Silver

Chapter One:

Meeting Endymion, the Knight with a Mysterious Past

by Phantasy Star

Serena's groan came out as a muffled whimper against her pillow. She buried her face deeper into the wonderful softness in an attempt to escape the blazing sunlight invading her bedroom.

It wasn't working.

With a growl, she pulled at her rumpled sheets and wrapped them haphazardly around her head, not caring that she may suffocate. They could resuscitate if necessary - there were castle healers for this sort of thing.

From under her blankets, she frowned. Her bedroom felt unusually warm. Did the castle air-conditioning stop working?

Reluctantly, she peeked out from under her sheets and looked out her bedroom window, a full-length glass pane which her mother claimed gave the best view of the castle grounds. Not that she really cared. The view was always the same – the fountains and rose gardens weren't going to get up and do a little dance for her.

But there were no dancing fountains outside this morning. Not that she could see anyway. All she could see was smoke. Lots and lots of smoke rising past her window.

She growled. What kind of morons barbecued this early in the morning? Granted, it might not be morning since she sometimes slept until noon, but still.

And right outside the princess's room no less!

Oh well, she mused, it was not a complete loss. She was growing hungry, and if she went outside to demand a rack of lamb, she would certainly be granted her request. She was the princess of the kingdom after all.

Her door swung open from behind her.

She didn't bother to turn and look. It was her servant Molly coming in to tend to her. The girl somehow always knew instinctively when she would wake up every morning. Serena smiled. Perhaps she could send ask Molly to fetch the rack of lamb in her stead. She liked the idea very much; sometimes she gave herself far too little credit for her own intelligence.

"Princess Serenity."

Half-dazed, she rolled to lay on her other side. She looked at her visitor.

It wasn't Molly.

This man was tall, with broad shoulders, short ebony hair, and a dark complexion that drew a distinct contrast with his intense blue eyes. He was dressed in full dark-indigo armor, a red cape draped over his back. He face was young – he seemed only a few years older than she was – but his eyes gave away a depth of experience.

Her heart fluttered. What an incredibly attractive suitor! His stature so poised, his determined expression so heart-stopping. And he was standing so confidently in her bedroom. In her bedroom.

In her bedroom.

Wait a minute, what?

She screamed. A shrill, spoiled-princess scream. She stared wide-eyed and wide-mouthed at him, her decibels and pitch rising by the second.

He remained expressionless.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but we must leave now."

She would have cried out in alarm when he abruptly gathered her up in his arms like she were paper and carried her out of the bedroom, but she was already screaming. She was dimly aware that she was wearing only her night gown. Thank goodness she did not decide to take it off from the barbecue heat! Despite her traumatized state, she noticed briefly that the servants were running back and forth down the hallways in more panic than usual. In fact, they didn't even seem to notice that the princess was being abducted.

Then he was carrying her back into her room. His arms still holding her, he used one hand to open her closet roughly.

"I forgot, you should take a few belongings with you, Your Highness," he said quickly.

She stopped screaming, stared upwards into his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then she opened her mouth and started again.

A look of defeat crossing over his face, he grabbed a few of her simpler gowns and draped them over her body, his actions awkward with only one hand barely free.

Then he marched quickly out of the room, her constant piercing cry echoing throughout the castle halls.

"What in the name of the Moon are you doing!" Serena exclaimed angrily, finding for the first time that she could speak, "And what's going on here?"

Yes, the view from her window would definitely have been different today. They stood on a patch of grass outside the castle building, and Serena watched as soldiers sparred violently in the castle courtyards, certainly more aggressively than she normally observed. The rose gardens were on fire, no doubt from the garden barbecue. The central water fountain had fallen over. Where was Molly? Where was her mother?

She gasped as he took hold of her waist and lifted her easily up on to a white horse. She swung her leg awkwardly on to the other side of the large animal and struggled just to stay on.

"The Moon kingdom is under siege," the armored man said quickly as he climbed up, settling in front of her as he took the reigns, "I am to get you to safety, Princess Serenity. Please, hurry and put your arms around my waist."

"I... I..." she said, horrified, "I barely know you!"

"There isn't time for this, Your Highness," he said impatiently, turning back to look at her, "My name is Endymion, a grand knight in service to the Moon's First Guard. We are hereby acquainted, and so please, put your arms around my waist."

"Wait, where's my mother?"

He looked only briefly empathetic, "Guards have been sent for her. She should be riding out of the castle as we speak."

"All... All right... Sir Endymion," Serena said, trying out the name, then wrapping her arms timidly around his waist. He was such a large man, it felt almost uncomfortable just to be around him. She rarely had contact with boys and this seemed far too much.

And then it registered in her brain. Her castle was under attack. Her mother...

"What's going to happen to us?"

She gasped when Endymion grasped the reigns and the horse jumped, lifting both him and her with it. They had installed a pirate ship at the Moon Kingdom amusement park a year ago and that hideous thing had scared her to death. This was far worse.

"You mean, you and me?" Endymion asked, his voice puzzled.

She tried to ignore the constant up-and-down jerking motion of the horse, "No, me and my mom. What's going to happen to us now that our kingdom is under attack?"

"I do not know, Princess Serenity," Endymion admitted, "My only instruction was to take you to our closest ally, the Mars Kingdom. We shall ensure both you and Queen Serenity's safety before planning any retaliation."

The horse galloped quickly past the battling soldiers in the castle. Serena's face paled. The place where she had grown up had become a bloody battlefield. She heard the frightening sounds of spears and swords and cries and groans as the soldiers felled each other. She had never seen such violence. Everything was unfamiliar and surreal.

Then she frowned.

"Wait, how do I know you are who you say you are?" Serena demanded, "How do I know you're not one of the enemy soldiers sent to kidnap me? If you really were here to rescue me, shouldn't there be others with you? Why would they send only one soldier to take me away?"

Panic welled up in her like an erupting geyser. She realized what she had to do.

"Let me off!" she demanded as she let go of his waist and started pounding on his armored back, ignoring the fact that he probably felt nothing, "Let me off!"

"Your Highness!" he exclaimed, "Do not risk your life! Surely you do not wish to descend upon my horse in the midst of this bloody fight!"

"I don't care! Let me off!"

He didn't answer. She thought about her options - jump off the horse and risk breaking a limb, slide herself off and risk being dragged, knock her kidnapper out and risk-

Suddenly, she felt something come over her face. A white handkerchief? She struggled, gave a weak attempt to pull away. Why weren't her muscles working? Why was it getting so difficult to breathe?

And then, everything went black.

She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the man across the fire. Sitting silently on a tree log, she watched as her kidnapper threw another twig into the flames. She had woken up to find herself lying in a small clearing amidst a sparse forest, the night having darkened around them. The only sounds were the occasional owl hooting ominously in the background, and the gentle flickering of the fire between them.

"You drugged me," she said vehemently, "You drugged me, you sicko."

"I had no choice, Your Highness," he said apologetically, "You were going to descend the horse and risk your life, and my instructions were to protect you through any means necessary."

She frowned. "Wait a minute, you said I had to put my arms around your waist in order to ride with you. How was I supposed to put my arms around your waist when I was drugged into unconsciousness?"

"I was forced to put your body in front of me," Endymion explained, his voice uncomfortable, "It was difficult to ride with only one hand, but we still made good distance from the castle. We should have lost the enemy soldiers who were following us."

She glared at him.

"You have had an uneasy day, your Highness," Endymion said quietly, "I understand if your mood is sour."

She gaped.

"Of course my mood is sour!" Serena exploded, "This morning I was dragged out of bed by some callous knight, ripped from my burning home! I don't know where my mom is! I don't know if she's even alive! And even if we find her, we're probably going to have to live in exile or something! And you! You drugged me, you, you, you... creep!"

Endymion frowned.

"I am sorry for your turmoil, Princess Serenity."

"Can you speak like a normal person?" Serena demanded, "'Turmoil'? 'Sour'? Don't you think you're being a little pretentious?"

"I am merely a knight," Endymion said, his gaze downcast, "And you are the princess of the kingdom I serve. I must address you formally."

She glared at him again. "Fine."

"Perhaps this hide will improve your Highness' mood," Endymion suggested, holding up a piece of meat on a skewer he had taken out of his hunting bag. She glared at it.

Reluctantly, she reached out her hand and took it, wishing that she had a napkin. She took a bite and was pleasantly surprised at the taste. Certainly more exquisite than the carrots and broccoli her mother usually made her eat.

She looked at him apprehensively, "So... can you tell me what's going on?"

Endymion frowned, his eyes giving away that he was deeply worried, "It appears troops from the Jupiter Kingdom ambushed our kingdom early this morning, with no previous declaration of war or even a warning. There has been no bad blood between the two kingdoms; we were completely unprepared. We were fortunate we had an emergency plan to escort the royal family out of the castle."

"You still haven't explained why only you were sent for me, one single knight."

"We needed to ride as stealthily to safety as possible," Endymion explained, "Even a small band of soldiers would have drawn too much attention from the enemies."

They were silent again for a moment.

It hit Serena all at once: Her home had been invaded, her mother was in hiding, she was accompanied by only a man she had met mere moments earlier. She suddenly felt very alone. Then she realized that, like it or not, for the next few days this knight was all she had, the only person responsible for her.

"Sir Endymion…" she said hesitantly, offering a small smile, "Maybe we should get to know one another. Can you tell me something about yourself?"

Endymion frowned at her, as if surprised she did not remember, "I am a knight of the Moon Kingdom. First Guard."

"No, I mean, something about you," Serena explained, "Like, what do you like to do, um, after work? By after work, I guess I mean after you train or patrol or whatever. Do you paint, or sing, or collect bottle caps? I mean, collecting bottle caps is pretty boring, but given what I know about you so far, I wouldn't be entirely surprised."

He frowned again, "The fact that I am a knight and in service to the Moon Kingdom and to you, that is all you need to know about me."

Serena gaped at him. She was trying to be nice to him, and he just brushed her off! Perhaps, given this supposedly huge difference in status between them which he claimed, she could demand that he talk to her like a normal human being. She thought about commanding him to be friendly towards her, but that just made her feel pathetic.

"Fine, forget it," she snapped, "Let's just sit here in awkward silence. I hope you're happy."

He didn't answer, merely looked at the piece of meat over the fire that he was cooking now for himself.

She took another bite of her food and stared at him. No doubt he was extremely handsome. He certainly had the build of a gallant knight. She noted his honest face and intelligent eyes which now flickered orange from the reflection of the small fire. It was almost wasteful that he had zero socialization skills. The good-looking ones always had some emotional shortcomings.

"Princess, be still."

Her eyes widened in fear, "What? Is there something crawling on me? Don't tell me it's a snake. Snakes freak the heck right out of me. Where is it? Oh, geez, where is it?"

"No," Endymion whispered, "Footsteps."

She blinked, then smiled excitedly.

"Moon Kingdom guards sent to escort me to the Mars Kingdom?" Serena asked, brightening, "Where?"

"Quiet!" Endymion scolded under his breath, and she glared at him. Wasn't he supposed to be formal and polite to her?

Not that it mattered. In less than a minute, the footsteps had grown louder and their unexpected visitors had stepped out of the shadows. Serena gasped, looking up at the five men who seemed to tower over her. They were dressed in dark green shirts and black pants, a bandanna over each of their faces.

Each one carried a knife.

Endymion had already stood up, his heavy sword held in both hands. He positioned himself between Serena and the strangers, his feet wide apart and shoulders turned sideways in a swordsman's fighting stance.

"Are… are you Moon Kingdom soldiers sent to help me?" Serena asked hesitantly, not sure whether she believed it herself.

"We're bandits," the one in the middle said gruffly.

Then they moved to surround her.

"Oh."

Crap.