Prologue
The early morning sun broke through the clouds that had been the remainder of the last night's storm. The rain soaked ground was more mud than grass, as if the storm's winds and heavy waterfall had churned the earth and caused it to begin again. There was no peaceful rainbow to alert the storm was ended, however. It was as if the storm were not a true new beginning, but a terrible omen of future events.
The servants of the royal castle had begun their duties hours ago, preparing the breakfast hall and awakening the pages and squires so that they could, in turn, wake the nobles and knights. The scent of broths and still baking breads filled the hallways as the sunlight peeked through the windows and into the complaining eyes of the few castle dwellers who had not heeded the calls to awake yet.
The guardians of Prince Endymion, the heir to the throne, were called the Shitennou, the Four Holy Kings. Their leader, Kunzite, had been awake before even the servants, and for reasons no one had yet been able to discern, he had been out for most of the night as well. Nephrite had also been up early, but that came as no surprise to any members of the court, he was a stargazer by nature and always went to bed late and awoke early. Zoisite, the youngest of the four men had awoken promptly when his pages knocked and left the washing bowl on his table. Jedite, however, had not awoken even when his pages tried verbally calling to him 30 minutes later. After another hour had passed, he made his presence known in the halls, with a neatly pressed uniform, but bed-rumpled hair that looked as if it had never been combed in his life.
This morning, the usual meeting of the four men with their prince in a private hall had become a little more crowded. Somber eyes the color of the deep ocean that was less than a mile to the south of the palace grounds peered out over the men from a ragged blanket. Soft sounds of curiosity came from the tiny mouth as the prince petted the stranger's rosy cheeks, eliciting a smile from the man as tiny fingers reached out and grabbed for his hand.
"Where did you find her, Kunzite?" Zoisite finally asked, breaking the nearly tense silence. "She's adorable"
The stoic ice king remained silent, keeping his sky blue eyes focused on their prince as he held the tiny ward Kunzite had brought in from the storm the previous night. He'd brought the baby girl with him to the hall, explaining only that he was adopting the child to raise her as a lady of the court, though in not as many words. Kunzite never spoke much beyond what needed to be said. No one questioned it so far, even to find out if she had the bloodline to qualify for ladyship status.
"What's her name? Or did she not come with one?" Nephrite asked, raising a slim chocolate colored eyebrow.
"She has a name." Kunzite replied, arms crossed. The baby girl giggled and fussed a bit in Endymion's arms.
"Well?" Jedite, ever impatient, demanded clarification.
"Alexandrite." The child fell silent as her name was spoken. The other four men in the room followed suit.
"That's a dangerous name for a child." Zoisite finally said. "That gemstone is full of shadows and changes. It never shows its true face to the sun"
Kunzite barely shrugged in response. "It's her name"
"We'll call her Alexia for a nickname. So she doesn't get teased." Zoisite said with a nod, reaching over to the baby and touching her short blonde hair. Kunzite nodded in agreement. "She's such a sweet little girl, I wonder who her mother was"
The baby broke out in a sudden wail, the cry had a disturbing quality that seemed to unnerve Nephrite. Jedite suddenly excused himself suspiciously with no real reason spoken, and Nephrite followed him quickly without a word.
"I think they're a little frightened of your new ward, Kunzite." Endymion teased lightly with a serious expression, handing the baby back to the silver haired lesser king before walking out. "I hope they don't have any good reasons for it." The prince warned over his shoulder before closing the door.