A/N: Hello everyone! Here is the second chapter, and I'll try to keep the chapters coming J From now one if any of you have questions about the story or plot I'll happy to answer your questions. So make sure you check my comments at the beginning of each chapter b/c I might've responded to you. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Coinciding Plans

Serenity had watched passively all morning as her possessions were packed away into to trunks and loaded into a wagon outside. Serenity just sat upon her bed her head buried between her knees while she started sightlessly at her bed comforter. She had spoken to no one all day long, instead hiding away in the gardens until her mother had franticly called her back to the palace.

She had managed to avoid Diamond all day by hiding within her room. But it was hard to act emotionless when all of her belongings were being packed away to be shipped off to Diamond's castle. By now Serenity had determined that's staying in one place would serve her interests better. And she couldn't bear to watch her things being packed away so she had taken a very keen interest in her bed covers.

"Serenity! You should be ready to leave by now," said Queen Serenity spotting her daughter sitting on her bed. Her daughter however neither responded nor stirred from her spot. Queen Serenity sighed and sat down next to her daughter. "Serenity, Prince Diamond is a fine man, and I know you will make a fine queen for his people."

Serenity still gave no response.

The Queen sighed. " Serenity your marriage will not take place for another three months. And you will be coming back to visit. So worry not, I'm sure you will bloom beautifully under Diamond's care. And you will soon find love with him as I did with your father, you spent so much time with him when he came to visit."

"Then, your eyes deceive you mother. For I've never been a willing participant in Diamond's company." Serenity murmured not lifting her head.

"Don't talk like that Serenity!" her mother scolded. "I know you've had doubts about Diamond before, but now that he is your fiancé you will be able to get to know him better."

"That is your error mother. For I will not bloom but wither." Serenity mumbled again uncurling her figure to stand beside her bed. She turned to face her mother, and Queen Serenity saw the hollowness in her daughter's eyes. "So take a good look mother, for the next time you see me I'll probably look far older than sixteen years of age, and an air of darkness will surround me as well."

Serenity walked out of the room leaving her stunned and now slightly worried mother sitting on the bed. She remember when they had first told Serenity she needed to marry that Serenity had been totally against it. She had gone so far as refusing to meet any of the Princes brought before her. But after a stern talk with her father she had met each one, but only with strict politeness. Her daughter had never allowed any close to her; in fact that only man she had seen Serenity become true friends with had been Lord Andrew.

Queen Serenity rose and walked briskly out the door intending to have a short talk with her husband before her daughter left with her betrothed.

Queen Serenity walked up to her husband who was overlooking the packing of Serenity's things, and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned to her with a loving smile on his face, but paused at the troubled look on her face.

"What worries you Serenity?" he asked

"Our daughter Solus, Serenity seems very unhappy with her betrothal to Diamond. She dreads going to his homeland and to being married to him." she said biting her lip in worry.

"Worry not my love. Serenity probably just harbors the fear that most girls do before being wed. Much like you did when we were betrothed," he said with a smile.

"I suppose so, but if anything happens to her Solus I don't know what we'd do. Promise me that you will please pay very closer attention to your surroundings when you negotiate with Diamond on the treaty."

"I promise my love. But I'm still unsure why you worry, but for you and our daughter I will." he said smoothing a stray lock of hair behind Serenity's ear. Queen Serenity smiled and embraced her husband, her worries for now relieved.

Serenity stood outside in front of the carriage that would take her to her new home, to her it was basically her coffin that would carry her to her burial sight. She turned and hugged her parents and Luna for all that she was worth.

"I love you father." she said, and then did the same for her mother.

"Don't worry honey. It won't be so bad." Queen Serenity whispered in her ear.

Serenity just nodded her head and turned to step into the carriage. Always acting the part of the gentleman Diamond assisted her into it then turned to say some parting word with her father.

As Serenity situated herself in the carriage she saw that Seiya was setted opposite of her.

"I wasn't about to let you ride in the carriage alone with him. Besides you'll be staying at my mansion tonight so it makes sense that I would travel with you." Siena said with a smile.

Serenity could've thrown her arms around him at that moment. She had been dreading the ride alone with Diamond; tears of gratitude filled her eyes as she stared at Seiya.

"Thank you" she whispered. Seiya just reached across and gave her head and friendly pat. As Diamond climbed in the carriage the expression on his face was less than pleasant when he saw Seiya sitting across from Serenity. Seiya gave Diamond the same exact look.

Serenity turned and gave one final wave to her parents, then sat back down in her seat. Diamond reached for her hand and Serenity quickly snatched it away, and made sure she had scooted all the way to the other end of the seat that she and Diamond shared.

Diamond just smiled at her mockingly. Serenity ignored him and turned to watch the scenery pass by.

When Serenity was being shaken awake she relized that it was now night, and that they had arrived at Seiya's mansion in Lithgrow.

Seiya lead them into the house where a maid then led her up to the room she would be staying in. When Serenity asked the maid she was relieved that her room had been placed nowhere near Diamond's.

With a somewhat peace of mind Serenity knew she had about an hour until dinner was to be served. She turned and began rummaging through her overnight trunk and soon found the dress she had packed away in it so that she could put her plan into action.

The dress was a pale purple and worn with age; it had been her favorite dress when she had been younger. Serenity was confident that she could still fit into it, and with a confident stride walked over the dresser and pulled out a pair of scissors.

Sitting on her bed Serenity began cutting away at the dresses skirts so that they could hang about knee length. Serenity was tired of her life being laid out for her, and she was definitely NOT marrying Diamond. So she had decided to take matters into her own hands.

After everyone was asleep she was going to sneak out of the mansion and runaway. She chose this dress because of its old age it didn't look as grand as it once did, and she could afford to cut it. Though it was terribly improper Serenity needed to be able to move her legs freely. She had some money in the bottom of her trunk; after she escaped she would travel to the next town and spend the night at an inn. From there she could figure out what she was going to do from there. As long as she was far, far away from Diamond she didn't care where she was.

After she was finished cutting away the rest of the skirt Serenity Shoved it and the scrap of her skirt back in the trunk. She then pulled out one petticoat and cut it the same length as the skirt. She couldn't afford to where all of the undergarments she usually wore, they would be a royal pain in the ass.

Serenity tucked the petticoat away on the trunk as well. Then set about to get ready for dinner. She had to appear as if nothing was different.

"Drop anchor! We'll wait here until midnight!" Endymion called to his crew. Cheers were shouted at Endymion's announcement, and then the sailors scurried to do as their captain told them to.

Seeing his crewmembers working diligently Endymion turned to Zoicite who was standing beside him. "Any news from Eric?"

"Yes, in fact the messenger just came with a letter from him. It said that he will be at the back gate ready to let us in, and he can lead us straight to the Princess's room. He also gave a description of her."

"Really." Endymion said with a raised eyebrow. "And what did he say about her."

"He said she's one of the most beautiful girl's he's ever seen. With extremely long blond hair and blue eyes. And looks to be about sixteen years old." Zoicite said with a smile. "She sounds pretty, but she'll never compare to my Amy." he said with pride.

Endymion smiled at his friend's response. Amy was Zoicite's wife, and usually acted as the ship's doctor with Zoicite, but this time had stayed behind at their hide out with the other girls.

"Send a message back to Eric, telling him we're all ready to go and we'll see him at midnight." Endymion said, he then walked across the deck to his other general Nephrite.

"We have to start getting the men ready, but they follow the same drill that they always do." said Nephrite turning to meet Endymion

"Are we low on any supplies?"

"Nothing the boys can't get while were in town." said Nephrite. "Looks like we're good to go Endymion. Nabbing a sixteen year old Princess shouldn't be that much trouble."

"Probably not, we'll probably even have time to visit Diamond." Endymion said with a smile. Diamond and Endymion had a very bad past together, and their rivalry was still going on today. To put it more simply they HATED each other, and Endymion hated him for a very good reason. "Contact the Moon Child and have them make a move on another one of Braeden's ships."

The Moon Child was another ship in their pirate fleet. It was basically a war going on between Endymion and Diamond, and at the moment Endymion had the upper hand, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Endymion turned and looked out at the ocean he loved so much. His pirate ship the Gealach was his pride and joy. Endymion and his crew were pirates and loved what they did, but they did have a code of honor that he and his crewmembers followed. When they raided villages they only took what they need, and only stole from the more wealthy people of the town. Most of the time they didn't even raid villages, usually they went in like any normal ship and did business with the village people. Sometimes destruction was inevitable, but it was rare they left people seriously injured.

Endymion walked back below deck into his cabin, and looked over the map of Lithgrow again. He never left any man behind, and the best way to ensure that that didn't happen was to make sure the plan was perfectly outlined. Endymion noted the various places that they could enter Lithgrow, and they could escape on ground or water. Endymion studied it until dark then walked back up to the deck helping his crew with the many tasks that needed to be done on ship. And soon darkness had fallen around them.

Serenity descended the steps that led into the main dinning room in Seiya's mansion. Both Seiya and Diamond stood as she entered and both men were thinking the same thing; that she looked beautiful. The blue gown fit her figure perfectly and brought out the deep blue in her eyes. Her hair was up in its normal hairs style with two buns on either side of her head with the rest of her hair flowing out of them.

There was possessiveness in Diamond's gaze that frightened Serenity even more than the dark aura surrounding him. As he walked over to meet her at the base of the stairs his arm curved around her waist as if chaining her to his side. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her jaw and whispered, "You look beautiful as always, my love."

"Get off me Diamond." Serenity whispered back with an anger that surprised her. Diamond lifted his head and there was anger in his eyes.

"Just wait till we're alone Princess, and you won't be so quick to defy me." he said before leading her to the table, putting the mask of a gentleman back on.

Dinner was normal without incident, with small talk being exchanged back and forth. Serenity while on the surface acted as normal as ever, she was wringing her hands under the table. After dinner was over Serenity pleaded exhaustion and excused herself up to her room.

She'd almost made it there, but a harsh grip on her wrist stopped her progress. The stench of evil was uncanny; she knew that Diamond had come after her. He jerked her around to face him, his violet eyes alive with rage.

He pushed her up against the wall and snarled, "You will not object to my touch. You are my fiancé and I will do what I please with you."

Serenity ignored that fact that she was trembling with his show of anger, but summoned up her courage and responded just as heatedly "I'll object to anything I want, especially when it comes to your touch. I'd rather roll around in dirt."

Serenity's head snapped to one side as a resounding slap filled the air. Serenity's cheek burned fiercely, but didn't raise her hand to cover it. "You belong to me now Serenity! And you will obey me!"

"You may have my body, you may have my soul, but you will never have my heart! So in truth you will never have me!" she screamed back in his face, and dealt him a slap of her own. This on her part was a mistake.

She was pulled away from the wall only to be slammed up against it again, her head hitting the wall hard. A cry escaped her lips as her head began to pound and white lights swirled in her vision. His hand then came up and grasped her hair and pulled back her head as his lips claimed her.

Serenity struggled to get away from him, she even kicked him on the shins, but that just landed her a punch in the stomach. She cried out again as the breath rushed out of her, and she could only pray that he wouldn't do that again.

"Your are my fiancé Serenity. I can always decided to move up the wedding night, and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it " he growled. To prove his point his hands gripped the top of her gown, and the ripped it down the center.

"Stop!" Serenity shrieked, as panic started to take hold of her mind. He was right, he could do anything he wanted with her and she would be too weak to stop him. Tear rolled down her face and burned like acid, but Diamond just covered her mouth with his in a bruising kiss to shut her up. In Serenity's mind memories started to reply of another time when she was younger. When almost the exact same thing had happened to her when she was thirteen.

She wasn't sure how it happened. Only that one moment she had been walking contently in the halls of her home, and then a guard had pulled her into a random room and pushed her to the floor.

When she tried to scream the guard punched her in the face. But as she kept on screaming the guard yelled at her "Shut-up you little whore!"

The guard lost his temper and Serenity felt punches coming at her face left and right. They just kept coming and coming and soon she couldn't feel anything. The room went in and out of her vision; the pain was unbearable. But she was unable to cry anymore. She felt her gown be ripped in two, and then felt a fiery pain between her legs. Somehow she let out another scream at the pain, but instead of punching her, the guard's fingers wrapped around her throat.

Serenity barely had any strength left to claw at the fingers gripping her throat. She room went black, and the swirled back into view, only to turn black again. She couldn't draw any breath into her lungs at all and the entire world seemed hazy to her. There was the blinding pain that kept her from surfacing, and the room never seemed to stay still.

Suddenly, the terrible pressure on her neck released her. As she opened her mouth to take in a breath no air came into her lungs. Serenity began to wither on the ground; her throat refused to open up to take in any air. Serenity gasped a few more times and then a rush of air greeted her starving lungs.

Her breath wheezed and she choked, but she began to draw in deep breaths. Then, pain hit her ten fold; then the world went black around her.

When his hand found her breast and gripped in cruelly Serenity was brought back to the present. When his lips moved down her neck Serenity tried to scream, but Diamond slapped her again. The one was much harder than the last, and sent her sprawling to the ground. She felt her lip split open and her vision spun dangerously. When she saw that Diamond was coming down on her again, she was able to think for a moment, then brought her foot up and kicked him hard between his legs.

He let out a horse cry and fell to the ground clutching himself. Serenity immediately scrambled up, and ran to her room. She locked it, but it took her a minuet because her hands were shaking so bad.

Her trembling hand came up and brushed away the tears rolling down her face. She stared at her wet hands in a kind of dismay.

Who would've thought I could cry this much in only two days. Serenity thought to herself. Trying not to dwell on what just happened Serenity went into her bathroom and dabbed at her split lip with a wet cloth. It stung, but her cheek and stomach hurt more. She soaked the cloth in cold water and laid it on her cheek. A bruise was already forming. Tears pricked at her eyes again as she stared at her reflection.

She turned and went back into her room changing into her nightgown. She intended to sleep for a few hours before she made her escape. Now she knew she had to get away from Diamond faster than ever. Maybe if she wrote to her parents about Diamond's assault they would call off the engagement.

With a hand on her throbbing stomach Serenity climbed under her covers and fell asleep tears soaking her pillowcase.

A few hours later…

Serenity gently roused herself from her bed; a moan escaped her mouth at the throbbing in her face and belly. But she pushed aside her pain and rose from her bed. She opened her trunk and put on her light purple dress and the one petticoat. Just like she cut them, they hung about her knees. She wasn't worried about anyone seeing because she would be wearing her cloak over it. Grabbing, her cloak and pouch of money and set about making a rope out of her bed sheets.

"Get ready gents! The time draws near!" Endymion shouted to his crew. They answered with eager anticipated yells. People began lowering the long boats into the water, and people climbing aboard them. The men knew what to do; they had done it many times before.

Endymion climbed into a long boat with his four Generals, and they were soon quietly rowing to shore. Adrenaline and anticipation were singing through their veins like it always did. As they neared the shore with their men the more excitement they felt.