Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters

Chapter 2: Conning the Cunning

Endymion stood leaning over on his balcony, fully dressed with a cup of a coffee in his hand. He was dressed in a formal outfit; a blazer with velvet lining, a button down vest, a silk ascot with a paisley black and silver pattern, and matching black slacks with shiny shoes. He shouldn't be eating or drinking anything in this get up, but he needed all the energy he could possibly muster when dealing with the Moon Kingdom residents who were arriving that day. The sun was surprisingly shining that day, maybe for the special appearance of the queen and princess. The weather had recently been cloudy, overcast, and very gloomy … maybe this was a sign for weeks and months to come?

Shrugging at that thought, he straightened his posture and downed the last bit of his coffee. He suddenly felt a slap on the back and some of the brown liquid jumped out of his mouth and dripped down to his vest. He opened up his arms and stared down at the stain before turning around to show it off to the culprit who was at fault. Nephrite winced at the stain and quickly buttoned up the jacket to cover it.

"There," he smiled. "All better. No one will notice."

Endymion rolled his eyes at his general and handed him his empty mug, "Well I don't have time to get changed, so I suppose it'll have to do…"

"You ready?" Kunzite asked from the inside.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Are you nervous?" Zoisite asked as Endymion and Nephrite walked back in to the bedroom.

"If I say yes, you'll say I'm a sissy. If I say no, you'll say I'm cocky," he answered. "So I'll just say … maybe."

Jadeite shook his head and gestured for everyone to follow him toward the door. They did as ordered and lined up on either side of the prince. They walked out of the room, Nephrite handed off the empty mug to a servant rushing by, and the five of them bounded down the stairs and strolled to the entrance of the palace. Endymion's heart started to pound as he heard other footsteps echo throughout the palace walls. He wondered if anyone could see that muscle vibrating within his chest at this point. Once the doors opened up he let his eyes drop down to the marble floor along with the rest of his body, kneeling on one knee. His generals followed suit as multiple heels strolled into the Golden Palace. They came to a halt and a few flighty giggles floated in the air.

"Please rise, Prince Endymion," a sultry voice asked.

He looked up at the woman who was flanked by a group of girls who must have been the Sailor Scouts. This wasn't the princess though; this was the queen. He pursed his thin lips in confusion as he and his guards stood back up to their feet.

He cleared his throat, "Ahem, good morning your majesty."

"Good morning," she smiled.

"I hope the travel here was to your satisfaction."

"Yes, quite."

The women behind her were still giggling and whispering to one another, making the queen sharply turn to them and say curtly, "Ladies, please!" They all straightened up and shut their mouths, each of them blushing a little bit as the queen continued to address the prince and his generals, "I'm pleased to be here in your presence, Prince Endymion."

He stretched his neck a little bit, searching behind her, "I can't help but notice that your daughter is missing from the group of women behind you."

"Yes she is," Queen Serenity nodded. "I had her escorted to her room in the palace earlier. You'll meet her tonight at the ball. A princess needs her rest before being presented to a whole world."

"You're absolutely right," he smiled. He gestured with an open palm for her to walk with him down the hallway, "My parents will be arriving tonight so you will have to wait yourself for a grand meeting."

"Ah, fighting fire with fire," she grinned.

"You could say that," he replied with a broad smirk cutting across his face. A servant in a black tuxedo with silk red lining approached them and bowed as Endymion declared, "This man will lead you to your chambers upstairs. I hope you enjoy your stay here. Please don't hesitate to call on anyone, myself included, for anything you need. We're all here to make your stay comfortable."

The queen nodded and responded, "Thank you. You're too kind."

She turned around with the four women following her. Lita and Mina looked over their shoulders quickly, trying to soak in the details of the prince and his generals to tell the princess what they looked like. The prince kept his chest puffed up a little bit as they walked down the hallway and into the smoking room. Once the door was closed, he relaxed and removed his jacket from his body. He plopped down onto a couch and leaned his head against a closed fist.

"Well let's hope the princess looks something like the queen," Nephrite chortled.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Endymion replied.

There was a knock at the door causing all of them to tense up. Kunzite answered it and found a servant asking for his presence in his office.

"And who is requesting me?" he asked.

"Lady Mina, Princess of the planet Venus and leader of the guardian scouts."

He glanced back at his friends before leaving the room. He swiftly made it into his office and was stunned at the sight in front of him; a tall, slender blonde girl with her thick locks cascading down to the small of her back. However, when she turned around, her facial expression wasn't the same as he saw that morning. She looked irritated by something.

Pointing to the messed up painting that was still resting in front of his desk, she asked, "What is this doing in here? And why is it ruined? We specifically sent it to Prince Endymion, not you."

"We were all admiring it last night," he answered with a cock of his head. He folded his hands behind his back and continued, "Things got a little out of hand and someone spilled their drink on it by accident. I can call for a royal artist to fix it if it upsets you so much."

She shook her head, "No. We can just have a new one made. It didn't do her justice anyways."

"Oh?"

"She's much more beautiful than any picture can express." He gave a short nod to her and then walked around to sit at his desk. Mina crossed her arms over her chest, "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, it's not that—"

"You'll see. Tonight she will take your breath away."

"I've heard … rumors," he murmured slowly, regretting that the words had fallen from his lips at all.

"Have you now? Please go on," she prompted curiously as she pulled a chair up to the desk.

"It's nothing. Silly really."

"No. Explain," she demanded.

He stared at her for a moment before answering her request, "Well, there has been a lot of gossip about her personality. People suspect she is a brat."

"They suspect correctly."

Kunzite was shocked by the response and let it show on his face with his jaw dropped, "I-I'm sorry?"

"All young royalty is spoiled," she shrugged. "I'm guilty of it myself as are any of the other scouts. We've been raised in a privileged life. We're not ashamed of it."

He closed his mouth, but left the surprise swimming in his eyes as she turned around and left him alone in his office. Kunzite leaned back in his chair, placed a finger on his lips and wondered what the night would have in store with these intriguing maidens. They obviously didn't care to hide their opinions like most women he met in royal circles. He was finally excited about a ball.

"So the prince was attractive?" Serenity asked as she put her clothes away in a drawer in her room.

The remaining scouts sat on her bed, watching her unpack and didn't bother to help. They were all staring off into space thinking about the men they saw and were creating scenarios in their heads. Rei was the first one to snap out of it followed by Ami, but Lita stayed lying on her back, gawking up at the ceiling.

"Um, yeah he was handsome," Rei shrugged as she hopped down from the bed to help Serenity put her garments away.

"He had black hair, nice light blue eyes," Ami concluded, joining the two on the carpet.

"I thought they were grey," Rei replied.

She shook her head, "No they had to have been blue."

"You're both right," Mina said as she entered the room. "The prince has been known for having eyes that change with his emotions."

Serenity scoffed at the comment, "Oh please! That's just some gossip spread around to make him seem more illusive and mysterious!"

"You'll get to get to see for yourself tonight Serenity," the blonde said as she sat down on the bed. She looked at Lita over her shoulder and snapped her fingers in her face, "You okay?"

She blinked a couple of times before saying, "Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking about the ball tonight."

"Should be exciting," Ami beamed. Her blue eyes traveled down to see how Serenity was throwing her clothes into the drawer. She slapped the princess's hand, started to show her how to properly fold and explained, "Otherwise you'll get wrinkles in your clothes."

"You know they ruined that painting we sent over," Mina stated.

"The one that took hours?!" Serenity complained.

"Yup. Kunzite told me it was an accident," she replied.

"Which one is Kunzite?" Lita asked.

"The one with long silver hair."

"Ah."

"It was strange," Mina mused, "the painting was in his office. It was supposed to be for the prince."

"I bet you they were all looking at it in anticipation for the princess's arrival," Rei replied.

"What do you mean?" Serenity asked as she started to fold her clothes the way Ami instructed her to.

"They were probably examining you," she reiterated.

"Like a piece of meat?!" she exclaimed.

"Well what did you expect?" the raven haired scout said. "They're men! They want perfection. They were probably nitpicking at any flaws they could find."

"Kunzite did say there were rumors going around about you," Mina poked in.

"What rumors?!" Serenity asked as she jumped to her feet quickly.

"That you're spoiled … a brat I think is what he said."

"Well they got that right," Rei said under her breath.

"Why do you care so much?" Lita asked as she rolled over onto her stomach. "These men are speculating just like we are. I don't see the big deal."

"The big deal is that they're speculating about me!"

She spun around on the ball of her foot and stormed out of the room. The scouts simply sighed in unison as they let their princess go off on her own. If she got lost or was in trouble, there were enough servants running around the palace to help her along if need be.

Endymion sat at his desk with his feet propped up on top and his weight leaning against the two back legs. His hands held the back of his head as he wondered about the night's future events. Would he be forced to dance with Serenity? Probably. His parents would be arriving with in the next few hours to give him a talking to about how to handle the princess. This girl no doubt would be receiving the same conversation from her mother. Everything would be handled with the utmost care and all of the steps would be carefully laid out so that things went according to the plan. That plan being to build an alliance between the two largest kingdoms in the galaxy.

As he sat back and thought about all of this, his ears pricked at the sound rustling outside his door. He tipped his chair back into position and listened carefully for who or what might be outside. Endymion stood up to his feet and slowly walked over to his door, pulling it open swiftly. He knitted his brow; no one was there. He kept standing at the doorway for a moment longer, shoving his hands into his pockets. A sweet smell of some sort wafted into his noise, letting him know that he wasn't crazy and that someone had been there.

"Come out, come out wherever you are," Endymion said gently.

From around the corner, he first saw a bare foot that was callused, looked like it had been through more than most and it slowly led up a slender leg quickly covered by a long white dress. His eyes slithered up the curving hips, flat stomach, supple breasts, and then landed on a beautiful heart shaped face with bright pink lips, blushing cheeks, and big blue eyes. He gasped when he noticed the crescent moon on her forehead and finally took in the hair style that was iconic to the Moon Kingdom. This was…

"Princess Serenity?"

"Who wants to know?" she replied cattily.

She had no idea who he was! This was excellent! He did his best to keep his excitement off of his face.

"Ah, madam, I am the head servant of the castle," he answered hastily, bowing to her immediately like he had seen many times done before him.

The young girl tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy and asked, "Head servant?"

"Yes madam. Thus why I'm wearing such proper attire," he explained as he climbed back up to his feet and gestured to his clothing.

She narrowed her gaze at him, "There's a stain on your vest."

"You startled me in my quarters!" he replied. "I spilled coffee on myself."

"I see…"

She arched an eyebrow at him, making him wonder if she was going to buy it.

"Take me back to my chambers," she ordered.

"I'm sorry miss?"

"I'm lost."

"Ah … well, alright then. Let's get you back, shall we?"

He guided the way back down the hall with her, leading her toward a set of stairs. Before they hit the staircase though, she took a few quick steps ahead of him and started to walk backwards so she could stare his face. Her gaze rattled his insides; it was like she was seeing straight through him. He had heard tales of her mother being able to do that, but never her.

"Your eyes change color," she murmured.

"Your majesty?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

The two walked in silence together for a minute or so before reaching a pair of double doors. She pushed open one of them and turned around to face him with a smile on her face.

"See you later tonight … Endymion," Serenity winked.

His eyes popped open in amazement and he stuttered, "B-but how did you—"

"You're not that clever! Please!" she giggled before shutting the door in his face.

Looks like he had met his match. He would get her back … sooner rather than later. It was a battle of wits.

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