Chapter 1: Discussions

It was a beautiful day on Jupiter; for once there were no thunderstorms and the royal residence was bathed in sunlight. Although most monarchs of this solar system lived in exquisite, huge castles, the Jovian royal family lived in an apparently normal village in the middle of the rainforest. All houses there were made out of wood and built on pillars to reduce flooding. To most outsiders it looked like everything on Jupiter was huge, including the planet itself, and coloured either green or brown. This appearance was expected to be reflected in the people as well, so if asked to draw the perfect Jovian one would picture someone tall with hazel or emerald eyes and hair of green or brown dressed in leather. Occasionally, they would wear a cape made of leaves as well. And one would not be too incorrect. Most Jovians, including the royal court, did look like that. But these outsiders did not see the magnificent paradise birds or colourful flowers living in the rainforest.

Suddenly the peace and quiet was rudely disturbed by a cacophony of loud noise erupting from inside the royal residence.

"No! I will Not!"

"Yes, you WILL!"

"You cannot force me to do something like this," Makoto protested angrily.

"Yes, Makoto, I can. And I told you, it´s important!"

"Important? I don´t care! No reason could be pressing enough for THIS!" Makoto yelled, dropping suddenly to sit on a nearby chair. She held her head in her hands, silently seething.

"What if it is to prevent a war?"

Makoto's eyes flew up to her mother's. "What?"

"Your cousin was killed on Mercury. It was an accident, but our people don´t believe it. They say he was assassinated and they want revenge. This is the only way to prevent a war between Mercury and ourselves. And that war would be a bloody one at best, Makoto."

Makoto, the princess of Jupiter, was not angry. That didn't even come close to expressing what she felt; she was furious that her mother was trying to control her life like this. It was ridiculous. Everyone knew that the Mercurians would not do something like that without a good rational reason. And there was none; there had been peace between the two planets for centuries. So it had to have been an accident, although it had to be said that the likelihood of an accident on Mercury was low. They were not only Rationalists, but also Perfectionists.

"But why me? Why not one of my sisters? I don´t want to marry some guy I don´t even know!"

"Who said anything about a guy?" Queen Jupiter asked ironically.

Makoto was silent for a few moments as the words sunk in. She stared at her mother incredulously. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Queen Mercury has only got one daughter. She is the last one of the royal family entitled to anything concerning that planet. So, you will marry her to prevent this fucking war from destroying us all."

Makoto knew her mother was getting more than just frustrated at her. It was clearly written on her face how deeply annoyed she was. But even though she was scowling, she was still very beautiful. As the Queen, she embodied the perfect Jovian; she was tall, with deep brown eyes, rich, flowing mahogany hair and a temper that was as quick to surface as a tempest. And as was the case with the other Queens, besides Pluto, she looked as though she was in her mid-twenties, which was rather odd, considering she had children who were older than that. Not that Makoto had any idea what she would expect someone who'd lived for centuries to look like. The Queen took a deep, calming breath.

"But still, why me?" Makoto whined.

"Why not you? You are a Princess of Jupiter, but not the Crown Princess as far as we know. That role is Kanna's, and she does not like you at all."

"I haven't done anything to her!" Makoto spluttered.

"I didn't say you did, so don´t shout at me, Makoto," her mother said calmly. "Listen to me: if you marry the Mercurian princess, you will be safe. Isn't that the most important thing?"

"But Mother, I would rather have some trouble with my sister than be stuck with some stupid girl I don't know for the rest of my life!"

"Makoto, that princess is may be a lot of things, but she is certainly not stupid. On top of that, she won't stay a girl forever. And if worst comes to worst, there is a rule that allows every ascending monarch to be freed of any marriage if they so wish. You probably will only be married to her for a couple of years. Is that so much to ask to prevent a war of that magnitude?"

"But, Mother…" Makoto started again.

"You're not listening to me, Makoto! Do you really think I would force you -or any child of mine - into this if there was another chance?" her mother pleaded.

Princess Jupiter suddenly found that the floor of her mother's office had a rather nice pattern of different shades of light wood. Of course her mother did not want this for her and it was wrong to suggest such a thing about her. She herself had married twice purely out of love and she wanted only the best for her children - all 26 of them. Or was it 27? Makoto always got confused with so many siblings.

"Of course not, Mother," Makoto said, still looking at the floor, fiddling with her fingers.

"Good, now leave me, please. I still have some work to do," her mother said, turning away from her. Makoto rose from her chair.

"Yes, of course. Good night, Queen Jupiter."

At the same time another princess was notified of her upcoming marriage.

Dear Daughter,

As you probably already know, Queen Jupiter´s nephew was killed in the explosion two days ago. Now the Jovians are threatening us with war as they believe that he was assassinated by our people. If matters are not dealt with, Queen Jupiter will have no choice but to declare war on us if she does not want to risk civil war on her own planet. In the light of these current events it has been decided that you are going to marry one of Jupiter´s children, although I have not been notified which one exactly. So, please be prepared to leave in 20 standard hours. Do not take too much with you; surely you will be given everything you need in your new home. But also take into account that you will probably be met with quite a bit of hostility from the regular population.

I will probably not be able to have dinner with you tonight, but we will meet at the spaceport. We will arrive on Jupiter in the morning so you should try to get some sleep on the flight.

Have a pleasant night,

Your Mother.

Well, Princess Mercury thought cynically, that´s one way to prevent an argument.