"You want me to do what?" She exclaimed, her eyes glaring at him with an appalled look as he sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward, knowing she was about to pull a temper tantrum.
"I want you to sleep on the ground."
"In the dirt?" She questioned, her eyes widening, looking at the earth with a disparaging look. Endymion nodded his head as she shook her head in horror. "I can't though ... I just ... took a bath and..."
Her face turned bright red at the mention of her brief bath and her even briefer nudity.
"Must I?" She whimpered, and he winced. She sounded as if she was about to cry. He groaned, then thrust her a large heavy object, "Here, use this," He said flatly, staring at the crackling fire, casting a dreamlike glow around them. Night entered with the shimmering stars lighting up the beautiful dark abyss.
'He gave me his blanket...'
"Thank you," she whispered, staring at him through narrowed eyes as he then turned to her, a frown on his face.
"Go to sleep princess, tomorrow is a long day."
For once, she obliged.
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Call It Destiny
by Sailor Elysia and Eternal Angel
ely_chan@yahoo.com, stargazing12@hotmail.com
Chapter 3
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Sleep enticed her while she slept, dreaming of nothing. The cold air danced around the night as the sound of a twig snapping jolted her awake. She could feel her heart beat ever so quickly as she looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, but only the nothingness of the night replied to her.
She frowned, her eyes focusing through the darkness to lay eyes on the figure that slept across the doused campfire, unaffected by the sound.
Another snapping of a twig shot through the night air, and she couldn't help but allow the different posibilities of what it could be play within her mind. What if it were Sylathian guards or thieves roaming the land? She stared at the darkness in fright, quickly crawling over in a hurry to Endymion's side.
She nudged him lightly, but he didn't respond.
Hmph, some guardian he was, she couldn't help but think, pressing herself to him once again, finally feeling how cold his body truly was. "No matter how much you say you don't care... I know you do..." she whispered softly, placing the blanket around them both and curling up against him.
She stopped fretting about the mystery within the black of the night, for she already knew that he'd protect her... She fell back into a fitful sleep.
******
When dawn came, the morning rays shone into Endymion's face, causing him to squint and shield his eyes from the sun. He sat up slowly, allowing the rest of his body to gradually wake up. He pushed the blanket away and rubbed his sore neck, cursing himself for thinking the flat rock could substitute for a pillow.
Wait a moment... blanket? But hadn't he...?
Endymion looked down at his side. To his surprise, the princess lay snuggled against his side, a peaceful look on her sleeping face and her small body enveloped in the blanket.
He smirked lightly. So the princess hadn't been brave enough to sleep on her own. He expected that. But he hadn't expected she would sleep beside him. Leaning over, Endymion smiled gently while brushing a stray hair out of Serenity's face.
She was so beautiful... fiesty, but beautiful.
If he truly were at liberty to do so, Endymion would have no trouble whisking the princess away where he could have her all to himself. But that was fantasy, and this was reality, and he had a duty to fulfill. Once he returned Serenity to her kingdom, all would be well and he could go on his merry way.
But could Endymion ever be happy without the princess in his life?
It was absurd, really. For him to think that she would readily accept him as her 'knight in shining armor,' as she had mentioned before, it was nearly impossible.
Looking down on the princess once more, he tucked the blanket around her figure, stood up and went off in search of more firewood.
******
Serenity cracked her eyes open, hoping the last few days had been just a dream, or rather, an extremely vivid nightmare. The trees and crackling fire proved her wrong.
She groaned.
"Good morning to you too, princess."
Startled, she yanked the blanket up around her chin, trying to be modest, but that was before she recalled Endymion had already seen everything she had to offer. Blushing, she dropped the blanket and mumbled good morning.
"Not all flowers and sunshine in the morning are we?" He said to her while watching her amusingly trudge around. She turned and glared at him, "You Endymion, are an inane pompous jackass and I'm NOT talking about a donkey."
Her eyes flared at him as she stomped away to the direction of the lake. He laughed and called back to her, "Call me if any more monsters come your way princess, I'd be more than happy to slay them away for you!"
A loud scream of frustration sounded from her direction.
To his devastation, there were no monsters popping from the river and no screams of little blonde princesses to beckon him. Instead he poked at the fish he had caught prior to her awakening over the bustling fire.
He could hear her when she came back, muttering darkly as she stomped back, fully clothed with her beautiful hair streaming down in damp waves. "No monsters?"
She glared at him and then at the fish roasting. "What's that?"
"This, princess, is your breakfast, and hopefully not your lunch and dinner too." Her eyes widen, as she took another step towards the fire and the food.
"No, what is it?"
"Fish, Selenity, it's fish."
Her lips formed an O. "Fi...sh?" She blinked back her horror. "That's a fish...?"
"Yup, I caught it myself this morning," he said, amused by her appauling reaction of the news of her morning meal.
"Caught... it...?" She took a step away then, shaking her head. "No, no, no, you do NOT expect me to eat THAT!"
Endymion ignored her as he checked the fish again, poking it once more.
"I'm a princess! I shouldn't be forced into eating such a... such a..."
"It's fish Selenity. Fish. Goodness, you have eaten fish before, haven't you?" He asked her, "I know for a fact that they serve it in the palace. I dined with your brother many times."
"Yes... but... it was all dressed up with flowers around it at the palace and... you caught it? Meaning it was alive before you... you..." she pointed at the roasting fish. He rolled his eyes. "Yes Selenity, it was alive. Fish are alive... and then you cook them and they die."
She sniffled at it. "You killed the poor innocent animal!"
"DAMNIT SELENITY! It's not an animal! It's a fish! It's breakfast!" He then took a deep calming breath and pulled the fish from the fire, an idea registering in his mind. He smiled at her.
"You don't have to eat it though. No, it'd be better if you don't eat it." He told her while tearing off a piece of the fish and putting it in his mouth. "No, it's best if you don't... I mean... you never know the umm... dangers... of fish... and mmm... this is good..."
"I... don't...?"
He shook his head, putting another piece in his mouth and savoring the greatness of the taste.
Her mouth watered.
Her stomach grumbled.
"I..."
"No, it's best if you don't eat it, Princess... not at all."
Selenity scowled, trying to hold back from screaming furiously. "I can't believe I ever thought you were--ooh, never MIND!" She lunged for the fish, but Endymion leaned back, holding it just out of her reach. "Thought I was what, Princess?"
Losing her balance, Selenity fell over and nearly landed in Endymion's lap. "That's not important," she stammered, picking herself up out of the dust. "Just give me that -- thing -- so I can ease my hunger and we can be on our way!"
Endymion, on the other hand, was enjoying this little game. It wasn't every day that he got to watch a princess grovel for her breakfast. It was rather... seductive.
Instead of banishing the thought like he usually would have, he decided to take full advantage of it. Endymion leaned over to where the princess sat, his face dangerously close to hers. "I thought you didn't expect anyone to make you eat this," referring to the fish.
Selenity gulped and licked her dry lips. "That was before I realized how hungry I was. Now will you please give it to me?"
The motion of her little pink tongue running over her lips was enough to crumble Endymion's hard exterior. It was all he could to restrain himself and not swiftly close in the remaining space between them... covering her sweet lips with his...
Fantasies could be such torture.
He let out a silent groan.
She felt un-nerved by the way he stared at her and her lips. His eyes were shady and a deep beautiful blue that made something so deep inside of her swelter with wanting...
An even stronger hunger, one that did not involve food but sheer longing and desire replaced the hunger she had just felt. A desire that seem to captivate her all these emotions she couldn't understand -- emotions she never knew truly existed...
Until now.
She could feel how right this was. Him there inching closer to her, and her here, inching closer to him... As if a pull of fate pushed them closer and closer together...
'He's going to kiss me...'
Excitement built up so deeply within her exploded as she closed her eyes, awaiting the moment that his lips will touch her and with a sweetness and gentleness that would taste like...
Fish?
Her eyes flashed open as she found herself with a mouthful of fish and Endymion tending to the fire, humming slightly off key. Anger filled her and so was... disappointment...
Endymion grinned to himself between the sketchy notes of a ballad he was making from the top of his head. He found himself completed amused by the loud, sweet mouth princess that was most certainly going to cause his death. But one thing was for certain -- he wasn't going to be dying from boredom.
******
She fumed for the next hours, stalking him from behind. He kept on looking back just in case she decided to stab him with a random stick she found on the ground in the back. Luckily it wasn't at all sharp or strong enough that time around... Or if she decided to throw another rock at his head... Good thing the princess had bad aim, he thought with another look at the glaring woman.
"Careful princess, if you keep on frowning like that it might just stay that way!" He told the girl. She continued her piercing assault against her. His lips then quirked up to a devious sly grin, "Don't tell me you're still hungry."
A rock barely grazed his left cheek.
"Your aim's improving, but why not find a different target?"
"Because no other target has such a crude mouth as yours."
"This mouth got you out of trouble, Princess. Make sure yours doesn't get you into any." He replied back with her stumbling along with him. Cautiously he remembered her near fall previously when he had used this backbreaking pace and slowed down.
"And what way would that be?"
"Oh, the usual things that princesses do -- scream, spill secrets..." He said with a plain bored 'I know it all' type of voice. She gritted her teeth at his accusations. "What would you know about princesses and how they act? I mean, you most definitely aren't one."
"Thank goodness," he replied sarcastically.
"How many princesses have YOU known?" She lashed at him, this time dragging HIM around as his hands stayed firmly around her small delicate wrist. If his grasp was too tight she didn't complain, instead she continued her hasty pace.
"Too many," Endymion retorted.
She stopped for a second and turned to him, her eyes piercing into his own, "Name one."
He opened his mouth, but found he couldn't speak. "I can't think of any right now," he snapped, ignoring Selenity's gloating. "Besides, it's none of your business."
She raised her eyebrow at that, "Uhh huh... none of my business you say 'Mr. I know everything.' Now tell me, do you know the answer to that?" She pointed ahead to the three routes in front of them. "Tell me, which one?"
"Hold on a moment," Endymion muttered, his eyes gazing at each one of them. "I haven't taken this route in ages, but I know all three lead back to Avaria. It's just the matter of picking the safest one."
Selenity frowned. "Aren't the safest ones always the longest ones?"
"Would you rather fall off a cliff or run into bandits?" He shot back, ready to leave her behind. The girl was quite an annoying brat. Why couldn't she just shut up and just do what he said?
"Anything if it means getting away from YOU!" She said angrily pulling away from his death grip and closer to the three trails. Endymion stomped over to the girl in his dominating gait and then grabbed her, causing her to spin around and face him with the swirl of her beautiful hair whipping around with her.
"Listen to me, princess," he fumed, just inches away from her face. "I would like nothing more than to leave you here to fend for yourself, but I owe it to your brother to return you safely. I gave him my word, and I fully intend to keep it."
She stared at him with a long hard look. Slowly, she took a step away from him. "You can tell him that I didn't care one bit about your word!"
She then bolted straight ahead, mindlessly choosing any path.
He let out a curse under his breath and then started to run after her. "Selenity! You don't know which path is safe!"
"Is this the one?" She replied back, her mouth curving into a defiant smile. She continued to run, picking up the long hem of her dress only to find herself exhausted in no time. Just as she was slowing, Endymion caught up to her, his chest heaving. "I'm not sure. But it's the only way to find out." Suddenly he reached out and placed both hands on Selenity's shoulders. "Don't ever do that again. I can't lose sight of you."
"You make it sound as if you care about what happens to me..." She muttered under her breath while taking long compulsive breaths. He simply shrugged. "I made a promise to your brother."
She rolled her eyes. Again the mentioning of her brother and his promises. She let out a sigh, "And you always keep your promises?"
Slipping one hand beneath her chin, Endymion nodded. "Always."
The pure intimacy between them made her heart stop. He was so close, his warmth... oh goodness, his warmth. She wanted to melt within the wonders of his arms, to inhale his scent and just fall into the sheer bliss of the moment brought by destiny.
Her eyes then look into his, a dazed sort as she lost herself completely. "I want you to promise me something then..."
One eyebrow raised. "And that is...?"
"When we get back," she stared, her voice barely a whisper, "You won't forget."
"Forget what, Princess?"
Her eyes were a blue innocence that racked his whole soul as she looked away from his eyes and onto the ground as she whispered the rest of her request. "Me. Don't forget me."
Thoughts raced through Endymion's head. 'How on earth could I ever forget someone like her?' She let out a nervous laugh, "It's just stupid... just forget it..." She turned away from him, her eyes at the road ahead of them.
He reached out and caught her arm. "It's not stupid at all... Selenity." Their eyes met, her heart raced but she wouldn't give into these emotions. Not to have him manipulate them once again... She pulled out of his grasp, and immediately Endymion felt the loss of warmth. He tried his best to hide his disappointment, by focused on the upcoming journey. "If I remember right, the middle trail is the safest, but it's also the longest. Are you up to it, Princess?"
"You mean... I went to the right trail?" There went all thoughts of defiance.
He smiled. "I guess your instincts were right, but will you be able to make it? It's a rough climb part of the way."
"I can." She continued to look ahead.
"I promise not to let you get hurt."
She smiled faintly, but could feel disappointment in her... "I know you won't... you promised my brother the same, did you not?" His head bobbed once. "But this time it has nothing to do with your brother."
"No?"
Endymion shook his head slightly, placing his hand in the small of her back to start guiding her up the trail. "It's hard to explain."
"Really?" She said huskily. Her head tilted up towards him. Endymion unconsciously leaned in towards her, silently noting the tears in her eyes from earlier. Beneath her haughty surface, he knew she was completely soft-hearted. And that continued to pull him closer to a feeling within his heart from which he could never hide.
"Take another step and you're dead."
She froze, confused. Then Selenity saw the reflection of a sword as a strange hand grabbed her from behind and let out a piercing scream, which was muffled as a dirty rag was shoved into her mouth. She turned helplessly towards Endymion, who was already outnumbered by the other bandits.
Not even his sword could save them now.