CHAPTER TWO
SEALED FATE
Seeing how it was better to fulfill the princess' desire then to let her sorrow consume her heart, she organized for the princess to be able to sneak out of the palace and travel down to the Earth to meet the prince. They would sneak out at night when everyone was asleep. Winter would have one of the other blond maiden rests in her bed, while she traveled to the Earth down with the princess to guard over her. She was no warrior like the sailor soldiers, but would give her live if meant saving the princess.
Meanwhile, the prince on Earth was mad with desire upon the encounter with the beautiful angel. For the prince was not asleep when the princess had come down, but had closed his eyes to listen to the stillness of the night. Since then, he'd searched all over the kingdom for the woman who had taken his heart. Every night, he'd go to the gardens and placed a rose under the tree where he had fallen asleep in hopes that the young woman would appear again and remember.
The King was very pleased to see his son had finally found a woman worthy to be his Queen someday. But little did the King know that this love was forbidden. That the laws that governed the heavens and the earth would not allow a Moon citizen and an Earth human to fall in love, much less live lives together.
From long ago, this law was established to protect the humans and earth from tribulations. In the ancient days, gods and spirits would fall in love and mate with humans. But, that only lead to wars and fight for control and power in the heavens and on the earth. It would cause the worlds to clash and brought chaos to everyone's hearts. The Earth would fall into darkness. Cities would be burned, families separated, and many lives would be destroyed. Like it did for many centuries after all the gods had been punished for their deeds against the earth they were supposed to protect. But instead had used it to gain power and position. So, the descendants of the ancient ones calling themselves, The New Order, established laws that would protect the spirits of the heavens and humans on earth from unnecessary wars.
But even the very laws and The New Order they established was too fated to end in tragedy. This was because in a garden on Earth, and in a palace on the moon, two hearts beat in rhythm across the sea of sky. One was gazing at the awe of the moonlight, the other down at the big blue Earth. It was a forbidden love; one they didn't know existed and couldn't understand. Couldn't even stop it even if the Gods or the King had imprisoned them for it. What they knew in their mind contradicted what they felt in their hearts and both yearned for a release. But there was only one thing that one could do to achieve that kind of release.
The gallant knight knelt among the gardens, his cape cascading in the wind behind several bushes. His midnight blue eyes narrowed at the rose resting in the same place she came to see him. Now, perhaps he would find her the way she had found him. He felt the burning in his heart getting stronger and stronger to a point where it would drive a man to insanity if he let it. He wanted to cry out loud that perhaps his voice would find her way to him. Her eyes, the way her two blond tails flowed down passed the length of her ivory dress. He couldn't stand it anymore. He was about to open his mouth, when a white flash caught the corner of his left eye.
Pale satin flowed through the darkness of the brushes and trees. The light of the moon shone through it and accentuated her every curve and motion as she stepped into the clearing. She looked like and angel, light creating a halo around the blond pigtails and her petite figure. He wanted to run and embrace her, but for the moment he'd study her graceful gesture. Her delicate hands held out slightly in front of her. Her fingers separated and awaiting the object in the distance. But, he'd bide his time.
She stopped and looked down at it her expression as if she was a deer alarmed by a predator lurking in the shadows. The realization finally had occurred to her that he knew of her. Somehow, he'd seen her that night. She stopped a foot from it and turned her head around hoping to catch a glimpse of him. He was probably here in the garden watching her, but where? She panicked slightly, her palms sweating. Her heart beat faster and further up her throat.
This was the moment that fate would decide. It wasn't too late; she could still turn and walk away unharmed from that undiscovered world that's been taunting her. But once she picks up that rose it will be an acknowledgement of everything that feels right inside her even though her mind screamed not to throw caution to the wind. Her chest tightened as she studiously gazed at the object before her. Finally her decision was made as she knelt down and reached down for it. Nothing on earth or on the moon would ever be the same again.
As tip of her middle finger and thumb touched the stem, a swift motion caught her off guard and she started to straighten up and back away. But her reflexes weren't quick enough the escape the strong grip he held on her tiny wrist.
"No, please, don't go. I'm not going to hurt you." The deep soft voice said. He wouldn't let go now, not after finally finding her. Not after the many nights in the cold, the rain, and long hours he'd sat out in the bushes night after night, his heart aching, waiting for the beauty that would never come. "I've been waiting for you. Perhaps all my life. Please don't leave me." He replied slightly desperate now.
She turned her face away from him as her body froze in front of his steel chest armor. "No, we mustn't." She wanted to remind herself more than to him. She could feel the burning passion between them refusing to look at him in the eyes she knew she'd loose herself in and the nerve to turn and run. She turned her head down before her studying his metallic midnight blue breastplate her dress blowing between them. She felt her body being pulled forward by the force of his arm that still held a firm grip on her hand. His other forced her chin up to meet his smiling face. That's when she saw it. The same deep blue of the Earth, shone in his eyes. She knew then, that no matter what happened from then on, she'd always be safe in his eyes.
He let go of her right hand and wrapped his muscular arm around her tiny waist pulling her closer. Her warm body pressing against his, he couldn't contain it any longer. This was the moment he'd been waiting for and nothing would stop him now. He loosened his grip on her chin sensing her uneasiness and touched her cheek, his thumb grazing her lips.
She felt scared for a moment. She'd never been down on the Earth alone except that once. She'd never known an Earth citizen before. Although she knew he sensed her panic, but at the same time she felt safe in his arms. She'd wanted this as much as he wanted it. She closed her eyes, as she felt his warm breath on her lips and for a moment he paused that way for what seemed an eternity. Her heart beat faster and faster in anticipation, the fire burning between their lips. At that moment she didn't know what surprised her more, the fact that she pushed herself forward and pressed her lips to his, or the fact that she didn't feel scared anymore.
The dark figure leaned against the bark watching the couple embrace in their moment of peace they finally had found. She felt joy in her heart for her friend. But something inside her just didn't feel right. Perhaps if the prince didn't look so handsome and if he didn't look at the princess with such desire and passion in his eyes, she wouldn't feel the ache in her heart. But she couldn't help it, and she couldn't stop it. She didn't want the tears that were welling in her eyes, and with all her might she forced them back. She frowned harder and tightened her cold expression. A part of her felt joy of seeing her friend with the knight she'd been longing for. For it was something only literary scholars write of in fancy sonnets. A fairy tale comes true.
Or was it something else, something she didn't understand. But one thing was certain: It hurt deep inside her heart. She felt a sharp pain as if someone had taken a dagger and dragged it across the wall of it. She wanted that fairy tale for herself as well. Was it wrong to feel that way about your friend and her new love? Was it wrong to want what they had? She'd shared beds with many men, many times, searching for that love and here it was just within her grasp. Except it wasn't hers to have.
But now wasn't the time to be thinking of her own feelings because the princess had finally found peace inside her heart. She felt a relief as if her mission had been accomplished. 'I must be strong. These feelings inside of me will only bring about more trouble for the princess.' The young maiden decided for herself. The long wavy hair obscured the moon from her sight as she turned away from the couple and dropped down to the ground. With her back resting against the bark she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them dropping her forehead to her arms and took a deep sigh.
So in this manner, the princess would meet with her prince on the nights of the full moon. Winter would escort the young princess, always hidden in the shadows to ensure no one would see them. But through these visits, Winter found that she could not rid herself of her desires. Standing there, all she could do is listen to the stillness of the night and the soft voices of the two lovers as they engaged themselves in their guilty pleasures. She'd stand there each time watching them, watching the surroundings listening to any disturbances that might indicate an intruder.
But her gaze would always return upon them, and especially him. He was so handsome as the moon bathed him in its splendor. The light on the dark armor flickered with his every move accentuating his strong arms. The way those muscular arms held her fragile form and caressed her soft hair. The smile upon his lips radiated his face like it could light up the entire garden. His dark hair dancing in the breeze. Her favorite was when the princess would lie underneath the tree and the prince would lie next to her propping himself up by his elbow. He'd lean down on her showering her with tender kisses.
The torture of being made to stand there and watch and not embellish in that what they shared. Why was she chosen to suffer in this way? She brought it upon herself, for her friend, she'd remind herself. Or, was she doing this for herself? Her fear of never sharing that love with a man, of being left all alone struck a sense of panic and urgency within her. Her love for her friend soon was clouded by her desires for the prince and the love that the couple had found. Perhaps it has never been the kind of love shared between friends all along. Perhaps it was something more, like envy.
It's true; the princess was indeed very beautiful. But it was the beauty in her heart that attracted so many people to her. She had always been especially kind to Winter, and there she was in the distance with her prince in all her glorious splendor, how it hurt.
But again, Winter tightened her expression to the point where the muscles in her face stung slightly. Her feelings mustn't cloud her focus of her duty to the princess. One moment of weakness may endanger the princess' life. Each time the young maiden looked in the direction of the couple she would focus away from them on purpose. She'd focus on the owl sitting on the branch above them, or the leaves dancing in the breeze, but always keeping her peripheral view of her surroundings.
One night as she studied the prince and the princess embracing in each other, she listened to their soft voices in rhythm with the night sounds. "You did not come alone? Your friend is here?" The prince would ask concernedly.
"Yes, of course Endymion. She is there behind that tree." The princess turned and smiled back at her friend. The prince looked up at the long dark haired girl dressed in untraditional attire for a lady, the prince thought to himself. She looked more like some sort of spy sneaking in or a warrior. But the prince understood why as he continued his study upon the girl who was leaning back off to the side of a tree in the distance, eyeing the two out of the corner of her eyes. Although the prince trusted his princess, he felt uneasy all of a sudden at Winter's dark studious gaze as it narrowed upon him. He nodded down once, and she nodded back in return. He finally looked back down at the beauty in his arms.
"We shouldn't be doing this." The prince finally whispered softly as he leaned in down and nibbled in her ear.
"Why?" The princess asked innocently.
"Communications between our two worlds is forbidden." The prince attempted to remind the princess as he raised his head and faced the hurt look on the princess' face.
"Yes." She replied solemnly looking down, "It is the way of The New Order. We mustn't fall in love-" Her voice was caught off as the prince pulled her closer to him and interrupted leaning down into her again.
"Too late" he whispered as he leaned down, closed his eyes covering her lips with his own.
Winter turned away crossing her arms. Through the icy glaze upon the moon, she tried to hide the excitement the prince had caused her when he eyed his dark blue eyes into hers. "Why do these feelings torment me? When shall I finally be free of them?" Then she dropped her head down as the breeze finally picked up slightly and chilled her bare arms.
Then, her silent moment ended abruptly by the rustling of leaves in a nearby bush. Her head shot up in the direction and she slowly raised herself and crouched down brushing the dirt of her dark pants. She crawled on her hands and feet about the trail as if she was a lioness stalking her prey. Then she saw him.
A young squire had sneaked into the gardens and was sneaking a peak at the couple from behind a bush. As she crawled from behind him, she reached for the dagger on her side. With a swift motion, her free hand covered his mouth while at the same time the point of the dagger dug into this back. The youth convulsed and arched his back, but she forced him down to the ground on his side. She kept her grip on his mouth firmly while digging the dagger deeper inside his chest cavity the warm fluid bathing her hand, "Die…" she whispered, "…No one must see the princess on Earth. Those are my orders." When the body felt still, she pulled the dagger out slowly then silently taking the bow and arrow from the young boy's hands. She placed it on the grass next to the body then wiped her dagger clean.