Passion for a Prince
Chapter 1

By: Silent Moon

Mail: silentmoonstar@yahoo.com

Rated: PG 13 (some chapters may be R)

Disclaimer: standard


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~He goes along just as a water lily
Gentle on the surface of his thoughts his body floats
Unweighed down by passion or intensity
Yet unaware of the depth upon which he coasts~
Fiona Apple

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He carried her to her room and then reached under the bed to pull out a satchel full of
medical supplies....ointments...bandages....

He carefully attended her immediate wounds, then undressed her broken body and bathed it
in the warm water Molly brought him without being asked....

He carefully bandaged her cuts, tended her back and dressed her in soft, warm clothes to
sleep in. Then he tucked her softly into bed.

He stood to leave, before she woke up, but something kept him, as he looked down at her...
Some impulse made him sit down on the bed and sit her up again to brush out her tangled
golden hair...gently...gently as not to wake her....

It was unlike him....though he'd nursed many servants back to health before...in secret...

Only Molly ever saw....coming round to the door and freezing as she stepped...she turned
and left without a sound.

Darien meanwhile, sat cradling the strange girl in his arms, trailing her hair down to the
bed sheets in long waves. With her face washed and her hair down she wasn't just beautiful,
she was a goddess.

He finished brushing and stopped, staring down at her, brush still in hand.

And it was at that precise moment that she awoke.

Her wide blue eyes fixed on his and then in an instant she was standing, unsteadily, shoving
him back, "Who are you?!" She demanded fiercely, "What do you want? Why are you here?"

Then she looked wildly about, "How did I get to my room?"

He staggered back and stared aghast at her, seemingly too terrified to speak.

Her eyes narrowed as she recognized his clothes, "You're the King's son..."

She missed the flash of pain in his eyes....

"What do you want?" She repeated coldly, "I've no wish to hold any company with
your family!"

"I-I.." He managed to stammer out weakly, "I was just trying to--"

"To what?! Speak up!"

This time she did catch the pain that flashed across his face and it surprised her.
But he was one of the Princes! What else could he want but...but...she blanched...

"Get out!" She cried half-furious, half-terrified.

And it was only as he turned and fled that she noticed he was carrying a hairbrush...
Then she noticed her hair....and her dress....and her bandages.....and her bathed skin...

She felt a punch of guilt to the stomach.....

Whoever the devil he was.....he'd been trying to help....

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The next morning found the King back in the kitchen, shaking the kitchen girl Molly
who was pale with terror.

"Who helped her? Who took her off this floor?" He demanded angrily, lifting her bodily off
the floor and making her choke as he shook her.

"I did." A voice from the shadows replied. A voice laced with the finest thread of defiance. A hint of a challenge.

Endymion stepped into the light and faced his father.

The aging King let go Molly and raised his eyebrows at his youngest son.
Then he nodded with a gesture of acceptance and an air of faint bewilderment, "Very well."
He replied and began walking down the hallway.

Andrew was leaning in the doorway behind where he'd just stood, a sneer already in place,
"Helping the servants again Endy-girl?"

Endymion glared at him and opened his mouth to respond when Sere herself flew breathlessly
into the kitchen in search of Molly. She'd barely slept, taut with curiousity about the
man who had cared for her so.

She was scrubbed, tended, clean and beautiful....
Her ivory skin against the soft cotton dress made for a very pretty sight...and her hair
was still down...trailing golden after her as she entered.

Endymion glanced at his brother and knew immediately what would happen.
He felt his gut tighten.

Molly too, saw the look Andrew gave Sere and her eyes widened with fear.

Andrew stayed where he was in the doorway and gave a low whistle, "Well well well, what
have we here?" Then he began walking towards her.

Sere froze, her eyes darted to Endymion and then to Molly and finally Andrew and realization
crashed into her.

But her back stiffened and her eyes flared dangerously.

Andrew circled round her, "My my, aren't you lovely. I think I would like us to become
better aquainted...."

Endymion waited with his breath held for what her retort might be. He wasn't disappointed.

She frowned, "I am afraid I do not share that sentiment, swine." She replied causing Molly
to gasp and Endymion to choke back the first urge to laugh he'd experienced in years.

But Andrew was not amused. Endymion watched his father's famous temper flare in his
brother's eyes and suddenly he had grabbed her roughly by the arm,
"Listen here wench, you'll do exactly as I command understand? And I command you to
my bed chambers tonight."

He watched the fury light her face, "I will do no such thing! I swear it!"

Andrew grinned, "You have no choice in the matter."

She began to grow paler. Endymion paled as well, knowing his brother would make good on
his intentions...he always did when it came to women....

The King's voice rang out now, revealing he'd been present for the entire conversation,
"You will obey him."

Endymion groaned inwardly, ~Oh no...~
No doubt his father thought this justice for her impudence yesterday.

"And if I refuse?" She challenged evenly.

The King's face darkened to match Andrew's, "I'll have the guards....escort you."

And now her face paled....dread crept into her eyes...her shoulders began to slump with
defeat...

~No no no!~ Endymion felt his heart cry so loudly that he spoke before he realized,
"No!"

All eyes turned on him.

"What did you say?" The King asked incredulously.

But Endymion faced him levelly, with certainty shining in his eyes, "I said no."
He turned to face Andrew, "You cannot have her for a mistress."

Andrew looked shocked, "And just why the hell not?"

Endymion took a deep breath and surprised everyone present with what might have been
the boldest thing he'd ever said, "Because she is my mistress."

For a moment, everyone just stared at him in shock.

Andrew recovered first, "What?!"

Endymion remained calm, stepping over and putting a hand on her shoulder, "Twas
I who gathered her up last night and tended her. I washed her and bandaged her
and looked after her....and it was so she could become my mistress--not yours!"

Andrew's eyes widened further, "What?! That's the most ridiculous bunch of rubbish I've
ever heard! You cannot have her! Father! Tell him that is so!"

But the King was eyeing his youngest son strangely and turned on his eldest
with a cold voice, "It sounds to me like Endymion had already made arrangements.
The matter is settled."

Andrew stormed off, huffing furiously and only after her was clearly out of sight did
Endymion release his grip on Sere's arm.

Then he disappeared down the hallway too....unable to face her....disbelieving he'd just
done what he did.

The King stood watching with amusement buried in the depths of his dark eyes.
He turned to the shocked and bewildered Sere,
"You shall report to his bed chambers tonight girl."

Then, he too was gone.

Sere collapsed to her knees, head in hands, with Molly at her side.

"Oh Sere, not to fear! The Prince has saved you!"

"What?!" Gasped Sere in shock, "Molly, he has taken me for his Mistress!!"

"No, he has saved you from his cruel brother! Oh Sere, you do not understand!
Prince Andrew is worse than the King! He takes all the pretty servants and he's
terrible to them--as he would have been with you!"

"And what of his brother?"

Molly smiled, "Prince Endymion is the complete opposite. He is kind and gentle...it twas
he that tended you last night! He is like his mother, the Queen. She was a wise
and gentle woman. Endymion is always kind to everyone--he looks after all the servants!"

Sere listened after that, as Molly pulled her to her feet and tied up her hair talking
endlessly of the kind young prince and his good deeds to the staff of the castle.

And indeed he sounded like a noble man.

But as the hours of the day slipped by, the anxiety in Sere grew.
All the reassurance in the world meant nothing.

Tonight Prince Endymion was claiming her for his Mistress.....

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