Star-Crossed Lovers-Chapter Five

The hallway was bare all except for its long windows and the beams of light that shined through them. The atmosphere was peaceful to Michael, as he enjoyed long walks in solitude.

Actually, doing anything in solitude was what Michael liked best. It was so much better than constantly being bombarded by the many ambassadors from the Moon and the other eight planets in the Solar System. Of course, Michael was not the one being bombarded. His father, King Robert, and his mother, Queen Bianca, were the ones being bombarded, along, occasionally, with his elder brother, Endymion.

Endymion's full name was Endymion Darien Gerhard Roberto. However, for as long as Michael could remember, his parents had called him by his first middle name, Darien, but for what purpose, Michael had no idea. Regardless of the reason, the entire kingdom of Earth, along with all of the kingdoms of the Solar System, called him Prince Darien. He was adored by everyone, especially the female population of the kingdom, and had already, at the mere age of seventeen, been courted by countless numbers of rich young women.

That was definitely something that Michael hated. He could not understand how, in all of his selfishness and arrogance, Darien had so many women groveling at his feet.

What a twisted world, Michael thought, thinking it quite an understatement. He began kicking the concrete walkway with his already scuffed up shoes. The very thought of Darien getting attention over anything made Michael's fists clench.

Then, there was their younger sister, Bernice. She was the "Angel of Earth", as so many people called her. At just five years old, she could captivate the hearts of anyone who laid his or her eyes upon her. She was spoiled, constantly being showered with the most lavish of gifts, and never had to do anything but show off her dainty smile to receive those gifts.

Out of Earth's three royal children, Michael definitely considered himself the most deserving of any gift. He was a wonderful student, always receiving high marks from his governess, Mrs. Brenner, and always sharply honest. Upon seeing someone do a wrong deed or commit a crime, he was always the one to tell. Yet, he never received anything more than a pat on the back from his father or a kiss from his mother (which he did not take delight in getting).

The sunset distracted Michael from the thoughts of his siblings. It was beautiful and gave much life to the pure white walls of the palace. It was even casting a bright light across the lake east of the hallway and Michael's dark brown hair to shimmer slightly.

"Michael?"

A small, childish voice floated into Michael's ears from out of nowhere, as did the tiny body from which it was emitted. Bernice came running toward her brother, her pink shirt and shoulder-length black hair flying behind her. She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him in the opposite direction from where he was headed.

"Michael! Michael!" she kept saying, even after she had made full eye contact with him.

"What?" Michael snapped at her, now very annoyed. It was rude enough of her to interrupt him during his walk, but to continue to call his name even after getting his attention drove him to the edge.

"Mommy says you have to come to dinner now," the little girl replied, oblivious to her brother's rude greeting.

Michael rolled his eyes. The last place he wanted to be was in a room with Darien, hearing him gloat about his "accomplishments" for that day.

"I'm not hungry," he replied, knowing full well that that response would not mean a thing to Bernice, who had most likely been told by her parents not listen to him if he gave that answer.

As Michael had expected, Bernice gave him a Mommy-and-Daddy-said-you-had-to-come look and voiced the expression on her face word-for-word, except with a "but" at the beginning.

Michael sighed. "Fine."

Bernice dragged him from the windowed hallway all the way into the dining hall, skipping merrily and singing "la, la, la, la" as she did so.

The dining hall was almost as large as the ballroom and one of the longest tables in the palace, beaten only by the table in the Governor's Hall, where King Robert conducted meetings with ambassadors, kings, queens, generals, and other officials. The walls were a dark brown and were adorned with decorations and ornaments from places all around Earth, including a feathered headdress from the people of North America, who had given it to Robert as a sign of respect and honor. Out of all the decorations, it had to be Michael's favorite.

Robert was sitting, as always, at the very head of the table. He was a tall man with dark skin, a firm muscular build, thick black hair, and piercing blue eyes that were liable to make any untrustworthy man crack under pressure.

Bianca was seated to her husband's left. She was a classic Slavic beauty with her pale white skin, dark eyes, lean build, and long dark curly hair.

Both his parents greeted Michael with a smile as he took a seat two chairs down from Darien, who was seated at their father's right. Never in his life would he be caught sitting next to his pompous brother.

Michael returned his parents greeting with a monotone "hello" and a frozen expressionless glance.

Darien did not exchange any sort of greeting with his brother, except the same glance that Michael had upon his own face. Darien looked strikingly like his father with his tanned skin, black hair, and blue eyes. He wore a blue army uniform complete with silver epaulets. It annoyed Michael that his brother never bothered to change into anything more formal after his training. Michael knew that Darien constantly wore that attire to show off, even when no one of importance was around.

But, what annoyed Michael more than anything else was the golden sword pin that Darien had on the left side of his uniform. Whenever he did decide to change clothes, he would take the pin off his army attire and place it on whatever outfit he chose to wear next, even if it were nightclothes. The pin was the mark of a General, the highest rank in the army. But, Darien held no such position and yet had worn the pin for as long as Michael could remember, even back when they were small boys. It enraged Michael that someone would give Darien a trinket representing such high authority even before he knew what the army was. It was just one more thing for the crown prince to show off.

Bernice sat down beside her mother and hummed a small tune while waiting for the food to arrive.

As they started eating their meal, Robert cleared his throat in the manner that signaled to everyone that he was about to make an announcement. Darien straightened his shoulders in a way that made him look like a cadet required to give his attention to his commanding officer. Michael roughly stuffed a rather large piece of roast lamb into his mouth.

"I have an announcement to make," Robert said politely.

Michael turned away from his father so that he had the liberty of rolling his eyes. Really? Why else would you clear your voice like that?

"Queen Serenity, the Queen of the Moon, has invited us to a ball in honor of her daughter's upcoming birthday," he said.

Immediately, Bernice's little eyes lit up in excitement. "Yay! I want to go to a ball," she shouted, although Michael was quite certain that his sister had no idea what a ball really was, other than a round rubber instrument that rolled everywhere.

Bianca chuckled and stroked her daughter's hair. "You won't be going, darling. You're too small."

Bernice frowned and put on her pouty face, but did not respond. She was evidently used to being rejected from doing everything by now, but for whatever the reason, she continued to express her excitement about whatever her parents talked about.

Michael had the completely opposite feeling pulsing through his veins. He wanted to scream. He was positively sick of all the balls that he had to go to. Even though he had never met Queen Serenity or her daughter, he was certain that they would be just like the many other people who had hosted balls: boring and talking mindlessly nonstop. Ripping his hair out felt like a good idea at the moment.

Darien smiled. "I would love that, Father. It would be a wonderful opportunity to meet new women."

Michael's mood changed instantly from despair to absolute cheerfulness, his gut roaring with laughter. Of all the stupid, dramatic, and over rehearsed things Darien had said in his life, that had to be the stupidest, most dramatic, and most of all, most over rehearsed. He said the same thing before every ball, and every time, he always found a girl whom he thought he liked, but then, less than five minutes later, he would be pushing her out of his sight, never seeing her again.

All except for Beryl. Darien had met her at a ball somewhere in Germany. He had hated her perhaps more than any other girl combined, but she was the one girl who kept popping into his life as much as she could. Just three days before, she had climbed up onto Darien's balcony and into his room, begging him to "take her back", as she said. Michael wasn't quite sure if that were an appropriate phrase to use when considering that Darien had done nothing but dance with her for a mere twenty seconds. He couldn't wait to see what she would do next.

"What do you think about the ball, Michael?" Bianca asked her youngest son curiously, tilting her head to one side.

Michael put on the largest—and fakest—smile that he had ever given to his mother, and muttered the words, "I can't wait."

End Note: Hi guys. Did you like this chapter? I'm sorry it's short, but I'm trying to make the chapters longer. I think that the next one will be because it will be from the point of view of more than one person. Anyway, I was able to get some important info into this chapter. Please remember to leave a review and comment on specific aspects of the story. Do you like the characters? Do you like Michael? What do you think his role in the story will lead to? What would you like to see him do? What did you find important in this chapter? Please comment on stuff like that, don't just put "good chapter" and leave it at that, or add this story to your favorites or alerts and don't tell me why.

Thanks,

Amélie