Lady of the Stardust Butterflies

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It did not make sense. No matter how she thought of it, all sense and reason went against the idea. All logic made such a reality impossible. But so it was. The Princess was in love with two men.

One of them a horrible, evil menace to her kingdom, a knight of the neighbouring Shadow Realm, loyal to the King of those vile lands. Wolfe was his name, and he and his men were always in Stardust Kingdom, reeking havoc on the villagers until the good knights chased them out.

She had met him on her first trip out of the palace walls, on her seventeenth birthday. Though the knights guarding her as they entered the village forbid her to break from them, she saw enough of Wolfe to develop strong feelings. He was the worst of his comrade Shadow Realm knights. As they caused trouble, he was the one doing the biggest damage, kicking down villager's wheel barrels full of good food, stealing materials from the market, picking fights with any man in site.

It was instant love for her.

Though she had only seen him a small countable times since then, her feelings returned with violent force every time she saw him, however few occasions there were. She knew this wasn't good, and if Wolfe were to ever find out, well, the result would be catastrophic on her kingdom. Only she couldn't help it. There was just so much about him that attracted her.

The Princess was awakened from her deep thought for a moment, as a beautiful Stardust butterfly flew past her and onto one of the flowers she was watering with her royal canister. What would she do without her private garden? Where would she go for peace with the butterflies, away from her kind? She put her water can down, and took a seat on the stone bench under the willow tree. It was wearing away, and slightly brittle, but the carved angels could still be seen engraved into the stone.

The other man, a truly kind-hearted knight in the service of her father, King of Stardust Kingdom, was a complete opposite. Unlike Wolfe, she had known this knight, Kaokon, since she was a little girl, though he was a young page in training in those days. Growing up in the palace and seeing boys like him working hard to become knights, she soon made good friends with him, which was quite plausible, since she was forbidden to leave the palace anytime. Yes, they were friends for a long time, from her childhood, to now, in her beginning adult years, as she had reached the age of womanhood the past year.

The Stardust knights were all attentive and courteous to her, they all showed admiration and care towards their Princess, but Kaokon was different. He wasn't just her protector, not just a knight to her father; they had a special connection as friends. He visited her in the palace, though most knights stayed only in the palace grounds to train. They took walks together, and sometimes even, he accompanied her in her garden, though of course a servant had to be present always. But servants could be invisible, and when one forgets they are being observed, one may be free to do as they feel. She suspected, and almost knew, that he had intimate feelings for her. She could feel it in his look, his smile, in his kind words. He truly valued her, and the thought made her blush.

But no, the Princess shook her head and stood up from her bench. It made no sense. For her to love a man as cruel as Wolfe, that was to be expected, but how could she love Kao? He was not evil, he had no ill pretensions. To love a man with a dark heart she knew she would, but a man with a pure heart? How was that feasible?

The vine covered gate to her private garden opened a moment later. The Princess looked away from her flowers. Her father emerged from the door, and joined her by the bed of roses.

"How are you my child? You look quite distressed."

The Princess gave him her best smile. "I am not distressed father, only my head is full from contemplating. How does the evening suit you though, you do not step outside of the palace during these hours normally."

The King bowed his head to that. "True, true, but the sunset looked tempting from the window and I thought I might pay you a visit and see it also."

The Princess looked to the sky. She had been out in her garden since the end of evening meal, when it had still been light out. Now the moon was in the sky, and the sun almost completely gone.

"I am done tending to my flowers, we may go in now." The Princess suggested.

"Indeed, for the wind has caused a sudden chill in the air for me." The King assented.

They walked past the gate and closed it off. The butterflies all flew away.

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Author Note:

On a whim I decided to post the story that gave me my penname. I wrote it a couple of months ago for an animation class, and then adopted the name for fanfiction use.

It's small, and will only be 5 chapters long.

I do hope you all enjoy it.

The lady,

Lady of the Stardust Butterflies