Chapter Three
Princess Serenity growled to herself
and waited. She hated being tutored and she despised studying.
"Princess!"
She was also moody.
"What?"
Her tutor for that day, Emiko,
gasped, "Princess, a lady should not speak so acidly."
Serenity leapt up. "But you've been
going over this constantly. I only missed a few facts last time, which is next
to a miracle for me. Why can't you ease up, at least a tad?"
"Because a princess must know those
kingdoms around her as well as she knows her own."
"Fiddles." She slumped down and
folded her arms. Emiko had had it. She walked around and smacked Serenity in
the back with her hand, hard. She sat up straight immediately.
"I've had it with you, today. If you
don't start listening to me, I'll-"
A voice cut in, so cold it made
Emiko shiver,
"You will do nothing."
Emiko and Serenity turned. The Queen
walked in and her daughter immediately ran to her, to have an ally against her
tutor. Emiko had never seen her queen so angry. The queen said, simply,
"That's enough for today, Emiko. And
I know Serenity can be frustrating, I was the same. But you are not to lay one
finger on my daughter ever again. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
She curtsied and left. Serenity
turned to her daughter. She had snuck behind her mother and stuck her tongue
out at her tutor's back.
"Serenity," her mother admonished in
a stern voice. The Princess turned to her mother. She blushed as the queen
stated,
"Dear, that is not behavior proper
for a Princess."
The Princess sighed, "I'm sorry,
Mother. But I don't like her."
The Queen smiled gently. "I know,
Darling. But you need to know those things."
"I know!" the Princess burst out.
"But whenever I try it's never good enough."
Serenity smiled at her daughter.
"How about I help you on it tonight, huh?"
Her daughter nodded. The queen
finished,
"Now you can go and do whatever you
wish until the meeting this afternoon."
Serenity smiled and ran off.
* * *
Serenity sighed and watched the
senshi train. They were princesses like her but they were allowed to fight but
she was not. She saw no justice in that. She watched them, her heart and eyes
burning with envy at her protectors. They got so much more freedom than she
did. And all because she was the Prime Princess.
"Fire Soul!"
Serenity turned her attention the
red haired senshi of Mars. She had bright flowing blood red hair with dark
purple eyes. Her senshi fuku consisted of a sailor suit that had a red collar,
skirt, glove bands, and high heels. Her bows were short and a deep purple
shade. She had her hands in a praying position and released a line of fire at
her pretend opponent. It was incinerated.
Sailor Jupiter was facing off in her
own training. Her rich green hair was pulled up in her trademark ponytail and
her fuku was the same shade green with sugar pink bows. Her ankle high lace ups
looked a bit difficult to fight in to Serenity but she assumed the senshi was
used to it. The girl flung her arms across her chest, closing her ring and
middle fingers down as her antennae extended. How she did that so casually was
beyond Serenity. She had tried to mimic that move several times but never
could. Jupiter let out a 'Supreme Thunder' and her target was easily destroyed.
Sailor Venus ran full out at her
hologram target. Her bright blond hair flew behind her. She didn't have her
trademark red bow in but a lacy yellow one. Of all the senshi, Minako
understood her the best. They were like best friends. But like the other
senshi, she could fight but Serenity could not. She looked great in her orange
fuku but it made envy spring up in the Princess' heart.
Then there was Mercury. She was the
smartest and although her powers were mainly defensive the blue haired senshi
never lost her cool. She always found a way out. In many ways, she was better
than Serenity. In fact, all the senshi had skills that seemed to greatly
outweigh the Princess' own.
A surge of anger swept through Serenity
and she leapt to her feet.
Turning on her heels the definition
for a Princess shot through her mind,
'The oldest daughter of a king or
queen.'
That was the definition of her type
of Princess, a royal princess. The others…oh, how she envied them. And her
mother…. she was a monarch ruling over a territory in her own right. A royal
princess sole duty was to study, and be perfect. She was none of those things.
She knew that they would never admit it, but the stereotypical belief was that
a princess had protectors because she couldn't handle herself. Serenity was
independent. If given the chance, she could handle herself!
The princess walked towards the
palace through the gardens and up the stairs into the main corridor. At first,
she didn't know where she was going but then realized she was heading towards
her mother's bedchamber. She looked inside and saw that her mother wasn't
there. Taking a breath, she walked in.
She was allowed in her mother's room
but there was a sense of taboo if she entered it when it was empty. Still, the
young Princess walked in, her blond pigtails trailing on the floor. She sat
down on her mother's canopy bed and laid back, letting her head sink into the
feather like pillows and mattress. The sheets were made of silver silk and
whenever she got sick, she always asked the queen if she could sleep in here.
Her mother generally conceded and would lie her down and then lay by her until
she fell asleep.
But there was a chamber off to the
side, beside the bathroom that Princess Serenity was strictly forbidden to
enter. The Princess turned to it then. It had the crescent moon carved into it.
To open it, the queen always pressed deep in the center. The princess stood and
walked until her fingertips rested on the smooth surface. Before her nerve left
her, she pressed hard onto the carving.
The door slid open.
The girl walked into a dark room
except for a humming white light. She stepped up to it.
There on a pedestal was a pink wand
with a yellow crescent moon atop it. Embedded in the base of the moon was a
glowing white crystal.
The princess picked the wand up and
felt the power in her veins. She rubbed the stone and felt warmth spread over
her. She gazed at the stone, mystified. She ran her hands up the curved moon
and gripped it tightly. It felt like it belonged in her hands. She knew this
weapon; it was her mother's Crescent Moon Wand and the prize of her kingdom,
the Silver Crystal.
Then, the Princess' blood ran cold.
"Serenity!"
She whirled around. She slowly held
the wand out, swallowing hard.
She had never seen such anger on her
mother's face.