Thanx to all those who reviewed my fic. Yes this is a U/M fic. It's going to take a while but I'll get to it. In this chapter you'll find out how Usagi became a knight. I must admit I switch from first to third person, but you'll hardly notice it. There will also be allot more dialog. This one is long. Really long. I don't really mind flames as long as they aren't for my grammar and spelling. Crap like that. We all know I don't own SM so I'll skip that old routine. Well here's the next chapter to A Knights Tale.
A chill went up and down her spine as the cold metal bit into her tiered hands. Usagi bit her lip causing more pain at every creak and squeak the handle made as she turned it. When the handle was rotated all the way around, she pushed the door open. She gently closed it behind her and sunk to the floor. She felt like she had spent the whole day out in the rain and come home to a wet bed. Her bottom lip was smarting, her hair was a mess, and she was starting to get a throbbing headache.
Usagi leaned her head against the hard oak door and closed her eyes trying to will the pain away. ' It must be around 2:30am' she thought. 'Great, two more hours before the early morning round up.' She sighed and looked to the window. The moon was full and bright almost hypnotic. The moon always seemed to calm her. She needed to be calmed after running through the trees and bushes with a limp leg. She'd also torn her fairly new breeches she'd practically lived in all summer. The five flights of steps she'd climbed hadn't helped much either. One thing was glad for was that she had a room to herself, because she was the only woman in the entire army. Other that that she had no other special privileges.
Summoning energy from God knows where Usagi slowly pushed herself up with wobbly arms. It was almost painful to walk over to the water basin on her bed- side table. When she stood in front of the small basin she pulled out the two small buns on top of her head. Her mud caked hair fell down touching the carpet. Closing her eyes Usagi splashed water on her face. The water felt refreshing against the thick mud that slid down her for-head and cheeks. With both hands she grabbed her hair and proceeded to wash it clean in the basin. Water splashed everywhere, as her long blond hair dripped streams of brown water into the basin, on to the carpet. Usagi looked down in to the brown pool of water. Her own reflection stared back at her.
'This is obsessive behavior Usagi. What's wrong with you?" she said to herself. Her reflection looked back up mimicking the woeful look she wore. "He's driving me crazy." Usagi said quietly. For some reason she felt restless and mad. Mad at what she didn't know. She gathered her hair up and braided it into a messy braid. She sighed heavily. That was another thing Mamoru hated about her. Since she was five she'd always kept her hair up in two little buns with pigtails streaming down the sides of her head. Since she'd known him he'd always teased her about having two dumplings sewn to the top of her head.
He was always insulting and reprimanding her. There wasn't a day that went by that he wasn't on her case about something. It seemed to her that he lived to embarrass her, while she now lived to love him. She had no idea when it had all happened. One day during drills he had tackled her and said something about how she was never prepared, she had meant to make a smart remark, but instead had almost said I love you. She remembered the first day she'd ever met him. It had been March 3 she was sure because that was a day she'd never forget. It was the day of the tournaments. She'd been 13 and Mamoru, Malachite, Kunzite, Jedite, and Nephrite were 17.
* Flask Back*
It was before king Mamari's fatal illness. Before she'd ever really known who Mamoru was. It was before...everything.
She was so proud of herself then, being chosen out of thousand of other girls to be the last guardian for the prince. The tournament had been exclusively for women 13 to 18. Girls from all over had flocked to their kingdom. It was the first of it's kind in all of History. She'd wanted to be a knight so badly, and her mother had let her try out. She'd trained long and hard with her brother Malachite, to help her prepare for the tournament. She had had a natural advantage over the other competitors anyway, because Malachite was already one of the prince's senior knights. He'd lived in the royal palace away from his home since he was 15. It was one of the rules of knightdom. Whenever Usagi did see him it was only for a few weeks out of the year or on holidays. Malachite had known Usagi was capable of beating every girl there.
Usagi was strong, agile, and brave, and at 13 she and four other girls the same age were the youngest competitors. The only fault she had was her clumsiness. No one could understand how a girl who fenced as well with her right as she did her left hand, fought in hand to hand combat, and rode horses as expertly as Usagi could bump and trip over things as easily as she could. Even with her cursed clumsiness she'd still come out on top. The toughest competitors however, had been the four girls that where her age. It took her twice as long to beat them in fencing and hand to hand as it did any other girl. It had fascinated her.
They had definitely been tough. There was one of the four Usagi remembered in particular. She was as tall as some of the 18year olds. She had long brown hair tied behind with a green ribbon. She'd been incredibly strong. She had even given Usagi a dislocated shoulder. The only way Usagi had beat her was a chance kick in the stomach. It must have been her weak spot. She remembered with some pain that still remained, how she had tried to make friends with those girls after the tournament. There was one girl with long black hair who had told the others to stay away from her. She had obviously been the leader of their little group. Only the quiet one with dark blue hair had smiled at her then turned away quickly when she noticed her friends staring at her.
It was funny, out of all those girls she'd fought she only really remembered those four. There had been a numbness in her that she couldn't recognize, but it had all faded with the happiness that she had won. She Usagi had made history. It started out as the happiest day in her life. That next evening was her coronation as a royal knight. She had worn black armor with silver trimming her father had had made for her. Everyone had stared at her then, because she was dressed as a man not in a dress as young woman her age should have been.
She had looked past their gazes with her head held high to where the king, queen, and prince were seated, at the end of the Great Hall. King Mamari sat in the middle, queen Savet on his left and Mamoru on his right. She remembered it all as if she were watching a movie. Next to the prince were his four senior guardians. She took strength from the other knights who were standing straight and tall. If not for them she would have passed out. She had been that nervous.
Their silver armor gleamed as bright as the sun in the light of the crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. Usagi remembered trying to catch Malachite's eyes, but he had obviously been trying to ignore her. She'd held her breath as she walked towards the royal couple. Heads bowed as she walked past. She wanted very much to run away from all the eyes that stared at her; but of course doing that would have brought eternal shame and disaster to her family according to Malachite. Out of the corner of her eye's she saw her parents standing next to nobles who would have shunned them had it been and other situation. They smiled at her. Her mother's eyes were brimming with tears. Usagi exhaled and gave them a small smile. The walk seemed like an eternity to her.
She had a strange feeling and for some reason turned her head slightly to the right. Four pairs of eyes bore into hers. Usagi almost fainted. It was those four girls! They were there waiting for her to mess up. She'd quickly turned her head forward. Usagi cringed as the next images from her past came into her mind. This was the part of that day she couldn't erase no matter how hard she tried.
She tripped. Usagi had actually tripped over her own foot. Fortunately she had caught herself before she fell. 'Oh God.' she'd thought. She could here the snickers coming from the crowd. All the blood in her body rushed to her face. With all the dignity she could gather she'd finished that long arduous walk to the huge red carpeted steps. She'd been damning herself when the king' deep bass voice had interrupted her thoughts. She was aware that the entire court of Juuban was watching her. She held her head high meeting the king's eyes.
"Tsukino Usagi," he began "You have bested the most skilled women in the entire country, and the lands beyond in every form of combat." he said. "Kneel" Usagi knelt. The king rose from his throne and Usagi believed that she'd never seen a more intimidating man in all her life. Broad shoulders, piercing green eyes, and unruly brown hair. His beard was just a unruly as his hair. Back then he stood well over 6ft tall. Usagi pulled out her sword and presented it to him.
Her hands were shaking so bad she was surprised, the sword didn't rattle right out of her hands. "Usagi," he'd said in that same voice Mamoru had that made her insides quiver "I dub you –" the blade touched her left shoulder "Knight of the heir to the throne, prince Mamoru Alexander Chiba." the Blade touched her right shoulder. "Now stand up and greet you prince!" the king said smiling. She remembered how much Mamoru had looked like his father. Mamoru had inherited his hair color and eyes from his mother, but there was no doubt he was the king's son. King Mamori had been a pillar of strength back then. No one ever guessed he would become the feeble senile skeleton he was today. when Usagi turned around all the Nobles were cheering for her. She looked at Malachite he had smiled at her then turned away with the other knights as they walked towards the crowd of nobles who were beginning to mingle and dance.
The only thought that had gone through her mind was 'It's not over yet.'. She turned around facing the thrown and walked to where prince Mamoru was seated. Queen Savet smiled at her then nodded. Usagi bowed then faced the then unknown prince Mamoru. Her spine had tingled when she looked up at him. Her breath caught in her throat and her stomach flipped. He was so handsome! This had been her first taste of her teenage hormones in action. His hair was jet black and cut short according to the current fashion, which was usually set by himself and his exclusive group of friends.
He had bangs that were a bit overgrown giving him a dangerous look. Little did she know, they only accentuated what had already been there. His eyes Oh his eyes were the most beautiful blues she'd ever seen, almost like midnight blue. They were incredible. Her thoughts had flown away then. No wonder all the women in Juuban loved him. He was so so she couldn't even think of any word to describe him. She'd never been a pessimist, but she thought if looked hard enough she would find some flaw or fault in his appearance, but there was none.
Usagi laughed at how innocent her mind had been. She hadn't known then that appearances could be deceiving. All she could think was that all the rumors she'd heard about him having been with many women must had been true. He looked like he could have anyone he wanted.
She'd over heard the other girls giggling and blushing over the stories of how many "conquests" he'd had. She'd not understood fully but concluded that it had something to do with kissing and hugging. That's how truly innocent she'd been. Her own neighbor who had been the same age as her then, had married alone months before the tournament. Usagi spoke words to him she hardly heard. "Your majesty I am honored to meet you. I will do my best to guard and protect you from any danger the may befall you." she'd bowed to him then stood straight. He had a mocking look in his eyes as he looked her up and down. "Your Malachite's sister I presume?" he'd asked.
"Yes my Lord." she said. "Funny he never said he had a sister. He talked of you as if you were his brother." His voice was flat and he acted as if he were bored. Usagi hadn't known if he had given a compliment or not. She'd just smiled at him stupidly. Now she guessed it most likely was not. She'd been so young then. Had she imagined that hint of venom in his voice? his eyes flicked past her as if to say "you're dismissed now". She watched his face light up when he spotted someone else. "Beryl, how good it is to see you again." he said. Usagi looked behind her. Right off Usagi hadn't liked the women. It surprised her, because she usually liked everyone. She'd looked to be about 19 or 20.She had long curly auburn hair, with a peaches and cream complexion. She was dressed in a beautiful purple gown that was covered with black lace.
She was pretty though in a made- up way. Usagi guessed that she had probably been one of Mamoru "conquests". Her eyes bugged out of her head when she noticed how low her neck -line fell. Her breasts swelled up against the material of her breasts every time she took a breath. They reminded her of peaches, two Huge peaches. Usagi squirmed, she felt unnaturally uncomfortable next to this women. Mamoru rose as beryl began to hand out her hand to him. "Dance with me Beryl." he side in an odd voice. They descended down the steps with the people parting the crowd when they started to dance.
Usagi was furious. She'd looked were the queen sat watching the whole display. His mother gave her an apologetic look, but said nothing. Back then she hadn't cared how handsome Mamoru was. She was about to make her anger known. When a strong hand clamped down on her shoulder. She jumped startled and turned around. "Malachite!" she exclaimed and was about to hug him, but he stopped her looking very embarrassed. He never had been one for emotions anyway.
"Congratulations." he said smiling and shook her hand. "Thank you Mal." she said. " Thank God you didn't fall that would have been really humiliating." he said. Usagi looked down at her boots embarrassed. Malachite led her down the stairs. Suddenly out of no where she blurted " Mal who is that woman the prince is dancing with?" Malachite looked over at the dancing couple. "Her name is Beryl, and that's all you need to know. So don't ask." he said. "Okay." Usagi said quietly. "She's pretty." she added. Malachite snorted "She's something all right he mumbled."
She had tried to cheer herself up, only to be let right back down. She smiled up at her big brother. "Dance with me please Malachite." she'd said with enthusiasm. Malachite shook his hair sending his long white hair swirling around him like snow showers. " Sorry, I already have a partner." He pointed to a girl with long blond hair. Her eye's followed the direction of his finger. "What! Not her!" Malachite frowned. "Why not her?" he asked. Usagi felt a lump in her throat. she stamped her boot on the floor. Then she was sorry. She hadn't meant to do that. "Oh forget it!" Usagi said. Before Malachite could say anything else to her, she fleeted towards the balcony. She pushed open the thick crimson curtains that separated the balcony from the apart and stepped outside. She breathed in the fresh air to help her clear her head.
The girl Malachite was dancing with, was one of the four girls that were her age. She didn't have anything against her it was just that- Usagi broke down and started to cry. Everything was going wrong! She immediately stopped crying when she felt the first tear roll down her cheek. She had wondered what was wrong with her. She never cried, no matter what the situation.
She felt guilty and selfish. She touched her face and felt the wetness on her cheek. what was wrong with her. Even now when she thought about it she got mad at herself for crying. She wiped her face and blinked, trying to clear her eyes. She heard the curtains move behind her, and she turned around quickly to see who the intruder was. This was the part that played over and over again in her memory. It would be burned in her mind forever. She was to say the least stunned when she saw prince Mamoru silhouetted in the brilliant light of the chandeliers. He started walking towards her.
Once again Usagi's stomach flipped. Back then she thought it was hunger. She thought that for a couple of weeks after that her stomach flipped when she was around him, because he made her hungry. "P-prince Mamoru." she said then bowed. She hoped he hadn't heard the nervousness in her voice. "You forgot this." he had said. Usagi looked down at what he held. It was her sword. "Thank you Majesty." she said. Mamoru said nothing he only looked at her. Usagi felt naked beneath his eyes.
Then his hand reached out. Usagi eyes grew wide wandering what he was doing. The tips of his fingers touched her face then. His finger brushed a few strands of hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. He looked at her once more then he turned around and left. 'Fond memories.' Usagi thought. After that night he had hated her since. Usagi could see her self at 13 standing in the dark shaking and confused.
*End of Flash Back*
Usagi was in bed now. Her hair still needed a little washing, but not too much. She knew there was a strategy to her madness. Maybe one day Mamoru would come around to seeing her in the way she saw him. before she went to sleep she touched the place where Mamoru had touched her cheek.
Well that's the end of chapter two. I know not much dialog, next chapter I promise. I'm thinking on bringing the scouts back but I'm not sure. There will be a new character in chapter three, and look forward to seeing Beryl again real soon.
Now go reveiw!
