April 2002
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters but the story is mine.
Chapter 12
Selenity held onto Darien's arm as their friends left the house.
"Come back soon, you guys!" she called with a smile.
Rita waved back at her, "Call me! We'll go shop!"
Darien closed the door on them, shaking his head, "Wow, that was
crazy."
Selenity sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, "But fun.
Those guys are great. I envy you, you know that?"
He looked at her, smiling softly, "I know. They're your friends too,
you know."
She sighed, "I feel out of place," she admitted as he escorted her
towards the stairs, "I do not fit into their, into your, world."
"Give yourself time, sweetheart,"
"Selenity."
They turned, seeing the King standing in the entryway to the main
sitting room. He motioned for them to come in. Darien carefully helped her
into the room. She wouldn't need him in a day, she was improving every hour,
and he was terrified he would be forced to leave her side. The last thing he
wanted was for her to be left unprotected. The king motioned for him to
leave, "You have done your service. I will have Charles call you when we are
finished."
Selenity clutched his hand, "No, daddy."
"No? You are refusing to speak with your father in private?"
"Whatever you want to tell me will I will tell Darien later, so you
might as well save me the chance of communicating it wrong."
The king eyed her, like she was something he had never seen before.
"Very well, he may stay. This once and only because you cannot stand on your
own two feet should you wish to yell at me. Has Charles spoken to you
regarding tomorrow's luncheon?"
"He mentioned that you want us both to attend it with you," Selenity
replied hesitantly, "though I do not see why you want Darien to attend."
"It is his chance to show that he is worthy of you, my dear. You will
introduce him to the press and give him the chance to answer their questions.
During lunch with the mayor, which is private except for the dozen or so
aids that hang about, it will give the both of us an opportunity to evaluate
him in a small social setting."
"You are putting my choice in husband on trial?" she was indignant.
"I refuse! You cannot push people around like this, father, and expect them
to jump when you say jump. I refuse to let you pass judgement on my fiancée
when the choice is mine alone to make."
"Selenity, it's alright," She looked at him incredulous, "I have been
to more than my share of functions before, probably nothing as grand as
you're used to, but I do have social manners."
"Excellent, I am glad to see you have gumption, boy."
"With all due respect, sire," Darien told him calmly, "I am a man and
take exception to being called a boy."
"Of course, young man, of course." The king looked hard at this young
man. He seemed sure. Too sure, for someone about to go into an unknown
situation he could have no training for. "It is settled then. Tomorrow's
luncheon will be an opportunity for Darien to prove his words."
Selenity's lips firmed into a narrow line. She didn't like this. Her
father was up to something. "Does my opinion mean nothing?"
"Far from it, Selene, I value it highly," He gently squeezed her hand,
smiling at her, "I never could back down from a challenge. One of those
little personality flaws I've got."
She eyed him, "Darien, do me a favor."
"Anything."
"Step outside for a few minutes."
He glanced from her to the king and back. He sighed, "Call when you
need me."
She said nothing until he'd stepped out, the door closing behind him.
She rounded on her father, her eyes spitting fire. "How dare you."
"If you would be more specific, dear..."
She moved to get off the back of the couch but settled for crossing
her arms over her chest, "You are trying to run my life again, father, I do
not appreciate, nor need, the interference."
"On the contrary, you do. If you did not, we would not be in this
situation. You would be marrying Martin on Wednesday as has been planned
since the day you were born. Instead you are trying to play colonial with
some Japanese Playboy who finds you a novelty."
She gasped, "You have heard nothing I have said in the last two days.
Nothing! How mother ever got anything done with you is beyond me. You
refuse to accept the fact that I am a person, not just the princess you have
been letting other people mould for the last 18 years. I can think for
myself, I have my own desires, my own dreams, and yet you cannot see it!"
Her voice was low, trembling with barely controlled anger, "You have me
betrothed to a man I never met until the year I turned 16, barely two years
later he takes advantage of me, like I am some piece of property, and you do
nothing! Nothing! Do I mean so little to you? He violated me, father, he
raped me, and all you can do is turn the other cheek!"
Her father waved away the accusation, "Martin and I have gone over
this already. If you did not dress to provoke him, he would not act in such
a fashion. He was out of his mind with passion, my dear, he cannot be held
accountable for his actions. On that note, since you are no longer pure, and
because it is by his hands, he is the man you are going to marry."
"I deserved it?" she asked, shocked. "Are you telling me that because
I wore what you told me to wear, danced with him, as you bade me too, and
then bid him goodnight with a kiss on the cheek that I asked to be
brutally..." she choked, unable to say the word a second time. "I cannot
believe you! Are you even my father, do you feel nothing for me, your
daughter? He barged into my room, while I was sleeping, not once, but three
times! The first time in your own palace! I deserved to be abused like
that, is that what you are telling me? I was shocked from sleep, marked by
is hands, violated by his body, and you think I deserved this?"
He approached her, his face stern, "I do not think you deserved it, my
dear, I did not say that."
"You most certainly did by implying I some how led that man on."
"You are misinterpreting me, again, as usual. No wonder Martin feels
it necessary to somehow make you be quiet."
She pushed herself to her feet and moved away from him, holding the
back of the couch for balance as her legs ached and threatened to collapse.
"I don't know you, I've never known you,"
"You are speaking like a commoner again, Selenity," he chided as she
backed away from him, "See what living around these ill taught commoners does
to your speech patterns?"
"And that, is of course the most serious issue we are discussing
here," her tone dripped sarcasm as she glared at him. "Do you ever listen to
me, father? Do you hear anything I say when it is my own opinion or just
when it is what you want to hear?"
"Are you done, Selenity? We need to get planning your public apology
to Martin and your wedding ceremony. That fellow you have an interest in
will soon lose it, and he will never make it through lunch tomorrow, so we
may as well be prepared, yes?"
Bile rose in her throat. He hadn't heard a word she'd said. He was
simply interested in his stupid treaty, not caring that Martin might some day
kill her in his attacks on her. She swallowed hard, turning away from him.
"Darien," she called.
The doors opened and he came in, looking at her concerned. The king
didn't pay any attention to either of them as he turned to look out a covered
front window. Darien helped her fro the room, Charles appearing to shut the
doors behind them. Selenity was shaking, her knees trembling; her arms weak,
and barely made it to the stairs before sliding down to sit. "I want to
leave."
Darien rubbed her back gently, "Soon, after tomorrow's luncheon."
She looked at him, her eyes resigned, "He won't accept you even if you
make it through perfectly, Darien." she told him softly, "He will never
accept you," His shoulders dropped as she bowed her head. "I thought I could
make him see that his life is missing something, and that I have found what
he is lacking. He doesn't care about me, he only cares about his stupid
treaty and having some pompous air bag who was taught from birth the proper
manners and abuses women on the throne."
Darien hugged her, "I'm sorry, love."
She clung to his, burying her face in his shoulder, "Take me away from
all of this," she begged softly.
He pulled back, searching her eyes, "You would give this up?"
She nodded, "In a heart beat."
Charles stepped forward, offering her a piece of paper, "If you decide
to leave, miss, this is my official resignation. It is, of course,
contingent on your public withdrawal from all royal and diplomatic functions.
I refuse to serve in a place where your opinions do not seem to matter."
Darien pulled back, getting to his feet. "Hold on a minute, the both
of you. This isn't something you can just jump out of. Charles, after what,
18 years of service you're just going to throw everything away to come with
her if she decides to resign from Royalty? You can't do it Selene!"
"Why not? It's my choice, it's my right."
"You are the only heir to the throne, for one thing. What happens if
you decide you don't want it?"
She frowned, "A cousin gets the crown. A second cousin, actually."
"Do you want that to happen? You have been learning for the last 18
years how to help rule. You've grown into an amazing young woman who's
wilful without seeming arrogant. You care about everything, you give without
any thought of reward, you love without fear of getting hurt and you're not
afraid to stand your ground. You want to give up the parties, the balls, the
affairs of state? You want to just give up needing twelve different
languages, knowing the customs of every major power, of being on intimate
terms with the rulers of those world powers? How would you live with
yourself, knowing that you have been making a difference in people's lives
for 18 years and suddenly don't have the power to affect them nearly as
strongly as you did before?"
She swallowed, "Are you telling me you want me to stay with this? You
want me to continue fraternizing with the snobs, the social elite, who
consider you under my station? You want me to accept everything my father
has said and not rock the boat? Did it ever occur to you that it is what I
want? I want so badly to be normal, Darien. I want to be a normal girl, to
know one language and speak it badly. I want to be able to put my elbows on
the table when I eat, to slouch when I sit, to go to the mall and have to buy
from the thrift store and the sales rack. I want to be able to go into a
store that is considered odd without having it plastered across the gossip
section in the news paper. I want to be able to walk down the street without
being hounded by cameras and reporters. I want to have what you have, I want
to live like a normal person and just be average!"
He grabbed her hands, crouching in front of her, "You never will be
just normal, Selenity. Your name alone guarantees that. You have the name
of a Princess, you have the bearing, the training, the speech of Royalty.
Your blood carries inside it generations of proud nobles who fought and died
for their convictions. You're going to let your father's opinion of me ruin
everything you've accomplished until now? You've survived where most women
would crumble and come away from it stronger. You have a fire inside your
soul that draws me," he cupped her face, searching her eyes. "I fell in love
with the woman who wanted adventure and excitement. The one who wrote me all
of those letters about wanting to visit a place for fun, instead of
diplomacy. Your father is healthy, Selene, in the time it takes him to
degenerate to the point where you would have to ascend to the throne we could
do everything in those letters. You are royalty. Part of me is absolutely
enthralled by the part of you that comes across as the Princess. Your poise,
your calm, your easy going nature when thrown into any situation, familiar or
not. You take charge when you have to and I find that intoxicating."
She blushed softly, "Are you telling me to fight for what I want?"
He nodded, "In a way. I want you to fight for what is yours. The
daring adventurer I know would never shy down from this task. She'd find
some way around it, to make her father see what she wanted and what she was
going to do."
She smiled, taking a deep breath, "You're right, she would."
He nodded once before pulling her into a hug, "Don't let him get to
you, Princess. He may be your father by blood, but Charles is more of a
father than he's ever been."
"Your man is quite observant, miss,"
"I try, Charles," he replied, picking Selenity up in his arms as he
started to climb the stairs, "I try."
Author's Note: Comments, questions, flames, suggestions, e-mail me!
Jademax@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading!
Jade_Max
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters but the story is mine.
Chapter 12
Selenity held onto Darien's arm as their friends left the house.
"Come back soon, you guys!" she called with a smile.
Rita waved back at her, "Call me! We'll go shop!"
Darien closed the door on them, shaking his head, "Wow, that was
crazy."
Selenity sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, "But fun.
Those guys are great. I envy you, you know that?"
He looked at her, smiling softly, "I know. They're your friends too,
you know."
She sighed, "I feel out of place," she admitted as he escorted her
towards the stairs, "I do not fit into their, into your, world."
"Give yourself time, sweetheart,"
"Selenity."
They turned, seeing the King standing in the entryway to the main
sitting room. He motioned for them to come in. Darien carefully helped her
into the room. She wouldn't need him in a day, she was improving every hour,
and he was terrified he would be forced to leave her side. The last thing he
wanted was for her to be left unprotected. The king motioned for him to
leave, "You have done your service. I will have Charles call you when we are
finished."
Selenity clutched his hand, "No, daddy."
"No? You are refusing to speak with your father in private?"
"Whatever you want to tell me will I will tell Darien later, so you
might as well save me the chance of communicating it wrong."
The king eyed her, like she was something he had never seen before.
"Very well, he may stay. This once and only because you cannot stand on your
own two feet should you wish to yell at me. Has Charles spoken to you
regarding tomorrow's luncheon?"
"He mentioned that you want us both to attend it with you," Selenity
replied hesitantly, "though I do not see why you want Darien to attend."
"It is his chance to show that he is worthy of you, my dear. You will
introduce him to the press and give him the chance to answer their questions.
During lunch with the mayor, which is private except for the dozen or so
aids that hang about, it will give the both of us an opportunity to evaluate
him in a small social setting."
"You are putting my choice in husband on trial?" she was indignant.
"I refuse! You cannot push people around like this, father, and expect them
to jump when you say jump. I refuse to let you pass judgement on my fiancée
when the choice is mine alone to make."
"Selenity, it's alright," She looked at him incredulous, "I have been
to more than my share of functions before, probably nothing as grand as
you're used to, but I do have social manners."
"Excellent, I am glad to see you have gumption, boy."
"With all due respect, sire," Darien told him calmly, "I am a man and
take exception to being called a boy."
"Of course, young man, of course." The king looked hard at this young
man. He seemed sure. Too sure, for someone about to go into an unknown
situation he could have no training for. "It is settled then. Tomorrow's
luncheon will be an opportunity for Darien to prove his words."
Selenity's lips firmed into a narrow line. She didn't like this. Her
father was up to something. "Does my opinion mean nothing?"
"Far from it, Selene, I value it highly," He gently squeezed her hand,
smiling at her, "I never could back down from a challenge. One of those
little personality flaws I've got."
She eyed him, "Darien, do me a favor."
"Anything."
"Step outside for a few minutes."
He glanced from her to the king and back. He sighed, "Call when you
need me."
She said nothing until he'd stepped out, the door closing behind him.
She rounded on her father, her eyes spitting fire. "How dare you."
"If you would be more specific, dear..."
She moved to get off the back of the couch but settled for crossing
her arms over her chest, "You are trying to run my life again, father, I do
not appreciate, nor need, the interference."
"On the contrary, you do. If you did not, we would not be in this
situation. You would be marrying Martin on Wednesday as has been planned
since the day you were born. Instead you are trying to play colonial with
some Japanese Playboy who finds you a novelty."
She gasped, "You have heard nothing I have said in the last two days.
Nothing! How mother ever got anything done with you is beyond me. You
refuse to accept the fact that I am a person, not just the princess you have
been letting other people mould for the last 18 years. I can think for
myself, I have my own desires, my own dreams, and yet you cannot see it!"
Her voice was low, trembling with barely controlled anger, "You have me
betrothed to a man I never met until the year I turned 16, barely two years
later he takes advantage of me, like I am some piece of property, and you do
nothing! Nothing! Do I mean so little to you? He violated me, father, he
raped me, and all you can do is turn the other cheek!"
Her father waved away the accusation, "Martin and I have gone over
this already. If you did not dress to provoke him, he would not act in such
a fashion. He was out of his mind with passion, my dear, he cannot be held
accountable for his actions. On that note, since you are no longer pure, and
because it is by his hands, he is the man you are going to marry."
"I deserved it?" she asked, shocked. "Are you telling me that because
I wore what you told me to wear, danced with him, as you bade me too, and
then bid him goodnight with a kiss on the cheek that I asked to be
brutally..." she choked, unable to say the word a second time. "I cannot
believe you! Are you even my father, do you feel nothing for me, your
daughter? He barged into my room, while I was sleeping, not once, but three
times! The first time in your own palace! I deserved to be abused like
that, is that what you are telling me? I was shocked from sleep, marked by
is hands, violated by his body, and you think I deserved this?"
He approached her, his face stern, "I do not think you deserved it, my
dear, I did not say that."
"You most certainly did by implying I some how led that man on."
"You are misinterpreting me, again, as usual. No wonder Martin feels
it necessary to somehow make you be quiet."
She pushed herself to her feet and moved away from him, holding the
back of the couch for balance as her legs ached and threatened to collapse.
"I don't know you, I've never known you,"
"You are speaking like a commoner again, Selenity," he chided as she
backed away from him, "See what living around these ill taught commoners does
to your speech patterns?"
"And that, is of course the most serious issue we are discussing
here," her tone dripped sarcasm as she glared at him. "Do you ever listen to
me, father? Do you hear anything I say when it is my own opinion or just
when it is what you want to hear?"
"Are you done, Selenity? We need to get planning your public apology
to Martin and your wedding ceremony. That fellow you have an interest in
will soon lose it, and he will never make it through lunch tomorrow, so we
may as well be prepared, yes?"
Bile rose in her throat. He hadn't heard a word she'd said. He was
simply interested in his stupid treaty, not caring that Martin might some day
kill her in his attacks on her. She swallowed hard, turning away from him.
"Darien," she called.
The doors opened and he came in, looking at her concerned. The king
didn't pay any attention to either of them as he turned to look out a covered
front window. Darien helped her fro the room, Charles appearing to shut the
doors behind them. Selenity was shaking, her knees trembling; her arms weak,
and barely made it to the stairs before sliding down to sit. "I want to
leave."
Darien rubbed her back gently, "Soon, after tomorrow's luncheon."
She looked at him, her eyes resigned, "He won't accept you even if you
make it through perfectly, Darien." she told him softly, "He will never
accept you," His shoulders dropped as she bowed her head. "I thought I could
make him see that his life is missing something, and that I have found what
he is lacking. He doesn't care about me, he only cares about his stupid
treaty and having some pompous air bag who was taught from birth the proper
manners and abuses women on the throne."
Darien hugged her, "I'm sorry, love."
She clung to his, burying her face in his shoulder, "Take me away from
all of this," she begged softly.
He pulled back, searching her eyes, "You would give this up?"
She nodded, "In a heart beat."
Charles stepped forward, offering her a piece of paper, "If you decide
to leave, miss, this is my official resignation. It is, of course,
contingent on your public withdrawal from all royal and diplomatic functions.
I refuse to serve in a place where your opinions do not seem to matter."
Darien pulled back, getting to his feet. "Hold on a minute, the both
of you. This isn't something you can just jump out of. Charles, after what,
18 years of service you're just going to throw everything away to come with
her if she decides to resign from Royalty? You can't do it Selene!"
"Why not? It's my choice, it's my right."
"You are the only heir to the throne, for one thing. What happens if
you decide you don't want it?"
She frowned, "A cousin gets the crown. A second cousin, actually."
"Do you want that to happen? You have been learning for the last 18
years how to help rule. You've grown into an amazing young woman who's
wilful without seeming arrogant. You care about everything, you give without
any thought of reward, you love without fear of getting hurt and you're not
afraid to stand your ground. You want to give up the parties, the balls, the
affairs of state? You want to just give up needing twelve different
languages, knowing the customs of every major power, of being on intimate
terms with the rulers of those world powers? How would you live with
yourself, knowing that you have been making a difference in people's lives
for 18 years and suddenly don't have the power to affect them nearly as
strongly as you did before?"
She swallowed, "Are you telling me you want me to stay with this? You
want me to continue fraternizing with the snobs, the social elite, who
consider you under my station? You want me to accept everything my father
has said and not rock the boat? Did it ever occur to you that it is what I
want? I want so badly to be normal, Darien. I want to be a normal girl, to
know one language and speak it badly. I want to be able to put my elbows on
the table when I eat, to slouch when I sit, to go to the mall and have to buy
from the thrift store and the sales rack. I want to be able to go into a
store that is considered odd without having it plastered across the gossip
section in the news paper. I want to be able to walk down the street without
being hounded by cameras and reporters. I want to have what you have, I want
to live like a normal person and just be average!"
He grabbed her hands, crouching in front of her, "You never will be
just normal, Selenity. Your name alone guarantees that. You have the name
of a Princess, you have the bearing, the training, the speech of Royalty.
Your blood carries inside it generations of proud nobles who fought and died
for their convictions. You're going to let your father's opinion of me ruin
everything you've accomplished until now? You've survived where most women
would crumble and come away from it stronger. You have a fire inside your
soul that draws me," he cupped her face, searching her eyes. "I fell in love
with the woman who wanted adventure and excitement. The one who wrote me all
of those letters about wanting to visit a place for fun, instead of
diplomacy. Your father is healthy, Selene, in the time it takes him to
degenerate to the point where you would have to ascend to the throne we could
do everything in those letters. You are royalty. Part of me is absolutely
enthralled by the part of you that comes across as the Princess. Your poise,
your calm, your easy going nature when thrown into any situation, familiar or
not. You take charge when you have to and I find that intoxicating."
She blushed softly, "Are you telling me to fight for what I want?"
He nodded, "In a way. I want you to fight for what is yours. The
daring adventurer I know would never shy down from this task. She'd find
some way around it, to make her father see what she wanted and what she was
going to do."
She smiled, taking a deep breath, "You're right, she would."
He nodded once before pulling her into a hug, "Don't let him get to
you, Princess. He may be your father by blood, but Charles is more of a
father than he's ever been."
"Your man is quite observant, miss,"
"I try, Charles," he replied, picking Selenity up in his arms as he
started to climb the stairs, "I try."
Author's Note: Comments, questions, flames, suggestions, e-mail me!
Jademax@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading!
Jade_Max