Blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta!

They all arrived at the massive military camp shortly before midnight. They rode directly up to two of the guards patrolling the edges of the camp. The guards bowed as soon as they recognized Serenity.

She rode up to them and said, "It's so good to see you both. I'm glad you made it out safely. Please tell me your wives both made it out too."

They beamed at her, and both nodded. Endymion watched as she visibly relaxed at their news.

She asked, "So, why are you both on guard duty?"

"We hoped to be the first to welcome you back, Your Highness."

She smiled and said, "It seems it worked. Thank you very much."

They bowed again, Serenity moved her horse forward and the rest of the group followed her. Very few people were still up in the military camp, but everyone who was bowed low to her as she went by. She smiled at every single one of them as they made their way to the center of the camp. When they reached where she was heading, they all dismounted and handed their horses off to the grooms.

Serenity instructed them all to follow her into the tent. When she strode in, she addressed one of the men in particular, "Sir Moore, I would like to make some introductions to you." She looked at Endymion first, "Endymion, this is Sir Moore, he is one of my generals. Sir Moore, this is Crowned Prince Endymion." There was murmuring from those that were already assembled in the tent. They had not been expecting her to show up with a Prince. She then continued to introduce his generals. She added, "They have come to help advise me and fight along with us."

Sir Moore stepped forward and said, "It's an honor to meet you all. Thank you for coming to our aid. It will be interesting to work with you five. I've heard many good things about your fighting abilities."

Endymion said, "And, I've heard of you too. I'm glad to meet you. I wish it was under better circumstances."

Serenity then moved on to introduce everyone that was in the tent. He recognized many of the names.

Then there was a ruffle of the tent flaps and everyone's attention was drawn to the movement. Endymion noticed a woman step into the command tent and everyone made way for her. She was nicely dressed, but didn't look like one of Serenity's female warriors. The moment Serenity saw her, she smiled and ran to her yelling, "Molly! I am so glad you both made it out safely!" Both girls hugged tightly.

The next moment, Endymion saw King Diamond's brother, Sapphire, step into the tent. He hastily drew his sword and pushed himself in between Serenity and Sapphire. He yelled out in anger, "Who the hell let him in here?!" He held his sword at Sapphire's throat.

He saw Serenity dart out from behind him yelling, "He's a friend. Don't kill him." She grabbed at his sword.

Endymion looked at her in utter confusion. "He's Diamond's brother. I don't know what lies he fed you."

Serenity got him to lower his sword and said, "Yes, I know. He hates his brother. He's helping me. Not only that, but he is married to Molly. I told you about them when we talked in the Royal Gardens at your castle."

"That was him?"

She nodded. "Yes. Thank you for trying to protect me, but I assure you that I'm safe from him."

Sapphire was entertained by the whole scene. Or, at least he was once he knew his throat wouldn't be cut. He had heard of Prince Endymion. He knew of his reputation for being cold and distant around women. It seems Serenity had chipped away at his armor. He walked forward and held out his hand, "I would like to shake your hand. I heard you have come to help Serenity take back her kingdom. We have the same goal. I'm glad to meet you."

Endymion shook Sapphire's hand. He didn't know what to make of it all, but he seemed to be trusted by everyone there. "I didn't know that you and your brother don't get along."

"I pretended to get along with him until he tried to have me killed. That definitely destroyed any chance that we would ever reconcile. Well, that and the fact that he's a monster."

Serenity smiled, "We were in peace negotiations with Diamond, at his castle, when he tried to lock me up and force me to marry him. Sapphire, knowing the secret passages, got in and snuck me out. If it wasn't for him, I would still be at Diamond's mercy."

Endymion reached out and shook Sapphire's hand with more warmth. "I'm sorry I pulled a sword on you. Please, forgive me."

Sapphire shrugged, "Actually, it makes me like you better. You thought I was a threat, and you moved to protect her. I think we all appreciate that."

There were muttered assent from all around him.

Mina strode to the map that was laid out, and she looked at their troop reports. She asked, "Tell me she has been buried?"

"Yes, Lady Mina, the former Queen has been buried where Diamond won't think to look for her." one of the men said.

Serenity gave a weak smile, "Thank you. I appreciate you looking after her. I know that couldn't have been easy."

"Don't worry about that, Queen Serenity. I was honored to make sure it was done properly. I even planted her favorite flower over her grave."

She walked to him, set her hand on his arm and looked him in the eyes, "Sir Herriot, you have done well. I'm grateful to you, and honored that you would do that for her. It brings me joy. That is very precious to me at a time like this."

He bowed low and said, "I would do anything for you."

Again, there was a mumble of assent from the group around them.

Mina looked at Serenity and said, "I think you should let them show you to your tent. I know you'll want to be rested so that you can go through the camp tomorrow and greet your people."

Serenity nodded and headed out to go to her tent to sleep.

Next, Endymion and his men were shown to a tent that they could use until better accommodations could be set up for them.

Once they left, Mina drew the attention of the gathered generals and advisors. "They know the secret about Serenity. You need to know that now."

"She told them!" Sir Sayers was shocked. As were the rest of them.

"I advised her to tell Endymion, and his men are loyal to him. It didn't break her rules." They all quieted down at that and grew serious. She added, "Endymion is her soulmate. I have seen it."

"Wow," Lord Roth said, "Well, I guess it's a good thing we all already like him. Sorry Sapphire, but when he pulled that sword on you, I wanted to cheer."

Sapphire smiled, "So did I. I was glad to see he would leap in to defend her when he perceived me as a threat. Hey, and I won't have to shave my neck tomorrow. He's already done that for me."

Molly rolled her eyes, "Well, it worried me. But, I guess I agree. It did show how much he wanted to protect her."

Mina added, "Serenity has spoken to me about his father. He treats her as a daughter. I suspect he let his son, the Crowned Prince of his kingdom, come because he wants her as a true daughter."

"Does Endymion know?" Sir Moore asked.

Mina said, "He knows that he loves her. He has admitted as much to me the first day I met him. However, he doesn't know that he is her soulmate."

Molly laughed, "So he knows he is in love with a demi-goddess. One that is the only child of Heliollo. He might need some encouragement. I would think that even he would be intimidated by her."

Raye laughed, "You should have seen him when she took her demi-goddess form. His jaw went slack, and he got a sappy look on his face. It was hilarious!"

Lita smirked, "They were all stunned by her. You should have heard Kunzite ask if her father was named after the god Heliollo when she told them her father's name. That, and he got so pale when he realized that meant that Zeubis was her grandfather." she started chuckling.

Lord Elwes raised an arthritic hand and held it up. Everyone grew silent. He said, "It's my opinion that we should tell him that he is her soulmate. She is intimidating, and he will need to know what he is fighting for when he goes into battle. Any hesitation on his part over his rights to protect her could prove disastrous for both of them."

Mina smiled at him, "That's what I wanted to talk about next. We kept it from him for now so that we could discuss it with you all first."

By the time they all made it back to their tents, Mina knew the next morning she would advise Serenity to tell Endymion that he was her soulmate. She suspected he would be incredibly relieved to find that out.