Hi everyone,

Happy New Years!

This is very late but I finally found the time to start working on this story again. For the people who are still reading, thank you for putting up with me! Hopefully you like the new chapter. As always, reviews and opinions are always welcomed, if not encouraged ;)


Chapter 9

The next few days seemed to go by in a blur. Minutes ticked into hours as nights fused into days. Serenity barely remembered any of it. Her mind seemed to be otherwise occupied.

She had been reminiscing about what had occurred that day. What had happened with Endymion. Over the past few days, Serenity had begun to second-guess herself. Was she overthinking things? Maybe he wasn't so bad after all…

Maybe she had read him wrong?

Or was she just kidding herself? Was she deluding herself into thinking that he actually cared for her? I mean he seemed to be good at getting whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. He was a Prince after all.

A small rumble from her stomach brought Serenity out of her thoughts and back to reality. She was lounging in her bed. A place she had barely left this past week.

Serenity looked about her room, as if willing food to materialize from thin air. With a sigh, she gave up and looked at the clock. 4:20P.M. It was quite late.

Serenity looked warily at her bedroom door.

'Maybe I don't really need to eat,' she reasoned with herself.

She didn't want to talk to anyone. Not the generals, not even the servants. She had barely left her room at all this week. It's not like she was hiding from anything. She just needed some time to herself to think things over.

She had heard the whisperings of the maids that came in to her room. She knew they had been gossiping.

She was being such a coward. She had to stop this.

'Chin up, Serenity. Stop being weak. You need to face this. You can't just hide in your room all day. What's the worst that can happen? You'll run into him?' she mentally chided herself.

At that thought, Serenity noticed she had moved further into the warmth of her bed.

'No! So what? You'll just be normal. You'll act like a civilized human being. Life goes on. Come on, get off your bed and let's go get something to eat.'

And with her pep talk, Serenity finally left her room with renewed enthusiasm. It felt good to leave her room. Her body felt ridged from being cooped up in a room for one week.

Serenity also had a headache. It had been a dull ache for most of the day, but now it had intensified. She felt a piercing in her head every time she took a step. Maybe some fresh air would do her some good…

All of a sudden, Serenity had a brilliant idea. She should have her meal outside. Yes, that would help her clear her head!

Serenity popped over to the kitchen and requested that an herbal tea with willow tree bark extract and biscuits be brought to the rose garden. Raye had told her once that in order to cure a headache, they added extract from the willow tree bark to their tea. Serenity smiled to herself. This was the precursor to the painkiller the modern world knew as Aspirin.

As she turned the corner, and saw the gate to the courtyard, Serenity wasn't sure this was a good idea. Would the guard let her pass? She was unsure but she strode confidently to the exit. But sure enough, when she was within a foot of the exit, the guard blocked her path.

"I am sorry but you are not allowed to leave the palace," he said in a monotone voice.

"I am not leaving the castle, I just want to have tea in the garden. Surely I'm allowed to have tea where I please" Serenity shot back, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"Of course, but the Prince does not allow prisoners to move about as they wish. You are to remain within the castle," he responded as he looked straight at her.

What an ass. Why was this happening to her? Her head was pounding, she was starving, and now this guard was giving her attitude.

Well she would see about that.

"Now you listen here, you little as- " she began, thrusting a finger into his face for emphasis.

"Let the lady pass" called a deep voice from behind her.

She watched as the guard's squinty little eyes grew alarmed and shot down to his boots.

"But my-my Lord, the prince forbids prisoners from leaving the castle" came his quiet voice. There was no fight in the voice. He just sounded like a scared little boy.

Well look at the change in his attitude. As Serenity glared at him, she noticed that a tall man with long blonde hair had appeared beside her.

As he smiled down at her, Serenity noticed his dark blue, royal crest emblazoned outfit. He was most definitely a General. She tried to place him, but failed.

"My lady, I don't think we have been introduced properly," he said as he picked up her hand and brought it to his lips.

"My name is Malachite, and I am one of Prince Endymion's royal generals" he added as he brushed a kiss onto her hand.

Serenity blushed and muttered a "Pleased to meet you."

Light blue eyes twinkling from amusement, the general turned to face the guard.

"The Prince has acknowledged the Lady as a guest, and therefore she is allowed to wander about the grounds."

"But my Lord-" the guard started.

Serenity watched as the twinkling blue eyes turned to slate as the general took a step towards the guard.

"And is that how you speak to a Lady? What do you think the Prince will say when he discovers how you've treated his guest?"

Taking another step forward, Malachite's voice dropped even lower, " Why I think Endymion would have your head for how you've treated her…"

The guard cowered and practically tripped over himself in order to open the gate.

"I-I a-apologize m-milady, please, here you go," he whimpered as he opened the large wooden gate.

Serenity felt a thread of pity for the guard as she walked through. She didn't think Endymion would have cared how the guard treated her. In fact, she thought he would have applauded it.

Serenity halted to thank the General for his help.

"It was my pleasure. That was no way for him to treat you," he said. "Alas, I have some matters to attend to, so this is where I must take my leave."

"O-Of course, thank you again for everything" Serenity responded.

"Enjoy your time in the gardens. They're a beauty. But please stay within the castle grounds. You have freedom, but it is limited," he added as he left her with a warm smile.

Serenity stared after him for a bit, before turning to walk down the path to the rose garden.

He was nice. The nicest anyone had been to her at this castle, with the exception of Raye. Serenity concluded that Endymion's generals seemed to be decent men. Well Malachite did anyway.

Serenity carefully sidestepped a puddle along the path. Ah, this ordeal with the guard had made headache worse.

A sharp pain in her head almost brought Serenity to her knees. She clutched her head as the pain suddenly grew piercing sharp. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes, willing the pain to stop. Her headaches had never been this bad before. This was unbearable!

And that's when she heard it.

"-what do you mean you can't find her? Where is she?!" a woman's voice grew frantic.

"Where is she?! It's pitch dark outside, where could she be? Why didn't she tell anyone?"

"I'll go out and search for her. Don't worry, I'll find her." This was a different voice, a man's voice.

And just like that the pain subsided. Serenity stopped grasping her head and looked around bewilderedly.

There was no one there.

What was that? Where did those voices come from?

Did she imagine them? As she looked around, she saw the trees leaves move with the gusty wind. That's it.

She must have mistaken the howling of the wind for what she heard. Or what she thought she had heard. It was quite a windy day after all. That was the only reasonable explanation.

Serenity started to make her way to the garden once again, content with her explanation.

But, there was still something hounding at her conscious. A little voice in her head was trying to tell her something she couldn't let herself believe.

That the howling wind had sounded oddly familiar.

In fact, the wind sounded like two voices she knew very well. The howling bore an eerie resemblance to the voices of her mother and fiancé.


Thank you for reading! If you would like to leave a review for this chapter, it would really make my day!