Serenity couldn't fall back to sleep. The rosy glow of dawn slipped in through the window panes as she hoisted herself off the down covers and pulled on her wrapper. She crept out of her bedroom. Most people would have ventured out for a glass of water or herbal tea—what the silver-haired princess needed was one (or a dozen) of cook's freshly-baked raspberry tarts.
As Serenity padded down the corridor she spotted a gossamer-thin thread the color of vermilion trailing across the marble floor. She bent to have a closer look and surmised that someone's crimson gown was slowly unraveling. She unhooked the thread from an infinitesimal nail in the wall and slowly followed it in the opposite direction she had been traveling. She followed the thread as it twisted through corridors, wove down the staircase and eventually entered the tower that housed her mother's throne room.
By now consumed by curiosity, Serenity followed the thread so intently that she didn't even notice the fine polished boot until she collided into it.
"Oh! I do apologize I was merely…" Her words lingered in the air as she caught the amused gaze of the boot's owner. His silver-flecked blue eyes studied hers and strands of unfamiliar black hair swung into his face as he bent down to her level.
"Not at all. I hadn't even noticed the lining of my cape was slowly becoming knitting thread."
Wide-eyed, she stuttered, "Y-yes. Your…highness?" she guessed taking in his raiment, though she certainly had never laid eyes on him before and could not guess from where he hailed.
He nodded. "Endymion—of Earth."
"Oh. I-I do ask you pardon. I was simply following this string, thinking it belonged to a courtier's gown. I couldn't sleep, you see and so I slipped out and…" She trailed off once more, a blush rising in her cheeks when she realized that she was babbling.
"No need to ask my pardon. And you, you are…?"
"Princess Serenity," she breathed, unconscious of the fact that she was winding the red thread around her finger now.
"I am honored." Without moving from his undignified squatting position, he grasped her fingers in his and kissed them along with the red string surrounding them. He looked up at her and smiled. As he did, she noticed that the corners of his eyes crinkling most attractively and his dark bangs swung over them, pieces of blue showing through.
Needless to say, Serenity forgot all about the raspberry tarts.