Chapter 1: The meeting

Shadows quivered on the wall as the candle flickered, then fizzled to nothing. 'Just great' Serena thought to herself as she walked down the dark hallway. Slowly making her way through the darkness, her hand gliding against the wall, she stopped at the large oak door. Gently turning the knob and entering she was greeted by a dagger pointing at her, "Take one more step and I will kill you," the mystery voice said. Serena's eyes widened in fear as a sob escaped her lips " I'm I'm sorry,' she stuttered, " I thought this was Princess Mina's room. "

"And why exactly would you need to be going to Princess Mina's room in the dead of night?"

"Well, see, before I went to bed, Princess Rei told me the most awful story about werewolves and vampires and now I can't sleep." Another sobbed escaped her lips as her body shook with fear.

The mystery figure stepped back putting the dagger away and lit a candle. "So, you are one of the princesses visiting the Terran court."

Serena lifted her head and saw the most gorgeous man, he had a lean muscular build, ebony hair that fell slightly in his eyes, making you want to push it out of his face, but the most striking feature of all were his eyes. They were the deepest blue Serena had ever seen and she felt like those eyes could see right through her. The man let out a light laugh, "Like what you see?" he teased as Serena colored prettily,

Quickly changing the subject before he could tease her more, "Please tell me there are no werewolves or vampires. Her story has me so frazzled and I want to go home away from here immediately."

Motioning for her to sit down, "No there are no werewolves or vampires here. Although, I could be wrong." He grinned at her.

"Oh stop," Serena responded as she lightly tapped his shoulder, "It's not funny. Had me so scared I could not sleep. By the way where are my manners, my name is Serena."

Taking her hand in his he kissed it, "And my name is Darien. Nice to meet you."

Pulling her hand away quickly as to try and stop the fast beating of her heart she continued on"So tell me Darien, do you know the Prince?"

"I know him very well. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I am supposed to meet him later this week and I just wanted to know what he was like? I mean I hope he is not like the other princes I have met. All they were interested in was gaining power and doing things that benefited them, not their people. And I fear that the Terran Prince is just like the others if the rumors are true."

"You should not be passing judgment on someone you barely know. Those are just rumors after all, they are often fabricated stories that.."

"Come from some source of truth," she finished his sentence before he could. Darien stared at this girl in front of him, for being so dainty she sure had a mighty opinion. An opinion he had to figure out how to change. Before he could even reply she stood up, "I should probably get back to my room. It was a pleasure meeting you Darien. Hopefully, I get to talk to you again soon."

Standing as well he took her hand again and kissed it once more "The pleasure is all mine Princess." After giving her directions on how to find her way back to her room, he closed his door and sat down in his chair before the fire. 'Why do I feel the need to change Princess Serena's perception of me? I mean I do not really care what a slip of a princess thinks, do I? No matter that she is downright gorgeous with her long blonde hair, curves to tempt the most pious man and those eyes. Those baby blue eyes that you could drown in. 'Getting up he was now determined that he will change the Princesses mind and it will begin tomorrow.