I settled into my position, two steps behind the throne, one step to the left, mask firmly in place, not a hair out of line. After all, it was expected of me as Chief Advisor to the Queen of the Moon. Said Queen was concentrating on the visitors below, her eyebrows drawn together, her lips pinched just so, the only indicators that the reports were not what she wanted to hear.

Normally, I would listen, concentrating on reading between the lines, drawing out information that wasn't stated outright, but I already knew what these reports said. It was the same as before; another kingdom had fallen.

I felt like sighing, but held it in; it wouldn't do if the Queen's Advisor didn't seem interested.

"That's as much as we know, my Lady." The scout bowed his head. "My deepest apologies."

Queen Serenity waved away his apologies, smiling gently at him. "No need to apologize. Thank you for your efforts. You are dismissed."

He bowed again, then turned and marched out swiftly, closing the door behind him with a dull thud. I kept still, waiting for the echoes of his departure to disappear.

Finally, Serenity sighed and leaned back in her throne, weariness showing plainly on her face. I took my cue and stepped forward, my movements marked only by the sound of silk gliding over the stone floor.

"So," she began, eyes unfocused. "Uranus has fallen."

I drew level with her chair and stared down at her, waiting for her to continue. She looked so weary then, so different from the carefree girl I remember. Was it really that long ago?

I held back a smile as I noticed an old habit of hers, one she insisted she didn't have. When thinking, she sometimes spoke certain thoughts out loud, and this was no exception.

"How can we hope to stop this?"

"Perhaps," I said softly, startling her out of her thoughts. "We could take a step back. Our troops are worn down and tired from the constant battles. Taking a moment to regroup would be in our best interests."

She held my gaze, her lilac eyes reflecting guilt and no small amount of uncertainty. "We've lost three kingdoms so far. How did she become so powerful?"

I tilted my head, considering how to answer her. Would she believe my theory?

"It's possible that she's not working on her own," I stated cautiously.

She narrowed her eyes at me, but did not speak, playing her own waiting game.

I suppressed a sigh and continued. "I agree that she is wields too much power for just a simple queen. There has to be another force at work."

She turned away from me, hiding her face as she thought over what I said. I waited patiently for her reply, knowing from experience she preferred to do her heavy thinking in relative private. When she turned back to me, her gaze was firm.

"Without further evidence, it's pointless to contemplate that theory; it will only cloud our judgement of what we know to be fact." She stood gracefully, her dress flowing effortlessly around her as she stepped off the dais. I bowed my head to her as she rose, and fell in a step behind her.

"I want the princesses of the Outer Ring here; they can do no good tied to their fallen homes now."

"Yes, m'lady."

"Also, we will need to send reinforcements to Saturn. Have the remaining troops fall back to their front line; we cannot afford to remove anyone from the battlefield."

"Of course."

I followed demurely behind her through the palace halls, ignoring the bows and greetings from the people we encountered. She, on the other hand, returned every greeting, a smile here, a nod there, instilling a sense of grace and confidence as a proper queen should.

I couldn't help but think back to her youth, how she hated the attention the court gave her. She was such a shy child. I used every trick I had learned over my years in an effort to draw her out. In the end, it was the act of claiming the responsibility of Queendom that broke her shy demeanor.

We walked the familiar route until we reached her quarters. As she went inside, I grabbed a passing messenger and relayed her orders. He ran at full speed down the hall. Satisfied, I followed her through the doors, securing them behind me.

She had already stepped through the drawing room into the bedroom. I leaned against the doors for a moment, breathing deeply in a rare moment of solitude.

"Are you coming?" she called from the back room. Had it been any other queen, I would have taken offense to the summon. With her, she could call me a fool and I'd smile. It seemed so strange to think that way, but even when she was a child, there was something about her that seemed to calm my seeming endless despair.

I chuckled as I entered the room. "I've told you time and time again. That dress is too impractical when it comes to dressing yourself."

She huffed and made a face at me, a rare gesture that survived her childhood. I smirked at her, indicating she should turn around, and began the process of removing her dress.

"Am I doing the right thing?" she asked softly, standing in place as I tugged gently at the ties.

"What else could you do?" I replied easily. Every evening since the war began, she would ask the same question, and I in turn, replied with my own. It almost became a ritual with us, a way to reaffirm her actions and decisions earlier that day. Tonight, I added my own.

"You are no longer a child," I pushed her forward gently, and she stepped out of the dress. "A princess can afford to doubt herself because her mother rules. A queen cannot, because she can only turn to herself."

She sighed heavily, raising her arms automatically as I draped her robe over her. "Speaking of princesses, where has my little nightmare gone?"

I let out a short laugh at her frustration as I gathered the dress, knowing she would not like my answer.

"Earth."

"What?" She whirled around swiftly, turning to face me as I moved around the room. "How could you not stop her? What about the other girls? Does she have no sense? We are waging a war!"

I tried to hide my smile, turning my back to her as I finished my chores around the room, but in the end, her rant was longer than my chores, and I sat comfortably on her bed as she rambled.

"That stubborn girl! How many times do I have to tell her-"

"Don't fall in love." I injected.

She glared at me, but I was long past caring about the supposed terrifying glares of the Moon Queens.

"Her love for that boy clouds her judgement."

"As it clouded your judgement when you were her age." I tilted my head at her. "Don't think that I have forgotten your own faults. You nearly started a war of your own."

She had the grace to look sheepish for a moment, damn her, but her glare quickly replaced it.

"I've since learned from my mistakes, and I will not allow her to make the same ones I did."

"Do you really believe it will be that easy?" I leaned back on my arms. "I have watched over many princesses. As they became queens, they each vowed to teach their daughters the sense they learned so they could avoid the same trouble. And every one of them failed."

She frowned at me. "I find it hard to believe that each one failed."

"What did your mother always call you?"

She opened her mouth to reply, then stopped herself. She glared at me as she realized the point I was getting to.

"Let her learn from her own mistakes. All you can do is try to mitigate the damage."

She quirked a smile at me. "Or delegate that job to you."

I laughed then, something I had never done with another queen. I had never considered the possibility of befriending them, always staying at arms reach. But somehow, she managed to slip by my defenses, so much so I almost considered her as a younger sister.

She stepped towards me, her gaze softening. "How many princesses have you had to put in line because of love? How many times have you tried to steer us in the right direction, despite our best efforts to resist?"

I held her gaze, sobering slightly, but did not answer. The truth is I knew the exact number, but thinking of how long I had been chained to this prison left a heavy weight in my chest. What was one more to add to my tally?

She reached for my mask. I stayed frozen in place; I only removed it in the privacy of my own room. No one had seen me without it.

Just as she touched the corner of it, a great hiss startled us out of our trance, and she pulled away quickly, turning to its source.

A dark cat perched on the table by the door, her tail puffed up to twice it's size, her eyes glaring daggers at us. Well, to be honest, she was glaring at me, as if this whole situation was my fault, but Luna and I rarely saw eye to eye.

"My Lady! What is the meaning of this!" She all but growled, her tiny body quivering with anger.

Serenity straightened and faced the feline, her eyes cool as she regarded her. "I could ask you the same thing. Where is my daughter?"

Luna's eyes went wide for a moment before she settled back on her haunches, her tail returning to normal size. She lowered her head. "She's on Earth, m'lady."

"And why aren't you with her?" By now, her focus was entirely on the unfortunate cat, her hands on her hips.

Watching her interact with the cat reminded me of the stark difference between her time as a princess and as a queen. I could tell Luna was still adjusting to the change in demeanor, though it had been years since Serenity ascended to the throne. Perhaps she still held out hope that a bit of the smiling child had survived the suffocating weight of Queendom. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her; even after years of practice, watching the weight of rule crush the last vestiges of childhood from the girl you raised is hard to accept.

"She closed the portal behind her. The other princesses are trying to reopen it as we speak."

Serenity had an...odd habit when it came to controlling her anger. She would take a deep breath, hold it, then let it out through her nose in short bursts until there is nothing left. I asked her about it once. She told me she wasn't even aware she was doing it, but in her mind, she imagined herself chipping away at her anger and releasing the pieces one after the other.

I watched as she went through her regiment once, twice, before she focused again on Luna.

"Once the portal is open, you will bring her straight back. I do not care what business she may have gotten herself wrapped up in. Straight. Back. Is that understood?"

Luna practically withered under her harsh gaze. "Yes, m'lady."

With a nod, she dismissed the feline, who leapt through the doorway and out of sight.

She began to pace, muttering as she went, her control slipping.

"Stupid, stupid girl! The entire delegation will be here tomorrow! Can she not wait another day to see him! The entire council will be in an uproar, believing we are sending envoys to Earth behind their backs!"

She repeated this litany a few times, including a few variations that included cursing her daughter's impatience, odangos, and a rather amusing one comparing the inside of her head to the consistency of clouds.

I finally stood up, tired of her creative curses. I suppose it was enough to draw her attention back, as she stopped pacing and immediately blushed.

"Ah, forgive me. I forgot you were still here."

I quickly quenched the tiny hurt that rose with her words and smiled.

"There is nothing to forgive. If you'll excuse me though, I will see what I can do about getting the princesses prepared for tomorrow. I doubt they're focused on such matters now."

She nodded absently at me, her mind already racing with the importance of tomorrow's meeting. "Yes, please do."

I curtsied lightly to her, wished her a good night, and left the room. She did not reply.