Ainako: Remember on the first chapter I said I initially wanted this to be a fluffy TokiMemo-ish fic? Yeah. I lied. From now on, only drama.
Really sorry for Dimande's fan for I will demonize him quite a lot.
"What did you say that makes him so impatient of leaving you?" Raye could have stabbed anyone to death just by her mockery. She was certainly not in a good mood today. Serena would have argued in other days but today was not one of those days. Her cheeks are still warm from before. But what does it mean, she didn't know. Was it the same furious feelings that flooded her senses when she first laid eyes on Endymion? Do all it takes for her to be swept off her feet was by a clear pair of eyes staring so deeply into hers until she felt like she was being swallowed up? Alex. Endymion. Why is my heart so throbbing just by remembering their names, their faces?
"Serena, you're making the horse dizzy if you kept pulling on the reins left and right for no reason. It might trip and send you flying again." Lita said over her shoulders. "Are you all right?" She added concernedly. Even bad temper Raye galloped to her side and reached to her forehead, feeling her temperature as if their liege is a mere toddler.
"You're not feverish, but your face is very crimson." Serena gently pushed Raye's hand aside, only to be replaced by Amy's from the other side. "Amy, is she alright to you?"
"Well. She didn't seem to have a temperature and her eyes are not bloodshot… I think she's just getting the bug. The worst kind." Every set of eyes turned to Amy, who was smiling very meaningfully. "The love bug." Serena could have her head blown up like a cannon right then and now.
Giggles echoed in the silent forest, even from Raye. Mina, however was strangely concerned. "From the young Lord Alex? Are you sure, Serena? I don't think he's a good choice. Your Lady Mother hadn't approved of him as one of your candidates."
"We've only met last night, how do you suppose am I to make a decision now?" Serena grimaced then hung her head to hide her face as if it was possible to hide it from her friends this close. "He… Alex is nice. I think I like…" Her, she almost said. She had innocent attractions on females before but somehow this time is entirely different. Alex is a woman, a very gentlemanly woman if that makes sense, and she might be falling in love with her. Gods in the heavens forgive her, she's really considering a way to make sure their marriage to happen without letting her Lady Mother, or the whole world, knows about it!
"No choice is to be done suddenly, Serena. I'm pretty sure you have a lot more time for him to court you properly… given the Queen have her say, that is. I don't want to sound harsh, but I don't think Her Majesty will allow it." Lita rested her hand on Serena's shoulder, patting it very assuring. "He is just a young Lord of no influences, and an heir to the throne deserved a lot more than a pretty young Lord." The rest of the girls voiced their agreements.
Slightly annoyed, she made a face and stuck her tongue at them before nudging her horse to speed up. They were still laughing behind her but Serena tried not to strain her ears to hear what. They didn't stop picking on her until she reached the palace's grounds again and left her horse to the stable boy. Her friends were calling her back but she didn't want to wait for them and went ahead. She was just about to go back to her study and relaxed until dinner but her luck ran out and there she was standing at the middle of the large main stairway, looking up to her Lady Mother. Judging from the cold stare, Serena was displeasing her yet again. She would have just acted innocent and babbling whatever excuses her brain can think of but her eyes saw another person standing right beside her Lady Mother. Dressed in a light lavender suit, Prince Dimande wore a grin that sends chill on the back of her arm. He was amused for some reason.
"I'm glad to see you up and well, Serenity. Now go ahead and get yourself groomed and join us for tea." There was only ice in that tone. Serena didn't get to say anything back but to curtsy her leave and tore her eyes away from the lingering gaze of the prince. Gods, my knees are shivering!
"You fell flat on your bottom in the forest, remember? That's why we were trying to get you back to your rooms through the servant's corridor." Mina urgently said and let out a sigh. "Sometimes I think you have the worst luck in all the land under the sun. Her Majesty was not too pleased seeing the Princess with grass stain on her skirt and dirt on her hair, didn't she?" For the second time that day, Serena became as red as a boiled lobster.
Adjusting her white dress with heavy lace decorations on the hems, she let out a nervous breath before lightly knocking on the oak doorframe to the Queen's sitting room. Usually she didn't need to ever knock to enter a room – servants are plentiful for that duty alone – but this is the Queen's sitting room and whatever unsaid rules regarding Royal blood should not have need to lift a finger for anything did not apply here. Supposedly any rank or status is ignored in the spacious room overlooking the palace's courtyard and a large fountain, but Serena certainly could feel the suffocating pressure of authority from her Lady Mother here just as everywhere else. And now she would have to face that along with the Prince of the Black Moon Kingdom.
Entering, she bid to her Lady Mother and the Prince who was sitting face to face with teacups filled with steaming tea in front of them. The Queen nodded and gestured her to sit on the same sofa the Prince Dimande was sitting on. She would have grimaced and sat elsewhere but instead she bit the inside of her cheeks and tried to gracefully sit while being stared at. She can't explain how this was any different to any formal gathering or banquet she had attended where just about every set of eyes were on her, but it was. A silent serving maid appeared at her side to gently push the porcelain cups to her and filled it. A little tray of sweet pastry was placed right within her reach but she thought better than to grab one and made it disappear into her mouth. The Queen Serenity the First was still judging her very closely. Like a hawk watching a rabbit to make a stumble before swooping in for the kill. It will happen soon, and the hawk waits patiently.
"Now that we've finally together, we should immediately get to business. Prince Dimande had asked for your hand of marriage." Her Lady Mother said in a monotonous tone, as if she was stating the current weather. Serena, however, was still biting her inner cheek and bit too hard. Metallic taste of blood filled her mouth before she swallowed them down. Prince Dimande was not moving a quiver of his lips but to her ears, she could have swear she heard him chuckled. Serena still dares not to look at him.
"But, Your Majesty, you promised…"
"I promised nothing, child. I said you will be in wedlock by a man of my choice by the end of Summer and with this, you will." She paused to lift the cup to her lips and sipped. "There is no better candidate to marry the Daughter-Heir to the White Moon than our own distant relative of a similarly great kingdom."
"Do I really have no say in this matter?" If this was any other day, Serena might as well gut her own belly than to express the injustice, but her lips had a life of its own. The words of Alex floated through her senses. Maybe the hawk is not a hawk. Maybe it's all just in her eyes to see her Lady Mother as a looming predator ready to strike. Being free is just a choice one needs to make. Her anger seethes under her breath.
"What else is there to say, my Princess? Like I said, your kingdom shall prosper with the union and my kingdom shall finally have an heir. It's a completely flaw free arrangement… unless of course," His grin made her skin crawl. The black upside-down crescent moon on his forehead looked like his third eye, staring her down like a cobra to a mouse. "You have promised to another?"
Serena would have told him the truth right and then – or elaborately lie, whichever works best – but her Lady Mother answered it on her behalf. She told him courting was still very new to her thus her skittish reaction. She emphasized on her purity and her naivety, her excellent upbringing and her innocent nature. Would her Lady Mother's head explode if she knew Serena no longer a virgin? Endymion took her first that warm night under the stars, the third time they met. They say one can tell of a girl's maidenhood just by the face but so far not even her four close friends ever suspected anything different.
"I think a ceremony should be held the day after tomorrow. The sooner the better, if the Gods in our favor. The Princess shall be exchanging oaths in the night of the full moon." As if Serena wasn't there! As if Serena was a diseased runt, and was sentenced a trip to the butcher to end her misery. The Queen's blue ice for eyes held no warmth. "I believe it is almost time for dinner. You may go now and get your head sorted out." Only that, and Serena doesn't exist anymore. They continued talking about how large the wedding would be and what color should the bride's dress should be.
Angry beyond words but Serena still managed to leave them be without a tantrum. She ran as soon as she was out of the room, as fast as her slippered feet can take her. Her eyes were hot and her head hurts. She cared not of the poor serving boy she slammed into and sent him toppled over the floor. She didn't give a mind when she hit the corners of a small decoration table with a large statue of the Queen. She heard the ominous sounds of it crashed to pieces yet she still ran.
I was a fool! She never listened to me!
You were a fool indeed.
Serena reached the little garden she liked to spend time at when things don't go her way. The voice inside her head was like a whispering demon. Yet it has her voice.
To think that I was ready to throw my heart aside just so she could decide things for me!
You were a fool. You should never have trusted anyone.
I hate her!
I hate her!
Being free is easy. You just have to take the chance of stepping outside the sanctuary of your nest and dared to spread your wings. Fly away.
Serena told her friends she didn't feel well that night when they came to prepare her for dinner. Her voice was still croaky after hours of crying to herself, cursing her destiny and her life. Amy thumbed her eyes and made her open her mouth to peer into, the way she always do to determine her liege's health. She was convinced.
"We will inform the Queen of your absence. Please, retire early today. You are much too stressed out. Sure you don't want to share your problems with us?"
Serena shook her head and kept staring into the fireplace. Tonight, she grimly swore to herself. As soon as they disappeared and shut the door, Serena waste no time to crouch under the bed and grab the small satchel of shifts, simple cotton blouse and skirt she demanded of a maid, and her comb. She held the ivory comb in her hand before breaking it in half and tossed it into the fire. That was a present from that woman she had to call her mother. Reaching under her pillows where a dagger would always be in case of an assault or any other reason. She unsheathed it and grabs hold of her long hair by the nape of her neck and cut them. The hair that was an imitation of that wretched woman fell on the floor. She stepped on them as if she was crushing her old pathetic life as a puppet. She wants nothing to do with her life as an obedient puppy anymore. Slipping into her riding boots, she saw the useless heirloom dangling from her neck. Pressing her lips together, she pulled it hard so the strings would snap and shove it into her satchel. That pathetic jewel might be useful if she could sell it someplace.
Counting to fifty before slipping out of her room, she made her pace slightly faster just to not raise any attention. Her knuckles were white from clutching the hilt of the dagger just in case someone ever questioned her. She was poised to stab any fool who dares to stop her now. With a pounding in her breast and a throb in her head, she walked under the shadows of flickering torch towards outside of the palace. No one foolish enough to pass her granted every able servant was now busy at the grand dinner. A guard did made a sound as he saw her but he squinted his eyes and then shook his head as if he had seen wrongly. Surely Serena was not looking like the Princess he knew. With her hair this short and the soot she lightly rubbed on her face to make herself like a maid retiring for the day.
As if all the luck in the world goes her way, she was out of the palace's ground and made her way towards the same trail she took earlier with Alex and her friends. A sharp pain hit her temples and she angrily pushed it down. Nothing should slow her down now. Not even a headache. Baring her teeth to suppress her emotions storming in her middle, she ran into the dark forest.
"The bunny is out of the cage." Dimande spared only a slightest attention to the blonde 'man' who whispered to his ear as he carefully knifed his meat. There was a tiny pause of hesitance before this Alex, or Alexandra as he was born with, continued. "But she took it along. I looked." Meaning he was clever enough to search the Princess' room before stating that fact. He stabbed the quail on his plate with a fork before cutting it down. Dimande hated any sort of change in his plan, but this fortunately does not jeopardize his initial sequence of event.
Waving him away, he pressed a smile towards the beautiful Queen sitting right across him. He raised his wine glass to his lips and sipped on the sweet liquid. Soon, the beautiful Queen will learn of his power. Soon, the entire White Moon Kingdom will be under his rule. And soon, the exquisite Princess will be in his hands and she will learn the full extent of his love for her pretty eyes. But most important of all, the Silver Crystal will be his.