CHAPTER FIVE

"What did you just say?" the Prince asked furiously.

"Serena! I said my name was Serena" she cried out, knowing that it was a lie.

Serenity. Endymion had not heard that name in many years. His father forbade him to speak of the Silver Millennium. Its fall at the hands of Black Luna had caused him great sadness and melancholy. Serenity had been the name of the Moon Princess. His former betrothed, who had been murdered by invaders more than ten years ago.

He stared deep into those pools of blue, framed by long, dark lashes, which somehow seemed to possess impossible depth - an ancient wisdom. Was this some kind of sick joke? Did she come here to play a trick on him? Or was she right? Had he really misheard her? He felt her whimper in pain beneath him. He had been gripping her slender arms with all of his strength, he realised with horror - and he threw himself away from her; but not before a hot tear splashed onto his outstretched wrist.

It's been a crazy day, and you're being a fucking prick, he thought to himself. You obviously misheard her, but now you've scared her out of her mind, made her cry… and probably bruised her. He shook his head in disgust at himself. Whoever she was, she wasn't too much older than his sister… she couldn't be more than 18, and he had hurt her. Making an effort to compose himself, he approached the shaking girl timidly. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

Serena stared up into his worried eyes, so much darker than her own, and nodded. She had no idea what had just happened. Why had she said her name was Serenity? And why had that made the Prince of the Earth so angry with her? Wiping her tears quickly away - she couldn't help it; she'd always been a bit of a cry baby - she made an attempt to compose herself. "I'm fine, really, thank you."

"I'm terribly sorry" he said apologetically. "I don't know what came over me… I thought you said something else… that you were someone else… Please forgive me." Serenity bowed her head. "There is nothing to forgive, your highness. Please accept my apology. I did not mean to anger you… I do not know much of the emotions of men" she confessed, face still facing the floor. Endymion smiled quizzically, his anger and confusion dissipating more quickly than should have been possible- and being replaced with curiosity. This girl was messing with his head. He put a finger under her chin to pull her face up towards his. "I would have thought," he began lightly, "that a woman in your… profession… would know quite a bit about the 'emotions of men'?" Serena blushed furiously, turning crimson. "I… my…" she stammered. "I'm from a different type of place. We girls are all… pure." She didn't have the vocabulary to explain herself better. Haruna had not prepared them to discuss the politics of prostitution with their clients.

"I see," Endymion said, pursing his lips. So this is what Rei had been talking about earlier. The selling of virgins was legal in Elysion, but many of the members of society who remembered when Earth was close to the Moon Kingdom opposed the practice. In the society of the Silver Millennium, purity was not sacred, but it was certainly not to be sold. Endymion now realised why Jadeite had felt he was giving him such a wonderful gift - the five girls would have cost him a great deal of money. "Come" he said, walking through the doors that led to his bed chamber. He sat down on the rich fur that lay casually at the foot of his bed. "Sit with me."

Serena advanced into the room, closing the double doors behind her as she had been taught. She then joined Endymion on the bed, turning her body towards him and trying to calm the thumping of her heart. She had never been shallow, but his face looked as though it had been carved by the Gods out of the stars. And the way he looked at her…

"I will be honest with you…" the Prince began. "Any other night…" his eyes roved over her body. "I would not hesitate to lay with you; to make you mine…. but tonight. I cannot tonight." Serena was confused. Completely baffled. "Is it something I…?" she began, lowering her gaze in shame. "Nothing you have done" Endymion whispered, giving in to the strange urge he felt to run his hand through her long silky hair. Serena shivered involuntarily as his nose grazed her jaw, inhaling her scent. He swore he had never smelled anything so divine. While before he had entered the room with her, confusion had prevented him from taking her then and there, now the only thing that held him back was pure, unrefined masochism. Not tonight. I do not deserve this.

"Where will you be tomorrow?" he asked absently, not realising the weight and true meaning of the question even as he felt her body go rigid beside him. He stroked through her hair again to soothe her, caressing a bare shoulder. "I do not know… I will be taken somewhere…" Serena replied uncertainly. "somewhere like the place you thought I came from, I should think." Once again, she shed a quiet tear for her fate. She usually reserved them for when the other girls in her room were sure to be asleep, and she was alone in the dark with her thoughts. Now here she was, sobbing all over the crown Prince of the planet! It was unacceptable! She made a move to stand up, to kneel before him and beg for forgiveness for her insolence, but before she could, she heard his voice, low and fast, speak out into the darkness of the room, lit only by moonlight. "No. I won't allow it."

"I'm sorry?" Serena responded, thoroughly confused and exhausted by the nights events. She was prevented from standing by his hand in her hair, his fist seizing a long lock, not hurting her, but securing her to his side.

She had known the experience would be painful - but she had not quite been expecting this. She barely knew this man, and though he was prepared to take her since she had been paid for, and though he had hurt her - she had never wanted so desperately to please someone before this moment. She hated that she had caused him displeasure. She never wanted to leave his side. She was getting ahead of her lowly self! - a voice inside her head chimed in.

"I won't allow you to go on from here. To there. To anywhere." The thought of her leaving him now cut him to the core. The pain was swift and sudden. He had only meant where in the palace would she be - but the reality of her position in life struck him like a blow to the chest. He did not know this girl, who she was, where she came from… but he felt bound to her by some strange energy, and he knew she felt it too, from the way she relaxed into even his harshest caress, and searched his eyes as though trying to see into his soul. Endymion stood up suddenly, releasing Serena and pacing the room.

It seemed like an age before he spoke again. "I will arrange a position for you, here at the palace." He looked toward her, to see her eyes widen in shock. "And…" he continued, thinking back to when they had first met. "For your yellow haired friend, too… I've never seen Kunzite look at a women that way before." he smirked. "Or, in any way… for that matter."

"There is one condition though, Serena," he said slowly, tasting her name upon his lips for the first time. Sweet. "Since I am giving you your freedom from this life, I expect one thing in return." Serena figured. As beautiful as Endymion was to her, the thought of an existence defined by love, not sex, was still what she wanted the most. She must have read too many Moon legends as a child, to have been born so romantic. Still, she would take what she could get. "I would like," the Prince continued, licking his lips. "A chance to …speak with you… in the evenings."

He clarified: "Just to talk. Nothing more. I swear." Serena couldn't believe her ears. It must be some kind of double entendre. Haruna had taught her about those. Still the promise of security, safety from the dark world of the brothel, was music to her ears. "Thank you, your highness. Words cannot express my gratitude - for both Minako, and I…" she breathed, feeling her heart swell with adoration for the strange and wonderful man that stood before her.

Endymion did not know why he had promised her this. He was the Prince of the Earth. He knew he wanted her… and he knew she, on a level she did not quite understand yet, wanted him - and he had always simply taken what he wanted. But that was before. Something in him felt this mode of their meeting was wrong; fundamentally flawed. They should have met on different terms… in another life, perhaps. Not like this. Not tonight. He didn't know if it was the thought of his lost betrothed, the girl the prophets had chosen for him; the guilt of the annual occasion; the alienation he had felt since he had returned from that last long war in the Arctic, but deep inside him, unexpectedly, and beggaring belief, he knew he didn't just want to fuck her. He wanted to know her …He maybe even wanted to love her.

But most of all, dare he think it; he wanted desperately, for her to love him, in return

[A/N: I know I haven't updated in a couple of weeks but hopefully the two super long chapters I did today make up for that? I hope you're all enjoying the story. Thank you for reading!]