CHAPTER THREE
Prince Endymion sat bolt upright in bed, his keen hearing picking up the sound of lowered voices and shattering glass in the adjoining room. Were these intruders? Experiences in battle had taught Endymion to expect the worst, and his position as heir to the planet had taught him that his expectations were usually right. Pulling on his trousers and unsheathing his sword, Endymion crept towards the large double doors at the end of the room and cautiously turned the handle, prepared to strike whoever was on the other side. "Hey! Hey! Watch where you point that thing!" exclaimed the man who had just narrowly avoided being flayed alive. The alcohol on his breath hit Endymion like a tidal wave. "Jadeite," Endymion breathed. "What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?"
The sound of three other men laughing heartily at his words drew Endymion's attention. "You can put that down now" Kunzite stated wryly, raising an eyebrow at the still-tensed prince. "We're not here to rob you of your virtue." he added, smirking. Endymion rolled his eyes, throwing his sword aside. Zoisite was attending to the broken crystal tumbler that had alerted the prince to their presence, while Nephrite was pouring him a stiff drink. "The question still stands. What the hell are you all doing here?" Endymion asked good-naturedly, accepting the drink and downing it in one go. If anyone else had broken into his quarters like this, Endymion would have had them put up in the stocks and perhaps flogged. Unfortunately for him, his four generals had enough dirt on him to ensure his graceful co-operation in their continued debauchery… not that the prince ever excluded himself from the various sticky situations his friends thrived on getting themselves into. More often than not, he was the instigator. His sedate and serious sister Rei deemed the behaviour "un-princely". Endymion agreed in principle, but in reality, he didn't really give a shit.
"What do you mean?" Jadeite spoke up, his characteristic grin plastered across his face. "Todays the day! Tonight's the night! It's your birthday!" Endymion grimaced. He hated his birthday, and always had, ever since he was a child. On his eighth birthday, he had been recklessly horse riding when his steed had accidentally trampled a six year old boy from a nearby village. The incident haunted him daily; when he would see the twin brother of the dead child at work as a butler in the palace, possessing the same sandy blonde hair and brown eyes that haunted him in his dreams. The anniversary made everything worse. "Twenty two" Kunzite said, meeting his eyes. "Practically ancient" the older man continued, with a twitch of his lip. He knew Endymion loathed his birthdays, and he was the only one of the generals who knew why. The incident, had, of course, been kept quiet. "Pour our little royal highness another one, Nephrite."
"Better make that a round, Nephrite" Zoisite said. He was more reserved than the other two men his age, and he definitely needed to catch up. "Just you wait" Jadeite chided Endymion, throwing his arm around the other mans shoulders. "Wait to see what I have planned for you."
"You know I don't like surprises, General Jadeite" Endymion warned. Jadeite smirked. "Trust me - I know what you like."
[A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! I wanted to make the dynamic between the five men a little bit fun since the rest of the story started out so serious. I hope I succeeded! With any luck I will be putting up a couple of new chapters tomorrow, since I'll be away all weekend. Thanks for reading!