Endymion said, caressing a rosebud with his fingertip. "Why don't you?" "I have more to think about than what I want!" the Princess protested, clenching her fists at her sides in irritation. "You don't understand what it's like to be trapped from the day you were born!" "Don't I?" Endymion whirled around to face her, and Serenity gasped in spite of herself under the withering fire of his glare as his eyes flashed in anger. His entire body tensed, and an icy cold rolled off of him, spreading in all directions. "Why, because I'm a stable hand? Or because I'm an Earth-child? As far back as I can remember, my entire life has been determined by those two things! What I would do, where I would live, who my friends would be, everything!" He was shouting now. He hadn't meant to say so much, but now that the gates were opened, the words flowed out of him in a flood, and he could not hold them back. "No matter how much I learn, no matter how skilled I am, I can never escape what my birth has decided for me! I have no future! What does a pampered Princess, with the right and power to do anything she pleases, know of that?" "Yours is the life of freedom, when compared to mine," Princess Serenity hissed, quaking with an unreleased anger that continued to grow. "From the moment of my birth, I have shouldered the responsibility of someday becoming Queen, of being accountable for the health and safety of every Lunarian who breathes, balancing the Silver Alliance and protecting the entire solar system from outsiders! Do you have any idea how much I've wished for a life free of that anxiety?" She recalled many sleepless nights of worry, and several incidents during her adolescence when she burst into tears for seemingly no reason at all. At the moment, however, she was too irritated to show such a weakness to the stable hand. How arrogant of him to assume that only the lower classes suffered! "My days are planned by a team of advisors," she snarled, glaring up at the tanned man. "Everything I do, everything I study, even the man I will marry is decided by someone else! What power I have exists only to serve the Moon Kingdom. My cage may be prettier than yours, but it is still a cage!" "Then why not escape that cage and go to Earth with me?" Endymion demanded. "If you hate it so much, then leave!" "Do you have so little love for the Moon, the world that raised you and provided for you?" the Princess said accusingly. "You would so easily leave everyone and everything you ever knew?" "I thought our love was more important than that." The Earth-child sagged slightly, the fire in his eyes fading to a flicker. For a moment, the fury and tension in the air ebbed, and they stared at each other with pained and sorrowful expressions. "It's not so simple for me," Serenity muttered, hanging her head to gaze at the smooth stones beneath her feet. "I have the needs of an entire race and the future of an entire world to consider. Would you tell me our love is more important than that? More important than all of them?" Endymion opened his mouth. He wanted to tell her it was, that their love was a gem that should not be shattered, but his mind was filled with the joyous faces of his fellow servants as they celebrated the betrothal of the Princess, and he could not speak the words. There was a painful moment of silence. "So," the man said slowly, "what do we do?" "I don't know!" Serenity's head snapped up, and she whirled around, turning away from Endymion. Why did he insist on continuing to ask a question for which there was no answer? Why did they have to solve such a painful problem now? "Well, we have to do something!" Endymion stared at his beloved's back, the smooth curves of her shoulder blades running toward the border of silver circles lining her dress, her twin streams of crystal hair flowing down beside fists clenched in frustration. He loved her so dearly, so much that even now his arms ached to hold her, his lips longed for hers...and yet the seething anger would not go away. "We can't ignore the issue forever!" Serenity swung around to face him, her blue eyes sharp as she reached the breaking point. "If it's such a problem," she raged, "we should just end it now!" "Fine!" The word exploded past Endymion's lips before he had a moment to consider it. Fine? A single innocent syllable, but it hit the two lovers like a rush of cold, sobering water, jarring them out of their anger and back to the reality of what had just been said. An expression of utmost shock and fright overcame the faces of both Serenity and Endymion, but the words had been spoken. The Princess looked at her beloved, who was just as startled as she, his dark hair hanging into his wide eyes. Her heart cried out for her to run to him, to bury herself in his arms and forget everything in the light of his love...but there would always be a time when she would have to let go and remember reality again. Serenity swallowed hard. "Fine," she whispered. Without another word, the Princess turned and hurried out of the garden, gathering her skirts in her hands as she went. She was around the corner into the hedge maze before the tears came, silent at first, flowing relentlessly down her cheeks as her heart was torn asunder and half of it left behind. Endymion did not follow her. By the time she neared the castle itself, she was running, sobbing aloud, not caring if anyone heard or saw her. Her feet screamed as her shoes rubbed hard against her tender skin, but she did not stop until she reached the rope hanging from the balcony. Oddly, she did not encounter any guards. As she reached out her arms for the rope, Serenity realized she was carrying the rough brown cloak that had belonged to Endymion. She had probably picked it up from the bench out of habit; she did not even remember taking it. With trembling hands, the Princess pressed the scratchy cloth to her face and breathed deeply. The man's scent was still there, the mysterious aroma of roses. Serenity shuddered violently with grief and dropped to her knees, clinging to the rope as she sobbed in anguish. She had thought he loved her. How could he end it this way? When she found the strength to stand again, the miserable young woman fastened the cloak around her throat and seized the rope. She hauled on it, but her feet stayed firmly on the ground. Serenity was light, but the education of a Princess contained little strength training. It took all the strength she could muster to lift herself even the smallest amount. She struggled for what seemed an eternity, weeping and sobbing as the rope cut into her hands and the evening's ordeal cut into her heart. Bit by bit, she pulled herself toward the balcony above, her thin arms trembling, her vision clouded with tears. The tempest of emotion raging within her soul gave her the strength she needed, and at long last, she hauled her weary, aching body over the balcony railing. By the time she dragged herself, the rope, and the cloak into her chambers, Serenity was so exhausted that she collapsed on her bed and fell asleep instantly. After watching Princess Serenity rush away from him and out of sight, Endymion wrapped his heart in anger so he would not feel it breaking. Turning around, he stormed out of the garden and slammed the old wooden door behind him. Fine, then. If it had to end, better it did so now. By the sound of things, they would never have been able to see eye-to-eye anyway. The stable hand stomped across the castle grounds, fuming. After all this, all the love they had shared, their relationship still broke apart so easily. What was the point of it all? When he reached his hut, Endymion kicked the door open so that it banged against the inside wall and rebounded. As he plunged into the darkness within, a flash of color caught his eye. There on the small table, where it had stood for years, was the perfect blood-red rose his beloved had given him before they even knew each other's names. Endymion clenched his fists. It all came down to names. He had risked everything to reveal his only secret to the woman he loved, and thus planted a seed of doubt that fanned the flames of their argument. And now, he had found out where Serenity's loyalty truly lay. In an eyeblink, Endymion snatched up the flower in its crystal vase and flung it against the opposite wall with all his strength. The transparent receptacle shattered, fragments of sharp crystal exploding in a burst of glittering shards that scattered across the bare wood floor. The rose, a tender blossom of dark red surrounded by sparkling crystal, tumbled into the shadows at the base of the wall and disappeared from view. With this impulsive act, Endymion felt as if all the life had drained from his body. Breathing heavily, he slumped against the nearby wall. His knees weakened under him as the walls of anger crumbled, and Endymion sank to the floor, buried his face in his hands and cried. There was a strange, irregular pounding. It ceased for a while, then began again, erratic, insistent, a loud thumping sound that refused to leave the world in peace. There was also someone shouting. "Endou," a voice called. Then, louder: "Endymion!" The stable hand in question forced his heavy eyelids open, but his body felt numb and refused to move. The room was at a strange angle; he was lying on the floor. All he could manage was a feeble groan. The door opened and a flood of sunshine came cascading into the dim hut. "What, did you drink too much Moon Nectar aga..." Prien's voice trailed off as he stepped inside the one-room dwelling and noticed the empty bed. The broken crystal scattered across the floor. The barely-conscious young man lying motionless at his feet. "Great Selene, Endymion, what happened?" The blond-haired Lunarian quickly shut the door behind him and knelt at his friend's side, taking Endymion by the shoulders. "Are you hurt?" "Prien," the Earth man muttered heavily. As the feeling began to flow back into his body, so did the memories of the previous night. Endymion rolled onto his back and his friend helped him to sit up. "It's all over. I've lost her." Prien's heart sank. Endymion had had a falling-out with his mystery woman. It was a pity; he had seemed so happy. "Do not worry so. Whatever it is, I am sure you can work it out." "No," Endymion replied, letting his head loll limply from side to side. "It is really finished. Ended. Gone." He felt utterly empty, as if his heart and soul had been torn out of him. "I'll never see her again. Never...touch her again," he sighed, bending one knee up to his elbow and burying his head in his arm. "Never hear her voice again, never kiss her again." The Lunarian stable hand sat down heavily on the floor beside his friend, unable to prevent his mouth from gaping open. As a sociable man, he had soothed his share of broken hearts, and even nursed one of his own, but he had never seen an ended relationship change someone this badly. Endymion was a mess. His cool, collected demeanor had vanished, and he had become a broken man with disheveled hair, the flesh of his face and arms imprinted with the grain of the wood he had slept on in yesterday's clothes. It had been a bad enough sign that he had been late for work. Endymion was never late. Whatever love affair he had been engaged in, it was serious. "Who was she?" Prien asked gently, hoping he might have a chance at mending relations with the woman. Endymion blearily looked up at him through cloudy charcoal eyes. He blinked. Then he shrugged and sighed. "Princess Serenity." Prien smiled sadly and shook his head. "I know, they all seem like princesses, don't they? Tell me her name; I might be able to-" "No," Endymion interrupted. "She's Princess Serenity, the real one. We ran into each other by chance a few months back and..." He trailed off as he felt a lump beginning to form in his throat and swallowed it. His friend stared at him for a long moment, waiting for the Earth-born man to crack a smile and confess it was all a joke, but Endymion just stared right back, his miserable dead expression never flickering. Prien took a deep breath. "All right, Endou, I'll go and tell Miss Amaris to fetch the healers," he said carefully. "Just wait here." Prien started to get up, but Endymion swiftly seized his arm to stop him, suddenly desperate for someone, anyone, to believe him and share his secret. "I am not insane, Prien," Endymion said in a voice filled with fierce intensity. "By the Goddess Selene, I swear it. I am in love with the Moon Princess and she is - was - in love with me." Prien flopped down on the floor again, his mind reeling, and his friend released his arm. "Look, Endou," Prien said after a moment, "I want to believe you. You know I do, but you have to admit the odds are against you here. The world of the Royal Family is completely separate from ours. It is unthinkable that you would even catch a glimpse of the Princess!" "Nevertheless, I did," Endymion insisted. "We've spent countless hours together. Look, she gave me this." Reaching into his pocket, the dark-haired man pulled out the gold star locket, which felt smooth and cool against his palm. "It's a music box," he explained as he handed it to Prien, whose eyes widened when he felt the object's weight. As the blond man's fingers moved to lift the circular lid in the center of the star, Endymion closed his eyes and turned his face away, bracing himself to hear the music that would remind him of the woman he had loved and lost. There was only silence. Endymion's eyes snapped back open, and he jerked his head up. There sat Prien, an arm's length away, looking at his friend with a confused expression. The locket lay in the palm of the man's hand, open, the cover fully raised on its golden hinge. It was completely silent and dark, a lifeless paperweight. "No," the Earth man whispered, his voice trembling. His arm darted out reflexively, and he snatched the star out of his friend's hand, horrified that it might be broken. To his relief, as soon as the locket touched his skin, it revived, the lovely light melody bursting forth as the shifting beam of light emanating from the heart of the star blazed to life. The dim hut was filled with a warm glow as the locket sparkled and shone, and Prien's face lit up as the peaceful music reached his ears. "Was I not holding it right?" The Lunarian took the device back from Endymion, but the music immediately ceased and the soft lights vanished. Prien stared at the gold star in his hands. "It only plays for you," he breathed. "There is magic in this locket." That sealed it. Such a treasure was too valuable to come from anyone but the top of the nobility and too precious to be given away for anything less than true love. It could not have been stolen, either, or its mysterious charms would not work for Endymion. Prien had no choice but to believe his friend's story. Suddenly, he threw the locket back into Endymion's startled hands and leapt to his feet, pacing the floor of the small hut as he struggled to come to terms with what he had just learned. The star locket began to play its melody again, but Endymion quickly snapped the cover shut. "She's the Princess," Prien muttered incredulously, running his hands through his wheat-colored hair as he walked. "Yes, I know," his friend answered from the floor, his voice echoing the mind-boggling fact. "She is engaged!" the Lunarian continued, his steps increasing their pace. "Yes, I know!" Endymion burst out, irritated. "Unfortunately, the heart doesn't pay much attention to matters like arranged marriages! I did not choose to fall in love with her, Prien, it just happened. And could you please stop that pacing? You're making me dizzy." "This...this is... What are we going to do?" Prien wondered aloud, the vast array of consequences running through his mind. "We don't have to do anything," the Earth man replied wretchedly, tightening his grip on the star locket. "It's over, remember? We had an argument." Now Prien stopped and looked over at his friend with a touch of sympathy. "Couples fight," he said gently. "Not like this." All the light and life had gone from the man sitting on the floor. Prien turned to gaze down at the rose lying among the scattered shards of crystal against the far wall. "Wasn't that a gift from the Princess?" he asked. "Now that I think about it, even as children you had a connection, almost like destiny." At that, Endymion jumped to his feet and hurried over to the fallen flower, as if remembering it for the first time. Bending down, he tenderly brushed the remains of the vase away from the blood-red petals and lifted the blossom in his hands. Miraculously, the rose was slightly wilted but otherwise unharmed. Prien thought it strange that such a fragile flower would survive such violence without the loss of a single petal, but he attributed the event to the magic of the Princess and said nothing as Endymion carefully placed the rose in a mug of water. Was it only his imagination, or did the flower regain some of its health when Endymion touched it? "Miss Amaris can not know about this," the Earth-born man muttered as he surveyed with dismay the remains of the vase spread across the floorboards. "That gift was worth a fortune." "Well, she'll be in here herself in a moment if we don't show up in the stables soon." Prien strode over to Endymion and clapped an arm around his shoulders. "What do you say we get to our chores? Some hard work will take your mind off of things, at least for a while." Endymion nodded gloomily. "Serenity?" "Go away." The Princess barely lifted her face from her pillow long enough to say those words before burying her head in the feathers again to block out the light of the sun. Nevertheless, she heard a slight rustling as the chiffon curtain that separated the sitting room of her suite from the bedroom was moved aside and someone entered her presence. "Are you not feeling well, Princess? You've missed half your morning appointments." The voice was familiar, but thankfully not the Queen's. Serenity was not ready to face her mother yet. She turned her head on the pillow to see an orange-suited Sailor Soldier standing at the top of the steps leading to her bedroom. Venus. The blonde soldier's expression was relaxed, neutral, but Adele, the Princess' attendant, was standing just behind her with a face full of apprehensive worry. Serenity squinted in the sunlight. "Adele, the curtains," Sailor Venus instructed. The red-haired girl nodded and hurried to close the drapes, and Serenity followed her with her eyes as far as she could without turning her head. How many years had Adele been faithfully serving her mistress, yet the Princess had never before noticed how pretty the young girl was, how eagerly and efficiently she tackled every task she was assigned? Despite her constant presence in Serenity's chambers, Adele had always been just another servant. No longer. For the first time the Princess found herself wondering what the attendant's hopes and dreams were, if she had a lover, if she had ever been to Selene's Blessing... "Serenity, you have not been yourself lately," Sailor Venus said gently. She moved closer and sat down on the edge of the bed, absently arranging the short orange skirt around her thighs. "If you need someone to talk to, I am always here to listen." Serenity's heart felt dreadfully heavy under the burden of her secret. The offer was tempting, but impossible. She could not tell the leader of the Sailor Soldiers that she was in love with a common stable hand. Venus sighed. "You know I have the ability to sense emotions," said the soldier. The Princess tensed. She had forgotten that Venus could see more than what was on her face. A gloved hand began to caress Serenity's back lovingly, but she dared not look up at the soldier's eyes. After a moment of silence, the hand paused. "Leave us," Venus instructed Adele. The young servant dipped her head and left the two women alone in the bedroom. "Serenity, I am your friend," Sailor Venus began, and the Princess was shocked to hear her voice break on the verge of tears. "I can not understand why you would refuse to trust me, especially with something like this." "I don't understand," Serenity said in what she hoped was an innocent tone, but her heart was pounding in her chest, and it was a struggle to keep her breathing regular. She'd been so careful. Venus couldn't possibly know. It had to be something else. "You are in love, and not with your fiance," the soldier said quietly. Serenity's heart skipped a beat. "That is ridiculous," she forced herself to say, although her mouth was dry and her tongue was like stone. The blonde soldier sighed in exasperation. "Please, stop hiding!" she begged, leaning over the Princess. "I - I saw you together!" At this, Serenity sucked in her breath, rolled over on her back - and was greeted by a sharp onslaught of pain as every muscle in her body protested the movement. She had strained her tissues to the limit pulling herself up to the balcony the previous night and now it felt as if her entire body was bruised. There were blisters on her feet and dried blood on her palms where the rope had cut into them. Although she bit her lip, she could not prevent a whimpering groan of suffering from escaping as she fell back stiffly against the pillows. Not only that, but she had fallen asleep in her dress, and in her exhaustion, she had neglected to hide away the brown cloak and length of rope, which now lay on the bed beside her. "You spied on me?" Serenity managed to hiss through clenched teeth as her muscles throbbed. "I was worried about you, so I watched your balcony," Sailor Venus confessed. "It's taken me two days to gather the courage to speak of it to you. Goodness, how were you injured so? I will tell Adele to fetch the healers." The soldier tried to get up, but Serenity caught her by the arm. "If you do that, Mother will want to know how I was hurt." Her eyes narrowed as she studied the blonde woman's face. "Or have you already told her?" Venus sank down on the bed again. "I wanted to speak to you privately first," she said in a voice bitter with irritation. "I may be a Sailor Soldier, Serenity, but I am also your friend. I have not even told the other soldiers." "Thank you," the Princess muttered, releasing the blonde's arm. "I apologize." The anger and panic she had been feeling ebbed and the sadness and despair came rolling back. "Did you follow us?" she asked quietly. "No." Sailor Venus readjusted herself on the edge of the bed, reached over, and began massaging the sore muscles of Serenity's legs. "Those moments are your own." The Princess winced in pain, but breathed deeply until she was able to relax as the orange-suited soldier eased the tension out of her calves. "Serenity," Venus said carefully, "you know that I have to report anything that threatens the stability of the Moon Kingdom to the Queen." "There is no need," the Princess said bitterly, although every word sent a dagger of pain straight into her heart. "It is finished between us." She squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her fists, but the tears still came, overcoming her willpower as they welled up beneath her eyelids and choked her throat closed. Venus paused in her ministrations. "Why?" she asked quietly. "Did he not make you happy?" "He did," Serenity squeaked, wishing the blonde would stop talking, hoping she could keep fighting the sobs that were threatening to burst out of her chest, longing to run out of the room and never look back as the pain kept growing inside her. "We were just too different. We believe in different things. He's so selfish, really, and stubborn, and...and...oh, Venus, I love him so much!" "I know, Serenity, I know." Sailor Venus seized the Princess by the shoulders, pulled her into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around the crystal-haired girl as she cried, quaking and sobbing into the orange and white uniform. Venus held her like that for quite a while, rocking Serenity gently and trying not to cry herself from the echoes of the young woman's pain. When the Princess finally calmed, the soldier drew a basin of water and helped her get herself in order for what remained of the day. "It's for the best, you know," Venus said kindly as Serenity rolled the rope into the brown cloak and stashed it away behind the wardrobe. "Imagine me, born on a planet famous for its legendary love stories, saying something like that!" She laughed halfheartedly. "You're right, though," the Princess sighed. "It was destined from the beginning to end in heartbreak." She drew herself up, trying to stand properly despite her protesting muscles. "I am the heir to the Moon Kingdom. I have a responsibility to my people." Marching boldly over to the dressing table, Serenity picked up the engagement pendant and hung it in its rightful place around her neck. It was beautiful, the smooth blue stone complimenting her eyes, sparkling in the thin rays of sunlight that peeked through the curtains covering the windows... Princess Serenity stared at her reflection and saw a slave in chains. She burst into tears. So began Serenity and Endymion's first day devoid of the promise of love. It seemed unreal, like a nightmare they could not wake up from, and it had all happened so suddenly that it was almost easy to forget. On an errand for Miss Amaris in the city, Endymion caught sight of a star chart in a shop window. It showed the outlines of all the Ancients in the heavens, along with a paragraph of information about each one. Buying it would cost him what was a small fortune for a stable hand, but Serenity would be pleased if he were to study - then he remembered. A merchant driving a cart along the road had to rein in his horses quickly to avoid running down the young man who had stopped suddenly in the street, his purchases falling out of his limp arms and scattering forgotten on the ground around him. As she sat in the private library studying the founding of the Silver Alliance, a page approached Princess Serenity bearing a folded message. Sailor Mercury took the note from the servant and opened it, absorbing its contents with a practiced eye. "Your voice lesson after dinner tonight has been canceled," the blue-haired soldier reported. Serenity nodded casually, hiding her pleased smile. That was her last appointment of the day. She would have plenty of time to unwind before meeting with End - then she remembered. Serenity's vision wavered, but she blinked her tears away. Mercury was in the room. She waited until she was certain the soldier wasn't looking before carefully shifting her weight in the chair. It didn't help. Despite Venus' morning massage, Serenity still ached from her neck to her ankles, and huddling over books all afternoon had only made matters worse. She spent the entire day hiding her suffering, forcing her agonizing muscles to move normally, and the physical pain coupled with the emotional trauma she was bottling inside made her weak with nausea. Every smile was a lie, every word a false tone of brightness sculpted by years of training for a life in the public eye. Serenity hated it, but she had no choice. This was the best path for a woman in her position. Endymion did not fare much better. Everything reminded him of the Princess, even when it did not make sense. The hay in the stables was golden and coarse, but it still reminded him of her silky pale hair. The sky was a deep royal blue with a few stars shining through the sunlight, but it still reminded him of her bright cerulean eyes. And, of course, he had to work all day in the shadow of the Moon Castle where she lived, so close but forever lost to him. Throughout the day he forced himself to repeat the thought that it was better this way, however painful the separation was. A life on Earth would have been difficult, full of uncertainty and struggle; that was not the kind of life Endymion wanted for his beloved. Their relationship had been doomed to pain and sorrow. Of course ending it was the best decision for all involved. Wasn't it? |
