Princess Serenity

Descriptions:

Beautiful, though not in a strictly traditional sense; awe-inspiring, though not in a physically powerful sense; serene, in every sense -- at least, she looks it. She is slim, of average build for a Lunarian, with aristocratically pale skin stretching over a cherubicly heart-shaped face, bow lips constantly quirked up at the corners in a faint smile; she exudes peace and tranquility. Large eyes, the deepest of deep blues, shift from sky to waves with every change in mood, and yellow-gold hair flows nearly to the floor in two deceptively neat ponytails which hang loose after being bound in matching buns on either side of her head. A perfect golden crescent moon, the points upward, is formed in the center of her forehead.
A flowing gown of pristinely white silk, the hem pooling around her ankles, does less to exhibit her station than her carriage does, though it doesn't hurt any -- short, puffed sleeves display the fine lines of her pale arms, and the neckline, rimmed in interlocking circles of gold embriodery, is low enough for modern fashion but demure enough for Court. Her adornments are simple -- beauty like hers needs few additions. Six perfect white pearls, three on either side of the central part of her hair, act as her crown jewels, and a small golden moon hangs from each ear.

(Incognito)

A tangled mess of dusty straw-colored hair adorns her head, the snarls and snags making it hard to perceive its exact length. Dirt appears smudged randomly over the surface of her skin -- her cheeks, her hands, obscuring the creamy pale coloring and smoothness that could never belong to someone of such low rank. Her eyes, when one can persuade her to show them for more than a moment or two, are never opened fully and constantly try to look away from searching gazes, though they do seem to be of unusually beautiful dark blue. She is not overly tall; in fact, she seems a bit on the short side, and skinny at that, uninspiring at first glance.
Her clothing is simple, worn, not uncommon attire for a poor peasant girl. An ankle-length skirt, patched with scraps of nearly matching color, is frayed at the hem, and shows signs that it will need to be mended again all too soon. An oversized tunic, perhaps a cast-off from some more wealthy soul, hangs around her shoulders. Where it might once have been white, it is now yellowed with age, in only slightly better shape than the skirt. Still, if one were to look closely enough, under the dirt and grime and ill-fitting rags, a person of true beauty and proud regality can be seen.

Background:

Serenity was born of Selenity, and so it's gone for thousands of years. She was born to a world of glittering jewels and aristocratic speeches, a place of magic and wealth and peace. She grew up under her mother's tuteledge, always conscious of the fact that she will learn from Selenity's wisdom and experience and eventually lead the Moon Kingdom to another generation of peaceful prosperity.
Not much of a background, is it? It's standard fare, really; every Heir of the Moon Kingdom has had the same kinds of training, of teaching, of classes. Legend has made every Selenity meld into one figure, all basically the same; wise, beautiful, stoic. Serenity, though -- /our/ Serenity, /this/ Serenity -- while collecting the same teachings that Serenities throughout millennia have aquired, doesn't seem to be quite melding with her mother, or with the legends.
Most of this is because of this odd thing about the Selene royal house. It goes from Selenity to Serenity and so forth, and has forever. But one thing remains curious about this Serenity. Who is her father? There's no King of the Moon; no Emperor. So, well, who is he? Only Selenity knows -- and she doesn't seem to be telling.
Princess Serenity spends a great deal of her time -- though she'd /never/ tell anyone this -- daydreaming about her father. See, /she/ doesn't even know, mostly because Selenity thought it wouldn't matter; the nations of the Silver Millennium are matriarchal, and the royal blood passed on from mother to daughter -- the father doesn't matter a bit. Not to her reckoning, anyway. Serenity, though... she'd /like/ to have one, or at least know something about him, so she whiles away the hours going through all the possibilities.
Perhaps he was a peasant farmer, breathtakingly handsome, who swept her mother off her feet. Perhaps a travelling musician who was forced to leave, or even -- gasp -- a /Terran/. Any number of possibilities, any number of dreams, all of which make this Serenity the way she is.
And what way is she, do you ask? She knows exactly what her station in life is, and, to be honest, she really doesn't care much for it -- mostly. She is very much an idealist, and her grandiose dreams for improving her Kingdom are, essentially, one of the few things that she considers worthwhile about the aristocracy as a whole. She's been trained in the Game of Houses since she was old enough to understand how to say one thing and think another. She uses the Game purely to gauge her opponents in Court, because she doesn't believe in 'winning' -- if people are going to follow her, they should follow /her/, not her skill in the Game.
She discovered, at a very young age, that the atmosphere of the Court was stifling. Being the Heir was one thing, but she wanted to be a /person/, too -- and she wanted to know about her people. If she was going to rule them, then she obviously needed to know who they were, what things they loved, what they believed in -- and she knew she'd never learn their true feelings as their Princess; by definition, she -- her blood, her name -- was loved, admired, respected, feared... and they would always act differently when she was watching.
She loves to wander the city in street clothes, sneaking away from her escorts whenever possible. She listens to the people, trying to seek out what makes them happiest, what makes their lives difficult -- because how is she to know what to do as their Queen when they fear the Blood of Selene too much to ever voice their protests? It doesn't matter that the Queen is loved and respected, and that she insists that her people can come to her with anything; the common folk will always fear the wrath of their ruler, even if there isn't any evidence of the wrath. People are always very conscious of the fact that their Queen can squash them like a bug -- it's not important that she /won't/; the fact is that she /can/.
Unfortunately, Serenity isn't as good at disguise as she'd like to be. No amount of dirt or tattered clothes can change the aura that her blood gives her, and no amount of stuttered speech or feigned shyness will marr her beauty or her aristocratic carriage. Traits that one is born with are difficult to unlearn. Still, her people love the fact that she /tries/ to learn about them from the ground up, and they appreciate the effort she goes to to try and become more like them than like the Court, so they humour her efforts -- sometimes.
Unfortunately, none of the Lunar courtiers seem to understand their Princess's need to mingle with the common populace; early in her teens, some of the lesser nobles even brought Serenity's trips to Selenity's attentions. "It's /dangerous/," they said. Selenity was inclined to agree; Serenity shouldn't ever be alone. The Queen brought this to her daughter's attention, and then the Princess was forced to do something she swore to never, ever do. She was forced to play the Game against her mother.
The true Serenity was deftly hidden -- even a telepathic talent like the Queen can be balked by a skilled player in the Game -- and a new, slightly lesser Serenity was put forth. "But /Mommy/," wailed the Princess, knowing that that particular maternal dimunitive was sure to catch Selenity's attention. "They're my /people/ and I /love/ them and I /want/ to be with them and they won't /talk/ to me if I'm with all my guards and /stuff/!" This more simplistic Serenity only had a child's dreams and a child's wishes -- and what mother could possibly say no to a child's innocent blue eyes? The excursions were deemed acceptable, the courtiers quieted, this round of the Game won.
After that, though, it started to become harder and harder to let the Real Serenity out -- people tended to expect the naive, childlike version of the Princess, and, as a master of the Game, Serenity gave it to them. All for the best, though: people tend to say a lot more around you when they assume that you're stupid.
Her dream remains the same -- she wants to make all of her people happy. A broad dream, a vague wish, the thoughts of an idealistic Princess who spends too much time reading philosophy and political science theory and tries to meld the two. But, lately, her dreams have become more narrow and simple: she wants to be /herself/. Her false front is useful, yes; easy to maintain, yes; frustrating, definately. No one knows who she really is, and her greatest, fondest wish, was to meet someone she can be /real/ with...

Logs:


'Iris,' By The Goo Goo Dolls

Back