Title: A time of passions - Part I: Becoming a Queen
Author: Ree
Theme: Favorite Character - Beryl- Autumn
Genre: General
Version: Anime/ Manga - Fates/Tainted Gifts storyline- Silver Mellinium
Rating: G

Most of these characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko. I just borrowed my daughters paper dolls again.

A time of passions
Part I: Becoming a Queen

The sun sparkled in the crisp cool sky. The clouds from earlier had finally drifted away leaving the sky a bright blue. Low on the horizon hung a crescent moon. 'I am glad Mother and Father made me come to the capital.' Twirling a strand of brown hair about her finger, Beryl remembered the debate between her parents and herself. 'They eventually won, like all parents do, and now I am a lady-in-waiting to the queen.'

Beryl smiled at the gentlemen that surrounded her and the other ladies. She arrived there in the spring, the time of young love. And amongst the early blooms she was courted. She heard compliments on her dark hair, that when the sun hit it just right it sparkled with red and blonde highlights. On her eyes, that they were the same color as the stone she was named after. She heard them on her manners ,her voice, her singing, and her graceful movements. The list went on and on.

Looking around the group of young people, she tried to spot the one person who had never plied her with foolish blathering. 'Where is the prince?' Her eyes skated across one simpering face to the next, looking for the one that smiled so gently and reassuringly at her. Not seeing him, she put off the lord who was trying to get her to walk by the river with him, and headed off in search for the one man she had come to love.

Stepping into the forest, she was amazed at the brightness of the foliage. The brilliant golds, the many shades of red, and the richness of the greens that still adorned the evergreens even this late in autumn. 'Autumn. It is the time for passion. A great passion. Spring is for young love, summer lets it ripen, and autumn is the time to harvest it. Then you will have it through the winter to keep you warm.' Smiling slightly, she remembered meeting Endymion in the spring, next to a small rosebush. The buds had just been forming on the tips of the branches. She had smiled a greeting and he stopped to talk. When she replied, she answered without simpering or acting foolish. She knew that princes had no time for a simpering miss. They needed one that would help them run the country, one that could stand up and speak for themselves and her people. Their relationship grew and strengthened as the spring continued. Then it steadied out during the late spring. And now that it was autumn, she was ready to harvest what she had sown and tilled, an unexpected love.

Pushing quietly through the trees, Beryl heard his voice off to her left. Turning slightly, she rushed towards him. When she reached a break in the trees, she spotted him. With her fingers resting on the bough that separated her from him, she recoiled and almost ran. His arm was wrapped about another girl. He was gazing into her eyes that were the color of the sun kissed lakes. His fingers were stroking through her hair that reminded Beryl of streams of sunlight breaking through dark cloud, the palest blond she had ever seen. His other hand rested on a shoulder so white, Beryl was sure that the girl rarely if ever felt the touch of the sun's rays. Standing in the shadows of the trees, the couple seemed to glow slightly.

Beryl's fingers bit into the wood as he leaned down to kiss the unknown girl. Memories half forgotten, small unnoticed slights, the use of formal manners, surfaced in her mind. She had forgiven each one, thinking it was because Endymion was busy, and he always apologized. Now each one bite at her, pecking at her confidence. Her prince, her love, was kissing another.

Swallowing hard, Beryl glared at her unknown rival. 'Who are you? I have never seen anyone like you before.' Her eyes narrowed even more as the couple broke apart and started laughing. Tales floated through Beryl's mind, tales of spirits, and the like entrapping humans for their own foul means. 'The girl looks solid enough, and he can touch her. So what is she?' A thought niggled at the edges of her mind until the girl looked up at the moon. 'Sidhe. She is a Sidhe, and she has ensnared the prince. She will take him with her to the Underhill to be the queen's sacrifice.' Beryl considered rushing the couple and separating them, saving her love from the monster's scheming clutches, but she knew it wouldn't be that easy. 'I need to research how to break the Sihde's spell.'

Sinking down to the ground, Beryl watched them until they separated on their own. As Endymion made his way back to the frolicking group of lords and ladies, Beryl watched the red leaves fall to the ground. Picking one up, she studied the strong color. 'Autumn is the time of passion, and not always the passion of love.' Glaring at the spot where the unknown girl had stood, she felt her anger rise.