The Palace
***
"Ah. I knew I could trust my man to do my bidding." A sly smile slipped across Beryl's lips as she ran her tongue over them to catch the little droplets of wine that had escaped her mouth. "The prince has done me a great favor in ridding me of the girl. Now I can live in peace from all those stupid rumors about the little dolt's beauty. Imagine – a beauty to surpass my own!" Beryl laughed loudly.
"How do you know that the princess is dead, my liege?" asked one of Beryl's right-hand servants. The servant was in actually quite an elevated position – he was a general of Beryl's military force. However, he hadn't seen any action in Beryl's army yet, although he had served in another force and had gained experience.
"Because," Beryl said, turning to face the effeminate officer. This particular officer had narrow green eyes, wildly curly pale blond hair, and a slim face and figure that almost alluded to feminism. But his gait and his arrogance were both profoundly male. "The Lunarians circle rumors like a vulture circles prey. They are already asserting that a winged serpent-god of some sort, even more powerful than the gods that they worship, has spirited the Moon Princess away to become his wife."
"How preposterous." Another officer, a tall, study, well-muscled man with smokey grey eyes and white-blond hair, crossed his arms and stared at the queen lounging on her bed.
"Who cares how preposterous it is?" Beryl said airily. "I don't care what kind of stories those crazy Lunarians make up. As long as that Moon Princess is out of my hair and my plans, it doesn't matter to me what they think."
*****
Princess Serenity buried her face in her hands, trying to stay the wave of sobs that had overtaken her. She couldn't believe how much she was crying, and how hard. Her entire body was shaking from her sobs, but she couldn't stop herself. She missed her family terribly already, and she was terrified of what might happen to her next.
She tried to get her mind on a prayer. To Hebe, goddess of youth, and Hera, goddess of women and marriage, she prayed, and to Selene, goddess of the moon, namesake and protectress, please, grant me the strength to go through this!
~Princess Serenity.~
Serenity shrieked and jumped about three feet in the air. When she landed, she scrambled behind the rock she had been sitting on, peeking out with only her frightened blue eyes. But her fears eased and her eyes widened when she beheld the one who addressed her.
It was no horrible-looking winged serpent. Instead, it was a magnificent white horse. It was obvious this was no ordinary horse. A single golden horn, glowing in bright illuminacy, extended from the center of the horse's head. The horse had a sky-blue mane and tail, silver hooves, and deep crimson eyes, as well as a pair of magnificent white wings extending from below his haunches.
"A pegasus," Serenity whispered.
~Yes, a pegasus,~ the pegasus answered. Serenity realized that the pegasus' words were not really spoken, but rather formed pictures and conveyed thoughts inside her head. Must be magic, or the work of the gods, she reasoned.
~My name is Helios,~ he continued. ~I've come to take you to a wonderful place, away from this rocky hill and the serpent that threatens you. But you must trust me if you want to get away from here. Do you trust me, Serenity?~
Serenity stared back at the pegasus, her head cocked to the side. Any foul man could be standing behind the pegasus, mocking as if he were talking when really a man was waiting to jump out and ravish her. But it was hard not to trust anything that beautiful, and Serenity found herself led by the pegasus' appearance.
"I trust you," she said softly, and slowly stood from behind the stone. She felt dowdy, dressed in the heavy and dark mourning robes. Serenity stared at her feet, embarrassed.
The pegasus slowly ambled towards the Moon Princess so as not to startle her, then motioned towards her with his head. ~Climb on my back and I'll take you to where I'm going,~ he said. Something in his "voice" was reassuring, calming, and Serenity slowly moved towards Helios and threw one of her legs over his back as he bent to allow her safe mounting. He stood up slowly, and Serenity felt herself jolt into place, sitting up straight.
~Put your arms around my neck,~ Helios said. ~I ride pretty fast, and I wouldn't want you to fall off!~
Serenity obeyed.
~Here we go.~
The pegasus soared into the air, taking off with such speed that Serenity did almost fall from his back. She squeezed her eyes shut to abate her fear, tightened her grip, and was able to hold on, as the pegasus fluttered his wings and rose higher, higher, towards the clouds and the glowing sun above.
~Princess, open your eyes! The countryside is beautiful.~
Serenity opened one eye. The pegasus had been right – so right. The be flying in the air, the mountains and seas far beneath her – to see the wildlife roaming about beneath her – it was breathtaking for any mortal. Serenity popped both of eyes open to watch the splendor of the natural world appear below her.
By and by they came to more sparse areas, the cold northerly areas, and Serenity began to wonder where they were going. It seemed almost like the ends of the planet...
"Helios, where are we going?"
~To a faraway world, Serenity. Just trust me...~
She nodded her head, and felt her eyes drooping, as they soared over meadow and glen. The pegasus wings' steady flapping lulled her, and it seemed as if the pegasus himself exuded an air that contributed to her sleepiness.
She couldn't help dozing a little, and when she finally came back to full consciousness, they were in a strange place – stranger than the countryside they had been flying over before. It was different from anything she had ever seen in her life, and eyes opened in wonder as she saw the scene spread before her.
"It's breathtaking," she said. "Where are we, Helios?"
~I can't tell you that, dear princess,~ he said, and there was a smile in his "voice" – much more possible than injecting a smile into an actual voice, because the images conveyed actual amusement at her question. ~But I assure you – you'll like it here.~
Serenity couldn't help but believe him. They fluttered on a bit farther. Finally – rather abruptly, so that Serenity almost jerked from the winged horses' back – he stayed his wingspan.
~I apologize for the abrupt stop, your majesty,~ he said, ~but I was about to overpass our destination.~
He dove in for the ground, and landed in the middle of a large, lush green clearing. The grass cushioned her feet – it was so soft! She could feel the bed-like flora through her thin shoes, and longed to take them off and wander through the grass. Scattered around the meadow were poppies...famed for their sleep-inducing effects.
Serenity tried to stay awake and explore the meadow a little – assured of her safety by the presence of the magical pegasus – but the poppies' effects and the events of her trying day caught up with her, and she eventually fell into a dreamless sleep in the luxurious grass beneath her.
**
"Mmm..."
Serenity's eyes opened slowly, anticipating the bright light that would assail her eyes. But the light never came. When her eyes were fully open, she realized that the sun was much lower in the sky than she expected.
Quickly she sat up, turning her head about her. She wasn't in the same meadow she had fallen asleep in. Now she was in a glen, even more beautiful than the place she had left – if that were possible – filled with brightly colored flowers and the greenest grass in the universe. A river with a pleasant current trickled into a small pond, with the clearest and bluest water she'd ever seen. Birds soared above, calling in melodious songs, most of them species she'd never seen before in all colors of the rainbow. Little animals scuttled across the field, many of them staring curiously at the intruder in the glen.
A little white rabbit began to hop towards her. She smiled at the familiar animal, and watched as it hesitantly came closer to her, wiggling its pink nose and adjusting its ears for balance. It jumped up towards her legs, and Serenity looked down to watch the rabbit poise itself on her black-clad foot.
The rabbit was there, all right, but it wasn't black she saw – it was pure, shining white. She couldn't see her foot but for the layer of silk laying on top of it – the white silk that would be the skirt of her dress.
Serenity ran to the pond and stared down at herself in the still waters. She was no longer dressed in the heavy black mourning robes, but the light, carefree white gown of a bride. The gown hung slightly off her shoulders, decked with white roses about them and also around her forearms, where the sheer sleeves of the dress stopped, and her hips, where the gown spread into a large white bell-shaped dress that was fluffed by layers of tulle under the silk skirt. On her head was a tiara decked with hearts formed from pearls and bejeweled with many precious gems, attached to a long sheer veil that fell backwards, all the way down to the ground. There was a pearl necklace about her neck with a pink pendant lined with pearls at the end, and she wore pearl drop earrings in her ears to complete her look.
She was a picture of resplendence.
Serenity smiled and brought a hand to her cheek – a hand gloved in satin, she realized – and smiled brightly; then she began to twirl in circles, away from the pond for fear of falling in. She whirled through the glen, the fauna of the strange new world trailing her, running and laughing at her good fortune, not stopping to wonder were the beautiful bridal array had come from, nor how she had disappeared from the poppy-populated meadow. She was only happy she had escaped her fate as the bride of the serpent-god.
Serenity came skidding to a stop, however, when she was presented with something else in the glen. It was a huge palace – seemingly made all out of gold. The huge spires and twisting towers glistened in the sunlight, and the thick mahogany doors on the outside of the palace seemed inviting.
"Come in, my queen," she heard. "We've been waiting for you."
She looked around quickly, whipping her eyes around the meadow, searching for Helios. He must have said it, she realized, because he had been the only one around her – but he was nowhere to be found, and she realized that she had not seen the alicorn since she had been in the field of poppies. Besides, this voice was different from the picture-speech Helios commenced.
Subsequently she looked for another form to speak the words, but saw no one.
"I'm over here, queen – at the gates of the palace. Do come closer."
Thoroughly confused, Serenity squinted, but saw no one at the doors of the stately palace. Nonetheless she slowly crept closer to the doors. About a meter away, she felt a touch on her back, almost like that of a soft hand.
"Come, my queen," the voice said. "Our servants await you."
For the first time Serenity realized this voice had called her "queen" three times. "I'm not a queen," she told it.
"Oh, but you are now," he said, and there was mischievousness in his voice. "Please, do come into the palace!"
The doors of the golden castle opened – but there were no humans to open the doors, or any other creatures, for that matter – and the invisible hand led her inside, to the foyer of the grand palace.
It had to be at least three stories high, with a gold-and-crystal chandalier strung from the ceiling. However, since it was still daytime, large windows lining the foyer let sunlight stream in and illuminate the room. Colorful precious jewels inlaid in the floor reflected the light in millions of colors.
"My queen, forgive me! I haven't even told you my name," he said. She felt a whoosh of air, as if some invisible person were bowing to her, however ridiculous that sounded. She saw her hand raise without any of her own will, and felt a small pressure on the back of it, as if someone had kissed it. "I am Tiger Eye, a royal guardian. I am at your service, your majesty."
"How did I become a queen all of a sudden?" She felt apprehension in her heart. Had she married the terrible serpent-god after all?
The guard chuckled. "No serpent-god, my lady! Prince – or now, King En—" He caught himself just in time. His master had given the household explicit directions not to tell his lovely company his name. "The king is a kind and gracious man; you'll have nothing to fear from him."
Her heart soared. But it couldn't be true, could it? Apollo the oracle had never been wrong in all his divine life.
~My queen! So you've finally arrived.~
Serenity heard clacking on the castle floors...but it wasn't human. It sounded like a horse's hooves.
"Helios!"
The silhouette of the pegasus began to change. A swirling of magical lights flared around him, the wings shrinking, two legs disappearing, the clacking changing from that of hooves to that of feet. The last thing to disappear was the shning golden horn, shrinking into the head of the silhouette approaching Princess Serenity. But as the silhouette took a male form, it also faded, and at the moment Helios' new human form would emerge from the shadows—
"Helios?"
"I'm still here, my lady. Thank you for bringing her inside, Tiger Eye."
There was some kind of exchange between the two invisible figures; Serenity sensed it, but she could not see it. She felt Tiger Eye leave her side and felt Helios move closer to her, taking her elbow in his hand.
"I've been waiting for you to arrive, my queen, but you took a dreadfully long time to wake up from your slumber. No matter, you're here now."
She heard him chuckle, then felt him tug at her arm. "Come, my queen – you must be famished! You've had a long and harrowing day, wouldn't you agree?"
She nodded, utterly confused. "Why can't I see you, Helios?"
"Would it make a difference if you could? I'm still me, aren't I?"
"Well, I think – I mean, you're – I can't be sure, but –"
"Is my voice not the same?"
"Of course it is."
"Are my words the same?"
"Except for the fact that you keep calling me queen, yes."
"But you are a queen, Serenity – the queen of this very palace, and the land belonging to it. The king is your husband now – he's taken a great fancy to you."
"The serpent-god?" she whispered fearfully.
The young man laughed, a deep, lilting laugh that was incongruous with his light voice. "No serpent-god, Queen Serenity. The king is anything but." He seemed to be smiling at her, although she couldn't be sure how she knew that. "You're about to learn very quickly how overrated sight is."
The palace was magnificent. Helios went on telling her about it – the whole thing was crafted of gold, inlaid with many precious jewels – sapphires, rubies, emeralds, citrine, as well as the stone bearing the servant's name, tiger's eye. There was another type of stone called hawk's eye, Helios said, and another servant with such a name. There was a third to complete the trio, but his name was not a stone, just an appendage of the other two's names – Fish Eye. There were many servants all over the palace, he said, in every division, wing, and room.
"They are here to do your every bidding," he said, "and so am I. I am the priest of this land."
He led her into a formal dining room – marvelous! The food was delectable. Every time she finished a course, invisible kitchen servants would bring out another – many of them composed of delicious foods she had never tasted at home. As she dined she chattered with Helios. When the main course was served – a spicy pheasant – she heard a choir of voices begin singing. It was a strange language, but their voices were singularly harmonious – but try as she might, she couldn't spot from where the chorus was singing.
"It's a welcome song," Helios explained, and translated some of the words as they sang. Serenity couldn't recall the language from any of her studies.
"What language is it in?"
There was only silence, but once again she sensed that Helios was smiling at her.