Chapter 1

A Game of Chess

So poised, so quiet, so innocent, so breathtaking...these were the thoughts running through my mind as I stared at my new wife. She was sitting by the window on a cushioned bench, staring at the Earth as we approached it. I knew she had sensed me enter the room, I had, after all, seen how she had tensed up. She didn't acknowledge me though. Either way, I was quite content to just standing there, leaning against the wall, watching her.

I didn't really blame her for being so distant. After all, in the matter of only two weeks she had been nearly raped, engaged and married to a man she hardly knew, and sent away from her home to live on a completely different planet. Somehow, I doubted that those events were in her plans from the start.

The day I had offered to take Serenity's hand in marriage, Queen Selenity had taken me aside to explain a few things to me; this of course after I had convinced her and my parents that I was being quite serious with my offer.

"Do you know why my daughter must be married by the time she is twenty-one?" the Queen had asked me. I knew it had something to do with the Imperium Silver Crystal, but I didn't know the details. "On the night of Serenity's twenty-first birthday," the Queen began to explain, "the Silver Crystal will link itself to her so she can tap into its powers when she is called upon to do so. It's a very complicated process, not on the outside, but the actual binding is very complex. It will use much of her own energy, so much that she could die." When she said those last words, the powerful need to protect the princess welled up in me again.

"Die?" I asked. "What does that have to do with her getting married?"

The Queen sighed. "By getting married, Serenity will form a special bond with her husband. With each Princess or Queen, the bond to her husband is different, but each bond allows the wife to draw energy from her husband. She won't need much, just a little bit extra."

I nodded. "I think I understand. How do the bonds differ though?" In all honesty, I didn't understand, not completely anyway. I wanted to know how we would be bonded, what the limits of that bond were, and a dozen other questions. I would have to wait to ask them all.

A gentle smile graced Queen Selenity's face. "The bond always forms a special connection between the husband and wife. With Serenity's grandparents, they could see through each others eyes when they wanted to." She must have noticed my perplexed look since she continued with her explanation. "What I mean is that, for example, if he was on the earth looking at a rose and she chose to see through his eyes, it would be as though she was looking at that rose as well. She would see what he was seeing in her minds eye."

"I see," I replied, genuinely intrigued now. "But you said that the bond varies."

"Yes," she said, "I could not see through my husbands eyes, nor he through mine but we could feel each others emotions. It was a bit strange I'll admit but it did serve to draw us closer together. If he was angry, I could feel his anger and try to sooth it. If I was sad, he knew right away and would try to cheer me up. If we were happy then we could feel each others happiness and we were content. It was a pleasant bond to share."

I nodded again, quite fascinated. Now at least I knew why Serenity had to be married so soon and I was all the more happy to offer myself to be joined with her. To say I wasn't at least a little nervous and hesitant would be a lie. I didn't know her very well at all and I was quite sure she wouldn't be thrilled with a man just claiming her as I did without courting her and asking her first. I was, of course, planning on asking her if she would be willing to have me but first I wanted the Queen's approval. I was determined to be patient with the princess, to slowly break down the walls she had constructed around herself, and to help her put that night with Diamond behind her. She would probably never forget, but perhaps I could ease the pain.

One thing that I hoped for was that I would learn to love her, as well as have her love me. As I had mentioned before, I was quite certain that Serenity was fond of me, as I was of her, but love...we were still very far away from that. We hardly knew each other.

I watched as she touched the glass gently with her fingertips, staring at the blue and green planet. Deciding that I didn't want to be just a bystander in her life at the moment, I opted to go and sit down next to her. As soon as I sat down she scooted another three inches or so away from me. I pretended not to notice. She seemed a little embarrassed each time I caught her moving away from me, so I tried to make sure she didn't notice when I did.

"Are you excited at all?" I asked her as she drew her hand from the window back to her lap.

"A little I suppose," she replied, not taking her eyes from the window. "I haven't been there yet, so I'm curious to see what it's like."

I smiled, looking forward to showing her all the wonders the Earth had to provide. "It will be your home now, so if you need or want anything, don't hesitate to ask." I spoke with her gently, wanting her to be comfortable. Anything to make her feel at ease.

She finally tore her gaze from the window and looked up at me. "Thank you," she said quietly. I couldn't help but smile. During the few short days before our wedding she had only spoken to me to lay down some rules for our marriage. On the day of our wedding she hadn't so much as glanced at me and the days that followed weren't much better. It wasn't until today that she had actually spoken to me from want, not from necessity.

Her rules had been plain and simple. "Don't touch me." That was pretty much it. All right, I must admit they were laid out a bit more eloquently but that was the general idea. She requested that I had no physical contact with her until she allowed me to and that if she was to go with me to the Earth, I was to ensure no other man would touch her either. Again, she seemed a little embarrassed with her request and I couldn't really understand why. Both wishes I was willing to comply with, since I knew she was still scared. Considering the circumstances, I felt guilty for somewhat feeling happy that she wanted no other man touching her but the price of not touching her myself was a high one to pay.

As I sat there on the bench smiling at her, I gave a small tug on our heart string, hoping to make her smile too. The corners of her mouth twitched ever so slightly but before that twitch could give birth to a smile, she returned her gaze to the window.

I sighed and looked out too. Perhaps I should explain the heart string.

When Serenity and I had been wed, we had formed the bond that Queen Selenity had told me about. Our 'special link' was fascinating to me. Our hearts were connected by a thin, almost invisible, golden thread. Not a real thread of course, but a string that only she and I could see. It glimmered as though the sun were hitting a thread of gold but it was so faint we had to focus to see it. The benefits of this thread were that, no matter where we were, we could find each other by following that thread. I thought this was rather useful since it would make it easier to protect Serenity if the need arose.

We had discovered soon that we could give little mental tugs on the thread to get the others attention. I was the one who had discovered this actually, since I had been so determined to get Serenity to look at me on the day of and following our wedding. Her eyes had grown wide as dish plates as her heart skipped a beat when I gave the first tug, and her eyes had snapped in my direction. I was rather surprised myself, but pleased that I could get her attention in such a subtle way.

Queen Selenity said that with time we could probably find more uses for that string but for now the connection was enough. Each tug made my heart leap into my throat, the feeling that you get when you see someone you love for the first time in a very long time and you get butterflies in your stomach. It wasn't love I was feeling when she gave a tug, but it was the same kind of feeling.

I needed to unglue her from the window. "Does the Lady care for chess?" I asked, hopeful that she would say yes.

She turned her eyes to me again and this time she didn't hide the small smile that had taken over her features. "Yes," she breathed, "I adore the game." At least I had found a common interest. Now I would be able to at least share an activity with her and perhaps spark a conversation.

"Would you honour me with a game then?" I asked as I stood from the bench. I went to hold my hand out so I could help her stand but caught myself at the last moment. She wouldn't take it if I had made the offert and she would have probably been hurt that I had tried to touch her so soon. Instead, I went to start setting up the chess table. She followed slowly and after we were comfortably seated and the table was set, our game began.

She was good, I had to give her credit. I started out by going easy on her but soon I found out that she didn't need my aid.

"What else do you like to do?" I inquired, wanting to get a little more insight on her.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I like many things. Dancing, gardens, horse back riding, skating..." she let her words trail off as she moved her bishop dangerously close to my queen. "You?" she asked once her move was done.

"Reading," I replied, "I love learning. I don't think you could give me enough information. I am intrigued about the physics of the universe, and I study a lot. I enjoy doing things outdoors too though, horses for one, and many other activities." I paused. "Oh, and chess of course." I moved my Queen out of harms way. Ironic, no?

She smiled as she stared at the board. "When people ask me what I like I usually can't think of anything." She glanced up at me as she reached for her rook. "Check."

I chuckled and went to move my king. "I hope to learn everything about you, Serenity." I had used her name only a handful of times, and I could see that it pleased her when I did. It was much less formal than "Princess" or "my Lady."

"I hope to learn about you too, Endymion," she murmured as she moved her second knight.

"You may not like what you learn," I replied teasingly, picking up my bishop. "Check."

She frowned as she gazed at the board. "I'll tell you now that I don't like losing," she said.

"Neither do I," I replied.

She grinned. "Too bad," she picked up her pawn. "Checkmate."

She had won. How had she managed to win, I had been paying attention...somewhat. "You're good," I said, recovering from the shock that the game was already over.

She smiled, her eyes shining. "Again?" she asked, her voice eager and light. I couldn't very well say no to her request. If this was one way I could get her to start feeling at ease with me, then we would be playing chess every waking minute of each day for however long it took for her to trust me.

"Again," I confirmed as we began setting up the chess board. The second game was long and intense with neither one of us talking much but finally I managed to corner her king with a rook and bishop."Checkmate."

She pouted as she toppled her king over. "That was a good game," she said, then smiled. "Once more." I chuckled as we began setting to board up again. Yes, we would definitely be playing this more often.

As we picked out our pieces, I felt my fingertips come in contact with skin. They just slightly brushed against the back of her hand and I knew it meant trouble. She gave a sudden yelp and drew her hand to her body, cradling it as if it had just been scalded. Well, I hadn't anticipated such a strong reaction.

"I-I'm so sorry," I said, holding my hands in the air defensively. She stared at me, a hurt expression on her face. I hadn't meant to touch her, really I hadn't. I didn't even realize that our hands had been so close.

Even though she nodded her head in acceptance of my apology, she was very quiet for the rest of the game, her eyes refusing to come up and meet mine. Once the game was over, with her losing quite rapidly, she stood from her chair.

"I think I'll go and find Luna and go to bed now. I'll see you in the morning, Prince." Her voice had taken on it's formal tone again and all I could do was nod. I watched her leave the room, her gown swishing around her ankles as she walked. She and I had separate rooms on board the ship. It would take only a day and a half to reach the earth. We had left the Moon late in the morning, and would arrive on the Earth early in the afternoon. Once there, we would have separate quarters once again. It was something that I found so peculiar, having a wife and not sharing a room with her but it wasn't more peculiar than anything else in this marriage.

I raked my hand through my hair, silently cursing myself for my slip up. I really hadn't meant to touch her. Even though I knew she didn't want to be touched, it still hurt a little to have her react in such a way. That look in her eyes, it had been as though I had struck her or hurt her in some way, a look that spoke of betrayal and deceit on my part. I had to accept it for now though.

This was going to be harder than I thought.

Disclaimer

I do not own the rights to Sailor Moon or any of the characters. That honour belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, and I am simply a lowly author who can use her characters for my plots.