~ My ~ Fair ~ Princess ~



By Alexia Goddess



Chapter Seven






"I was thirteen," Relena said softly, staring down into the golden
coloured, steaming liquid that was her tea. "At least, I think I was.
I really don't know how old I was. I don't really know how old I am
now, though I estimate around sixteen." She moved to sip her tea, then
admitted to herself she didn't have the strength or conviction to
swallow. The blanket around her, nor the slippers on her feet, nor
the roaring fire at her side gave her warmth. All she could do was
remember...she hardly even prosessed that the Professor and Colenol
Quatre were sitting in arm chairs in front of her, listening to her
every word. Only her memories really had any solid place in her
thoughts...

"What happened?" Had Relena not been so deep in her own mind, she would
have reeled in surprise along with Quatre when Heero spoke the words
quietly.

"Humanity happened," She said. "At least, the darker side of humanity."
She bit her lip, raied her eyes slightly to stare into the fire. The
bright, vibrant, screaming colors of rage read and sparkling orange
were a sharp contrast to the previous dull golden of her tea.

"I'd overhead a few boys talking about a 'secret' entrance to the
stables surrounding the horse race track. They said there were several
places inside the stables where you could watch the race with ease.

"I battled with my conscience for ages over whether or not it was
right or wrong to cheat the race company, I argued over if it would be
worth getting caught. I love animals, as you've noticed by now. I
used to love horses most of all... I still do, I just...avoid them now.
Too many memories...horrible, horrible memories..." Relena shut her
eyes tight against the onslaught of tears. Some deeper woman's
intuition sensed dully that there was a third pair of ears listening
in on the conversation, just outside the door...

But she didn't care.

The Professor nor Quatre said anything or did anything to offer support
other than their silence, which, at the moment, Relena needed; had
they said anything, she would have dissolved into tears and it would
have been quite some time before she would have been able to continue.
But someone Quatre sensed this, and signaled Heero to silence- not
exactly a difficult thing to do.

But within a few moments Relena collected heself, and she continued.

"Eventually I decided to just do it. I got in fine, found the perfect
hiding place. I had what had to be one of the best spying places. Then..."
She swallowed and blinked rapidly. "There was this man..." She choked.
"He...he was *beating* this horse...And I don't just mean kicking and
whipping it...he was *killing* the horse! *Killing* it! And he had no
remorse, no pity...no nothing...he was *enjoying* the power he had over
the animal!"

"Such things aren't uncommon, I'm afraid," Quatre murmured. Relena's
head whipped up to stare ate him, tears running down her face.

"You...you know that this happened? Happen*s*? Plural?" Her voice was
incredulous. "Do you do nothing? Does no one do anything? Are there
no laws against this?"

"A few." Heero stated. "But scarcely are they enforced."

Relena looked back to the fire. "So we are treated like animals..." She
murmured.

"Pardon?" Quatre asked. Relena's grip on her teacup tightened to a
dangerous level.

"We...those who make their living almost entirely off the generosity
off others... Street sweepers, urchins, lamp lighters, stick gatherers,
gutter cleaners...flower girls... We're treated just like that horse
was?"

"Explain," Was all that Heero said, narrowing his eyes. Relena looked
at the fire once more, and swallowed.

"The man...I tried to stop him. I don't know what came over me. I just
jumped up and yelled for him to stop...he came at me..."

"Oh, God..." Quatre rose to his feet and knelt at Relena's side, putting
his hand on her shoulder. "Did he...?"

"N-no, not *that,* thank God..." Relena said softly, her grip on the
teacup tightening once more. The golden coloured tea had long since
gone cold.

"He whipped you." Heero suddenly stated, his previously narrowed eyes
going to normal size, his equivilant of someone else's eyes widening
to the size of saucers.

Relena only nodded, her clasp tightening on the cup even harder...

The teacup shattered, and with it, Relena broke down sobbing. She slid
of the chair and Quatre pulled her into his arms, whispering words with
soothing tones.

Professor Yuy stared hard at the plush carpeted floor. His eyes
flickered towards the door as his sensitive hearing picked up the sound
of heavy footsteps stomping away... Had he not been so outwardly
spartan-like, he would have smiled smugly. Duo would take care of
things...





*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*





Relena awoke in her own bed, feeling as though a great and grand
weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Sunlight streamed in through
the gauzy curtains, and signs of the raging storm the previous night
were nowhere to be found.

All at once she remembered what had happened the previous night,
sleepwalking outside into the storm during her nightmare, collapsing
in the gutter, being carried back by Heero, telling the tale of her
life's horror to both the Professor and Quatre... She must have
fallen asleep...

Remembering the shattered tea cup and suddenly feeling a sharp ache
in her hands, she looked down to find her palms wrapped in crisp white
linen.

A bird's chirping outside her window, open to admit the fresh morning
air, broke Relena out of her thoughtless reverie.

Presently, Hilde poked her head into the room, concern on her face.
Relena looked at her, and forced a smile.

"I heard what happened last night," Hilde said softly, as she approached
and sat on the edge of Relena's bed. Relena looked down at her hands.

"Did...did you hear...w-why?" Relena forced herself to speak. Hilde
smiled softly and shook her head.

"No," She said. "But I don't need to. Whatever happened to make your
nightmare so awful as to sleepwalk out into the middle of a storm...
whatever it was it was horrible and you didn't deserve it." She leaned
forward and kissed her friend on the forehead like she would if Relena
were her little sister.

"Now," She said. "Do you want to wear your spring green skirt with the
cream blouse or your sun yellow morning gown?"

Relena looked at Hilde, whose back was now to her as she opened Relena's
wardrobe. Nothing but gratitude and thankfulness shone from her azure
eyes as she swallowed, brushed the tears from her eyes, and answered.

"The sun yellow," She said. "I feel today will be a cheerful day."






*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*





"Oh my goodness!" Relena entered her room and promptly dropped the books
the Professor had assigned her to read that afternoon.

Standing at the foot of her bed was a wire manaquin, and on it...

Relena's eyes widened, her breath quickened, and her hands shook as she
stepped forward and gently, oh-so-hesitantly reached out a cautious,
slender, trembling finger to stroke the luminescent white-gold coloured
satin...

Soft as her hands had become in the time she had been at Sanq Palace
due to countless skin treatments, Relena could feel the pad of her
tingertip begin to snag the all but glowing fabric of the breathtakingly
faerie-queen-like gown.

It hung off the shoulders in upside down scallops of gathered material,
each dip of the scallop accented with a small white gem. The center
dip, which went down the lowest, daringly so, had the biggest gem, the
size of an enfant's fist. The bodice was tapered and tailored, she
could tell, and would cling to the wearer's every curve, falling to the
floor in multitudes of luxrious folds of the softest, cloud light,
glowing cascades of white-gold light.

"Like it?" Relena turned to hear a voice she hadn't heard very often
during her stay at Sanq Palace. Baron Trowa Barton stood in the doorway,
his hands in his pockets, a slight smile on his face.

"L-like it?" Relena breathed. "My lord, it's...it's something from a...
a dream... I... I mean, it...it's..."

"It's yours." Trowa said simply. Relena froze and stared at him, her
large emerald-sapphire eyes staring at him in utter bewilderment.

"W-what?" She breathed.

"That dress belongs to you." He repeated patiently, a knowing gleem in
his emerald eyes. "I know you don't know, but with every success you've
made these past weeks, the Professor has set aside an amount of coin
for you. An allowance, if you will. That dress came out of the money he
has been putting in a bank account that is in your name. And if I may
add, you still have quite a generous amount left in that account."

"M-my acc-account?" Relena was far from processing any of this.

Trowa only smiled and bent over to pick up the books. He set them on the
table by her window. "You'd better get started," He said, motioning to
the books. "Your dance lesson is in a few hours."

With that, he left, leaving Relena on the brink of fainting from shock.

Suddenly, for the first time, Relena was actually *feeling* the fruits
of her labor these past weeks...





*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*





"You're ready." Professor Yuy dropped Relena's hand and walked to
a table against the wall of the ballroom, leaving Relena standing in
the middle of the dance floor, stunned, for the second time that day.

"P-pardon?" She stuttered in surprise. Heero poured himself a small
glass of heavily watered brandy and sipped it lightly, the first time
Relena had ever seen him actually consume somethin at any time other
than meals. Even then he had eaten hardly anything.

"You heard me." He told her in his low, emotionless voice that Relena
had become accustomed to. "The two weeks are up." He set down the glass
and went to the record player, and lifted the needle of the record
and stopped the phonograph.

"The two weeks are up and tomorrow the bet will be finalized," He said.
Relena, suddenly comprehending, drew in a sharp breath.

"The...the Ball..."

"The annual Moon Harvest Ball," Heero said, turning to face her and
look her in the eye. "Held at Rose Manor and hosted by Treize Kushreinada
is tomorrow night."




To Be Continued...



Ta da! One more chappie to go...

I would like to warn my constant readers (people who keep up with all
my fics, or at least any ones other than this one) that my writting
may...pause for a few months at the end of this month, June. Why?
Well, due to new employment circumstances, I may be moving to Nevada/Arizona.
Soon. As in perhaps a few weeks. The places I'm looking at right now
are Boulder City and Henderson, and both are within the half an hour
driving time outside of Las Vegas. Does anyone know anything about those
places? Housing Developments? What the neighborhoods are like in those
towns? Any tips/info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, and Ja ne!


Smile More, Dream Always,
Alexia Goddess


*ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY*