Hello readers! This is Ali, the author, here with the long-awaited
Chapter 6 of "Weaving a Romance"!! I am sorry for taking so long, but
the kinks that I was trying to work out for this chapter were in
reality just kinks I had to work out for Chapter 7, (which should be
out very very soon) if that makes any sense at all.
In this chapter the Inners meet Bruce for the first time, and the
readers are introduced to a totally new character who will have more
of a part in the chapters to come. Heh heh...another shocker!
E-mail slrunico@aol.com to comment!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Weaving a Romance
CHAPTER 6: "The Princess and the Balcony"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena was walking on air. DANCING on air. "It's just like a romance
novel," she gushed as she looked into her mirror. "Meet me at your
balcony at twelve tonight," she said, trying to imitate Darien's
voice. "And do not be late!"
After helping Amy with the crossword puzzle she had run up to her
room to think about what to wear and what to say to Darien when they
met later that night. She could just picture them, under the dark
sky...the twinkling little stars. All alone. It was almost too
romantic for one girl to bear. I wish I could tell someone, she
thought. But she couldn't. She just could not risk it. Darien,
Serena thought, hadn't told anyone. He wouldn't take that chance. If
we were discovered, the price to pay might be worse than death.
With a shudder she imagined the scene. Her mother and the
monarchs of Lerence would be outraged, and Estelle would have her fair
turn of yelling at Serena. Darien's parents would send him away to some
military school on Neptune and she would never see him again.
Serena ordered the image out of her head. It was too awful to think
about. No, that wouldn't happen to her and Darien. They were too right
for each other, and that was too terrible. It wouldn't be fitting for the
ending to come about like that.
There was a knock at her door. "Come in!" she called, looking around
nervously. The premonition she had had was too dark and dreary...and
despite her words she couldn't help thinking that that was what might very
well happen. The room was cold with doubt.
Lita poked her head in. "Hey girl, what's going on?"
Serena tried to put on a happy face. "Nothing, Lita, come on in."
The princess of Jupiter made her way into the room, carefully shutting
the door behind her. "Serena, let's cut right to the point."
"Hm?"
"Um, well, we've all been kind of concerned. You've been... strange...
since Bruce and his mom came and we all found out about the betrothal."
Serena's blood ran cool. Not exactly cold, but cooler than normal.
"...and we realized that we haven't exactly had a chance to talk to you
about how you feel about it."
"I'm...fine, Lita, just fine. Really." NOW they all want to talk to
me about how I'm taking it, she thought with a bitter note. Raye, Lita,
Mother.... In fact, the only one she had been comforted by was Darien. And
that told you something about the whole business of the marrige right then
and there.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Serena noticed guiltily that she had to keep the bite from
her tone.
Lita took a step back. "We were just worried...."
Obviously Serena's attempt to keep from sounding so curt hadn't worked.
She sighed and sat down on the bed. "I'm sorry, Lita...I really am. My
nerves are just kind of on end right now, there's so much to think about.
You know," she said, trying for a joke, "I've never been engaged before."
Neither of them smiled. Lita took a deep breath. "Yeah. That really
was rotten of your mother and that queen to spring things on you like that.
I know I would feel terrible if my mom ever told me something so big and
important at the last minute."
Serena managed a shy sort of smile. "It's awfully rotten, Lita. You
just don't understand...to be told that you have to spend the rest of your
life tied down to someone, all of a sudden like it doesn't matter at all,
and it doesn't -- not really -- to the people involved, except for yourself,
because you'll feel that feeling every day until you die, that you weren't
the one to plan your future and you wonder forever what you had done that
such a fate be bestowed upon you, and what you could have done to avoid it.
Lita," she said, clutching her friend's arm with an urgency she had never
known, "I want you to go to bed tonight, and say a prayer that you thank God
that this happened to me and that it won't ever happen to you. Go to bed
and feel blessed beyond blessed that you are not and will never be betrothed
to a man you don't love when the one that you do...the one that you do is
lying in his bed also, thinking and dreaming of you and wondering why he had
to fall in love with someone who is spoken for, and the beautiful torture
he has to go through, and he's asking himself what he can do to avoid this
unspeakable fate from happening. And...and...." Serena had raised her
voice to a screaming pitch by the time she'd reached the second sentence,
and now was out of breath.
Lita was looking at her strangely, from Serena's face to the white hand
that was digging into her arm, near cutting off the circulation.
But before she could say anything, her friend took her hand away and
sighed, turning to walk out to the balcony. "Yeah," she said, more to
herself than to Lita, "It's an awfully rotten thing."
Prince Bruce had been trying to keep himself busy and preoccupied enough on
the Moon so that he would not have to think much about his betrothal to
Serena. It was not working...the upcoming wedding was at the back of his
mind always attempting to struggle forward lest it be forgotten.
He had not known of the engagement either until nearly two weeks ago,
when his mother and father had seated him down for a talk about what would
happen. It was confusing to be told that he was promised to someone since
childhood, especially a long lost friend like Serena. Still, he looked upon
it as his duty to his kingdom. After all, he thought as he walked along the
palace grounds on the Moon the day after his arrival, when Mother and Father
die, I am the only remaining heir to the throne, and it is my responsibility
to marry wisely so that I might carry on the lineage.
Doubtful he was that Serena considered it her duty to marry him. Even
though she had not said so openly, she was scared about the whole mess, more
than he was. Women, he knew, were much more cautious about things like
marriage than men were. More prone to excitement and worry. His father
had explained to him privately that ladies had fanciful notions of falling
in love and that was one of the biggest setbacks of arranged marriages.
Bruce believed this.
Could there be another man in Serena's life? He doubted it seriously,
as much as he doubted her sense of duty toward the betrothal. There were no
other men around the castle of noble birthright. He had seen no other
princes lurking in the shadows. Still...it made one wonder....
Bruce blushed, embarrassed at his lack of trust in Serena. Just
because I've got a deep dark secret, he thought, glancing up at the Moon
princess' balcony, doesn't mean that she is keeping one too.
Meanwhile...
A piercing scream rang through the Crystalline Palace on the planet
Togodia. One could trace it up the glass stairs that pulsated with light
when a foot stepped on them, (Togodia was famous for its glowing and
glittering castle) to the third floor, then down the hall to the bedroom
of the princess Angeline, third child of his and her majesties King Lucas
and Queen Andria.
"HOW DARE HE!!!!" the princess screeched in her shriller-than-normal
voice. She flung the letter she had been holding down on her bed. It
just wasn't fair...she left for just a few weeks and arrived home again to
THIS news???
Angeline had been surprised when he was not at Crystaline to greet her,
but tacked it up to what had to be some matter of urgent business relating
to his kingdom. Little did she know that that business included going off
and getting hitched to some hussy from God-knew-where, (which she found out
from a poignant note addressed to her that was on her mattress)!!!!!!
"I don't understand it, Bru," she whispered in outrage. "Why, after all
that was said and done. We didn't have to keep the engagement a secret...we
should have told your and my parents and this terrible thing need never have
happened!" Her deep brown eyes glittered in a rage. "What do I do about
this though?"
Well, there was only one thing to do. Any other simple twit would
have mourned her loss and moped around her castle for weeks. Angeline knew
that any other girl in her position would never have mentioned it to her
boyfriend again. She would have suffered in silence, a martyr for love, and
would maintain a cold resoluteness around him for the rest of her life.
But no, Bruce didn't expect that of her. He couldn't. Angeline had a
mind and a heart of her own, and if something she cared for was threatened
in any way at all, she would do everything in her power to stop it. No
matter what. No, she would not stand around in cool ignorance. Not her.
She would go to this place....
The princess scooped up the note and scanned it. "The Moon of the
planet Earth. Hm. Homely little kingdom. So the betrothed girl is from
there." The Princess Serena, the letter said. Well then. That was that.
"Cecee!!"
"Yes, highness?" a timid voice came from the door way.
"Leave my things in the beam. I am going to the Moon Kingdom."
"Yes, highness."
"And not one word to Mother and Father."
The princess Angeline, as always if the servant subject to her orders
knew what was good for him or her, was obeyed strictly and silently. Yes,
that was definitley that.
"Charmed to meet you, Prince Bruce."
"Please, just Bruce."
"Then you must just call me Mina. Mina," the princess of Venus repeated
with a giggle.
The Inner girls were finally meeting Bruce and his mother in person.
Serenity had invited them to stay for dinner so that they might be first
introduced to the royals of Lerence.
This was the man to whom their best friend Serena was betrothed.
Everyone had mixed feelings about him. Raye had asked millions of questions
about his life and what he liked and didn't like, as if examining this person
Serena would be marrying in such a short time. Amy had shut up quiet as a
mouse, blushing when he took her hand and bent low before it. Lita had
remained stodgily cold, thinking to herself that little naive Serena was to
spend the rest of her life with a stranger she had not seen since she was a
baby girl, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Mina, of course,
acted on the natural instinct to pounce on anything that walked and talked
and wore pants. So what...Serena wouldn't be upset. It was all in fun.
But where WAS Serena? Everyone had that question on the brain, and
no one knew the answer. When asked, Raye had opened her mouth as if she
was about to mention her odd encounter with her friend in the hall earlier
that day, but then thought the better of it. One quick look at Queen
Serenity's already worried face showed that there were more than enough
problems to consider without her inventing new ones. After all, the fire
had shown nothing. And the fire was always right. Not that she checked it
THAT often...
"Serena's never usually this late to meals," Lita said, scowling at
Brent, who blushed.
"Yes she is..." purred Mina.
"Not to meals. Never to meals. I don't know what's going on with her."
"Join the club," sniffed Estelle.
"I'm sure she'll be along in a minute," Serenity said, trying to keep
everyone happy. "She's probably trying to look extra special for Bruce."
This remark made the prince of Lerence blush even more. Mina took it as a
sign he was interested in her and giggled.
Finally the door burst open. "Serena!" exclaimed Serenity. "Good
gracious, child, where were you?"
Serena flounced into the dining room, a smile on her face, kissing
Estelle on the cheek and dropping a curtsy in front of Bruce. "So sorry,
Mother and everyone...I know I kept you all waiting. My most abject apologies."
Raye raised an eyebrow at Lita. Abject apologies?
"...my hair was taking forever to fix and I wanted it to look...umm...
just right for dinner."
Something is up with Serena, Raye thought, concentrating hard enough as
if she might be able to transmit her thoughts to the other princesses. Amy
was staring at her plate, and Mina, who had lost interest in Bruce, was
studying her nails. Lita was the only other one who noticed, and she and
Raye nodded firmly at each other. They had all been planning to leave for
their home planets that night after dinner, but not until they had had a
talk with Serena. A serious one, where they would make her tell them what
the matter was.
Serena slid smoothly into her seat and began to chat with Bruce. There
was a fire in her eyes that had never been there before, and Raye had a
feeling that it wasn't placed there for Bruce's benefit. Oh, she wished
she knew what was going on inside that girl's head!
Serena nodded and continued to speak...things that she would speak with any
old friend, in a tone that suggested more than friendship. She just
pretended that Darien was the one who was listening to her and not the prince
of Lerence.
Just a few more hours, her mind screamed. Just a few more hours and
then you will be with him again, to talk about what is going on! Your first
secret meeting -- this is just so exciting and romantic! And look at the
rest of these people...they don't have a clue as to what is going on right
under their noses. Darien, and me, together! Who would have thought?? Who
would have ever thought --
Her confidence was suddenly shaken as she noticed both Raye and Lita
staring at her pointedly. They knew. She knew that they knew...maybe not
the truth, but that she was hiding something. And they were going to try to
talk to her about it -- probably would try to corner her after dinner!!
Serena kept on talking to Bruce, but her mind was on a totally different
plan of action. She would have to find some way to get out of the dining
room before the other princesses and then hide until it was safe to return
to her room. She knew how persistent Lita could be by herself, but with
Raye by her side she knew that she would have no chance against them. They
would stick by her side and would not leave it all evening, and then how
would she be able to meet Darien at the right place and the right time????
Oh this was terrible. Why hadn't she been more like herself when she
entered the room?? Abject apologies had been the wrong way to start things
off, she was certain...
Dinner went very nicely, in the opinions of all present. Serena was
attentive to Bruce, the princesses were already very fond of him, and
Estelle and Serenity never once had to correct the young Moon princess on
her tone or behavior. If her marriage to Bruce would run that smoothly
there would be no problems at all.
When Serenity rose the rest of the dinner table took it as their cue
to rise as well. Serena shot a wary look at Raye and Lita. She had been
hoping that if she acted "normal" for the rest of the meal that they would
forget what they had suspected...but now they looked even more ready to
pounce on her than before. Extreme measured were called for.
Serena pressed a hand to her mouth and faked a yawn. "Oh, I don't
know what it is about this supper that makes me so sleepy all of a
sudden...but... goodness am I!! I'd better turn in. Thank you all
for such a lovely evening..."
Raye and Lita began moving in for the kill...she could see their
skirts rustling out of the corner of her eye ever so slowly toward her.
Bruce kissed her hand and began speaking, of what she did not know.
Darien took his place in her mind where her fiancee stood, distracting her
attention.
One of the maids opened the large doors.
Mina and Amy stood up.
Serena felt a thrill run through her.
Bruce released her hand.
She said goodbye to him.
And raced in a very un-princess like way out the door.
"Serena!!!"
"Serena come back!!"
Raye and Lita's voices followed her like a curse as she ran down the
hall and out to her garden. Her eyes leapt about the maze...her rose
garden maze. Should she enter? They would never be able to find her...
"We only want to talk to you about --"
"Shhh...! Serena, come out here NOW!"
...yes. She would. It took her less than a second to dash into the
maze and to weave through the hedges that she had known since childhood.
Serena had found the center when she was a little girl and had never
forgotten or lost her way since that time. She had fond memories of
hiding from her mother and Luna or the servants when it was bath time.
Her mind wandered back to many years before:
"SERENA!" A tiny version of Raye stamped her foot on the ground. "It's not
fair! How can we play a fair game of seek and hide--"
"Hide and seek," corrected the younger Amy.
"...whatever...-- when you keep running off to hide in that stupid
maze??? It's not fair!!"
Serena giggled. She was actually at the entrance, hiding behind the
hedge there, and could see and hear everything that was going on. It was so
much fun to get Raye upset -- as long as she wasn't there to take part in
any of that anger.
There was some whispering going on then and by the time Serena thought
to look back through her peep hole the girls had stopped and had resumed
standing around the maze. None of them ever dared to go inside. They all
remembered a painful episode in which first one girl then the rest had
been so inclined to go in after Serena that they had all become lost and
cried until their blonde friend had found them and led them out the exit.
No one -- especially not Raye -- wanted their pride wounded in such a
fashion again.
"Serena..." called Lita. "I have some cookies right here that I just
finished baking --"
She gasped. She COULD smell gingerbread!!! "I'm coming!!!" Serena
screamed, running as fast as she could out of the maze. The game was over,
on account of a cookie break.
Serena smiled as she recalled that happy memory of their childhood, and
licked her lips as she thought of how good a couple -- no, three or four --
of those gingerbread cookies would taste right at that moment. It was
really too bad...
The center entrance was in sight, but Serena was in too much of a
hurry to go there. Besides, Lita and Raye, storming around outside,
would suspect she would go there to wait. No, she had a much better plan
of action in mind.
"I have cookies," wavered Lita's voice through the leaves.
"Yeah right," grumbled Raye.
"Well it worked all those other times..."
Serena stifled a laugh and detoured past the center. Then she continued
toward the back, leaving behind her memories at every turn and thicks of
green leaves curbing corners. Her friends' voices never left her ears
no matter how far she went.
After a couple of minutes she reached the back of the maze. She
giggled, stooped down to her knees and pushed away some leaves at the
bottom. There was a hole in the hedge that she had covered a long time
ago...it was hidden from both the outside and the inside of the maze, and
all one had to do was move aside the leaves growing over it and there was
a back exit. It was on the opposite side of where Raye and Lita would be
waiting for her to come out. No one knew of the secret "door".
The hole had seemed to shrink since she had last used it. Sure,
she got out all right, but it took a little more grunting and squeezing
than before. Then again...it had been a good long time since she had
been forced to use it.
As Serena dusted off her dress and hurried up the nearby staircase
to her room, she looked back once at the once again hidden exit to the maze.
She couldn't even see the hole anymore, it had been swallowed up. Maybe
her situation with Bruce and the betrothal was like the maze. She didn't
know her way out of it, but because of the hole she might be able to. If
she only knew then what that secret exit was, and where it existed....
Darien knew he should have exited the bedroom window.
His bedroom window had always been safer than the halls. In the
halls of the palace it seemed there was always someone watching.
Even though he was safely in his beam and headed for the Moon, he
couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been watching him leave. He
had seen a glimpse of a person moving behind a wall so as to not be seen.
But he'd been in too much of a hurry to check and see. Maybe he just
didn't want to know.
His mind had been with Serena the entire evening. Someone had to
have expected something at dinner, which is why they were spying on him
to see if he left his room. He would have left through the window, he
should have, if his mind had not been otherwise occupied in day-dreams
of her.
Darien's hand navigated the steering wheel in front of him, and as he
neared the Moon he decided to forget about the whole thing. After all, he
was always sneaking out for one reason or another. No one would think
anything strange. Unless they happened to be watching him leave toward the
Moon, in which case...no, no one would ever suspect the obvious.
Still...it was an awful strange feeling to know that he had been spied
on, and he didn't know who.
As the rest of the castle on the Moon Kingdom silently slipped into peaceful
slumber, everyone had some different thoughts on their minds. Bruce was
thinking of the problem he had left back home, and wondering if Angeline
would ever be able to forgive him. Probably not, knowing her.
Serenity was thinking that there was something wrong with her daughter,
and it saddened her to know that she had no way of finding out just what it
was.
Out of all of the Inner Princesses the most worried about Serena was
Raye. She, out of all of them, felt the most that something was up with her
best friend, and like Serenity she had no hope of reaching the other princess
and helping her.
These thoughts eventually warmed their owners into a troubled or
satisfying sleep, where dreams were awaiting them that had to be more
comforting than the reality.
Serena was the only one not asleep by midnight.
It was quite a sight she made, stalking up and down the length of her
room in her white, lacy night-shift. Her hair was done up in her odangos...
hair and shift flying out behind her. Determination and guarded love on her
face.
How can I sleep?? she asked herself, silently pacing the length of her
room. If I got his message right then he's coming tonight to see me. But
if I got it wrong.... The princess bit her lip. What if Darien changed
his mind and decided she wasn't his type? What if he was just playing
with her and did not show up? It was too terrible to think about.
And yet, with all of these doubts, she was sure that what they had
discovered was real, and that he would come. He had to. The kiss they'd
shared, that had been real. It wasn't something her mind told her, it was
a heartfelt instance instead. Maybe she'd always known that she'd loved
him and he in turn had loved her. Maybe their hatred and mocking of each
other had been a cover up of some sort, because they weren't ready to deal
with love.
A sound at the window interrupted her thoughts. Serena yelped and
jumped back, falling onto her bed. "What's that?" she asked softly,
licking her lips nervously. Cautiously she rose and walked to the large
windowed door that led to the balcony. Her hand, entranced, opened it
and strode outside.
The night air enveloped her senses, so that she was drawn into it,
immediately and consciously. A thousand stars twinkled above, and a faint
wind tousled her hair. When she made it to the edge of the balcony, she
leaned over the rail and peered below. There was Darien, standing among
the foliage, a handful of pebbles reached out to throw at her window if
needed. But when he saw her he let them drop to the ground.
His face lit up like moonlight when he saw her, drank in the lovely
and pureness that surrounded her being. His expression was of enchantment
and love. He murmured something she could not make out and then called
up to her, "Serena!"
Serena blushed and looked around wildly, expecting the awakened castle
inhabitants to come roaring out of their bedrooms. She brought a finger
to her lips -- a gesture of silence.
He nodded, understanding, and motioned for her to come down to him.
Then, as if having second thoughts, the prince shook his head and took
several steps back. Serena was puzzled. What did he have in mind? She
looked down to him and saw as he indicated he would go up to her. "How?"
she asked herself aloud, panicked. "If he tries to come down the hall and
enter my room surely someone would wake up! What is his intention?" She
snickered. "Does he plan to jump up here?"
That was, as she found out, exactly what he had in mind. In one
gigantic leap Prince Darien seemed to fly from the ground and up to her
balcony, landing gracefully on the tile there in front of her. Serena,
understandably startled, almost fell down. He was at her side in one
instant...holding her.
It was then that Serena realized she was in only her nightgown, and
she gasped. "Darien, I'm not, I mean, I don't have...I'm not dressed
properly!" The shift was extremely indecent, and her face turned the hue
of soft pink roses. "I ought to go and get changed into something else..."
He laughed. It was a comforting laugh. The kind, like the night air,
that you could wrap yourself in. "Oh Serena. I love you so." Then he
kissed her.
She forgot all about her lack of clothing and responded happily.
When they finally pulled away both had forgotten about her state of
dress. "We can't stay here and talk," Darien said gently. "Get changed and
we'll find somewhere outside of the castle to go."
Serena nodded, mute, and slipped back into her room. She'd never
dressed so fast before in her life; just threw on a simple white frock and
put on some light make up. Then she ran back out to the balcony. But
Darien, she discovered, had gone.
Before she had time to worry, however, he called up to her softly from
below. Swiftly she turned her head toward the bushes. There he was amongst
them, holding out his arms. "Fly down to me," he said in a louder tone.
"I'll catch you."
Serena looked around the room and then at the nice safe path that led
to the door way. What if Darien didn't catch her -- what if she was too
heavy or landed somewhere other than in his arms?? It was much too terrible
to think about! The stairs...couldn't she be quiet enough so that she could
pass down that way so that no one would hear her instead?
Just as she was about to suggest that to Darien, though, her feet moved
toward the edge and made her climb steadily over the ledge until her
slippered feet were steadfast in their stance. He gestured to her once more,
looking around the area with a concerned face. Was someone down there?
Watching him and waiting for them to run off together? There was no time to
think about anything else. Serena let herself go without worry....
It was just like flying, not at all like falling. She closed her eyes
and kept her mouth shut, and the wrap round her shoulders flew out behind
her like wings or a cape. I'm like an eagle, she thought with adrenaline
running through her veins. A beautiful eagle soaring and gaining strength
from our love for each other.
Before she knew it she had fallen directly into Darien's arms, and he
had caught her with such grace she might have been a real eagle -- or at
least the feather of one. "Gotcha," he whispered into her ear, making her
open her eyes.
Slowly Darien lowered her to the ground and for a moment they did
nothing but stare into each other's eyes. Blue looking right into blue,
sapphires, orbs that pulsated with life and love. Serena pulled her wrap
tighter around her as she cast a glance away from Darien's face and to the
balcony of the chambers where Bruce slept. His fiancee was about to go out
on a secret date with the forbidden prince from Earth, all while he was
sleeping. Even if he did wake up, he might think the whole episode nothing
more than a bizarre nightmare. Only Serena would know the truth, and would
forever feel guilty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's it for this chapter, folks!! Not exactly a "leaves-you-on-the-
edge-of-your-seat" ending, so I'll just give you a little warning of what is
to come...
Stuff to look forward to: Serena and Darien's first secret meeting at a
tiny cafe on the Moon Kingdom...so much to talk about and so little time.
As the wedding plans escalate to make the marriage into more of a reality,
the couple struggles through more secret dates, a dinner with Bruce and
Serena's court, and the notion that someone knows what Darien is up to...
All that and more in Chapter 7! E-mail slrunico@aol.com with any
comments you may have, or to be added to the list of people I mail out to
whenever I have sent the latest chapter out to your favorite fic archive!
Later!! (
geocities.com/tokyo/courtyard) (
geocities.com/tokyo)