Heart of Silver, Soul of Glass
By Stormlight
Chapter Four
"I just don’t understand it!" Rei grumbled as she paced back and forth in the
library. "That plan was foolproof! How could he have not been affected by the
serpent? He hates snakes!" She turned on Serena, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Are you certain you didn’t wake him up at all? I mean…you didn’t make any
noise?"
Serena shrugged weakly. "He seemed asleep enough to me when I saw him last,"
she muttered, willing her face to remain its normal color as the kiss once
again played over in her mind. He had been asleep for that whole
ordeal…hadn’t he? Of course he was! she told herself angrily. If he’d been
awake, he would have been trying to kill me, not seduce me! He’d be throwing
me in a dungeon right now, or tying me to a stake while he set it on fire,
or…or…anything but kissing me!
"Serena…are you okay? You seem a little distracted," Miaka noticed, poking
her sister in the arm.
Serena jumped in response. "I’m fine!" she nearly yelped. Then, more calmly,
"Just a little tired yet, I guess."
"I still want to know how Endy knew that snake was there!" Rei growled,
pushing her long braid over her shoulder.
"Why don’t you ask him?" Miaka asked, pointing to the doorway where Hotohori
and Endymion were just walking in, followed by Mitsukake and Tamahome.
Endymion was carrying the snake.
Serena tried her hardest not to blush and kept her eyes trained on the book
in front of her, not really noticing or caring that it was closed. How am I
supposed to look at him without acting strange? she thought in a panic. He’ll
know for sure that his "dream" was real if I can’t act normal… But how could
she act normal after last night?! Her head sank down until it rested on the
book. She should have claimed to be sick. Sure, Mama would force her to stay
in bed all day, and force some of that nasty medicine Luna concocted from
who-knew-what down her throat, but anything was better than being in the same
room with the only man who had ever kissed her…and didn’t even know it!
There was a thump, and Serena jerked her head up, only to be confronted with
the gaping mouth of the serpent only an inch from her face. She squawked and
lunged backward in her chair, tipping it over in the process, and might have
hit the floor had somebody not been there to block her fall. Blinking, she
looked up to see Endymion’s smirking, upside-down head hovering over her.
"Are one of you ladies missing something?" he asked smoothly.
"No," Rei replied smoothly, not missing a beat. "Why? Have you found
something you think belongs to us?"
Serena had to hand it to her; the girl certainly knew how to lie with a
straight face when she needed to.
"Well," Endymion replied smoothly, smiling grimly, "I was rather curious to
know how this rather dead serpent might have found its way into my bedchamber
last night. It wasn’t quite the most pleasant thing to wake up to, you know."
A spark of interest ignited Rei’s eyes. "Really?" she asked, keeping her
voice even.
"Yes," he replied through his teeth. "It’s a very good thing I’ve outgrown my
childhood fear of serpents, otherwise it might have caused quite a scene this
morning."
"Yes, that is a good thing," Rei muttered, beginning to look distinctly
uncomfortable. She shifted in her chair. "Well, it isn’t my snake, so you
might as well put it in the study or something. You know how Father likes to
collect dead animals." She wrinkled her nose in distaste.
Endymion narrowed his eyes at her before he lifted the snake and tossed it to
Tamahome, who was grinning from ear to ear. "Can you ask one of the guards to
get rid of that?" he suggested.
"Sure thing!" Tamahome replied. He caught Miaka’s eye and gave her a wink and
a flirtatious smile, making her blink in surprise and blush a little, before
trotting out the door with snake in hand. Miaka watched him go, looking a
little bewildered, before shaking her head slightly and turning her attention
to her books. Serena, having seen the whole thing, nudged her in the side and
whispered something in her ear that caused her to blush even harder and
giggle, shaking her head vigorously.
Neither one of them noticed that Hotohori watching Miaka with slightly-
narrowed eyes, looking back and forth between her and the door.
"Master Artemis isn’t coming today," Mitsukake announced. "He and Luna went
into town together, so he declared it a free day."
This caused excited squeals to erupt from the three girls as they leaped to
their feet. "We can go swimming in the river!" Serena squealed.
"It’s still too cold for swimming!" Miaka replied with a shiver. "Let’s go
riding, instead!"
"I know! We can pack food and go on a picnic," Rei suggested brightly. "The
meadow is filled with flowers! It’ll be beautiful! And we can ask Ikuko to
come along as an escort."
"Oh, yes! Mama hasn’t come on a picnic for awhile," Miaka replied, gathering
her books. "She’ll be glad to go!"
"Is this picnic only for ladies," Hotohori asked suddenly, "or may we royal
men join in, as well?"
Serena froze, glancing at Endymion. She certainly didn’t mind if Hotohori
came along…but Endymion was another story.
"You can come," Rei exclaimed carelessly, "so long as you bring your share of
the food."
"That sounds fair enough," Hotohori replied with a smile. He looked at Miaka
and smiled. "Shall I come with you? We can stop in at the kitchens on the
way. It might be easier to convince them to give you extra food if I’m
along."
She blinked at him. "If you want to," she replied, "although it isn’t really
necessary." Instead of replying, he held out his arm cordially, and she took
it with a grin and allowed him to escort her from the room.
"You two bring the meat and bread," Rei called after them. Then, turning to
Serena, who was gathering her books, she added, "See if you can get ahold of
some fresh milk. I’ll talk the chef into giving me some sweet cakes for our
dessert." She glanced at her brother. "And what will you bring?"
Endymion stood and gave her a small, mysterious smile as he started out of
the room. "I’ll bring some strawberries," he replied innocently. "A picnic
isn’t a picnic without fresh strawberries."
He seemed not to notice the rather loud racket of several books being dropped
on the floor as he reached the doorway. Almost as an afterthought, he turned
and called back over his shoulder, "I wonder if we have any that were picked
last night. I hear they taste better that way."
And then he was gone.
~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@
"Mama?" Miaka called as she skipped in the door of their small apartment.
"Are you here, Mama?" There was no answer, and she pursed her lips. "She must
be with Her Majesty," she murmured thoughtfully. In the past year, as Rei was
now too old for a nursemaid, Ikuko had been given the job as the queen’s
personal lady-in-waiting. Not only because she had served the royal family so
faithfully through the years, but also because, over those years, she and
Julietta had become rather close friends. Miaka shrugged after a moment and
turned to look at Hotohori, who stood just inside the door. "You can come in,
you know," she told him. "I’ll just be minute."
He nodded and stepped further into the room, sitting gingerly in a chair as
his curious eyes took in his surroundings. "You’ve lived in this same
apartment all your life?" he questioned quietly.
"Yup," Miaka replied, reaching into the cabinet for some cloth napkins and
plates. She cast him a curious glance. "You’ve been in here before," she
added with a grin. "Did you forget?"
"No, of course not. It’s just…I can never get over how…small it is," he
replied, grimacing.
She broke into riotous laughter at that. "It may not be your royal chambers,
but it’s home," she managed between her giggles. "It’s just the right size
for me and Serena and Mama, and we’ve never had any complaints before!"
"But surely…for as long as you’ve served my family, surely my parents might
have given you more spacious quarters!" Hotohori protested. He seemed truly
upset by it, and she stopped her laughter to regard him.
"Don’t worry, Hotohori," she replied gently. "When Mama became Her Majesty’s
lady-in-waiting, she was offered a few large rooms inside the palace, so that
she could be closer and not have to walk up all those stairs to the queen’s
chambers. One of those rooms was larger than this whole apartment combined!"
She paused to giggle, then continued, "But she refused, after talking it over
with Serena and I, because this place is our home. It’s been my home all
fifteen years of my life, and Serena’s for all thirteen and a half years of
hers, and it holds all of our memories. It’s been Mama’s home ever since she
came to the castle and met my father, too, and I guess she didn’t want to
give that up." Her eyes took on a dream-like cast. "She really loved my
father, and she told me all about him, so even though I don’t remember him, I
still feel like I know him. She misses him so terribly though." She sighed
and began placing the napkins and plates in a wicker basket.
"Do you miss him?" Hotohori questioned softly.
"I don’t know," she murmured. "I think what I miss more is never having had a
father than my father himself. But then, sometimes when I think about it, I
don’t really care. I mean, you can’t really miss what you never knew." She
paused and blinked, then looked at him, aghast. "I…that must have sounded
awful of me right then…" she stammered, a faint blush staining her cheeks.
"Don’t worry. I understand," Hotohori replied gently, giving her an
encouraging smile. Miaka had never opened up like that to him before,
probably because of who he was, but right then, she seemed to have forgotten
that it was the prince she was speaking to. He found himself hoping that she
wouldn’t remember anytime soon.
"Let’s see…" Miaka was saying thoughtfully, absently worrying a thumbnail.
"We need bread and meat. We can get that from the kitchen, and we can get
some fresh vegetables from the gardens, too. Oh, and cups! Can’t drink milk
without cups!" She reached to the top shelf, where a row of glasses sat
shining in the sunlight that streamed in the open door. Straining, she
reached up, and her fingertips managed to just touch the closest one. She
sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, looking around for the
footstool she normally had to stand on. Before she could drag it over,
though, an arm reached past her line of vision and easily grabbed two of the
glasses. She blinked up at Hotohori in surprise, then smiled. "Thank you."
Sheepishly, she added, "Maybe one day I’ll actually be tall enough to reach
that shelf!"
"There’s nothing wrong with your size now," he replied, patting her on the
head playfully.
She laughed and ducked away. "Well, no…I guess not. Unless I’m trying to
reach that shelf! Sometimes I wish I could just hurry and grow up."
"Being an adult isn’t a grand thing," Hotohori replied wisely, smiling
slightly, and when Miaka snorted, he added amusedly, "Don’t doubt me! I speak
from experience! We grownups have responsibilities that children don’t have."
"Such as?" Miaka challenged, fisting her hands on her hips and looking him in
the eye playfully.
He grinned to see her in such a rare, playful mood. "Such as work," he stated
seriously.
She rolled her eyes. "Only a pampered prince would think that children didn’t
have to do any work," she retorted, but the light in her eyes and her teasing
grin let him know that she wasn’t seriously complaining. "It so happens that
Serena and I have had to do a lot of work all our lives! Aside from studying,
we also have chores to do!"
"Chores?" Hotohori looked as though the very concept was foreign to him,
sending her into a fit of giggles.
"Yes, chores! In the morning—the very early morning, might I add—Miaka and I
help to feed and water all those horses in the stables," she told him,
ticking off points on her fingers. "Then we help Mama set the table and make
breakfast. After we eat, Mama goes to Her Majesty to help her prepare for the
day, while my sister and I make sure the dishes are washed and beds are made
and everything is put where it belongs. After that, in the spring and
summer—unless we’re lucky enough to escape it—we usually get pulled aside by
one of the cooks to help weed the vegetable gardens and pick ripe vegetables,
and then we come back to get cleaned up and go to our studies."
"I see," Hotohori said in a serious voice, rubbing his chin and leaning back
against the wall. "This is all very interesting. Do go on." His golden-brown
eyes sparkled mischievously at her, and she held back a giggle. It wasn’t
often that she felt brave enough to banter with the prince, but she was
beginning to see why Serena seemed to enjoy goading Endymion so much.
"Well," she continued seriously, "when studies are over, we have time to eat
lunch, and then we have the afternoon to play, if we want."
"Ah-ha!" Hotohori exclaimed triumphantly, pointing a finger at her. "You see?
You have time to play! Grownups usually don’t have time to play!"
"Oh, stop it," she laughed, swatting his hand away. "You have plenty of time
to play! I always see you and Endymion sword fighting in the courtyard or
riding like madmen through the meadows, and you seem to enjoy that well
enough!"
"That’s different," he sniffed, crossing his arms and sticking his nose in
the air. "That’s for training, a skill required by all princes and future
soldiers to be learned."
She rolled her eyes and bit back a smile. "If you say so."
"Anyway, what happens next?" he continued, cocking his head at her. "More
chores?" He was teasing her, she could tell, but he did seem to be genuinely
interested. Why that was, she couldn’t begin to figure out, but she decided
to humor him.
"Well…we go to Rei’s chambers then for lessons on proper etiquette," she
replied, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Mistress Haruna is quite the task-
master on that, and Rei hates it because she already knows how she should
behave."
"But you and Serena don’t?" Hotohori asked innocently.
"Of course we do!" she huffed, pretending indignation. "We had to learn
everything Rei did, only she has a chance to practice it more than we do.
Like dancing!"
"But you’re an excellent dancer, Miaka. You don’t need to practice," Hotohori
reminded her, smiling a little.
"According to Mistress Haruna, Serena and I have the combined coordination of
a day old calf and a newborn ostrich," Miaka sniffed. "She doesn’t say such
insulting things to Rei, of course, mostly because she knows Rei won’t
hesitate to throw her out the nearest window if she did!" She grinned at
that, and Hotohori smiled and nodded his understanding. He knew very well how
his sister could be.
"It seems that you have a very full life, after all," he told her. "Perhaps I
was mistaken."
"I know you were!" she chirped, flipping her braid back over her shoulder.
"At least grownups—especially princes—can do what they want, and don’t have
people bossing them around all the time. Well, except for the people they
work for," she amended.
"Only a pampered peasant would think that we princes didn’t do any work,"
Hotohori replied, tossing her earlier words back in her face. "All my life,
I’ve done nothing but what other people have told me to do. Endymion’s and my
situations are much like Rei’s. We are told what to do, how to dress, where
to go… We had to take etiquette lessons, as well, you know."
"Really?" She tossed him an impish glance out of the corner of her eye. "I
never would have guessed," she drawled.
He stared at her in surprise before allowing a quick laugh to escape. "I’m
beginning to see where Serena gets her charm from," he told her, shaking his
head. "You have quite the sharp tongue on you."
Her face paled slightly and she turned to look at him fully, her eyes wide.
"I-I’m sorry, Your Highness," she stammered. "I…I forgot my place." She
lowered her head shamefully, cringing a little.
Wonderful. Now you’ve gone and frightened her, you dolt, he scolded himself.
He reached out to hook his fingers under her chin and raise her face to his.
"Miaka," he told her soothingly, "don’t be afraid of me, please? I’m not
angry with you. Honestly!"
"But I shouldn’t have said things like that," she replied. "You’re the
prince!"
"But I know you were only teasing. I won’t take them to heart, and please
don’t take my teasing to heart, either. You ought to know I would never hurt
you. I rather was enjoying myself just now."
"You were?"
"Yes." He smiled and withdrew his hand. "The one drawback of being born to
royalty is that everybody treats you as though you’re going to bite them if
they say one thing wrong," he explained, a bit sadly. "It makes it very hard
to get close to anybody, and friendships are hard to come by." He sighed. "I
envy the relationship you and Serena share with my sister. You are as close
to each other as blood sisters, and you never hesitate to treat her as such.
You never hesitate to argue with her, or to tease her, or…well, just the
other day, I witnessed Serena giving Rei a whack across the head!" He
chuckled ruefully. "Most people would not dare to lay a hand on a royal
highness like that without fear of retribution. But Rei merely smacked her
back, and then they laughed and continued doing whatever it was they were
doing."
"Serena doesn’t really know how to control her temper all that well. Her
fights with Endymion are proof enough of that," Miaka said with a small grin.
"And perhaps that is why my brother is so fascinated with her," Hotohori
replied, allowing a small, sly smile to cross his face. "Nobody else ever has
the courage to stand up to the crown prince like that, even when he sometimes
deserves it. To get such opposition from one small slip of a girl must be
awfully refreshing to him, after getting nothing but groveling from grown
men."
"Are you saying he likes arguing with Serena?" Miaka exclaimed, her mouth
dropping open in surprise.
"Why else do you think he would have put up with it all these years? Not only
that, but you must admit that he’s even encouraged it, many times."
"That’s true. I…I never really thought about it," Miaka said wonderingly. "I
mean…I’m always so worried that Serena’s going to get herself into trouble
with him…but he never has done anything to her for it, has he?"
"And doubtful he ever will," Hotohori replied. "In fact…it would not surprise
me to discover that Endymion has quite another reason for treating Serena the
way he does."
"You mean other than imminent dislike?" Miaka said drolly.
"Perhaps quite the opposite," he chuckled. "Watch them together sometime, and
see if I’m right. There is always something more than words that fly back and
forth between the two of them, and lately it seems more tense than ever."
"I had noticed…that Serena doesn’t seem to like goading him as much as she
used to," Miaka murmured thoughtfully. "In fact…things have been changed
between them ever since Rei’s Masque last year." She groaned and thumped her
head on the table. "Ohhh…I would give anything to know what went on during
their dance, when they disappeared for awhile!" she bemoaned. "Serena won’t
talk about it at all, and Rei’s given up trying to pry it out of Endymion!"
Hotohori chuckled. "Perhaps some things are meant to be a mystery," he
replied.
She sniffed. "Well, you’re no help!"
Hotohori laughed outright at that and reached over to tweak one of her
braids. "Perhaps we should continue this discussion on the way to the
kitchen?" he suggested. "The others are probably waiting for us."
"Oh! I forgot!" she gasped, standing abruptly. Grabbing the basket, she
followed Hotohori out the door, closing it behind her. As she turned to head
to the kitchen, though, she saw Ikuko walking slowly toward them, grimacing
as though she was in pain. "Mama!" Miaka gasped, hurrying to her. "Mama, are
you all right?"
"Oh, hello, Miaka, Your Highness," Ikuko murmured, smiling a little. "Don’t
worry about me, Daughter. It’s just a headache, so Her Majesty insisted I
come back to rest for awhile."
Miaka frowned. "Master Artemis isn’t here, so we were all going on a
picnic—the Royal Highnesses and Serena and I—and I was coming to ask you to
come along. But if you aren’t feeling well, maybe I should stay and look
after you?"
"Oh, don’t be silly. It’s a beautiful day outside, and you should enjoy it.
Go on to your picnic. I just need a nap, is all. Don’t worry!"
"But…"
"No buts, Miaka. Now shoo! You wouldn’t want to keep everyone waiting," Ikuko
insisted. "I’ll be fine once I sleep a little." She patted Miaka on the cheek
and went inside the house. Miaka watched her, her green eyes filled with
worry, and might have started after her but for Hotohori’s hand coming to
rest gently on her shoulder.
"Do not worry," he said softly. "I’ll ask someone to have Luna look in on her
when she returns, if it will make you feel better."
"Oh, would you?" Miaka replied in relief. "I’d feel so much better…"
"Consider it done," he said, smiling down at her. Placing a hand against her
back, while she tried her hardest to ignore the odd fluttering in her stomach
his touch caused, he led her down toward the kitchens.
~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@
Serena sat under the shade of a sprawling oak tree, carefully stitching
delicate rose blossoms into the border of a beautiful shawl of pale yellow
silk. Rei had given it to her, and as it was going to be a gift for her
mother, she wanted every stitch to be perfect. Unfortunately, her skills at
embroidery had never been very good, so she found herself having to pause
often to take out some of the stitches she had just made. It was boring,
tedious work, but Serena was a very stubborn, determined person, and she
refused to allow the joyful laughter of her friends to distract her.
She felt Endymion’s presence long before she actually saw him, and studiously
ignored him, hoping that he would take the hint and go away. But he didn’t go
away. He stood just inside her line of vision and said nothing, as though he
was waiting for her to acknowledge his presence, which of course she wasn’t
about to do. She continued to stitch the shawl with pale pink, silken thread,
and tried to ignore the feel of her heart pounding in her throat, and his
eyes boring holes into the side of her head. Finally, just when she thought
she might scream, he moved to seat himself across from her, easing his tall
frame gracefully onto the woolen blanket.
Maybe now would be a good time to go pick some flowers, Serena thought
nervously, carefully setting aside her work.
Endymion held a small bowl in his hand, and now he shot her sly glance and
held it out to her. "Would you care for one?" he offered pleasantly. She
glanced up despite herself and immediately froze, feeling all the blood
rushing from her face, and heat infusing her body. Willing her hand not to
tremble, she stubbornly reached out and plucked one of the fresh, ripe
strawberries from the bowl, putting it to her lips and biting into it, well
aware of an intense, dark gaze fixed on her the entire time. But she refused,
absolutely refused, to allow herself to be shaken by this pigheaded,
arrogant, snob of a man!
"Now these are, of course, your everyday strawberries," Endymion continued
amiably, although laughter was evident in her voice, "not those special ones
that are picked at night, so I don’t know if they’ll taste…"
Serena had had enough.
"Oh, all right!" she suddenly yelled, snapping her head around to fix him
with a fierce glare. "Stop with your stupid games already! I know you were
awake last night! I know you know that I was in your room!"
He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, saying nothing.
"Look, I’m very sorry I let Rei convince me to play that nasty joke on
you—Believe me, I am!—but there’s nothing I can do about it now! It’s over
and done with! But believe you me, if I ever let anyone talk me into doing
something that crazy again I’ll throw myself into the river! There! Is that
what you wanted to hear? Have I sufficiently groveled enough for you?"
"I don’t know," Endymion replied seriously. "Sneaking into the crown prince’s
bedchambers could be considered a royal felony…"
"Then why didn’t you just have me arrested?" she hissed, clenching her hands.
"Why did you have to go and do…and do that, instead?"
"A prank for a prank," he replied in a low voice, not looking at her. He
looked…almost guilty. But that couldn’t be, she thought bitterly. He was
beyond feeling remorse for anything he did.
She swallowed tightly around the growing lump in her throat. "A prank," she
repeated, her voice thick with tears. "Stealing my first kiss from me…that
was just a prank." She faced his eyes, her own burning with loathing. "You
really are despicable, aren’t you?" she hissed. "That was something far
nastier than what I’d ever planned on doing to you! And you don’t even have
the decency to be ashamed of yourself for it!" She turned away from him as a
tear escaped to trail down her cheek, wanting nothing more than to hit
something. Namely him.
She was unprepared when warm, surprisingly gentle hands cupped her face
between them and turned her back to face him. His eyes were serious, all
traces of mockery gone, as he brought his face closer to her own, gazing
deeply into her eyes. His thumb gently caressed the tear from her cheek,
making her heart quicken. "You’re right," he told her quietly. "I stole
something from you that I had no right to take." He hesitated for the barest
moment, before leaning in to softly, tenderly press his lips against hers in
a sweet, chaste kiss. It was completely different than the night before, and
she felt herself melting despite her shock. It was over almost before it had
begun, and she was left to stare at him through wide, stricken eyes. "And now
I’ve given it back to you," he whispered, gazing at her for another long
moment before abruptly releasing her and rising to his feet, striding back in
the direction of the castle.
Serena just sat there, trembling all over, and stared at his retreating back.
Strangely, it didn’t even occur to her to be furious with him for taking
advantage of her like that again, because in all honesty, there had been
something different in that kiss. It was almost as though…he had truly given
something back to her through it, although she wasn’t sure what it was.
Flopping down on her back, she stared up at a curious red squirrel that was
sitting on a branch over her head, staring right back at her through bright,
black eyes. "Something tells me that my life is about to change," she told
the squirrel dramatically, "and I don’t know if I’m going to like it."
Of course she could not have any idea of just how true those words would
hold.
(
geocities.com/element_sprite)