Dark Kingdom Transgressions Series

Book 1 - Fallen

Rated - R

by Luna Hope

Please Note: This story has major spoilers for my Crystal Flaws series since this is a prequel to it.

The Littlest One

Our secrets...just you and me.
Out hopes, anticipation and many dreams.
What is your name - who would you be?
Your little arms reaching out to me.
Your laughter and your tears.
My many kisses that wash away your fears.
You are so new and potential is great.
What is wrong? But wait...
It's not the time!
Oh save us, please...this one is mine!
I saw your heart beating today.
My body still tells me you cannot stay.
I can't hold on...you have to go.
Good bye my littlest one - I'll miss you...I love you so.

Chapter 1 -

Queen Roselynn of the Golden Kingdom of Earth leaned against one of the numerous pillars that were evenly spaced around the perimeter of Elysion's Shrine and Royal Palace. A glorious sunset made the crystal lake surrounding the shrine glow like fire and molten gold but Roselynn didn't notice it. Her thick hair shielded her face and she hugged the pillar for support. Her slender fingers convulsively gripped its smooth surface as she tried very hard to suppress the shaking of her shoulders and the sobs that wanted to escape her lips.

The King of the Golden Kingdom stood inside the inner courtyard. He rubbed his beard while staring pensively at his wife. Roselynn was unaware of his presence and had allowed her emotional guard to drop. Her sadness was reflected in the way her thigh length raven hair hung unbound to hide her face and in the defeated slope of her shoulders. King Stanton knew she was crying, again. He also knew she didn't want him to know. The most powerful man on Earth and Elysion helplessly stood in the evening shadows and wished for the hundredth time that he could do something to make his wife happy again.

The High Priest of Elysion, King Stanton's personal advisor, shifted from Pegasus to human form as he silently came to stand next to his King. After a moment the priest quietly offered, "Her heart hurts."

Frustrated, midnight blue eyes turned toward the priest. King Stanton practically snarled, "I know that, Merak!"

Unruffled, the tall, pale priest continued, "So does yours."

The King couldn't refute that observation either. With a sad sigh he ran his fingers through his hair then turned to look at his wife again. "She's not getting better." he admitted.

"She needs more time." answered the priest.

Again the King sighed, "It has been two years and she's more sad now than ever before."

"They were a very hard two years for her," Merak pointed out.

"I know...," the King haltingly said, "First my parent's deaths and then...each time she loses a baby she becomes even more unhappy."

The Priest bowed his head. He couldn't imagine how difficult it must be to have children die before they could be born. That just didn't happen to Pegasuses. He had prayed for each of the royal couple's babies but they had still died. The King and Queen did have their first born, a five-year-old son named Endymion, but that was all. Finally Merak said, "She loved your mother and father very much. She misses them."

The King added, "She's lonely and wants family members around her like she had on the surface. She also says Endymion barely knows his relatives."

Merak wisely didn't comment on the subject that was an ongoing conflict between the King and Queen. He knew both sides of the issue and like many things in life, there was no good answer. Each side had its points and drawbacks. He wished there was a compromise available to the royal couple but there was no middle ground when the issue was which dimension to live in, Earth or Elysion.

When the King and Queen had first married, Roselynn had no trouble with the idea of living in Elysion. She understood that Elysion was where the Royal Family of the Golden Kingdom had lived for generations. Elysion, separate as it was from the Earth's surface, was politically neutral. Each of Earth's continents was equal under the Royals of the consolidated Earth, but political discord was easily stirred up between them. If one continent housed the Royals and the Golden Crystal power the King carried, then the other continents would claim that continent had political favor. Unlike surface humans the Pegasuses were peaceful by nature. Much of the Earth's historical information and magical knowledge was stored in Elysion and studied by the Pegasuses, making them excellent advisors to the King. Earth's Golden Crystal power was channeled through Elysion and the prayers of a chosen Pegasus priest regulated its volume. The crystal was safest and strongest when it was kept in close communication with Elysion.

Soon after their wedding, Roselynn had become pregnant and spent her time between her royal duties and planning for the baby with her mother-in-law, Queen Lenia. When Prince Endymion was born Roselynn had happily settled into the royal family and motherhood.

Between Prince Endy's grandparents, his parents and the palace shrine maidens, he had never lacked attention. All he had to do was raise his chubby little hands and grin, and he'd be sitting on his grandfather's lap during court, knocking the crown off King E. Drew Vasilis' head onto the floor and generally charming everyone there to distraction.

The first time Roselynn had put Endy down for a nap then found his crib empty, she had panicked. The entire palace had been in an uproar until it was realized the Pegasus shrine maidens had him. Because of their acute telepathic abilities, they had heard him fuss in his crib and had taken him on wing to rock him to sleep.

Roselynn hadn't minded sharing Endymion with everyone in the palace though. She had seen how happy everyone was to take him and it wasn't unusual for his grandparents to mock argue whose turn it was next. Of course, when it was time for a diaper change his grandfather would willingly send him back to his mother. She had breastfed too, so Roselynn knew no one would take him very far. She was guaranteed to have her son during feeding time at least. Also, Roselynn had grown up in a similar manner at the Royal Palace of the Asian continent. As princesses of the realm, Roselynn and her older sister, Lilacea, had been raised by a large extended family.

All of this changed soon after Prince Endy's third birthday. King Drew and Queen Lenia had taken a trip to the continent of Africa to view and dedicate a new diamond mine.

The King and Queen had used Pegasuses to reach the surface, but while visiting they used the transportation offered to them by the hosting royals. On their way to the mine tragedy had struck. The transport carrying many of the royals, including King Drew and Queen Lenia, had lost control on a rain slickened mountain road and tumbled down a steep slope. Death must have come quickly for the King and Queen of the consolidated Earth. Had they survived the fall, King Drew would have used a silver whistle he carried to summon the Pegasuses for help. When rescuers reached the crippled transport the dead King was found clutching the whistle in his hand.

Suddenly, and much sooner than anyone expected, Prince E. Stanton Vasilis and Princess Roselynn had become King and Queen of the Consolidated Earth. The entire world and Elysion were in mourning.

King Stanton and Queen Roselynn struggled to pick up where his parents left off while also trying to bear their sorrow and deal with Prince Endymion. It was especially hard when the Prince demanded to have his grandparents back. No matter how they had tried to explain it to him, there was only so much a three year old could understand. Each day Prince Endy would ask again then have tearful tantrums when he received the same answer as the day before.

Endymion also became extra clingy, latching on to his mother and throwing tantrums at anyone who tried to take him off her hands. Then, to top it all off, Roselynn had discovered she was pregnant. In and of itself this was not a bad thing. It made Roselynn and Stanton happy and it was something positive to focus on, but the timing had been pretty rough on them. Roselynn had been tired, sick, sad and lonely. Stanton, with all his new duties hadn't been available to support her and she had missed her mother-in-law terribly.

Almost halfway through the pregnancy, Roselynn had woken up one night in pain and lying in a pool of blood. Her doctor had been brought from the surface and all the Pegasus priests and shrine maidens had prayed fervently for the Queen and her child. Using it by himself for the first time, Stanton even brought out the golden crystal. In spite of all they had tried, the baby girl was stillborn.

The crystal's power had helped Roselynn to heal physically, but nothing had been able to console her. She went through her days woodenly and spent her nights sleeplessly. The only times Roselynn smiled was when Endymion was with her. Roselynn, as much as possible, tried to keep her son within her sight. She had become frantic and worried that something would happen to him. She even refused to allow him to ride with the Pegasuses anymore or to do anything she considered risky.

When Roselynn started to check on Endy up to twenty times a night, the King had finally had enough. He suggested that Roselynn go to the surface and visit her sister, Lilacea, for a while. Roselynn, who had been driving herself just as crazy as she was her husband, agreed. The change of environment and people distracted Roselynn from her worries just as her husband had hoped.

Roselynn and her sister were about as opposite from each other as they could get. Where as Roselynn had luxurious long straight black hair and almond shaped, light brown eyes, Lilacea had shoulder-length, straight, white-blond hair and almond shaped lavender eyes. Their personalities were opposite too. Roselynn was sweet-tempered, feminine, refined and didn't like conflict, where as Lilacea was outgoing, vivacious, a bit of a crusader and always on the go. Lilacea's levelheaded sympathy and practicality had helped Roselynn put things into perspective and her busy social schedule hadn't let Roselynn sit around and mope.

During the visit, Endymion had enjoyed getting to know his cousin, Kunzite, who was a year older than him. Kunzite, who had long straight white-blond hair from his mother and ice blue eyes from his father, had shown Endymion his favorite hiding and exploring places. They had given Kunzite's nanny a few heart attacks when they got into some typical boy trouble spots, but it hadn't been anything a good bath couldn't fix.

During the time King Stanton's wife and son had been away he made a concentrated effort to get a handle on being King. He had missed his family though and was very happy when they returned to Elysion four months later.

Two months after her return, Roselynn had been dismayed to realize she was pregnant again. She had wanted the baby, but she was afraid. She had been so afraid something would go wrong that she didn't even tell her husband.

Stanton had noticed Roselynn's weepiness, preoccupation and nausea. When he finally cornered her, he verified what he had been pretty sure of already. At first he had been angry she hadn't told him, but that soon turned into concern as he held her and she had cried out her fears to him. It was then that Stanton had decided he would be more available to his wife and would help her as much as possible. He had meant well, but what he had mostly done was take Endymion with him to try to give her a break. He hadn't known what else to do.

As soon as it had been known the Queen was expecting, everyone tried to not bother her. They had meant well too, but with Stanton and Endymion out, Roselynn was left alone with her anxiety. She had spent a lot of time crying and wished with all her heart that she could go back to her sister. However, she had known how much Stanton was trying to be nice and helpful and she hadn't had the heart to ask to leave again.

Roselynn had known she was close to the time she had miscarried previously and every little ache and pain increased her anxiety. When she had started to feel crampy one afternoon she went to bed, but kept telling herself that she was being paranoid and that surely it wouldn't happen again. When she had begun to bleed that evening she realized her fears were justified. Sorrowfully, she suffered through another stillbirth, this time it was a boy. Stanton had held her and they both cried. The doctor hadn't been able to find a reason why Roselynn was miscarrying.

Roselynn now began to avoid Stanton. She loved him, but she was certain that if she went through another miscarriage she wouldn't survive it. She would simply die of a broken heart. The only way she could be assured it wouldn't happen again was for her to stay as far away from her husband as possible. Roselynn threw herself into her work and into taking care of Endymion.

It had been a long and hectic weekend. Prince Endymion's fifth birthday celebration had been a success and many of the continents of Earth's Royal families had been able to travel to Elysion for the celebration. By Sunday evening the guests had left and an overtired Prince had been put to bed.

Queen Roselynn walked through the halls and her footsteps echoed loudly in the now quiet shrine. She already missed the chaotic uproar of her friends' and families' invasion. She did like the Pegasuses that served at the shrine and they were always very pleasant but even after living there almost six years she wasn't close to any of them. They were always so calm and tranquil. It drove her up the wall that their footsteps didn't made a sound when they walked and she wouldn't ever get used to the fact that they seemed to know what she needed before she even asked. As she thought about it, she realized she couldn't recall ever seeing a Pegasus ruffled or upset. Even when dealing with an urgent issue they glided down the hall quickly but they never ran, yelled or did anything with less than perfect calm.

Roselynn came to the end of the hallway and wandered toward the outer courtyard that encircled the shrine. She stood next to a supporting pillar and gazed out over the smooth waters of the crystal lake. Silence surrounded her like an all-encompassing fog. It pressed on her and conspicuously underscored just how alone she felt. As she leaned against the pillar she bowed her head and began to cry. Roselynn inwardly cursed herself for being weak and unable to be content with the gilded cage life had handed her.

After a few moments, Merak had faded away from the King's side to give the royal couple some privacy.

Stanton walked up behind his wife and by the subtle stiffening of her stance, he knew she had heard him. He silently slid his hands under Roselynn's dark cascade of hair and gently massaged her shoulders. Gradually, in spite of her resolve Roselynn began to relax and let the tightness be coaxed from her back.

The couple stood and silently watched as the last rays of sunlight were extinguished behind the forest trees and the twilight's shadows cloaked them. Stanton, being a man very much in love with and attracted to the woman in front of him, slowly drew closer to her as his hands slid off her shoulders. His fingers softly brushed over the curve of her breasts in a questioning caress as his arms moved to encircle her waist.

Roselynn jerked as if she had been shot and quickly spun out of her husband's embrace. Looking up with wild fearful eyes she blurted out, "Don't touch me!" then quickly ran back into the shrine.

Stanton stood alone in the dark with fists clenched and eyes closed. He finally understood what he was dealing with.

Continued...

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it. If you did like my story, or if you have any (kind and gently worded) suggestions/comments about my story, please let me know. I truly appreciate feedback. You can email me at ndeblock at att dot net .

This story was edited and enhanced by the great minds and imaginations of my three wonderful betas, Sophia Prester, Yumeko & Loki. Their help and ideas have been of great value to me! Each is also a fabulous Sailor Moon fanfic author. Sophia Prester's and Yumeko's stories can be found on Fanfic dot net with an author's name search. Loki's work is on AriasInk dot com. I highly recommend reading all of their stories.

Bye, Luna Hope

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, her lover, her friends, her family and her enemies all don't belong to me. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I just borrowed them for a little bit of fun. All original characters in this story do belong to me.