Kai wasn't sure what to make of the Lunar Princess.
The queen, he categorized in an instant. Queen Channary walked in from of Kai, forcing a barrier between him and his father. She conversed in hushed tones with the emperor and Konn Torin, as if she was making sure Kai and Selene couldn't hear. (Kai was irked to admit to himself that she was succeeding.)
But while he was quite convinced his animosity towards the veiled monarch was quite justified, his feelings about her daughter were mixed. When Kai had seen her coming down the ramp of the royal Lunar ship, he had immediately felt a sense of scorn for Selene, whom he had immediately saw that, accordingly with the "customs" and such with her people, she was strikingly beautiful, dark chestnut hair twisted into the back of her head, tanned skin, glittering brown eyes, and a pair of ruby-red lips.
But the one thing that he had noticed as the royal party neared the palace was that unlike her mother and the royal thaumaturges and guards that flanked them, Princess Selene of Luna was not graceful. Well, she was, but not in the symmetrical, perfect way that her mother was. Analyzing her steps carefully, Kai found that she was walking crookedly, as if she was unsteady or nervous. And that led to many more revelations about Princess Selene— also unlike her mother, she was not wearing a veil to hide her apparent "untouchable" beauty, she was not wearing a grand dress like her mother (she was wearing a rather loose golden dress that flowed down to her ankles), and when she talked, she enunciated her words with the faintest hint of a stutter. And most importantly of all, when she talked, he felt no hint of a burning desire to worship her, like Queen Channary's saccharine voice had influenced him just mere minutes ago. She wasn't using a glamour on him.
In spite of all of that, Kai couldn't help but still feel suspicious. Was this all an act? Had Princess Selene and her mother dicussed not using the princess' glamour to lure Kai into a false sense of safety? Was this part of a larger con in order to trick him into marrying her without argument?
And yet...
"Prince Kai?" Kai was jolted out of his thoughts by a voice, and he refocused his gaze towards the person who had spoken. Princess Selene was looking at him with a hint of concern in her eyes. She blushed when he looked at her. "I'm sorry, you just looked a little too deep in thought."
Kai raked his fingers through his hair. "Yes, I was rather lost in my own memories, I apologize."
Selene let out a nervous laugh. "It happens to me quite a lot as well. I always needed my friend to snap me out of it."
"Ah."
The pair fell back into silence, as they stared at the backs of the three adults that strode in front of them.
"Emperor Rikan," Queen Channary's melodious voice rose up in front of them, causing the entire group to freeze. Kai had to lean back and steady himself in order to prevent him from crashing into Torin.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" Kai knew his father well enough to notice the hint of nervousness in his tone. "Is there anything wrong?"
"Oh, certainly not, Emperor. It is just that I noticed that we should perhaps sit down and discuss our business in a room where there is a less chance of people catching word of our plans." Channary paused. "And I've noticed that our respective children seem rather... What is the word? Bored. Perhaps we should separate our group and allow our children to get to know each other?"
Kai felt himself gulp, and a sneak peek at Selene showed that her eyes had widened significantly.
Emperor Rikan hesitated. "Your Majesty, I mean no disrespect, but would it not be better to include Prince Kaito and Princess Selene in our discussions? They are an essential part of our kingdoms..."
"I do not think it is necessary, Emperor." A pause. Then, Channary's voice changed. "I believe it would be better if we discussed these things in private."
The Queen's voice had completely morphed to become even more .saccharine and smooth, and Kai felt his vision of her change completely. She wasn't a manipulative witch, she was stunning, beautiful, sweet, kind, and—
There was a sharp intake of breath next to him. Kai forced himself to turn his head, and he saw the Princess Selene once more. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her fingers laced together tightly.
What on earth (and the moon) was she doing? Was she... resisting her mother? What was she doing? But all it took was that one vision of her to break Kai's manipulated thoughts and clear his mind. He blinked, and he looked at Princess Selene once more. She was still frozen in the same rigid position. How or why, he had no idea. But somehow, he could tell she was resisting her mother's glamour. But why? And how?
Unfortunately, Kai could tell Emperor Rikan hadn't been able to resist the queen, and he nodded his head dumbly, caving into the queen. "Yes, I agree... Kai, why don't you show Princess Selene our gardens? They're quite lovely..."
Kai felt his heart pound so hard a headache came on. "Father, the gardens? They haven't been open since—"
"Kai." Torin's voice was low, reminding him of his place. "The queen would like you to take the princess to our garden."
Kai could feel Selene shifting uncomfortably next to him, but Kai reluctantly relented. Bowing towards the queen and his father, he nodded towards Princess Selene to follow him.
She did, after a long moment, and Kai led her to the back of the palace, towards the gardens and away from the three adults.
Kai couldn't help but still feel bitter towards the entire scene. Why did the queen have to manipulate everyone around her to do her bidding? Why did she have to—
"You don't have to take me to see the gardens," Selene blurted out. Kai turned to face the princess, tilting his head slightly down (he was taller than her by a couple of inches). Kai raised a quizzical eyebrow.
Selene was visibly nervous, and she gulped. "I mean, I can see that you obviously don't want to show me the gardens, um, they must mean something really special to you, and it's okay, you know, if you don't want to show them to me, I'll just tell my mother that you did, and we can just act like this never really happened because you obviously don't really want to get to know me and that's okay. And, um, I'm sorry about my mother's manipulation. She just likes to get what she wants."
Kai stared at Selene. Strangely enough, her torrent of words had actually pierced his mind more than anything else that day, and not for the first time that day, his opinion of her changed. Selene was willing to lie to her mother, whom she obviously cared for, in order to prevent Kai from doing something he didn't want to do. She had apologized on her mother's behalf, and most importantly... she had seen something in him from the moment he had protested against going to the gardens. Something similar to sentiment in his tone, maybe.
Kai looked at Selene again. She was fidgeting with her fingers, looking down at the ground.
"Princess Selene?"
Her head rose. "Yes?"
Kai held his arm out in a gentlemanly gesture. "I'd like to show you our royal gardens."
A/N: Due to this story being typed from my phone, there might be some spelling errors and grammar errors. I will do my best to scope them out, but just BEAR WITH ME if I don't get all of them. Also, I realize that these chapters are a bit fast-paced and choppy— I'll do my best to slow them down. Thanks for your support!
