Title: Enthroned

Chapter: 2

Rating: T

Date: 4.25.11

Summary: Rei's a princess–an illegitimate one, if you must know, and an unruly one at that. So when her brother becomes king, he'll do anything to get her off his hands, even marry her off! Before Rei knows it, she's married to a drunkard of a king–but is there more to him than meets the eye?

Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone for reading, and to Jade for posting!

Disclaimer:Naoko Takeuchi owns Sailor Moon.

L

Rei tried really hard to keep her promise to be the perfect lady.

Really, really hard.

But three weeks of obeying Luna's every order – from wearing a corset at all times (even to bed) to improve her figure, to leaving half of all her meals on her plate, to repeating "The hay in Nehelay sways gaily daily" for hours at a time to improve what Luna called her ability to "drawl elegantly" – left Rei feeling like crawling up the walls of her tower room like some sort of giant human starfish.

So that day she decided that she deserved a break. What she really, really wanted was a ride, to gallop down the length of the shore and taste the salt on her tongue as the water splashed up around her and Endy's horse, Kamen. But she didn't dare steal Kamen again. She would have to settle for just a walk along the shore.

In the afternoon, Luna had a last-minute fitting for the gown she would be wearing that night. A ball was being held for a Nehelenian ambassador who had come to court the day before, ostensibly to negotiate an alliance with Elysion against Nemesis. The fitting left Rei with at least an hour window in which to sneak outside.

It was more than doable: by three o'clock, Luna had left, and ten minutes later, Rei was shimmying her way down the tower wall. Fifteen minutes later, she was stumbling down onto the wet, packed sand just outside the palace wall. She stripped off her slippers, flexing her toes and wriggling them into the sand until it looked like she had no toes at all. She sighed happily at the sensation. She had almost forgotten what good, wet sand felt like, not like the grit that tended to blow into every nook and cranny of the palace and get stuck in annoying grains to her feet or her food.

What she really wanted, though, was to feel the water. Autumn was just beginning to blow its way across the kingdom, and in a few weeks' time, the water would be too cold to walk in without catching the ague. Rei glanced above her, making sure no one was on the parapet, and scurried out of the shelter of the rocks to the water's edge.

The tide splashed up onto her dress even though she had hiked her skirts up above her knees, the sound unnaturally loud in her ears. The water always seemed louder when it was cold, or maybe she was just too used to being cooped-up in her room with only Luna for company. Shivering as she sloshed deeper, she squinted at the cloudy gray horizon. It had been on a day like this that her father's pyre was sent out to sea. The wind had blown so hard that the pyre kept racing back toward the shore, as though her father's body refused to leave the palace. Several men had to get long poles and wade out into the water, pushing the pyre out past the sandbars. It had been almost completely burned-out by then, the fire nearly out and her father's blackened body disgracefully exposed. Rei could remember watching, from her position behind the nobles – for even though her father had decreed her a princess from his deathbed, she still had not been allowed to stand with Endymion at the side of the royal family – Endymion's jaw clench tighter and tighter as he watched.

Now, she looked out toward where the sandbar had been. It was covered now with water but had tighter curls of white foam forming above it, marking its position. She knew there was really nothing left of her father's body, that the water had dashed him down like shells into sand, just like all the other Elysian royals who were put to rest in their pyres at sea. But sometimes she felt a chill down her spine as she stood in the water, as though his body was resting in the deeper water just beyond the bar, waiting.

A shout broke through her thoughts. Rei spun around, her stomach sinking to her toes. But there was no guard on the parapet looking down at her and shouting the alert to yet again drag the princess back inside. Instead, a group of colorfully dressed women stood at the water's edge a few dozen yards away from Rei. They were looking out at the waves, gesturing violently at each other.

Rei cast another glance at the parapet and broke into a run toward the women, giving up on trying to keep her hem dry. As she drew closer, their shouting became intelligible.

"Get him! Go get him, you lazy creature!"

"But Mistress, I can't swim!"

Rei's eyes followed the first woman's pointing arm just in time to see a red flash appear and then disappear among the gray waves. Suddenly the woman's near hysterics made sense. More hastily than she ever had in her life, she wrestled off her outermost layer of skirts and ran forward into the tide.

The water's freezing temperature was like a punch in the teeth, lighting up every nerve in her body. Rei gritted her chattering teeth and forced herself to begin kicking, breaststroking toward the glimpse of red that kept flashing in front of her, up and down in the waves.

For what seemed like hours, her world narrowed to just water, foam, and the occasional sea weed slapping against and wrapping around her legs. Over and over she had to spit out water and swipe her hair out of her eyes, squinting through streaming eyes. Then there was a flash of red and brown, and then a warm weight slamming into her arm, scrabbling against her.

Much smaller than I expected, she thought, clutching him closer to her. She sucked in a breath that was more foam than air and turned back toward the shore.

The swim back was much shorter but no less freezing. She half swam, half stumbled back onto the shell-covered sand…and only as the weight in her arms gave a bark did she have the presence of mind to realize it wasn't a child.

It was a dog.

"Bloody hell," she croaked as it yipped again and wriggled out of her arms, kicking sand into her face as it ran toward the crying woman running toward them. She had just dived into stormy water for a dog? "Who in the four bloody hells is stupid enough to bring a dog out here when a storm's brewing–?"

Her eyes landed on the diplomatic insignia on the woman's frilly yellow cloak. With a sinking feeling, she realized: Oh. A Nehelenian, that's who.

L

The news of Rei's escapade traveled faster than Rei did. A servant girl was waiting in her room when Rei dragged herself over the windowsill. "His Majesty requests that Your Highness change into something appropriate and come to his audience chamber, Princess."

Feeling as though she might throw up, Rei sat down mechanically, letting the servant dry out and comb her hair as best as she could and help her into a new gown. She tried to convince herself that she hadn't done anything wrong–well, all right, she had. The Nehelenian ambassador's wife hadn't been at all pleased at being called stupid. But surely Endy would see that saving the woman's dog more than made up for that slip of the tongue? After all, the Nehelenians wouldn't have been very well-disposed toward Elysion if their ambassador's wife's precious puppy was whisked away by its ocean, would they?

But there was still the fact that she had sneaked out of the palace on her own again, Rei thought dully, walking toward the guards who flanked either side of the doors to Endymion's private audience chamber. As one pushed open the doors for her, she bit her lip, lowering her eyes in preparation for Endymion's anger.

But the chamber was quiet. Even as the doors fell quietly shut behind her, there was no sound: not Endymion shifting his weight as he often did when he was angry and wanted to say something about it; not the click of his boots as he rose to his feet to stare her down; and not the intake of breath he usually took before launching into a tirade at her.

Rei risked a peek upward from between her bangs as she curtsied, wobbling a little. Endymion was sitting in his velvet-lined chair upon the dais. Hs elbow was braced against the armrest and his hand against his cheek as he regarded her silently. As she bit her lip again, it seemed to rouse him out of his silence, for his face shifted, first into something like a grimace and then into something like a pained smile. "Quite the morning you've had."

"Ye-es," Rei said slowly, watching him as carefully as he had watched her. "Is the ambassador's wife…pleased?"

His smile flickered into something else, less of a grimace and more of a real smile, a grin like the one he had worn when he was prince and not king. "Pleased is one way to put it." His grin faded into a smile that seemed somehow sad, and he shifted forward in his chair. "Come sit, Rei."

Rei eased herself into one of the chairs that faced his throne. That sad smile had given her a bad feeling. There was something familiar about it, and it only took a moment for her to remember what it was: she had seen him wear that exact expression when they had accidentally lamed one of the horses they had sneaked out and the hostler told him the horse would have to be put down. Why…?

"Rei, what do you know about Andalusia?"

She choked. "You're going to send me away?" Like some disgraced noble girl who'd gotten herself with child out of wedlock and had to be sent to "convalesce" in the country? "Endy, you can't–"

Endymion frowned, and then he was leaning back in his chair again. "Is that so?" he said slowly. "Well, I thought I had finally found the perfect job for you, but I suppose I'll just ask the marchioness…"

Job? Rei's terror gave way to confusion. "Wait! What are you talking about?"

Endymion glanced behind her. Rei turned to follow his gaze and saw the King's Guards who flanked either side of the inside of the door exiting the chamber, closing the heavy doors behind them.

She turned back to face Endymion, her insides tight with excitement. The job he wanted to talk to her about was so secret that he was even having his private guards leave the room?

Her brother had pulled a sealed scroll of parchment from somewhere and now held it, one end resting against his chin. He regarded her intently from over it. His eyes were dark, and Rei had the feeling that he was hesitating, maybe even reconsidering what he had planned to do.

"Endy!" She rocked forward in her chair, nearly tipping over. "You have to tell me! You can't just change your mind now, not when you've already made me so curious!"

"Can't I?" he said, but his tone wasn't taunting, it was thoughtful. Rei held her breath as she watched him finger a silver ring on his thumb.

Abruptly, he straightened and met her eyes squarely. "All right. I won't change my mind. I have an assignment for you in Andalusia, Rei."

Excitement tingled down Rei's spine. An assignment. It sounded like the sort of thing Sapphire was in charge of. What would it be, she wondered, spying? Seduction. Assassination?

"It seems that you've probably eavesdropped on enough of our council meetings to know the situation with Nemesis."

Rei had the grace to duck her head guiltily–but only for a moment. "Yes. Tranquisel just fell to them, and now Diamond's planning to–" She faltered here, uncertain of Endymion's reaction, "marry Serenity."

"Princess Serenity."

"Y-yes." Rei chewed on her lip, watching him. Even if he convinced the council to declare war on Diamond, the chances of them defeating Diamond before he married Serenity were nonexistent. The chances of defeating Diamond at all were practically nonexistent, in fact, especially if he conscripted Tranquisel and his former brothers' men into his army. If Elysion's alliance with Nehelenia went through, their combined man force would still be little more than half of Nemesis's number. There were other kingdoms on the continent that could possibly be allied with, but they would require gold, lots of gold, as those kingdoms shared no borders with Nemesis and would not consider it a threat to their own sovereignty. Furthermore, they were all fairly small, too small for their individual armies to make much difference against Nemesis.

The only other kingdom sharing a border with Menelay that might possibly have any real manpower to offer was Andalusia, a mostly desert kingdom to the south of Elysion. Its population was smaller than Elysion's, its barbaric people spread out in bands, but they were said to be all the better warriors for their tribal nature, for they were constantly defending their lands from one another. If these flea-bitten camel herders could be brought together to fight, they would be a force to be reckoned with.

But the Andalusian king–he wasn't even a king, really, Rei thought scornfully, just a regent whose family had been in power for a very long time–was an infamous drunkard, barely aware of what time of day it was, much less the state of his own kingdom and the others around it. Persuading such a man into an alliance would be nigh on impossible, and the country was too backward to have a council like Elysion did. She couldn't even remember the last time an Andalusian representative had been in the Elysian court.

She refocused her gaze upon Endymion, remembering now the sun symbol that had been on the parchment Chad had given him. "What do we need Andalusia for?"

Endymion pursed his lips. "There is an underground power network in place there to work around the king. They are trying to organize forces to fend off an attack from Nemesis should Diamond turn his attentions upon them. They have agreed to an alliance with us for the time being. Its leader and I have discussed our mutual needs, and these–" He tapped the scroll against his armrest, "are the instructions for which he has been waiting."

Rei looked from the scroll to him. "So I'm to be a courier?"

Endymion extended the scroll to her and waited until her fingers closed around it before leaning back in his seat. His eyes were on his steepled fingers as he spoke. "Yes. You will attend the king's birthday celebration, ostensibly as a representative of the Elysian court to show the goodwill between his court and ours. Our contact there has been told to expect you, and he will contact you while you are at the celebration."

"So I just give him the scroll." Rei was beginning to feel a little disappointed: it sounded like all she was going to do was have to wear an uncomfortable ball gown and hand some random man a bit of paper. Not exactly the exciting "mission" she had been hoping for.

"I expect you to do a bit more than that," Endymion said. "The man to whom you give this message may have a task he needs you to carry out while you are in Andalusia. Anything he requests of you, you must do." His eyes lifted from his fingers and bored into hers. "Do you understand me, Rei?"

Rei perked up. This was more like it. "Yes, but what if–"

He closed his eyes, wearing the same tired expression he had when he put his face in his hands in her room three weeks ago. "Rei. I do not have time for your curiosity right now. Those are your orders, can you follow them, yes or no?"

"Yes," Rei said immediately, suitably chastised. Endymion had a lot of things on his mind, not the least of which was losing of the girl he had always thought he was going to marry. "I won't let you down, Endy. I swear!"

She sprang to her feet, her mind already working furiously, imagining the sorts of adventures she would have, how she would slip the scroll to the scarfed Andalusian without anyone noticing, not even him; he would simply put a hand to his pocket one moment and realize that there was a scroll there–

"Rei."

Rei halted, blinking. She turned to face him and, seeing how far away he was, realized that she was already halfway to the door.

"Are you forgetting something?"

"Oh!" Rei sketched a hasty curtsy.

Endymion laughed wearily. "That's not what I meant. How are you going to know who to give the message to?" As Rei blinked and flushed in embarrassment, he pulled a second sealed bit of parchment from within his tunic and handed it to her. "Wait until you are on your way there to open it."

"I will," she promised fervently, stuffing both pieces of parchment deep into her wide sleeve. Oh, she was so excited! She swooped down on him and gave him a fierce hug, like the ones she had given him before their father died, before spinning toward the door.

"Wait." He pushed away from his throne suddenly, coming down the dais steps to catch her arm. "Rei. I…"

"What?" Rei said eagerly, searching his face.

Endymion's eyes darkened. He sat back down, shaking his head. "Nothing. Just–take care."

Rei grinned at him. She knew what he'd been about to say, and it didn't bother her at all that he'd lost his nerve at the last minute. He loved her. She had been doubting that fact lately, but now she felt stupid, guilty even, to have doubted him. Of course he loved her. He was her brother, after all.

With one last curtsy, she skipped from the room.