She shuddered at the possibility. After two hours of being forced to put up with this overbearing jerk's fast pace, without any consideration of how her legs could put up with this abuse, she couldn't help but wonder why she could even think of the possibility that she was in love with this... with this... Neanderthal! This man was hideously arrogant and cold and totally unfitting!

But still, no matter what she said her heart did not sway from its infatuation with this jerk. The warmth of her hand within his made her heart beat in fascination. Traitor, she cursed at her heart, her legs slowly giving in to oblivion as she struggled to continue on. She stumbled slightly, her step slowing them down. He turned around to face her, his stormy blue eyes sneering at her, telling her to hurry.

She lifted her chin up in stubbornness, continuing to go in his fast neck-breaking pace. After five minutes of this mindless torture to her legs, she finally gave into the burning sensation in her legs and collapsed. He stared at her and cursed silently.

"Why didn't you tell me you were that tired? I'd have stopped," He replied angrily. She stared at him through the narrow slits of her eyes as he picked her up into his arms and then calmed his voice. "I'm sorry princess, I forgot how weak you could be."

She could feel her blood boil at that comment.

"Weak??!! I am NOT weak!"

He let out a knowing smile and continued to walk, his arms tightly woven around her. She could smell the scent of roses on him, taking a deep breath of it, wondering why the smell made him seem even more masculine.

Roses, she thought with a smile, she couldn't help but be lulled into sleep, the swirling of roses played in back of her mind.

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Call It Destiny
by Sailor Elysia and Eternal Angel
ely_chan@yahoo.com, stargazing12@hotmail.com
Chapter 2

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"Wake up, princess."

"Hmm...?" Selenity sleepily opened her eyes, taking a moment to grasp her surroundings. Dusk was beginning to settle upon the horizon, and there was not a village in sight. Why had they stopped in the middle of nowhere? "Where are we?" she asked quietly while staring at Endymion, curious to discover what he was thinking.

"We're camping here for the night," he said bluntly, lowering Selenity to the ground. The hard-packed dirt felt strange beneath her feet, as if she had just set foot on a foreign planet.

And foreign it was, because as she turned around in a slow circle, nothing around her seemed familiar. For all she knew, this man was taking her farther away from her kingdom... from her brother. But as she glanced at the frustratingly handsome man again, her heart raced. Logic didn't matter at this point. She would go anywhere with him... wait, they were camping HERE? No shelter, no protection, nothing?

"You expect me to sleep out here in the middle of nowhere? What if it rains? What if the people who kidnapped me are coming after us and they find us here? What if--"

Endymion swiftly placed a hand over the babbling princess' mouth. "If you continue to carry on like that, they're bound to find us. The nearest village is 5 miles away, just over that ridge. But they might expect us to go there, which is why we're safer out here." He set his traveling bag on the ground while Selenity stood there, looking helpless. He stared up at her and sighed. "Why don't you go gather some wood so we can start a fire? I'd hate for your highness to catch a cold."

The fire raged in her eyes. "You... you are such a cretin!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot and wandering off towards the sparse trees to find sufficient firewood.

Crouching down to pull a few things from his satchel, Endymion chuckled as the princess stomped off in a huff. She was quite a handful, but he admired the way the fire danced in her eyes when she was annoyed. He was almost... attracted to her.

He shook his head at that thought; he couldn't be attracted to a bratty spoilt princess like her. Not one who always had her nose up in the air and fanciful foolish mages of how he should look. He was saving her, not auditioning for the part of knight in shining armor in some unknown play! He stared at the retreating figure, watching her walk away, swaying her hips while she looked around. He prayed to his maker that she knew what firewood was. Who knew what they would be teaching that girl at school.

He stared into the distance as he scouted the area, making sure that they indeed had not been not followed here. He knew the Sylathians didn't like Andrew, so why kidnap his sister? He frowned, confused at the events. What good would it be? Granted, Andrew seemed to dote on his sister, but kidnapping a soldier or a general would have been easier than kidnapping a saucy princess who was probably heavily guarded. And why now?

He frowned, what was so special about her?

He stared at the distant image of the beautiful sprite.

No, he was definitely not attracted to her.

******

She looked around, trying to find some firewood like 'his majesty' had requested from her. Frustration and anger vibrated through her. She hated the way he called her 'princess', making her feel so spoiled. He didn't know anything about her, who was he to judge her? "Ugh," she cursed to herself, "that's what you get for caring about what he thinks."

But she did care, no matter how much she tried not to, she cared. Why? Because she was a fool -- she thought she was in love with him. She bet if she told him right this moment about what she felt for him, he would just laugh and tell her to stop falling into this façade of fairy tales that she had so kindly dreamt up. But she knew for sure that this wasn't a façade, and that she didn't fall in love with him just because he was her knight in shining armor -- but because she could feel the power of their souls connecting into two pieces of a puzzle, fitting perfectly to make up something big and beautiful.

She could just hear the ringing of his would-be laughter in her ears.

She sighed.

Why did she have to fall in love with such an overbearing, egotistical boar? She might fit his description of a princess: spoilt, whiny, and petty, but he definitely didn't fit into her description of her knight.

Or maybe it was because he fit into her description of her knight all too well...

She shook her head, not wanting to listen to that possibility while she continued to gather firewood.

******

Selenity returned to the makeshift camp some time later, lugging a small bundle of kindling with her. Dirt was smudged on her face and all the way down the front of her skirt. She didn't seem very pleased when she approached Endymion. "You know," she scowled, "if you had risked staying in the village, we could have avoided this whole mess." She threw down the bundle of wood at his feet.

Endymion tried not to let a smile through, so he simply stared at her, entranced by her charming face streaked with dirt. He kicked himself mentally to help him forget that minor factor. "And miss seeing her Highness actually do some work? I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Her eyes narrowed, filled with the fury of a woman scorned. "If something happens to me while we're camping in the middle of nowhere, I'm going to hold you personally responsible." Endymion held up a hand to his forehead in mock pity. "And if some huge wild animal should happen to stomp into our camp during the night, I'll make sure to point him in your direction."

She let out a cry of disgust. "You are no gentleman," she accused. "I don't know what my brother ever saw in you to be trusted." This actually made Endymion wince. He got up from the ground and walked over to her, staring calmly but fiercely down upon the princess. "If it's a gentleman you want," he said dangerously quiet, "then consider this your brush with chivalry." Placing his hands upon Selenity's shoulders, he turned her around to face the other direction.

Leaning closer to her ear, Endymion spoke. "See those line of trees just down the hill? That usually means there's water nearby. Since I'm such a gentleman, why don't you go there so you can clean yourself up and feel presentable again? I would sure hate to return you to the palace looking like you do now."

Selenity turned her head to retort, but found herself just inches away from Endymion's face. His handsome, stubborn, absolutely incredibly impossible face.

Twice in one day.

Either this was a sign or a curse.

She decided on the latter.

She turned around and stormed away as he heard her laughter follow her.

She cursed him and continued her stomping away, as she came to the bank of the water, the beautiful serenity reflected back to her with an aching beauty that was captivating. She sucked in a tight breath, how could such beauty exist in such a corrupt land? Power hungered by so many brings so much destruction, brings so many deaths...

But could she stop it?

Running away, would that really help this predicament? She found herself falling within the confusion of her mind, slowly stripping of her dirty clothing and entered the cool waters, savoring its cleansing hands. Why was it that she had to be cursed with the knowledge that would bring doom to so many? The code to the object that can destroy so many, forever etched within the back of her mind through the teachings of her best friend, an elderly lonesome man who she had played with when she was small.

In payment of giving him company, he gave her a curse.

She sighed, dunking her head into the water. It wasn't as if he wanted all this to happen, he just didn't know who else to tell... he didn't trust anyone else...

'Don't think about it,' her mind told her, 'Just relax... you're safe... Endymion will protect you!' She thought of the dark-haired mystical knight and knew he would protect her... if he didn't break her first. She could feel her heart become edged with a tingling fragile emotion whenever he was around. Selenity had never felt so weak in her life, so helpless as he toyed with her in his hands as he looked down at her with his eyes...

The same eyes she saw her destiny in...

She shook her head and tried no to think anymore, for it was the easiest thing to do... that was until something strange brushed up against her foot. She screamed, causing Endymion to run from the distance to her as she ran out of the water and jumped into his arms.

He blinked back his shock. "What happened?"

She shuddered, "Something was in the water..."

"Probably a fish. Princess, you don't have to be such a scaredy cat," He said, staring at her as she frowned.

"I am not a scaredy cat... and..." The sudden realization of her nakedness finally came to her and she blushed bright red. She put her hand over his eyes, "I'm going to count to three and you're going to turn around and look that way... and I'm going to change... Okay?" Nervousness filled her as she recalled the rules of Avaria that said if a man saw a female naked, it was his duty to marry her. And well, she didn't like him right now to even marry him, though her heart said otherwise.

He shrugged, also recalling the law. Now, marriage to her wouldn't be bad... especially after what he saw of her umm, figure... She had a beautiful delicate body that would please any man. He struggled to control his uprising desire for her. Her dainty fingers attempting to cover his eyes did not help at all.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three..."

He didn't turn around.

She screamed at him.