Once Upon a ….. Sometime.

By Skyflame

Chapter Three

Serena was still in a daze that the prince still wanted to talk to her, and as if her mouth had a will of its own she said,

"I don't think that I will be attending the ball. It is not really for people such as me, but for people such as you, your highness. My name is Serena, your highness and please excuse me if I seem shocked, it's just that people from upper society rarely have conversations with people of my status."

" Serena, for starters please stop calling me 'your highness' and call me Darien, and also maybe if all of 'people of your status', as you care to label them, were as beautiful as you then there would be more speech between them" Darien answered to her statement.

Serena just blushed a deep pink color before saying "Your highness flatters me immensely, for I have no beauty, and it would be wrong of me to address you, milord, by your given name."

All he could say was "What if I insist,"

"Then I must obey your request, as one of your loyal subjects should" she answered.

"Then I do insist, and also if I say you are beautiful then it must be, for I would not lie on the matter, and I know beauty as I have seen my fair share in the past 6 years" he said finally.

"Well Darien" Serena said hesitantly, but seeing his smile urged her to continue, "Would you please tell me of your travels, life and family, for it must be very exciting."

"I will speak of these things for you, if you will tell me about your life" Darien said before seeing her nodding her response. So for the next 3 hours they talked about the things that filled their lives, losing complete track of time from being absorbed in each other's words.


When Darien saw how late it was he apologized like a gentleman stating he had to go before helping her on to her horse. He then waved goodbye saying that he enjoyed spending the day with her and that he hoped he would see her again soon, and that he hoped that she could find a way to come to the ball. When Darien returned to the Chateau, Andrew noticed a change in him, and he wondered if it had something to do with the princess he had been seeking.

As Darien spoke to Mina about the ball, and the fact that he was interested at all, as well as the way he was acting showed her that he was in love. She decided not to say anything to Darien, but she told her husband and he told her that he thought that there was something strange about the way he was acting and they both agreed it must be love. He had never acted like this before, but is was exactly the way Andrew had acted when he had first met Princess Mina during one of the summers the King and Queen of Sapphire Coast had been visiting the area with their daughter.

Andrew decided to wait until after the ball to discuss it with him, so he could see what his brother's princess looked like, and whether she seemed of noble character so he could warn him if necessary. That night Darien lay awake deciding whether to go and find his angelic maiden in the village tomorrow and make sure she came to the ball, or to decide to trust it to fate. In the end he chose fate, as she seemed to be in a good mood these days.


Meanwhile Serena dreamt that Darien had come to save her from a ferocious dragon, but had died in the process, and that his dying words were "I Love You." One closely followed this dream where she was chasing after Darien, but he didn't want anything to do with her and sent his guards after her. Serena woke up completely confused and decided that she would pretend to be a princess at the ball and let anyone know who she really was, not even the prince who had started to capture her heart.


Darien spent the whole day organizing himself and helping with ball preparations so it would be perfect when his maiden showed up, for he was certain she would. He spent an exceptionally long time preparing for the ball so his appearance would be perfect. When he was ready and looking by far the most handsome man in all the land, he began to worry that she wouldn't come and what his family would say when they found out he loved a commoner and not the princesses he was supposed to.

Serena also spent a long time preparing with the help of Raye and Lita and when she was ready they were all shocked by the fact that she didn't look like herself. She had a regal air about herself with the way she presented herself, but they had no time to dwell on it as they had to hurry or be late. Serena, Raye, Chad, Lita and Ken sat in the carriage as it went as fast as possible towards the beautiful Chateau in the hills and then Serena started to get nervous and shake, and she couldn't stop.

Upon their arrival she sent her friends ahead so she could have a moment to herself, little did she know that she was setting herself up for a grand entrance, which she didn't want. Darien had been dancing with princesses since the start of the ball while forever scanning the room for the one whom filled his thoughts, then all of a sudden a hush came over the room as a princess entered late.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, unlike anyone Darien had ever seen and he was transfixed, she carried herself with poise, grace and an air of royalty, even her attire spoke of royal blood.

She was clothed in an ice blue dress that shimmered with hundreds of beads that were embroidered all over it, it was an off the shoulder dress with a full skirt and a filmy overskirt that seemed to rarely exist.

Without acknowledging anyone was looking she descended the stairs and entered the crowd, as soon as Darien was able to rid himself of his dance partner he found his brother and asked him who the princess was.

Andrew said "What, you mean you don't know either?" for he had assumed this was the one his brother loved, but now did not appear to be the case.

Darien answered "No, but I mean to find out" stalking off in the direction the princess had just headed, the thoughts of his maiden fleeing from his head as he wondered who the princess was, and where she came from.


Serena had been shocked at the attention she had received upon entering the room, she had been scared brainless as she descended the stairs and pretended not to notice everyone's stares, and questioning looks. She had entered the crowd and headed straight for the comfort of her friends but almost as soon as she had reached them, the prince appeared before her and bowed.

"Dear princess, would you do me the honor of joining me in this dance?" there was little the maiden could do so using her princess facade she curtsied and said "I would be happy to, your highness" before taking the hand he offered to lead her onto the dance floor.


Darien was dazzled by her beauty and couldn't take his eyes off her. She seemed to float as they danced. He asked her who she was and where she lived and she chose to answer

"Your highness, I wish not to answer questions about myself for some reasons I care not to explain. Also it is extremely unjust that you should know about me, when I know nothing about you."

Darien was quite surprised at her remark but decided to ask for just one answer,

"Dear princess, I promise to ask no more questions about your life, if you just answer me this one thing. Is the reason for your secrecy because you are already engaged to another?"

Serena had not expected him to think anything of the sort. But then again many princesses are betrothed from birth she remembered. Serena looked directly up into the princes shining blue worried eyes and said

"No, your highness" she watched as his whole body began to relax and she flashed him a brilliant, shining smile. As the dance ended she asked the prince to please excuse her and he did so after making her promise to dance with him later.


Seeing that Prince Darien and Serena had parted, the Raye told her husband she would be back soon and then took Serena to the ladies parlor to speak with her. The second that they were alone Serena said, "He doesn't recognize me, and he asked if I was engaged. He really thinks I'm a princess and wants to dance with me later. What will I do?" sighing Raye said "You're falling in love with him aren't you. And don't lie to me because I can see it written all over your face. I just hope you don't get hurt."

"Yeah I love him and I know he doesn't love me and my heart is breaking. He is beginning to fall in love with the princess who doesn't exist and I can't tell him who I am, for he deserves a real princess not a phony one" she stated in despair.

"Will you be alright?" Raye asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine just need a few moments alone, go have fun with Chad alright" Raye walked hesitantly to the door but continued when Serena waved her on.

Serena had to get out into the gardens to try and think, but to do that her friends had to be busy so they wouldn't notice, after a short time Serena snuck out into the gardens and was bathed in bright moonlight. Serena then decided to pray to Selene, Goddess of the Moon, to help her with her plight, so she went down to the fountain by the rose bushes and knelt before the moon to ask for Selene's help.


At that very moment Darien was looking all over for his newly found princess, but couldn't find her so he headed towards two of the people she had been with when he had first asked her to dance. As he came up to them they bowed showing their respect before he asked if they knew where the princess was, after thinking for a moment Lita suggested the gardens stating that the 'princess' had a great love for the moonlight.

Darien thanked them and headed off in the direction of the gardens while Lita and Ken watched, then Ken said

"He's in love with Serena in her princess form, you know" his wife looked at him, smiled sadly and nodded as they headed back onto the dance floor.

Darien saw her from a distance kneeling before the fountain staring at the moon and speaking soft words to it, Serena heard footsteps approaching and quickly finished her prayer to Selene before turning to see the prince almost beside her.

"Hello again" she said softly, he gently asked, "What were you doing?" while offering his hand to help her up. She answered shyly

"Praying to Selene, Goddess of the Moon" he looked confused but then asked,

"Will you walk with me a little then join me for another dance"

"It would be my honor to, your highness" she replied curtsying before him. They walked a short while in silence before he picked a beautiful red rose and presented it to her saying

"A perfect rose, for a perfect princess" and Serena had to say,

"Please don't say things like that for you don't truly know who I am." Darien was getting confused she kept saying things about her not being what she seemed, but he chose to ignore it

"Would you care to go in and dance now" he said as if she hadn't confused him, Serena nodded so he led her inside and onto the dance floor.


Darien kept Serena in his arms the rest of the night, too afraid she would disappear to let her go. After a couple of hours and receiving a pleading look from Serena, Raye came to rescue her. After tapping the prince on the shoulder, she curtsied before him and said she briefly needed a word with the 'princess' then she could return to dancing with him, Darien reluctantly agreed and sadly asked another princess to dance. As Lita started to speak Serena interrupted saying

"I can't stand this hurt anymore, you need to sneak me out of here. Now!" Raye was surprised but saw the pain in her eyes and decided it was time for them to go. When the princes back was turned Serena, Lita and Raye snuck up the stairs which was the only exit while Ken and Chad made sure Prince Darien didn't turn until they had escaped, then took their own leave.


As they dropped Serena home, Raye and Lita hugged her and tried to reassure her that everything would be alright even though they knew Serena was feeling nothing but pain in her heart. With a small, forced smile she wished her friends goodnight and trudged up to her room to end her fairy-tale, for as soon as she removed her dress and got into bed she could no longer pretend to be the princess she had all night.

As she got in to bed she began to cry and didn't stop until she was asleep, for she knew the prince could never love the villager he met in the woods.