The Black Rose Curse
Chapter 3

Hey! I'm back with chapter 3! I hoped you liked all
the other chapters, too. Don't forget to send the
e-mails! VanillaChick32@yahoo.com But please, no
flames. Thanks!

***

Serena stared down at the boiling soup as she
stirred it. The wooden spoon was covered in broth
up to the middle of the stem. The vegetables and
chicken strips swirled around in a circle as she
stirred.

Serena stared into space as she thought of him.
Darien. The prince. 'Maybe I'll see him. Oh, I hope
I'll see him. I want to see him.' She stared
blankly at the soup in deep thought. 'Wait, why do
I want to see him? It's not like I really know him.
For all I know, he could be a heartless jerk who
only cares about his appearance.' Although she said
these things, the back of her mind doubted her.
'Then why was he so nice to me?'

She felt a hand on her shoulder and snapped out
of her trance. She looked back to see Lita smiling
down at her.

"Don't let the soup burn or get cold. Keep
stirring and try to stay down here on Earth." She
smiled again and winked, then turned around and
started walking through the kitchen checking out
everybody else's cooking.

Serena turned back around and stirred the soup.
She sighed and whispered to herself, "If I don't
like him, then why am I always thinking of him?"
She shook her head. "I'm so confused."

Molly nudged Serena. "Confused about what?"

She snapped her head up and looked up at Molly
cooking some potatoes. "Oh Molly! I didn't see you!
Um... about... um... why we have... um... pieces of
dough in the... uh... soup, when we're serving bread."
She smiled shakily.

Molly eyed her blonde friend. "Serena, you've
been acting weird all night. Is something up? Is
something wrong?"

Serena smiled at her friend, glad that she was
so caring. "I'm fine, really. I was just thinking.
I like doing that. I get to sort out my thoughts.
No worries!" She smiled again.

Molly smiled. "Ok. I just wanted to make sure."
She turned back to her potatoes that were boiling
in a pot and took them out. She started mashing
them with a spoon.

***

The Earth prince walked into the room and
looked at all the guests. 'Whoa. I thought mother
said she was inviting a few friends.' He sighed and
watched his mother and father talk to the guests.

Darien walked over to a small table on the side
and poured himself a glass of crystal clear water.
He stood against a light golden painted wall and
sipped his water. Many girls tried to get his
attention, but he just pretended he didn't see
them.

A little while later, Queen Isabelle walked
over to her son smiling at him. "Ah, my son. How
are you?" The queen smiled and hugged her raven-
haired son. The queen pulled away and looked at
him. "I have someone I want you to meet."

Darien looked at his mother. "Who, Mother?"

The Queen smiled. "She's a maiden that lives
toward the end of town. Her name is Lady Beryl.
She's a very charming girl. She's your age, too.
Unfortunately, her mother and father died when she
was 4 years old. Her mother died of a terrible
disease, and her father in an attempted killing of
his dear friend." The queen sighed. "It's so sad,
and I'm even surprised she's survived through life
and still is very sweet."

Darien rolled his eyes. His mother was always
trying to play matchmaker, but he never liked any
of the girls. They were either gold-diggers, or
just plain annoying and trying too hard to please
him. 'Jeez, Mother. Will you give it up already?'

The queen smiled. "She's right over there," the
brown-haired queen said. She pointed to a girl with
a dark blue dress on. The dress hugged her waist
and chest, then poofed out at the waist and flowed
down. Her hair was an auburn color and was very
long. It was let down for the night and ended a
little below her waist. Her skin was pale, and her
blood red lips curved up in a thin smile as she
talked to another girl with short red hair. Her
black eyes sparkled as she talked and listened to
the other girl speak.

The prince looked at her. 'Well, she seems
normal,' the prince thought. 'Maybe she'll be-' his
mother tugging at his sleeve cut off his thought.
He looked at her. "Yeah?"

Queen Isabelle smiled. "Come on, I want you to
meet her, and please be nice and formal this time."

"When was I ever not nice or formal?"

"When you met that girl Ashley. You totally
ignored her, and you didn't even kiss her hand like
you were supposed to. You made her feel really
bad."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Mother, she was really
boring and wasn't even talking!"

"How would you know? You weren't listening."
Queen Isabelle giggled.

Darien rolled his eyes again. "Ok, fine. But,
do I really have to kiss her hand?"

"Yes, you do. We want her to feel welcome
here."

The raven-haired prince sighed. "Ok, whatever.
But do I have to sit next to her during dinner?"

"Well, if you don't want to…"

"And I don't," he cut in.

"Alright, alright," the queen agreed. "But she
is at least sitting at our end of the table."

"Fine," Darien answered, annoyed.

"Ok. Now that that's settled, I want you to
talk to her." The brunette queen grabbed the
prince's arm and started to drag him across the
white marble floor.

As Darien was pulled across the room, he could
see Lady Beryl glancing at him, and then looking
back at her friend and talking to her. 'Well,' he
thought. 'I bet she's trying to pretend not to
notice me. Heh, it's not working though. I know she
notices me.'

As the mother dragged her son across the dining
room, Lady Beryl whispered to her friend and then
smiled at her. The girl smiled back and walked
away.

Finally, the prince and queen stopped in front
of the Lady. Darien bowed to her, and she curtsied
to Queen Isabelle and Prince Edymion.

Queen Isabelle smiled at the Lady. "Ah, Lady
Beryl. How nice to see you again! This," the queen
pushed Darien forward, "is my son, Prince Endymion,
as I've told you about."

The Earth prince glared at his mother then
looked at Lady Beryl. Her took her hand in his and
gave her his most charming smile. "Lady Beryl. It's
a pleasure to meet you." He bent down and lightly
kissed her pale hand. Her fingernails were regular
length and painted dark blue to match her dress.

Darien let go of her hand and stood up. She
smiled at him, her cheeks were a light crimson
color. Darien grinned at her and thought, 'Jeez,
when are the servants gonna serve the food? I'm
hungry, plus I really don't want to talk to this
girl. She gives me the creeps.'

Darien shivered at Lady Beryl looked up at him.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. Her voice was
slightly deep and it was as if she could blow ice
out of her mouth.

Darien forced a smiled to form on his face.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just slightly chilled… and
hungry."

Lady Beryl giggled. Her giggle was low pitched,
too. "Yes, me too. I wonder what we are having."

"I think we're having a soup and meat and stuff
like that. The chef had to cancel at the last
minute and they had to hire a replacement. I heard
she's really great at making food. Then again, most
of all the Jupitarians are. I never doubt their
food."

The Lady nodded in thought. "Yes, but you never
know. I would make sure I knew the chef first
before they cook for us."

"My mother and father have spoken to her, and
they said she seems nice." Darien blinked, and then
remembered something. 'When did my mother leave? I
never saw her leave. Where on Earth did she go
anyway.' He rolled his eyes at himself. 'Stupid,
Darien. She probably went off to talk to more
guests or something.'

"Uh... Prince Endymion?" Lady Beryl looked up at
him, her head tilted to the side.

Darien shook his head. "Yeah?"

"Um... I think we are sitting down."

Darien looked up and saw the other nobles
starting to sit down. "Oh, ok." He turned his
attention back to Lady Beryl. "Well, it was nice
meeting you, Lady Beryl." He bowed to her, and she
curtsied.

"I do hope I see you again sometime again in
the future." She smiled. "Perhaps, after we eat, we
might be able to dance to a song or two."

"Maybe..." the prince answered. He bowed again as
she curtsied, and the two went off to their seats.

***

A couple minutes later, Lita stood up on the
stool and faced the kitchen. "Quiet people!
Please!" The kitchen got quiet and all eyes were
fixed on Lita. She continued, "Thank you. It is now
6:30 and the guests are starting to file in. They
will sit down at 7:00 and we will need to be out
there to be ready to serve. I need the people who
are stirring the soup," Lita paused and glanced at
Serena, and continued, "to hurry up. When you're
done, please turn off the heat and put the soup to
the side. Put a lid on top to keep it warm. When
the guests are ready, you will pour a bit in a big
enough bowl to serve the people on your side, but
also small enough that you can carry. Take a ladle
and walk out to the room and start serving your
portion of the guests." Lita looked down at her
Jupitarian watch, and then at the crowd of
servants. "Okay. We have 25 minutes. Please hurry."
With that, she stepped off the stool and pushed it
aside. The servants went back to what they were
doing, and Lita examined everyone's work again.

Serena turned around and continued to stir the
soup, and started sorting her thoughts out again.
'Maybe what I'm thinking is normal. Maybe it's just
a stage. Maybe I'm feeling a little lonely that I
long for a friend, and maybe he's so nice that I
want him to be my friend.'

Before she could finish her thoughts, Lita
interrupted her. "That's good. You can take the pot
off the heat and put it to the side. Then put a lid
on it. After you do that, then you can day dream."
She smiled a winked, then walked away.

Serena watched as Lita glided down the kitchen
floor, and then back up to the front. Serena then
turned back to the pot. She turned off the heat and
moved the soup to the side. She reached over the
counter and grabbed the metal lid, then set it atop
the pot of still-boiling soup.

Serena turned around and leaned against the
counter edge. Her blue eyes scanned over all the
servants cooking and preparing. Then her eyes
landed on Lita standing by the door to the dining
room, leaning against the wall and chewing on her
green-painted fingernails. Serena smiled at her and
walked over.

As Serena approached, Lita's green eyes looked
up at her. Her hand with half-chewed green
fingernails fell to her side and she stood up,
instead of leaning against the wall. "May I help
you?"

"I just came over to say hi. You looked
lonely." Serena smiled. "And nervous."

Lita sighed, giving in. "Yeah, I'm nervous... a
lot. This is my first time cooking for the royalty
of Earth. I'm just hoping they like the food, and
everything else..."

Serena giggled. "Calm down, it will be ok. I
promise. I'm sure they'll like your cooking. They
wouldn't have replaced the sick chef with you if
they didn't think they wouldn't like your cooking?
Besides, I heard what we were going to serve, and
this is different, and everything sounds delicious.
I'm sure you have exquisite taste, and the food
looks totally wicked." She smiled and winked at
Lita.

Serena could see Lita's shoulders rest and her
body loosen up. Lita smiled at this sweet, blonde
girl. "Thank you. I'm not as nervous now. You've
helped thanks. By the way, what's your name?"

"Serena."

"Wow. You have a beautiful name. I'm sure I've
heard that name somewhere, but I don't remember
where." Lita bit her lip in thought. "Well, anyway,
I'm Lita. I live of the planet Jupiter."

Serena smiled. "I know. You told us."

"Oh yeah! I did, didn't I? But, wait. I didn't
tell you I lived on Jupiter, did I?"

Serena shrugged. "You must have. I wouldn't be
able to know any other way, since I don't think
I've seen you anytime in my life. I'm never left
Earth, I don't think."

Lita furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "How
can you not know if you've left Earth?"

Serena sighed. "My guardian, Ilene, told me
that she found me on her door step in the middle of
the night. So, basically, I really don't know what
planet I'm from, who I am, or who my birth mother
is."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask such a
personal question. I didn't know…"

Serena blew it off. "It's ok. It doesn't
matter. I don't really care, as long as I'm happy
here." She smiled.

Lita let out a sigh of relief. "Ok. That's
good. I don't want to make anyone mad or anything."

Serena smiled. "I wouldn't get mad at you for
that."

Lita shrugged. "You never know." The brunette
looked down at her watch again and then back up at
Serena. "Ok. It's 5 of. We'd better get ready."
Lita pulled out the stool she was standing on
before, and stood up on it. "People!" she yelled.
Everyone dropped what they were doing and looked up
at the chef. "Ok. We have 5 minutes. I want you all
to get in the groups you I assigned you, and if
you're pouring the wine, then get in the front of
the line. If you're serving the soup, then please
do as I told you before and line up behind the wine
servers."

The boys, girls, men, and women lined up
according to their groups. Serena ran over to the
pit of soup she cooked and poured it in a large
wooden bowl. She grabbed her metal ladle and got
behind Molly in the line.

Molly turned around and smiled at Serena. "You
ready, Serena?"

Serena shifted the wooden bowl filled to her
left arm and held the ladle in her right. "You
bet!" She smiled back.

The two girls smiled at each other one more
time before turning around and watching Lita.

Lita stood by the door chewing on her
fingernails again. Then she caught Serena's eye and
lets down her hand. She smiled and Serena smiled
back.

Two minutes later, a man with very short black
hair and tan skin peeked his head through the door
and whispered to Lita. Lita nodded and the man
walked out. Lita turned to the line. "Ok," she said
shakily. "That's our signal to go in. The group who
is serving the wine, will you please walk out and
start pouring the wine into the people's wine
glasses, please? Only serve your section, though!"

Lita nodded at the girl in the front of the
line, and the line started moving and filing out
into the dining hall. After the wine pourers were
out, Lita stopped the boy who was holding a bowl
filled with soup.

The Jupitarian teen peeked out of the door
and watched the servants fill the nobles' crystal,
wine glasses. She started chewing on her fingernails
again.

Serena smiled and shook her head. She bit her
lip and counted how many people were in line to
keep herself busy until the wine servers came back.

Molly looked back at her friend. "Serena, are
you nervous?"

Serena looked at Molly. "Why, of course not."
She smiled and laughed nervously.

Molly giggled. "It's ok if you are. I'm a bit
nervous, too. I just really hope I don't mess up or
anything. You know, trip or something."

Serena nodded. "Yeah, me too." 'Serena, why are
you lying to yourself? Your nervous about seeing
the prince!'

The wine servants started sauntering into the
kitchen holding their almost empty glass pitchers.
Lita nodded at the wine servers, telling them they
did well. Lita then turned to the servant in the
front and nodded for him to go out.

The line started moving and Serena gripped onto
her bowl. She started walking, and as she passed
Lita, the two girls exchanged smiles.

The soup servers entered the dining hall and
started walking to their select spots where they
were to serve.

The room sparkled. Almost everything was in
gold. The walls were painted a light gold, and the
ceiling a darker gold. The chandeliers that hung
off the ceiling were also golden. The floor was
white marble with a tint of gold sparkles. Serena
marveled at the whole set up of the glamorous room.

She was so taken by the aura that she almost
forgot what she was there for. She steadied herself
and walked to her spot. She watched how the other
servants served the soup, and then mimicked them.
She soon realized that she was at the royalty end
of the table. She gulped quietly and prayed to see
the prince. She first started off with Kind Edward,
who nodded and continued to talk to his wife, Queen
Isabelle, who she served next. Serena then moved
over to the other side of the table and stepped
forward to serve in the next person's bowl. She
dipped the ladle into the hot soup and took it out.
She poured it into the fine china bowl. When she
bent down to pour the second ladle full, she
realized she was serving the prince!

She started to pour the soup into the bowl when
he whispered in her ear. "Thank you, Serena."

She glanced at him and smiled, while he flashed
his dazzling smile. She pulled back and continued
down the side of the table with her cheeks rosy and
a dazed smile on her face. 'Oh my Gods! He
remembered me! I can't believe it!'

Once she finished serving the soup, the bowl
was almost empty. She walked back to the kitchen
approximately the same time the other servants were
done.

She entered the kitchen filled with the aromas
of the freshly cooked foods. She tried to hide her
smile as best she could, but she was unsuccessful.
Luckily, no one noticed. Everyone was too busy
running around and Molly was still serving. She
smiled again. 'I still can't believe he remembered
me.'

***

Darien took a sip of his soup. The warm liquid
filled his mouth. 'Mmm. This is good. I wonder if
she made it...'

Across the table, Lady Beryl sat a couple seats
away from across from the prince. The Lady kept
smiling at him, and Darien was getting quite
annoyed. He turned to his mother.

"Mother," he began. "You told me she wasn't
going to sit at our side of the table. Then why is
she?!"

"Darien. You mustn't be so loud." The Queen
glanced at Lady Beryl. "She might hear you, and
then you might never have a chance with her."

"Mother, I don't want a chance with her. Sure,
she's nice, but she's not my type. If I'm going to
marry someone, something has to click when I meet
her. I don't feel anything around her. She,
actually, kind of freaks me out."

"Darien, she's a very nice girl. How can you
say that?"

Darien sighed. "You'll never understand." He
looked back down at his soup and continued to eat.

'Wow, this soup is really good. The chef did a
great job. I have to be sure to tell him, or maybe
even her, after the dinner,' Darien thought. He
looked up again, only to see Lady Beryl smile at
him again. He forced a smile onto his face and
thought, 'This is going to be a long night.'

***

Serena sat on a counter watching the cooks on
the other side on the kitchen. Most of the soup
servers retired to their quarters for the night,
but Serena decided to stay for moral support. Lita
needed all she could get.

Serena watched as the Jupitarian girl
instructed a man on his cooking. Lita looked
over and the two girls exchanged smiles.

After Lita was done explaining to the man, she
walked over to Serena and tossed her a roll. "Call
it a gift." She smiled.

Serena caught it and smiled back. "Thanks. You
baked it yourself, right?"

"Yep." Lita wiped her hands on her green apron
and then looked up at Serena. "I want to say thank
you. You made me feel more calm about this and you
stayed here when you could have just as easily
left. I barely even know you, and you still act as
if I'm your best friend."

"I-Is that bad?"

"No, Of course not. I'm glad. I like having a
friend. I never really met anyone my age."

"Why? You seem like a really nice girl. Why
wouldn't anyone want to meet you?"

Lita sighed. "Well, it's for two reasons. One,
I do a lot of martial arts, and I'm known as the
tough girl around my planet. Many girls don't do
that kind of stuff, so they're afraid that I'll be
mean to them or something. The second reason is...
that... well... I'm not really supposed to tell
anyone this. It's kind of confidential... but..."

"You don't have to tell if you don't want to,"
Serena cut in.

Lita shook her head. "No, it's ok. Just don't
tell anyone, alright?"

"Of course." She smiled.

"Ok. Well, I'm the princess of Jupiter, and I'm
always busy. I have all my classes to attend and
talk to my parents about important stuff. I mean,
one day I'm going to be the queen of Jupiter, and
I'm 13 years old. My parents want me to be plenty
ready for the tasks ahead of me. They want me to
start early in my training for the ruling of my
planet so I'll be ready. My parents started early,
and everyone loves them. So they want me to be the
same."

"Oh, wow." Serena let the new information sink
in. She never dreamed of meeting a princess, but
here one was, standing right in front of her! "I'm
sorry your life had to happen like that. But, in
case you ever need someone to talk to or write to,
I'm right here." She smiled.

Lita looked at Serena thankfully. "Thank you so
much."

"No problem," Serena replied with a smile, and
started to nibble on the roll Lita gave to her.

"Well," Lita said, looking around the kitchen.
"I think it's time to send the wine servers out for
refills."

Lita called the wine servers and they assembled
into a line. Once the servers had their pitchers of
wine and were settled down, Lita did a head count.
As she got to the end of the line, her eyes
widened. She turned to Serena and whispered to her.
"Serena, we have a slight problem. We're missing a
servant."

Serena looked up and bit her lip. She put the
roll down and jumped off the counter. "I'll fill in
their place," she volunteered and dusted her dress
off. She spotted an extra wine pitcher and filled
it with wine, then turned around and smiled at
Lita. "Is that ok?"

Lita let out a sigh of relief. "You're a life
savor. Thank you so much."

"No problem," the blonde replied and joined the
line of wine servers.

Lita gave the sign to the first person in line,
and the line filed out into the dining hall for the
second time.

Serena watched where everyone else was serving,
and according to the information she collected, she
was to serve at the same spot she had before. 'Oh
my Gods! I get to see him more than once tonight! I
can't believe it!'

She poured the wine into the glasses as the
other servants had done, and when she got the
prince's glass, he, once again, whispered in her
ear, "Thank you again, Lady Serena."

Serena glanced at him, still pouring the wine,
and whispered, "I am no Lady." She stopped pouring
the wine, for the glass was full, and continued
down the line of nobles.

She was the second one to finish serving her
section, and then she strolled back into kitchen.
Serena looked at Lita and smiled, and then set her
pitcher on a countertop.

Lita smiled at Serena. "Thank you so much."

"Anytime," she replied. But at the moment, only
one thing was on her mind. The prince.

***

Ok! So that's chapter 3! I hope you like it. I
kinda ended up at a writer's block at this time, so
I decided to end the chapter and continue it in
chapter 4. Besides, it was getting pretty long
anyway. Don't forget to e-mail me and leave
reviews! Thanks! ^_^