Channary sat on the Commonwealth's plush bed, raking her fingernails absentmindedly over the soft comforter, staring at the stark contrast between her blue nails and the golden blanket.

Today was the day she would get the chance to leave this place. She had spent two weeks here, in this dump, utterly bored. Not even the dinner commotion nights ago was even remotely interesting. The girl had been dealt with, and everything had settled down considerably.

As for Emperor Rikan and his insolent moron of a son, they would soon be of no concern (if they weren't already). Selene would make sure of that.

Oh, Selene. Her beautiful daughter. Indeed, it had been nineteen years, and Channary still wasn't quite used to her. Selene was the only beam of light in her life— the person she cared about the most. Which made Channary quite nervous to leave her alone on this foreign planet with only these weak Earthlings to "protect" her.

Selene was not a fighter at heart. She knew how to defend herself— with or without bioelectricity. Her gift was stronger than Channary's, the queen knew. But Selene rarely used it except in her lessons, and even then she used light glamours. It frightened Channary to think of the possibility that Selene could possibly turn into Winter, with hallucinations and visions and generally turning insane.

If Selene wasn't there, Channary would be alone. So alone.

Just as Channary was about to ring for one of the servants to remake the bed, she heard a soft knock at the door. "Mother?"

Channary smiled inwardly at the sound of Selene's voice. But outwardly, she stiffened. Into the guise of a stately queen. "Come in, the door's unlocked."

Creaking open, Selene slipped into the room. He daughter was as lovely as always, mahogany hair loose, curling past her shoulders, and her cerulean colored dress outlined her curves. As usual, she wore no glamour and no veil.

"What brings you here, Selene? I would have thought you would have been discussing your living situation with Elissa instead, seeing as you will be away from Luna for the next few months." Channary felt a twinge of something in her heart — worry? Pity? Longing. But this was quite necessary. Necessary for Luna, necessary for Channary's plans. It was for Selene's own good.

Selene shifted in front of her mother. "Elissa's already arranged everything for me. She's staying here anyway, so we can discuss any... complications later." Selene took a breath. "I'm here to talk to you about something else."

Channary patted the spot on the plush mattress next to her. "Sit down, then, and we can discuss whatever you'd like to discuss."

Her daughter smoothed out the back of her skirt and perched herself on top of the blanket. "Mother... I want to talk about the servant you want to take back to Luna. The one you imprisoned at the banquet some nights ago."

Channary thought back. It had been a rather dull night, filled with mediocre conversations and mediocre food (although the apple pecan soufflé that was served for dessert was delicious). Then, she recalled the girl that had served her one of the courses— the one whose fork had caught onto her veil.

It was true that Lunars heavily prized their glamour and their beauty. To intentionally peer at someone's true face (especially if the perpetrator in question was someone of low rank) could be considered a crime. Channary hadn't really cared about the fork or the girl— anything to make the dinner less dull (and someone should double-check the emperor on his clothing choices— two piece suits did not work for every occasion).

And so she had stirred up commotion, simple and easy (Earthlings were such weak creatures). One thing had led to another, and now the girl was on her way to Luna.

"What is there to discuss, darling?" Channary glanced at her daughter.

"Well, I was wondering... if you would consider releasing her."

Channary arched her perfect eyebrows. Releasing a prisoner? "And where is this stemming from, dear?"

Selene looked determined, so different from her usual self, and Channary felt almost threatened. "Mother, I saw the whole thing. It was an accident. The fork merely caught onto the very edge of your ve—"

"—and what did I tell you at the banquet? We have a reputation to keep up, Selene. We have to protect our tradition at all costs. I doubt anyone in that room that day was unaware of our traditions and celebrated style of dress."

"But it was the simple placing of a fork on a tray! It was placed that way on everyone else's trays— it was simple a jolt of nervousness or anxiety, and—"

"—the girl should have known better. You cannot let any emotions show when you are working for a queen. You are beneath them and they are your leader. You do not try anything with a queen."

There was a moment of solid silence, and Channary wondered if Selene had given up. But the crown princess merely replied bitterly. "Does this mean that I am below you, mother?"

Channary opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She had tried her best, in the past 19 years, to mother this girl. To give her the best she could possibly receive. And yet, Selene had touched a nerve. The root of the problem.

"If you insist on seeing it that way," Selene continued, "then maybe I should leave now, because—" her voice started to rise "—evidently you care too little about your own daughter to deviate from your own childish whims!"

If it had been anyone else who had said that, Channary would have had them executed on the spot. But this was Selene. This was her own daughter. And yet, she was completely right.

Selene rose to leave. "Goodbye, mother." Her tone was cold. "I'll see you off in three hours."

"Wait!" Channary grasped her daughter's wrist. It suddenly occurred to her that if Selene left her... if she left her, the only person she remotely cared about wouldd be gone.

And she couldn't possibly risk that.

"Maybe— maybe we don't need the girl—" Channary said weakly. "You can retrieve her from the ship. Code 3409."

Selene turned back to face her mother. "Thank you." Her tone was still very much stiff, but it had softened quite considerably.

As she left the room, Channary sank down into her covers.

That had been extremely close. If she lost Selene, she didn't know what she would do.

But deep down, Channary knew somehow that— that Selene was a queen. She was destined to be someone, whether she was born a princess or a pauper.

She was a queen in a way that Channary was never one.

*Sigh* You have no idea how dissatisfied I am with this chapter. It's so much shorter than all of my other chapters, and it's really not that great. I wanted to have a chapter where Selene and Channary could really come to an understanding about their relationship, or for Channary to realize that she was being a crappy mom to her amazing daughter.

But alas, sorry readers, you get this wonderfully overhyped chapter. Honestly, I feel like this chapter narrowly falls short of claiming the award for worst chapter ever (besides Chapter 2 (?) where we're introduced to Kai. That was bad.).

So, to partially make up for it, here's a teaser for a story that I may or may not be planning to write (I know, I know. "But you're writing this story already! Does this mean that TTMAB will go on a super long hiatus? The answer is no;I'm planning to write this new story when I get home from the vacation I'm currently on and get home to my laptop. It's been torture churning out thousands of words on my phone.)

I'm a huge fan of Gossip Girl and I just recently got into The Royals (I know, I'm ashamed), so I've been wanting to write something like this for a long time. It's still in the drafting and development stage, but this scene was the first to pop up in my mind, and I developed the summary under it later on. Tell me what you think!

Also under it are the answers to a few questions that guest reviewer Color565 asked me.

She plucked the blooming flower off of the thorny stem and twirled it with her fingers. She could feel Alex's gaze on her, watching her. Waiting for her move.

Her fingers nimbly stroked the soft petals of the flower, reveling in the smoothness, and she suddenly remembered a moment, something that had happened a while ago. With a beach, a swim in the evening ocean, and a boy.

Bile rose at the back of her throat and her fingers stalled. Memories flooded back to her, and she couldn't take it, and in one swift move, the delicate flower was crushed under her force, petals crumbling and ripping as she dropped the flower in the grass.

She turned back to Alex, whose eyes were still fixed on her. "Love is for the gullible and the poor," she said, keeping her voice calm, but her next sentence exploded in a scream that she couldn't hold back. "Are you happy now? Are you satisfied? You must be overjoyed, to know that you've won this battle!"

"Cass—"

"No." She scoffed at his tone, all calm and smoothed over with pity. "You know what, Alex? You can keep doing what you're doing. You can keep playing this sick game of yours. And you can do it alone." Her anger suddenly disappeared, and she could feel tears balancing on the edges of her eyes. "I don't want to play anymore."

She stormed out of the garden, not even pausing to wait for his answer. She didn't want to hear it.

But somewhere in the back of her mind, the memory of the crushed flower stuck out like blades of grass in dry dirt.

And the red sheen of the petals would not go away.

Princess. Spoiled Brat. Heiress.

Cassia Morgan has been called all of those things, but what could you expect from people who envied her? She had a perfect life— friends who worshipped her, family who adored her, and everything she could have ever wanted.

But when an old friend comes back into the picture, Cassia realizes that her life may not be exactly how she sees it. Broken and shaken beyond belief, Cassia must learn to rebuild her life while also struggling with her relationship with her old friend and the new people that come into her life.

Told through letters, diary entries, and an unnamed narrator, Cassia's story unfolds layer by layer, and perhaps the saying is true: "With each layer of the cake, it becomes more delicious, harder to cut."

QUESTION TIME

From Color565 (Thanks for the questions!)

1. How old are they?

2. Is Selene leaving too?

3. Will there be a villain?

1. As mentioned in the first chapter from Selene's point of view, Selene is 19 and Kai is 21.

2. I'm not quite sure specifically, what you're asking, but I'll try to answer. As you've seen in the past chapter, Channary is leaving the Eastern Commonwealth (which everyone is happy about, really.). However, Selene will not be following her mother back to Luna... Quite yet.

, there will be an eventual villain, but she/he won't appear in the story until about 75%of the way through. The first 75% of the story will be centered on how Kai and Selene's relationship develops. I already know how the story is going to end, and I think that the last 25% of the story will be more airtight plot wise than these first few chapters, so you'll have something to look forward to.

I hope I answered your questions to your satisfaction, Color565!

The next chapter may not be up for a while, since I'm planning to make it lengthy. Hang in there, guys!