Chapter Two
Queen Serenity smiled at her
daughter. Had she seen anything but sadness in her eyes, she would have been
angry. But her only child's eyes carried the weight of self-doubt and failure
so her anger faded. Her daughter obviously thought she would be furious because
she turned her head away. The Queen smiled and put her finger under her
daughter's chin lifting it up, to look her in the eye.
"Serenity, I'm not angry."
The Princess's eyes grew wide and
she glanced down at her attire. Her mother nodded.
"I'm not pleased with what you
managed to do to your dress but I'm not angry."
The girl's eyes flooded with relief
and she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. The older woman smoothed her
daughter's bright blond hair and stood, lifting Serenity to her hip. She had
heard what had happened and wanted to talk to her daughter of it.
"Sweetie, how about this?" she asked
gently, "It's almost time for dinner anyway. What don't you go get your bath
and get dressed for bed and after dinner I want to talk to you."
The Princess nodded but did not
release her grip.
Like any mother, the queen smiled
and carried her daughter up the stairs and indoors.
But to the Princess all she could
think of was how gracefully she did it.
* * *
Princess Serenity scooped some
bubbles up in her hands and blew. As always, her servants gave her a bath and
they gave her the bubbles as she had asked. It was always a pain to do her hair
as they pulled much to the little princess' dismay. It always hurt.
"Stop it!" Princess Serenity batted
at her servants' hands. "That hurts. You pull!"
Her servant, Manna, sighed deeply.
"Princess, please let me get the knots out."
She ran a brush through the girl's
wet hair. The princess took in a breath and ducked under the water. Immature
yes, but nevertheless effective. Manna sighed and turned to the others. Only
one person could get through to the Princess when she got this way.
"Get the Queen."
Serenity held her breath until her
lungs began to burn. Then, she surfaced, gasping in air. A low chuckle caught
her attention. She turned. Her mother smiled at her and took out a comb and
gently slid it through her daughter's golden tresses. It made no pain hit the
Princess.er mother haHerH
Her mother had a touch that never inflicted
pain.
"Mother, they always hurt!" Serenity smiled at her daughter.
"They try, darling."
That said, she helped Serenity up
and handed her a towel. She let her daughter dress without looking knowing that
Serenity was a bit modest. It didn't bug her when she was in the tub or in a
robe but when she was getting out it did.
"Can I look now, Darling?"
The princess answered, "Yes."
The Queen smiled and helped her
daughter over to a chair where she combed her hair out and twisted it behind
her ears, but left it down. Then she took out a bottle and sprayed her self
with some fragrance. She always looked like a goddess when she entered any
section of the palace. Serenity watched her mother wishfully.
The Queen noted that and pulled her
daughter onto her lap as she took her daughter's place in the chair and put a
light misting of perfume on her and then showed her some light red lipstick. Serenity
looked at her mother stunned. The queen nodded and then puckered her lips out.
Her daughter mimicked her and she put a light coating on the girl's lips.
Serenity leapt off her mother's lap
and looked at herself in the mirror. She loved looking pretty, like her mother.
But as she looked at herself, she tripped and fell onto her face. She slammed
her fists into the ground, wailing,
"See? I can't even look at myself
right!"
Serenity smiled and helped her
daughter up, wiping her tears away.
"Oh Darling, that's not true and you
know it."
"But you're so graceful. I'm a
clumsy ditz!"
Serenity's eyes narrowed. "No, you
are not. You are my daughter, my angel. I asked the Silver Crystal ten years
ago to give me a child and it granted my wish and instead of a child, I
received an angel. You're my angel Serenity, my baby. And you always will be."
Her daughter looked at her, hearing
the sincerity. But she didn't fully believe it. She could never be as good as
her mother. But she had to ask,
"You mean that?"
The queen smiled, "I wouldn't have
said it if I did not."
Serenity forgot her self-doubt temporarily. She flung her arms
around her mother and hugged her tightly. But her mother could sense that this
doubt in herself was anything but forgotten.
"One day you'll see, Serenity." She said to herself as she hugged her little girl, "One day you'll see."