Like I promised, a grave meeting between our indifferent lovers.

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She was awakened early in the morning, weak palms shaking her shoulders until she shook like a rag doll.

"Wake up, Your Highness," a voice whimpered, tears falling silently on Serenity's breast.

"No," she groaned, not aware of where she really was. It had all been a dream, right? Then why was she being awakened when she had told her maid, Lela, that it wouldn't be needed any more.

Opening her blue eyes, Serenity saw a tiny girl, with mousy hair and brown eyes peering at her in terror.

"Are you okay?" Serenity grabbed her softly, fearing to hear the words girls in her country routinely suffered when unmarried.

"I have to wake Your Highness up, or I'll be thrashed for delaying you," she sobbed even more until Serenity soothed her and finally got out of bed.

"See, I'm out," she offered the terrified maid a big smile, speaking volumes.

"Thank you, Your Highness," curtsying, she scurried away to a big wooden wardrobe and extracted a white dress. Its flowing skirt ended at the ankles with gold trim. The bodice looked like any other, except with a strange gold design that swirled around and around until you could no longer tell what it was trying to show.

In her other hand, she held white slippers with sewn diamonds, glinting in the morning sun and casting tiny rainbows on the maid's hands.

"It's beautiful," breathed Serenity as she fingered the silk fabric. With all the finery encased in her closet, plain or otherwise, this simple dress redefined them all. She couldn't wait to get into it.

"Will Your Highness will step into the bathroom, I've drawn a bath for you to wash away yesterday's dirt," giving her a grateful smile, Serenity pranced into the room and scrubbed her body raw, afraid of what lay beyond her bedroom doors.

Is she being prepared for her death? This country was no friend to hers and its malevolent prince who made his goal to plague his people with as much devastation as he could get away with. His older brother, Nikil, was destined for the throne but died, on her lands. What was suppose to be a marriage proposal to stop conflicts ended in his death before he could step down from his horse which grew in a wild frenzy and dragged its young prince to his death. She never got to say hello.

But there was another prince there, overseeing all, from a horse that was standing a mere feet away from Nikil's. With cold, dark blue, he made to help his brother but when was advised that the others would do it; he looked happy, lazy, like it didn't matter. She wanted to kill him. Her new blue dress was soon replaced with the mourning dress she never thought she would ever need.

But he was there, in the front row of the funeral, as I had entered the glittering church his country had as the only good thing left in their lands.. He smirked as his country folk walked, one by one, up to the podium and, fighting back tears, said their piece and declared their love for the future king who shall never obtain his rightful throne.

But I never got to say my words. I was too afraid to stand near him, he who from birth was named the "Cursed Prince" for both parents died from his birthing; his mother from a fever that never broke, his father who went in search of the baby prince when he went missing hours later but found his death when he fell on his own knife after tripping over the prince, cooing in the hallway.

Gripping my veil which covered my head and half my face, I ran away, while the others cried tears over a dead prince who would never be able to save them from the next king; a king never wanting of his people.

Alone with the air carrying away my tears, I was met with Him. Cloaked in leisure clothes, but black nonetheless, he grinned at me with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Crying over you're fiancé, are you?" I could find no emotion in his words. Too sad, too tired to even speak, I stared at him and walked away to the unattended carriage. We were all alone.

"In my lands, no one leaves my presence until I say so," he had grabbed my arm and jerked me back to him, pressing his other hand on my cheek; he flicked away the tears in disgust.

"Let me go," I whispered in fear.

"Ah! The fabled princess speaks! Say more, my darling and let me fall prey to the spell you cast on so many!"

"I'll scream if you don't," his thumb rubbed softly on my bottom lip as I spoke the words.

"They'll think I'm consoling a grieving princess who has lost her beloved," he smirked again, as if the idea was amusing to him and her weak state was like a game to him.

"I didn't even know him," I argued back, but I didn't know why.

"But I bet you wish you did," he let me go and left. In the wind, I heard him say something to me like a hidden curse striking me down.

"We'll be seeing each other again, of that I'm sure," his tall form left, rounding the castle and leaving me to my tears, thoughts and the wind that soon left a remembrance of the prince's presence on my mind.

"Your Highness? Are you ready?" the maid suddenly said, standing beside me with a cloth, ready to enfold me in it.

"Yes, I'm sorry for the delay," I stood, up, the water sluicing down my lily-white body and encasing it with the cotton material that came on me.

After drying off and lathering on lotions in weird bottles, the maid, who I learned was named Maya, set upon my hair. With porcelain combs and perfumed oils, she twisted my hair into an elegant knot and made sure no spare tendrils of hair slipped out.

Exiting the room and down the large staircase with Maya leading the way, I whispered prayers that I was taught since childhood. Twisting the dress tightly, I entered a darkened room with no light save for a lone, slim candle flaming on what seemed to be a long table. The room seemed to be the size of a ballroom but the feeling was anything was grand.

"Hello, Princess Serenity," spoke a deep voice a few feet away from me. I jumped back, the door pressed against my back.

"Why am I here?" it was the only thing I could think to say.

"Maybe I just wanted a little visit to my almost sister-in-law," he drawled in mockery as he walked forth, his face shining evilly above me for his towering build made me seem a ant.

"This is not the way to conduct a social call. You brought me here for something, what is it?" I yelled at him, my anger brimming over.

"Watch your tongue!" he barked, grabbing my jaw tightly in his strong hand and bringing me closer to his face as he lowered his to meet my level.

"You're right. I'm brought you here for something else. And unless you surrender it to me, this will be your new home. I advise you against that. I seem to be so uncontrollable these days, there's no telling, what I'll do," he put emphasis on the last few words.

"Son of a whore, what do you want?" I grinded out.

"I want the only thing that means the most to you. Perhaps the only thing you have that keeps you sane as your people die all around you in wars that you cannot win," he drawled.

"No," I spat out.

"You'll regret that."

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I'll be honest. I wrote a lot more than I planned to when I GOT and read the reviews. Helps to know that it's being read and I'm not wasting my time! Thnx to all who wrote to me. I'll give more descriptive thnx in my next chapter since i gotta go study for a geometry test tomorrow :( I hate math. Plz send reviews and what you think Endy is after cuz ur ideas might be better then mine :)lol jst kidding, i hope...