Chapter 3: Beginning of the lessons
Thank you all for the reviews! This chapter will be pretty long and the next one will lead into it, but it won't be a cliff hanger really. Anyways, enjoy!
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"Lady Bunny, you must wake up now." A girl said, approaching Bunny as she slept. Bunny opened her eyes and looked at the girl. Her hair was short and wavy, a soft red color, her eyes brown. She looked not a day older then Bunny herself. The dress she wore was a brown color and showed her ankles, brown worn shoes on her feet. There was a dirty apron over the skirt of her dress. The dress was in a fine shape, save for the torn bottom.
"Is it really time to wake up already?" Bunny asked.
"Her Grace and His Highness have requested that you awake to start your lessons." The girl replied.
"Who?" Bunny asked, still very tired and not yet up from her bed.
"Why, Queen Gaia and Prince Endymion, of course." She said as if it were the most obvious thing ever.
"What lessons are they requesting I take?" Bunny asked.
"I suppose they're going to be on manners and important times in our history so that you're more suitable for the suitors that you will be presented with in the future. But of course you're expected to be at breakfast this morning." The girl left Bunny's bed side and opened the wardrobe, looking through the dresses. She pulled out one and held it out. "Do you approve of this one?" She asked.
"It is very lovely." Bunny replied, looking at it. The color of it was a lovely light pink, which happened to be one of Bunny's favorite color. "Excuse me, but what is your name?" Bunny asked. The girl blushed.
"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier! My name is Naru. I'll be your servant until the day you leave here." She said with a curtsy.
"Nice to meet you, Naru." Bunny said. She felt very weird about having this young girl who seemed no younger then herself being her servant, but she knew right away that she wouldn't be able to argue that with Endymion or Gaia.
"Well, if you need anything further, don't hesitate to ask for me. I'll most likely be near by." And with that the young servant girl Naru left Bunny alone.
Bunny got dressed and then did her hair absentmindedly. When she looked into the mirror, she looked at her hair style with interest. It consisted of two buns on top of her head with the rest of her long hair pooling down on the ground. And all the while as she was looking at it, she couldn't figure out how in the world she did it. She shrugged it off and walked out of the room and down the large staircase, going into the Great Hall.
"Good morning, Bunny. I trust that you slept well?" Terran greeted.
"I did, thank you. Yourself?" Bunny replied.
"Well." Terran replied. Bunny took her seat once more across from Endymion, right next to Gaia.
"That color is lovely on you, dear." Gaia commented. "And your hair is so odd and unique. I daresay that I've never seen anything so different before."
"I don't know how I did it, but I did. It seemed to come naturally." Bunny replied with a slight blush at getting complimented. When she felt her face cool she began to eat delicately.
"Hmm, you were right, Terran. She doesn't need much improvement in those areas." Gaia said to her husband, looking at Bunny.
"I noticed it the night before." Terran added with confidence.
"I knew that she didn't need much improvement in all of the areas myself at first glance, although there isn't any harm in teaching her things I'm yet to see her do." Endymion said, making Bunny feel tremendously left out. They were all talking about her, which she knew, but she wasn't sure exactly what the nature of their conversation was.
"I think there isn't much we must teach her." Gaia added. Bunny looked up at them all curiously and Endymion smiled a charming smile at her.
"I suppose we're being rather rude for not telling you the nature of our conversation." Endymion said. Bunny looked at him with surprise. It was as if he had read her mind!
"We were only discussing what we must teach you, dear. Yet so far your have proven that manners is nothing you need improvement on and your posture is remarkable for a woman at your age." Gaia said kindly.
"Thank you very much." Bunny said, her cheeks heating up once more.
"Well, come on now, dear. We have to start your lessons." Gaia insisted.
"Will I get to see Endymion again soon?" Bunny asked while rising. Endymion gave her a charming smile.
"Of course, Bunny. Maybe I can teach you to ride a horse." Endymion suggested. Bunny looked at him hopefully.
"Then I better be there. You would teach her to side the manly way instead of side-saddle, which is not the way a lady rides. It would be terrible if she learned to ride that way!" Gaia said. Endymion nodded and the two women left the room.
"Queen Gaia." Bunny started. Gaia cut her off.
"Just call me Gaia, sweetheart. I thought we went over that yesterday." Gaia said with a loving smile at her new 'daughter'.
"Gaia, why are you being so nice to me?" Bunny asked, blushing slightly after her words. She didn't realize how rude and ungrateful they sounded when she said them with her tongue, although they seemed completely innocent in her mind.
To Bunny's surprise, Gaia laughed. "As I've said before, I'm quite fond of you. Besides, what kind of a woman would I be if I left a sweet you girl like yourself on her own? There are a million things that would happen to someone with your looks. I will never refuse anyone who needs my help." Gaia declared.
"You're a wonderful woman then, Gaia. Most queens would turn away peasants." Bunny said.
"You are not a peasant, Bunny. There is something inside of you that presents a large amount of nobility in you. Perhaps even royalty." Gaia lifted Bunny's chin, studying the young face of the girl. She smiled.
"I wish I remembered who I was." Bunny said in a distant tone. Gaia dropped her hand slowly and began to walk, Bunny right in stride with her.
"It could be a blessing that you are unaware of who you are. You're granted the chance to start all over again, unless someone who you once knew comes looking for you." Gaia said.
"No one will look for me. They don't ever want me home." Bunny replied sadly.
"Oh?" Gaia asked.
"I can't remember much from where I came from, but I do remember that before I felt, I had a terrible feeling of banishment surrounding me." Bunny said.
"Do you remember anything else?" Gaia asked, hoping to spark a memory in the young girl. She figured that it must be hard not to remember who she was at all.
"I remember a lot of faces. All are women, except for one adult male. I can't pull at my memory enough to remember the features of their faces, but I know their genders." Bunny replied.
"Well dear, how about I take you into the gardens and we can start your lessons officially?" Gaia asked. Bunny nodded happily, as if the moment before never happened.
It was a good few hours until Endymion came looking for the two to teach Bunny to ride. Although it took him a long time, he was finally told that the two were in the gardens. So, he followed the long white-stone path all around, finally locating them in the rose garden.
"Hello darling." Gaia greeted her son with a warming smile. "Roses are Endymion's favorite flower, Bunny. These are all his." Gaia told her young 'student'.
"I've never seen roses before. We didn't have them where I came from." Bunny said, looking around at the beautiful multicolor of the new flowers to her eyes, still amazed with them after their long lessons.
"I find them to be very beautiful, but misleading. I suppose my mother didn't let you touch them, did she?" Endymion asked. Bunny shook her head. "That's because they have thorns." Endymion told her.
"Thorns?" Bunny asked, looking from Gaia to Endymion in mystery. She had never heard such a word before. It was as new to her as 'rose'.
"I'll show you." Endymion said. Bunny got up from the little bench and went over to Endymion. He took her smaller hand and let her fingers graze over the velvet of two red and pink roses.
"It's so soft. Almost like velvet." Bunny marveled, a childish smile on her face.
'So are your hands.' Endymion found himself suddenly thinking. Mentally, he slapped himself. 'Don't think like that! It's wrong!' He scolded himself.
"Are these the thorns that you spoke of? Why couldn't I touch them?" Bunny asked.
"Surely you've seen enough flowers to know that these are petals." Gaia insisted. Bunny turned to her and shrugged.
"I've seen a million flowers, but never any like this. And since Endymion said that they have thorns, and I've never seen a rose before, I am a bit unsure. After all, I've never felt anything so soft." Bunny replied.
"Bunny, I'll show you the thorns, but I ask that you don't touch them." Endymion said. Bunny nodded and Endymion gently pulled her hand away. He reached out for the red rose and pushed the petals up so that Bunny could see the dark pricks coming out of the stem. But since Bunny was so curious about the new flower, she reached her hand forward to touch a thorn.
"Ouch!" She cried out, pulling her hand back and squeezing her offended finger.
"Let me see it." Endymion said, reaching a hand forward.
"No! It hurts!" Bunny replied, trying to hold back her threatening tears.
"Let him see it, dear. Endymion's been pricked lots of times." Gaia said, standing behind Bunny. Bunny nodded and held her finger out, pouting all the while.
"It's not bad at all, Bunny. It's very small. I bet that it will stop bleeding in no time." Endymion said with a slight smile.
"But what do I do until then?" Bunny asked, looking between the two royals.
"Don't worry, I can fix it." Endymion said. He tore off some of his tunic, much to Gaia's dismay, and fashioned it around Bunny's bleeding finger.
"That was a good tunic, Endymion." Gaia said, glaring lightly at her son.
"Oh Mother, it can be mended." Endymion replied. He then turned to Bunny. "Ready to learn to ride a horse?" He asked.
"Do horses have thorns?" Bunny asked. Gaia and Endymion laughed.
"Of course not! You loved riding my horse." Endymion replied, amused with the younger girl.
"As long as it won't hurt me like the thorns." Bunny answered.
"Well, I think I should be getting back to the palace. Who knows what you're father is doing." Gaia decided, turning to leave. Before she was out of earshot, she shouted out, "Don't forget, Endymion! Sidesaddle!"
"I promise!" Endymion shouted back. "Well, are you ready to go out to the stables?" Endymion asked.
"Yes." Bunny replied with a smile.
End Chapter!
The next one will pick up with Bunny's riding lesson and maybe a bit more. I'm not sure yet. But I decided to end it there because otherwise it would be like a million pages long and you'd all be mad at me for making you waste an hour reading. Anyways, please review! I'll love you forever if you do! I'm going to start replying to reviews in my next chapter.
Serenity