Trini woke up feeling damp and cold. She opened her eyes and found that she was lying in dew-soaked grass. She groaned and sat up. This was no way for a princess to wake up. She looked down at herself and smiled. She was no longer wearing that pearly dress. Now she was wearing tight bell-bottoms with black opals all around the bottom. Her shirt was white, and extremely tight, and had black opals around the neck and bottom part of it. And she was also wearing a silver necklace with, of course, a black opal on it.

"I must like black opals," she told herself, standing up weakly. Now she found out that she had no shoes on, and groaned.

Now she looked at her surroundings. As far as her eye could see was plain green grass; nothing special at all about it. Then she turned around, and her eyes filled with excitement. It was a large town. Every home seemed to be made out of wood, and from every chimney came smoke. The houses formed around a maze of road that led up into the most magnificent castle she had ever seen.

Trini smiled brightly, and skipping down the hill she was on. Now she was in front of a gate, with guards, of course. They were—what?—seven feet tall? She had never felt smaller in her life.

"E-e-excuse me," she said politely, bowing. The guards looked down at her, and now she just wanted to run away, but she knew she couldn't.

"Password?" one grunted.

Password? "Oh. I don't know the password, sir," she said hesitantly.

"Then you ain't passin'," said the other guard. She knew she was dismissed, but she had to try again.

"Please, sirs, I mean to harm!"

They looked down at her again. "Come back when you know the password." And so now she fled.

Trini flopped down on the smooth grass, and sighed. How was she supposed to find the password? She didn't bring any dictionaries. Come to think of it, she didn't bring any food, either. She would surely starve out here in nowhere unless she found out that cursed password!

She fell back on her back, and stared up into the sky. Looked like storm clouds were forming, or have been formed. She sat up again and wondered what her grandmother was doing right now…

~*~

Rini sat on her throne, her eyes glued to the doorway. Surely it didn't take but a few hours to recite some short stories. Before she could even get herself worried, Trini's personal servant, Amelia, showed up.

"Your majesty!" she panted, bowing quickly, but deeply. Without looking back up, she continued, "Trini is missing!"

Rini gasped, and stood up abruptly. "Missing!"

"I saw them enter her room, your majesty, so I decided not to bother them," Amelia said mournfully. "But they never came out. So I went up there to check on them, and both Serenity and her friend were not there!"

"Are you sure they're just in the library or something?" Rini asked hopefully.

"I was doing the laundry near her door, and I'm sure I would have heard them if they left."

Rini was now furious. "GUARDS! Search everywhere around the castle! Find Serenity, NOW!" The castle shook from the Queen's rage.

~*~

Trini smiled and shrugged off the thought. She probably hasn't even noticed yet. She lied back down again and stared up into the blue-gray sky.

"Where am I?" she asked, knowing no one would answer. "Is this a different moon?"

The sound of hoof beats made her sit up again. She looked behind her and saw a black horse ride toward her. The driver was a male, and he looked down at Trini when the horse stopped.

"What are you doing out of the city gates?" he asked angrily.

Trini stood up almost instantly. "I—I don't know the password, sir." And she curtsied. Many years of being a Princess, she always knew how to curtsy, when, and how deep.

"Have you forgotten it?" He didn't return a bow. How rude, she thought.

"No, sir. I'm not from around here."

The man raised his eyebrows. "Don't lie to me, missy," he said crossly.

She looked up at him, but tried not to get angry. "I'm not lying, sir."

"Yes you are. You think I'm stupid, don't you? This is the only city on this comet, fool."

Now she knew what he was saying. He just didn't know how she got here. "Look, sir, I don't exactly know how I got here. That's why I need to speak to the Queen."

He laughed, almost falling off his horse. "The Queen! Right, okay. How about I take you to the King, instead? There's nothing a Queen can do for you!" He laughed again.

"What are you talking about?" Trini asked crossly.

He stopped instantly. "Shut your mouth, girl! Hasn't your mother taught you any manners?"

She stared blankly at him, but finally spoke up, "What are you talking about?" she repeated, but more calmly.

"Fool!" he yelled from his horse. "Maybe you aren't from around here. 'A female may not ask questions—or do anything rude—to any male.'" He said that like he read it from a book. "That is our first law."

"Oh." Trini felt smaller than usual. She was going to yell at him for such a silly law, but she had been raised to never question other people's beliefs. One of the princesses is most likely not going to be here… but then why was she sent here? She just cleared her throat and started to walk away.

The man just raced up to her with his horse and stopped it in her tracks. "You are rude, lady," he commented. "You're not just supposed to leave!"

"Sorry, sir. Good-bye." And she turned to leave again, but the horse blocked her again.

"I object," he said with a grin. She looked at him again and wanted to scream in his face so badly that her face turned blue. "You're coming with me."

"What—oh." She blinked. Should she go with him? "May I ask—um, I mean…" She wanted to know why or where she was going, but it was difficult to know without asking any questions.

"Don't worry, beautiful one," he said. "You don't have to walk." She wasn't even thinking of that! He patted right behind the saddle on the horse. "Can you get on alright?"

She nodded, but didn't budge. He frowned. "Come on, lassie. I don't have all day." Was she getting abducted or something? "Come on!"

Trini sighed, Whatever… She got on the horse—knowing how from lessons—and they trotted toward the gate.

"Password?" one of the guards grunted.

"Blacks of the sea," her captor replied.

The gates opened without anyone helping, and they trotted inside. She wanted to ask so many questions about this neighborhood, but she was sure she was supposed to be seen, not heard. Maybe that was why they made such a stupid law.

"My name is Gene, by the way," he said. "What's yours?"

"Serenity," she replied. "Trini." She expected him to recognize the royal name, but he just shrugged.

"Pretty." There was a pause. "So where do you come from? I can tell, now, by your accent that you weren't lying." She expected an apology, but it never came. He thinks I'm rude, she thought.

"Earth's moon, sir," she said.

"Earth?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. But he ignored it. "I bet your wondering why I brought you with me. I felt kind of bad for you back there, and—well—let's just say I have connections with the King. You can talk to him. But…" He smiled again. Trini sighed; she knew what was coming. "You'd be my personal servant for a while."

"Of course," she remarked dully.

Finally they stopped at a long flight of stairs that led to the castle. She jumped off the horse, and stared up at its beauty. Gene got off the horse too, and started to walk up the marble steps, Trini behind him.

"It's wondrous," she whispered when they were inside.

"Shh!" he ordered, and they went down a long corridor.

They were finally in a small room, with chairs and sofas in a circle around a large glass table. A young girl was sitting on a chair, drinking some tea that appeared to be very thin. Gene told her to stay put here, while he went into the room beyond.

Trini rolled her eyes and went to sit on the couch. The young girl, wearing a large cloak that seemed to be covering most of her, looked up from her tea at her and Trini could see a little smile under the blanket.