Author's Note: Those of you who have added me to your favorite authors list may be surprised at not finding a Sherlock Holmes story waiting for you. There's a good reason for this. Over the past two months, I have been participating in a ficathon called The Phenomenon, which is kind of like a Secret Santa thing for stories. All the participants submitted prompts they would like to see turned into stories, and then the moderator distributed them in secret to the different participants. Here is the link to the official Phenomenon thread on the ACA forums: (.net/topic/34546/18712043/1/), or the thread in which all the real stuff happened: (.net/topic/34546/17390445/1/). Because of the wide variety of fandoms represented by the members of the ACA (which stands for Assembly of Christian Authors), many people were pushed to try something new.

This story was written for The Oblivious Seraph, whose prompt was this: "Write a story in which the Princess of the Moon falls in love with her brother, the Prince of the Sun, whose best friend, the Prince of the Earth, falls in love with her."

Seraph, you have unwittingly spawned an epic.

Yes, this story really would love to be a novel. Hence the reason for me not getting it even close to done by the deadline. So please forgive the fact that this is a WIP. I am going to try to get this story done before NaNoWriMo, so I shall try to update frequently.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Joremn

She is ethereal. She is immortal. She is the loveliest thing to ever grace the heavens, so high above me that I, the earth, would never dream of trying to touch her – so far is she beyond my grasp.

And yet she came down, night after night, to dance in my fields, sending her pale pearl dreams gleaming in the forest clearings, her light blue eyes shining from pure joy. She, Eyveniel, Princess of the Moon. I would say her name over and over to myself as I watched her movements from the shadows, filled with a love that, night after night, broke my heart.

I suppose it was foolish and selfish of me to watch her in the first place, knowing well that she thought she was alone. I won't say I couldn't help it, for that is only an excuse. I have complete control over myself when I wish to have it. For me, it was the simple adoration that those members of the earth cannot help but feel when they look up at the sky – and to have her here, in my realm! That was almost more than I could bear. May heaven forgive me for my one fault, that I allowed myself to watch her and grow to love her, though I knew she would hate my affections if she ever learned of them.

Yes, I can also be perfectly logical when I wish to be, though I admit that my heart is greater than my head, and that it sometimes leaps ahead without waiting for my mind to catch up. I spent many a day considering the situation before me, and considering the dreadful reality: if my love were to become known, there could be only one outcome. It is customary among the Keepers for the lady to live in the realm of her lord, though she still retains her position of watching over her own realm. And who would dare to bring the Princess of the Moon down to the Earth? Certainly not I! I am not such a selfish fool.

But even with all these logical thoughts by day, by night I still watched her. It seemed that I could never grow weary of the sight of her bare white feet gracefully brushing the dewy grass, or of her glowing silver hair as it flowed and wavered and leapt behind her – or of her face, so perfect that it seemed carved out of the purest marble, and yet ever so much more alive! Every night, I stayed less and less in the shadows – until one night I came too close to the open, and as she whirled by one of her pale blue eyes caught mine. She slowed to a halt, startled, her doe-like form ready to spring away at the first sign of danger.

I stepped out of the shadows and into the full moonlight so that she could see me, my deeply embarrassed heart pounding in my chest. "Forgive me for watching you," I said. "I did not mean to disturb your dancing." I stopped, not knowing what else to say to her. Those blue eyes studied me, taking in my leafy tunic, my tanned skin that in the daylight betrayed the slightest hue of green, my brown hair that did not glow. I was painfully aware of the way her gaze penetrated me, almost frightening me with its brilliance. My heart wept over the blunder I had made and called me a fool over and over again, so that it was hard to retain my calm control over myself.

Some of the fear left her eyes. "Please," she said, not loudly but clearly, so that the whole clearing seemed filled with her voice, "tell me who you are, and why you watch me from the shadows."

"I am Joremn, Prince of the Earth," I said, spreading my hands to indicate myself.

Her face lighted suddenly with recognition, which startled me a little. "Oh, I have heard your name before!" she said. "You are the soul brother of Coranth, Prince of the Sun."

"He and I are very good friends," I replied modestly.

She smiled. "He has spoken often of you, and told me how you two wander the fields of the earth together by day. But what are you...." She paused, noble lady though she was, and looked at the ground. "I suppose I shouldn't ask you to give an account of yourself," she murmured, "since I am the one dancing in your fields without your permission."

The guilt in her voice disturbed me. "Oh, don't let that trouble you!" I hastened to say. "I do not regard it as a trespass – far from it! Any child of the Lord of the Stars is more than welcome in my humble abode. I hereby give you my permission to come here whenever you wish, and I shall not trouble you in the least." I bowed to her and turned to go, thinking that I had already stayed too long, but her voice stopped me.

"Oh please, do not go! These are your fields: there is no reason why you should remain the shadows while I dance! We can dance together, and the dance will be all the merrier!"

I turned back towards her, my heart blessing the sweet innocence that radiated from her presence. "My lady, I would gladly, but I fear that I am not worthy to dance in the presence of the Princess of the Moon."

She laughed. "Not worthy? Oh Joremn, where would you get such a foolish idea? What law dictates that you are my inferior? On the contrary, I am honored to have finally met you. And if you will not believe me, then I will play according to your rules and command you to stay."

I bowed again. "I am yours to command, if you are certain that you don't dishonor yourself by retaining me."

I half expected her laugh again, but instead she was silent, and when I looked up I saw that she was smiling contemplatively. "You are just as humble and gracious as Coranth said," she mused. "I must admit, I was afraid when I first caught a glimpse of you. But now I cannot help but thank my good fortune that I came upon you." She twirled around, and then looked at me. "Shall we dance?"

We danced to the music of the stars, in the manner befitting two Keepers who intend to keep within propriety: each dancing our own separate dances, intertwined into one brilliant pattern. At intervals our palms would touch, and I would twirl her around, and then the cycle would repeat. The dance was indeed all the merrier for dancing together. Our joyful laughter filled the clearing, singing a song of its own. I was sorry when the night was over and the dance ended, and she came to me to bid me farewell.

"We will dance again tomorrow night," she said. "I enjoy your company, Joremn, Prince of the Earth. You dispel my loneliness with your presence."

Her statement surprised me. "But why should one such as yourself be lonely?" I asked before I could help myself.

She uttered a sad little sigh. "Traversing the sky can be a lonely affair, and I have few acquaintances. Truly, I would trade my honored position as Princess of the Moon to be a simple water nymph here on earth, with many sisters to keep me company."

"Don't say that," I protested. "I would not have you any other way." As soon as the statement left my mouth, I regretted it, for it spoke of my emotions all too clearly.

But Eyveniel – sweet, gentle soul – was not at all perturbed by what I said. Instead she smiled up at me gratefully, her moon-eyes sparkling with their white fire.

"You will be here tomorrow?" she asked.

"I promise," I said, taking her hand and bringing it to my lips. "Until tomorrow, then."

The smile she sent my direction before she turned to dance away was so brilliant that it almost blinded me with its glory. Long after her sweet radiance had departed from the clearing, I lingered, as if rooted to the spot. I could not help the silly grin that spread slowly over my features. I could not yet tell whether what had just transpired would turn out to be a blessing or a curse. But that did not stop my heart from rejoicing.