Title: Moon Light Nights
Chapter: 4
By: Moondreams
Notes: Actually the more I write this the less it really is like The Blue Sword. But I suppose
that is a good thing hehe. When I hear the new song from Sting called Desert Rose it always
reminds me of this story. Enjoy.
Serenity woke up coughing. She opened her eyes slowly to see a ceiling of wood above
her. Light streamed from a window paned with glass. She was lying in a huge soft bed
surrounded by pillows and soft sheets. She gingerly felt the satiny soft sheets breathing in
their cinnamon smell, which was cool around her bare skin. Bare skin? Serenity pulled
off the sheets to reveal she was only wearing a very short shift. She had seen Nadia go to
bed with one of these shifts on. Nadia told her that sometimes she wore nothing at all
during the heat of summer. She had almost fallen over at this piece of information. She was
still to 'outlander' in her ways and ideas to totally accept this. Sleeping without any clothes was
the only thing that happened in one of Mina's naughty romance books. Mina swore that after
she married she burned most all of them but Serenity doubted that.
"Where am I?" she said out loud. She walked rather unsteadily to the window. The sight
took her breath away. There were trees everywhere, lush green trees the stood out against a
bright blue sky. There was no sand. 'It all was a dream wasn't it? Every terrible moment, all
just a dream' she thought. Well they weren't all terrible, just Endymion was the terrible part.
There was a knock at the door.
"Yes?" she said to the door. The door opened to reveal a man. Serenity shrieked and
grabbed some sheets to wrap around herself.
"Well I see you are up, Princess," said the man with a smile. He had white hair and dark
brown eyes that looked almost black. He was middle aged, she guessed.
"Where am I?" she demanded.
"In my home, Princess," he answered. Serenity raised an eyebrow taking in his dress. He
wore rough clothes a little on the shabby side and he looked overdue for a haircut.
"Who are you? How did I get here?" she demanded.
"My name is Jeriah and the Knights brought you here. You gave your friends quite a scare.
Tell me, Princess, do you make it a habit of running into burning tents?" He asked. Serenity
just about collapsed. "So it wasn't a dream..." she mumbled.
"No Serenity it's all quite real," he told her with a grin.
"Why am I here? How do you know I am a princess?" she demanded. Jeriah leaned
against the wall with a smile.
"You are to become a knight," he simply answered. Serenity looked at him in shock.
"A KNIGHT? Are you crazy? Women aren't knights and I have no wish to become one!
How do you know I am a princess?" she demanded angrily.
"I believe you are really asking, does Endymion know you are a princess. The answer is
no. I am very much aware that women aren't knights but we shouldn't tempt fate. It is your
destiny," said Jeriah with his arms crossed. Serenity set down on her bed.
"I don't believe in destiny. I choose my own fate," said Serenity stubbornly.
"Even so, if you finish your training, you will be able to go back to your home and mother
on the Moon," said Jeriah. Serenity looked at the man with her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
His eyes met hers. His eyes were too old to belong to his body. Some thing was not quite
right about him. Not many people at all knew she was the crowned princess of the moon.
Only her friends knew and no one else. They had told the servants that she was a princess
from a distant country.
"Do I have your word on that?" asked Serenity softly.
"I swear to you that you will go home to the Moon after your training is done if you
wish," he said. Serenity took deep breaths.
"So when do we start?" she asked.
"After breakfast. Here get dressed," her teacher demanded as he threw her a bundle
of clothes. Serenity caught them and watched him leave.
The clothing was course on her skin no matter how much Serenity tried to rearrange
the garments. She wore baggy white leggings and a tight brown tunic that was tied off at the
waist with a piece of rope. It was if that her leggings should've gone two someone 3 sizes
bigger and her tunic to one size smaller. She glanced down at her hands, which were burned.
Most of the burn marks went right up to her shoulder on her right side covered with clean linen
bandages. Her right arm couldn't be moved easily without pain. It still amazed her that she was
able to catch the clothes and pull up the sheet around her without noticing it. Had they possibly
drugged her again? She clinched her teeth in pain as she sidestepped and bumped in to a table.
She walked just as unsteadily as when she had first gotten up.
"Come on Serenity you can do this. Just remember home and your friends," she told
herself. With that she stood straight as a rail with her shoulders back and walked out the door
with her head held high.
The dining room was noisier then usual as the 20 some students did more talking then
eating. "Well as I was saying, that horse in stable 3 is totally untamable! I landed on my
backside more times then I care to mention," said a girl with long black hair and fierce blue
eyes.
"Jeriah told us to stay away from that horse, Elidi," piped up a dark haired little girl with
blue highlights and large green eyes. Elidi glared at the little girl and turned her attention back
to the boys, which surrounded her. Each male stared at her adoringly and Elidi loved attention.
She was tall and curvy but strong and dependable. Her face was oval which her long dark hair
framed. Her dark blue eyes surrounded by incredible long thick lashes caught everything. Those
observant eyes were the first to catch sight of the stranger standing in the doorway looking
confused. She observed the stranger briefly before ignoring her altogether. One of the boys
followed her gaze.
"Who is that?" he asked rather loudly so that every head turned to look at the stranger.
Silence fell like a wave over the crowd of students.
"She looks like an angel," sighed the little green-eyed girl.
"She looks like she got her hair cut by a blind barber," snickered Elidi. The girl's golden hair
had been chopped to her chin level. One of the boys got up from a far table which he'd been sitting
by himself and walked up to the girl.
"What? Is Gavin leaving talking to his horses and birds to talk to her?" she snickered at the
usually shy boy. Everyone within earshot laughed except for the little green-eyed girl called
Brat by the older students. She stared at the stranger with curiosity.
Serenity held her head up and held her gaze steadily with the numerous pair of eyes
looking at her. The silence was almost deafening. She was sure that if someone would drop
a pin in the room everyone was sure to hear it. A young man keeping his eyes toward the
floor walked up to her. Unlike all the other students in the room he had a head of curly light
brown hair that made him stand out. His skin was the same sun tanned as everyone else. He
raised his golden brown eyes to look at her.
"Come on breakfast is getting cold," he said slowly and lead her through the isle toward a
table which had an empty spot between two boys and a plate of hot unrecognizable food.
"Sit and eat," he commanded. With that he turned and went back to his own lonely part of
the room. Serenity looked at the boys who were looking at her with curiosity gleaming in their
eyes. She took a deep breath, picked up her plate and moved to sit across the brown haired
boy. He looked at her with surprise. Whispers swarmed around the room.
"Welcome Sharai," he greeted her. She looked at him strangely.
"My name is Serenity," she told him. He said nothing for a moment just looked at her
with his unnerving amber eyes.
"Yes I know but Sharai suites you better. So I will call you that. I am known as Gavin,"
he said softly. Between them a friendship had been formed just in a few minutes between the
Outlander and the mysterious boy who talked to animals.
"She's coming!" squealed the little girl known as Brat. She jumped up and down on her
bed in the girls' room. The room wasn't much. Its walls were bare mortar and the floors were
polished wood. There were three beds each with a wooden chest at end. At one corner of the
room there was a small table that held a metal pitcher filled with water and a metal bowl with
a bar of rough yellow soap. One corner of the room was draped off which contained a
chamber pot behind it. Elidi snickered and continued to brush her long hair in front of the
mirror. Once Serenity walked through the door Brat grabbed her hand pulling her toward the
empty bed.
"Come on! You get to sleep in this bed beside mine! Put all your stuff in the chest! Oh
and don't go near Elidi's things! She gets real mad you know!" chattered the little girl. Serenity
glanced at Elidi brushing her long hair and jealousy rose inside her. She missed her own long
hair. Her own hair had been cut signaling she was a lower student. Gavin told her not to fret
about her hair. His voice rung through her mind. 'It might have been worse you know. The
boys have to get theirs shaved,' Gavin pointed out. She indeed had seen some boys with fuzz
on their heads. Elidi sniffed the air then wrinkled up her perfect little nose.
"You stink. Outlanders do take baths don't they?" She smiled as she caught Serenity's
glare. "Well I suppose falling of Old Madge would get you rather dirty. Never in my life have I
ever seen someone so pathetic around horses," Elini continued. Serenity flushed with
embarrassment as she remembered her riding lesson earlier. A crowd of students had
formed around the riding circle laughing when she had tried to mount and dismount the old
galloping pony just to eat dirt every time. Elini stared at the girl laughing. Blue met blue and
Elini saw in the other girl's eyes a look of dignity. Elini raised an eyebrow in question.
"What's your name, Outlander?" demanded Elini. Serenity opened her mouth but then
closed it again.
"I am called Sharai," she answered firmly. Elini studied the girl again. The new girl was
challenging her. Elini could tell by her eyes. Elini gave her beautiful black hair a finial stroke
and left the room.
"Everyone calls me Brat but I like your name. It suits you," said the little girl merrily.
Serenity looked at her strangely.
"I really have no idea why I told her Sharai was my name. Gavin called me that.
What does it mean?" asked Serenity with a frown.
"Oh Gavin gave you that name! Sharai means queen's daughter. You see Gavin believes
that a name describes a person. In you he saw powerful yet quiet dignity," the little girl told
her. Serenity stared out the window absent-mindedly. She was vaguely aware that the little
girl had left her. Never in wildest dreams had she ever thought her life would take such a
course. Serenity was gone and the student named Sharai was all that was left.
"This is all your fault Endymion! I hope I never see you again!" she whispered fiercely
to the wind.
To be continued...
Email me please! How do you like how it's going so far?
Chapter: 4
By: Moondreams
Notes: Actually the more I write this the less it really is like The Blue Sword. But I suppose
that is a good thing hehe. When I hear the new song from Sting called Desert Rose it always
reminds me of this story. Enjoy.
Serenity woke up coughing. She opened her eyes slowly to see a ceiling of wood above
her. Light streamed from a window paned with glass. She was lying in a huge soft bed
surrounded by pillows and soft sheets. She gingerly felt the satiny soft sheets breathing in
their cinnamon smell, which was cool around her bare skin. Bare skin? Serenity pulled
off the sheets to reveal she was only wearing a very short shift. She had seen Nadia go to
bed with one of these shifts on. Nadia told her that sometimes she wore nothing at all
during the heat of summer. She had almost fallen over at this piece of information. She was
still to 'outlander' in her ways and ideas to totally accept this. Sleeping without any clothes was
the only thing that happened in one of Mina's naughty romance books. Mina swore that after
she married she burned most all of them but Serenity doubted that.
"Where am I?" she said out loud. She walked rather unsteadily to the window. The sight
took her breath away. There were trees everywhere, lush green trees the stood out against a
bright blue sky. There was no sand. 'It all was a dream wasn't it? Every terrible moment, all
just a dream' she thought. Well they weren't all terrible, just Endymion was the terrible part.
There was a knock at the door.
"Yes?" she said to the door. The door opened to reveal a man. Serenity shrieked and
grabbed some sheets to wrap around herself.
"Well I see you are up, Princess," said the man with a smile. He had white hair and dark
brown eyes that looked almost black. He was middle aged, she guessed.
"Where am I?" she demanded.
"In my home, Princess," he answered. Serenity raised an eyebrow taking in his dress. He
wore rough clothes a little on the shabby side and he looked overdue for a haircut.
"Who are you? How did I get here?" she demanded.
"My name is Jeriah and the Knights brought you here. You gave your friends quite a scare.
Tell me, Princess, do you make it a habit of running into burning tents?" He asked. Serenity
just about collapsed. "So it wasn't a dream..." she mumbled.
"No Serenity it's all quite real," he told her with a grin.
"Why am I here? How do you know I am a princess?" she demanded. Jeriah leaned
against the wall with a smile.
"You are to become a knight," he simply answered. Serenity looked at him in shock.
"A KNIGHT? Are you crazy? Women aren't knights and I have no wish to become one!
How do you know I am a princess?" she demanded angrily.
"I believe you are really asking, does Endymion know you are a princess. The answer is
no. I am very much aware that women aren't knights but we shouldn't tempt fate. It is your
destiny," said Jeriah with his arms crossed. Serenity set down on her bed.
"I don't believe in destiny. I choose my own fate," said Serenity stubbornly.
"Even so, if you finish your training, you will be able to go back to your home and mother
on the Moon," said Jeriah. Serenity looked at the man with her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
His eyes met hers. His eyes were too old to belong to his body. Some thing was not quite
right about him. Not many people at all knew she was the crowned princess of the moon.
Only her friends knew and no one else. They had told the servants that she was a princess
from a distant country.
"Do I have your word on that?" asked Serenity softly.
"I swear to you that you will go home to the Moon after your training is done if you
wish," he said. Serenity took deep breaths.
"So when do we start?" she asked.
"After breakfast. Here get dressed," her teacher demanded as he threw her a bundle
of clothes. Serenity caught them and watched him leave.
The clothing was course on her skin no matter how much Serenity tried to rearrange
the garments. She wore baggy white leggings and a tight brown tunic that was tied off at the
waist with a piece of rope. It was if that her leggings should've gone two someone 3 sizes
bigger and her tunic to one size smaller. She glanced down at her hands, which were burned.
Most of the burn marks went right up to her shoulder on her right side covered with clean linen
bandages. Her right arm couldn't be moved easily without pain. It still amazed her that she was
able to catch the clothes and pull up the sheet around her without noticing it. Had they possibly
drugged her again? She clinched her teeth in pain as she sidestepped and bumped in to a table.
She walked just as unsteadily as when she had first gotten up.
"Come on Serenity you can do this. Just remember home and your friends," she told
herself. With that she stood straight as a rail with her shoulders back and walked out the door
with her head held high.
The dining room was noisier then usual as the 20 some students did more talking then
eating. "Well as I was saying, that horse in stable 3 is totally untamable! I landed on my
backside more times then I care to mention," said a girl with long black hair and fierce blue
eyes.
"Jeriah told us to stay away from that horse, Elidi," piped up a dark haired little girl with
blue highlights and large green eyes. Elidi glared at the little girl and turned her attention back
to the boys, which surrounded her. Each male stared at her adoringly and Elidi loved attention.
She was tall and curvy but strong and dependable. Her face was oval which her long dark hair
framed. Her dark blue eyes surrounded by incredible long thick lashes caught everything. Those
observant eyes were the first to catch sight of the stranger standing in the doorway looking
confused. She observed the stranger briefly before ignoring her altogether. One of the boys
followed her gaze.
"Who is that?" he asked rather loudly so that every head turned to look at the stranger.
Silence fell like a wave over the crowd of students.
"She looks like an angel," sighed the little green-eyed girl.
"She looks like she got her hair cut by a blind barber," snickered Elidi. The girl's golden hair
had been chopped to her chin level. One of the boys got up from a far table which he'd been sitting
by himself and walked up to the girl.
"What? Is Gavin leaving talking to his horses and birds to talk to her?" she snickered at the
usually shy boy. Everyone within earshot laughed except for the little green-eyed girl called
Brat by the older students. She stared at the stranger with curiosity.
Serenity held her head up and held her gaze steadily with the numerous pair of eyes
looking at her. The silence was almost deafening. She was sure that if someone would drop
a pin in the room everyone was sure to hear it. A young man keeping his eyes toward the
floor walked up to her. Unlike all the other students in the room he had a head of curly light
brown hair that made him stand out. His skin was the same sun tanned as everyone else. He
raised his golden brown eyes to look at her.
"Come on breakfast is getting cold," he said slowly and lead her through the isle toward a
table which had an empty spot between two boys and a plate of hot unrecognizable food.
"Sit and eat," he commanded. With that he turned and went back to his own lonely part of
the room. Serenity looked at the boys who were looking at her with curiosity gleaming in their
eyes. She took a deep breath, picked up her plate and moved to sit across the brown haired
boy. He looked at her with surprise. Whispers swarmed around the room.
"Welcome Sharai," he greeted her. She looked at him strangely.
"My name is Serenity," she told him. He said nothing for a moment just looked at her
with his unnerving amber eyes.
"Yes I know but Sharai suites you better. So I will call you that. I am known as Gavin,"
he said softly. Between them a friendship had been formed just in a few minutes between the
Outlander and the mysterious boy who talked to animals.
"She's coming!" squealed the little girl known as Brat. She jumped up and down on her
bed in the girls' room. The room wasn't much. Its walls were bare mortar and the floors were
polished wood. There were three beds each with a wooden chest at end. At one corner of the
room there was a small table that held a metal pitcher filled with water and a metal bowl with
a bar of rough yellow soap. One corner of the room was draped off which contained a
chamber pot behind it. Elidi snickered and continued to brush her long hair in front of the
mirror. Once Serenity walked through the door Brat grabbed her hand pulling her toward the
empty bed.
"Come on! You get to sleep in this bed beside mine! Put all your stuff in the chest! Oh
and don't go near Elidi's things! She gets real mad you know!" chattered the little girl. Serenity
glanced at Elidi brushing her long hair and jealousy rose inside her. She missed her own long
hair. Her own hair had been cut signaling she was a lower student. Gavin told her not to fret
about her hair. His voice rung through her mind. 'It might have been worse you know. The
boys have to get theirs shaved,' Gavin pointed out. She indeed had seen some boys with fuzz
on their heads. Elidi sniffed the air then wrinkled up her perfect little nose.
"You stink. Outlanders do take baths don't they?" She smiled as she caught Serenity's
glare. "Well I suppose falling of Old Madge would get you rather dirty. Never in my life have I
ever seen someone so pathetic around horses," Elini continued. Serenity flushed with
embarrassment as she remembered her riding lesson earlier. A crowd of students had
formed around the riding circle laughing when she had tried to mount and dismount the old
galloping pony just to eat dirt every time. Elini stared at the girl laughing. Blue met blue and
Elini saw in the other girl's eyes a look of dignity. Elini raised an eyebrow in question.
"What's your name, Outlander?" demanded Elini. Serenity opened her mouth but then
closed it again.
"I am called Sharai," she answered firmly. Elini studied the girl again. The new girl was
challenging her. Elini could tell by her eyes. Elini gave her beautiful black hair a finial stroke
and left the room.
"Everyone calls me Brat but I like your name. It suits you," said the little girl merrily.
Serenity looked at her strangely.
"I really have no idea why I told her Sharai was my name. Gavin called me that.
What does it mean?" asked Serenity with a frown.
"Oh Gavin gave you that name! Sharai means queen's daughter. You see Gavin believes
that a name describes a person. In you he saw powerful yet quiet dignity," the little girl told
her. Serenity stared out the window absent-mindedly. She was vaguely aware that the little
girl had left her. Never in wildest dreams had she ever thought her life would take such a
course. Serenity was gone and the student named Sharai was all that was left.
"This is all your fault Endymion! I hope I never see you again!" she whispered fiercely
to the wind.
To be continued...
Email me please! How do you like how it's going so far?