***
The pegasi alighted in a beautiful glen. Trivia and Diana dismounted with their eyes popping in wonder – all the colors, sights and sounds were too much to take in at once! A beautiful clear stream trickling into a pond; birds and animals walking straight up to them, many of which they had never seen before. They pet and coddled the animals, until the golden-horned pegasus – the one named Helios – turned to speak to them.
~Follow me, my ladies. I will show you to the palace.~
The two young women followed the pegasus, passing more beautiful countryside. Finally they reached the threshold of Golden Palace. Their eyes opened in wonderment again.
"It's so pretty!"
"The whole thing seems made of gold."
"What a wonder!"
"Is Serenity in there?"
Helios smiled inwardly at the last question.
A voice called to the women from the entrance. "Please, come inside, my ladies." The doors to the palace opened, showing the foyer sparkling with jewels of all colors.
Serenity was standing in the entrance.
"Trivia! Diana!" she called, throwing her arms open.
"Serenity!"
The two women ran to their younger sister. They hugged her tightly, jumped around her, cried, checked her over to make sure she was okay. Finally, Diana's throat cleared enough to speak.
"Serenity! Are you quite all right?"
"Quite all right, Diana," Serenity said, smiling. "My life here has been just wonderful – look! Isn't this palace beautiful?"
"It's marvelous," Trivia said, staring at the jewels in the floor. "Are these all – genuine?"
"Yes," Serenity answered. "Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, citrine, zircon, topaz – every stone imaginable, and a few I haven't heard of myself. And the exterior is made of solid gold. I could hardly believe it myself!"
Trivia and Diana smiled, happy their younger sister was so happy herself.
"And you – you look beautiful, Serenity! That's pure silk, isn't it?"
Serenity looked down at her dress and blushed. She had put on one of her best for her sisters' arrival. It was a pearly pink color, matching the blush on her cheeks, and she wore pearl earrings and a pearl necklace to match it. She nodded speechlessly, then waved her hands.
"Come – follow me, Trivia, Diana," Serenity said. Trivia and Diana obeyed. "I asked them to make breakfast a little later today," she explained. "This way, I could greet you both and then we could go eat. After breakfast, I'm going to show you the grounds, and then we can eat lunch. After lunch, we can go riding, then do our evening prayers together before you have to leave."
"Serenity," said Diana, smiling at her sister, "this is all too much – look, the doors are mahogany, and the doorkobs are pure white gold! Who owns this palace?" She cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, where is your husband?"
"Yes," said Trivia, nodding at her sister. "The pegasus said that you were a queen, which means you must have married a king – and a wealthy one, from the look of things. Where is he?"
"Oh," Serenity said, keeping her face away from her sisters. She racked her brain for a viable excuse. "He's away on a hunting expedition – he left shortly before you came. He...won't be back for quite a while. His friends and he do love to hunt."
"What is his name? I'm not completely sure where we are – perhaps I can tell from the name of the king."
"His name is Mamoru."
Trivia and Diana exchanged glances. "That must be his familiar name," Diana said. "I don't remember any King Mamoru, and surely there would be something in the geography books about a king this wealthy."
"No, his name is just Mamoru."
Trivia shrugged. "Maybe I cannot remember my studies correctly," she said flippantly. "So, what is the name of this country?"
"Eh—" Serenity thought. "Serenitas."
Trivia and Diana exchanged glances yet again. "Serenitas?" they said in unison.
"Yes...is it not a coincidence?"
"Funny coincidence," Diana said, her eyes trained on Serenity.
"Queen Serenity!" A chorus of voices swelled at the door of the dining room, and the two visitors witnessed a peculiar sight. Their younger sister leaned forward and encircled the air, as if she were hugging someone they could not see. She did this strange action three more times.
"Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, Juno," she said. The girls watched as Serenity's eyes went down, then up, as following someone curtseying. She then curtseyed in turn, the curtsey of a queen to her subjects. "Girls, these are my sisters. Trivia is the aqua-haired one, and Diana the taller. Trivia, Diana, these are my four favorites – Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Juno."
There was a lot of modest sighing. "We are just maidservants of the queen, nothing more," said an authoritative, patrician voice.
Trivia and Diana raised their eyebrows.
"You won't be able to see them," Serenity explained, "they're enchanted with some sort of magic. Ceres is the oldest, and her voice is oldest. Her magic is yellow. Vesta's next, with red; Juno is the third, with green. Lastly is Pallas with blue magic." She smiled heartily. "I've invited them to eat with us this morning."
The four voices squealed.
"Has Serenity taken up ventriloquism?" asked Diana, leaning over to whisper in Trivia's ear.
"Not four voices at once," said Trivia. "This place is fantastic – why couldn't there be magic?"
"Come inside and eat," said a young voice – it must have been Pallas.
"Allow me to take your coat, Lady Trivia." A spark of yellow nipped Trivia's cloak from her back, ostensibly Ceres.
"And I yours, Lady Diana." The two sparks of green indicated this girl was Juno.
"Pallas and I will show you to the table." The last voice must have been Vesta, as hers was the only voice unheard, and this was a different one. Trivia and Diana followed the trails of red and blue into the dining room and to the table.
The breakfast was spectacular. The kitchen staff had prepared a wonderfully spicy brunch quiche with eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes – anything that the two young women asked for, they received. The sound of a great choir of voices wafted into the dining room, entertaining the queens with a bright, happy melody.
"What a language!"
"What are they saying?"
"I'm beginning to learn," Serenity said, smiling brightly, and she
sang a few bars of the tune. "It's
a song about daybreak, the dawning of a new day," she explained. "They sing a slightly different variation
of it every morning."
No one sings at breakfast at my home, thought Diana to herself.
"The choir sings at breakfast and at dinner. It's always different, yet always the same."
I don't even think we have a choir at home, Trivia thought to herself.
The girls ate slowly and to their heart's content, chattering and laughing in between bites, but Serenity did not know that the beginnings of poisonous jealousy were creeping into her sisters' hearts.
"Would you like to go riding after breakfast?"
Trivia and Diana did, and as soon as they were finished eating, the girls headed out to the stables.
The young women were delighted to find the large stables filled with beautiful purebred horses animals of every color and variety – steeds, stallions, mares, as well as other horse-like animals – pegasi, unicorns...
They had a delightful time riding, during which the invisible stable-boys pointed out the sights they saw, chattered on about their life happy in Elysian, and talked at great length about the king – handsome, powerful, mighty in battle, and yet kind to his subjects, like a loving father, the countrymen his children. Trivia and Diana exchanged envious glances several times during the ride...and they also stole glances at their sister who was blushing heavily.
After their riding expedition, Serenity showed them around the palace, but halfway through they were stopped by the four magical maidservants, who wished to give the three young women beauty attendence. A half hour later, the three young women found themselves immersed in baths of rare soaps and being attended to by about seven giggling young voices.
"We'll do your hair and nails afterwards. How would you prefer them?"
Trivia looked to Serenity. "Do they treat you like this every day?"
"Just about," Serenity said absently, blowing rosy suds from her hands. She was glowing radiantly, so happy was she that her sisters were joining her in her splendor.
Trivia looked at her hands, particularly her fingernails. They had been need of a touch-up manicure for two days, but her handmaidens were on a short vacation. Serenity has so many here it doesn't matter if half of them went on vacation, she thought bitterly. There would still be enough to tend to her needs.
***
"Dinner was absolutely delicious," said Trivia, setting down her fork and smiling brightly at her younger sister. "What do you do afterwards?"
"Normally I do a bit by myself, reading or something, and then I get dressed for bed." Serenity smiled as she took a sip of the wine provided for the dinner. "But since you two are here tonight, I can talk to you for a while before Mamoru comes home."
"I thought you said he was on a hunting expedition," Diana said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "He's coming back today?"
Serenity blushed. She'd never been good at lying, especially not to her sisters, who knew her inside out. "Silly me...I'm just so used to him coming home to me at night I forgot he wouldn't this night..."
"You mean he only comes home at night?" asked Trivia, raising an eyebrow.
"No, no," Serenity said quickly. "It's just...well...he's been away a lot lately, doing...things for the kingdom, I suppose. Lately I haven't been seeing much of him during the daytime."
Trivia smiled brightly, an idea springing from her sister's shortcomings in speech. She was beginning to smell a rat, and neither of the twins ever overlooked anything they could use to their advantage. "So," she said, her bright smile pasted in place, "what does he look like, Serenity?"
Diana, who had been regarding her twin sister cautiously, felt her surprised expression melt into a smirk. "Yes, Serenity...the stable boys seemed quite envious of his appearance."
"Oh," Serenity said airily. Inside she was struggling to come up with an appearance. "His eyes – they're like fire, they sparkle so wondrously. He's tall and has the build of a god – his beauty would rival Adonis – even Endymion, the moon goddess's consort," she said, giggling. "His skin is tanned and he's lean in figure. The silkiest hair..."
"What color are his fire-eyes?" Trivia inquired.
"They're...they're...green."
"Green?"
"As green as the lush fields outside the palace."
"And his hair?" Diana asked.
"Bl...blond. Rich and golden like...the sun."
"Blond hair and green eyes, with the build of a god." Trivia smiled and stored that appearance in her memory.
*****
"Diana, did you see what I saw?"
Diana shot a glare at her sister, but the animosity contained in it was not directed towards Trivia. The two girls had just been set back on the rocky summit after spending the day with their younger sister in her new home. Serenity had bade them goodbye, saying that they could not spend the night for mysterious reasons, but in her sorrow for their leaving had filled their hands with precious gems, expensive wines, and luxurious fabrics from which to make gowns for themselves.
"It could have been a dream."
"Could have been." Trivia sighed. "It's not fair, you know. Serenity always received everything – the most beautiful mortal in the world. Our only consolation could be that she was alone, and we were married."
"But now?" Diana nodded in agreement. "She's richer than Orcas and Somnus put together!"
"It's injustice," Trivia said. "Fit for Adrasteia herself to revise."
Diana shook her head. "But did you also see what I saw, sister?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The means to remove Serenity from her oh-so-high standing."
"Hm..." Trivia nodded. "I figured you were on my wavelength when you began asking Serenity the same questions as I was asking her. I knew that something could be done with such knowledge...especially it doesn't seem like Serenity has seen her husband at all. She took much too long to answer simple questions, like his hair and eye color!"
"There can be no kingdom without a king, can there?"
Trivia stared at her sister for several moments until realization dawned upon her. Then her face curled into a smirk. "And the penalty for killing such a king is certainly exile."
"But what else could a woman do, with a horrible serpent as a husband?"