Betrothed Part 2 Rating: PG-13 Author: Patch E-mail: patchkhan1@hotmail.com Back at the Moon Palace Clang! "Ow! Serena, I think you're swinging that sword a little too hard!" Mina yelled. "C'mon, Mina, I think you can take it, you being the leader and all." "Serena, you're letting your anger get the best of you, and it's distracting you and not letting you think properly." "Gee, Raye, you just described yourself. Look who's talking!" Serena swung her sword and was satisfied to hear the loud clang as it hit Raye's sword. Her arms throbbed but she didn't care, she needed this workout if she was going to have the sanity to act the perfect lady in front of others. "Let's use magic now, guys." Serena said, throwing her sword away. Her four friends looked at her in shock. "Serena," Amy began, "we've been fighting for quite some time now. I think you should give it a break." "Yeah Serena, you don't wanna be sick with exhaustion on your wedding day," Lita teasingly added. "Oh I don't want to be sick, I want to be far away from here on my wedding day." "Speaking of which, how come you never told us Serena?" Mina asked, the other three nodding their heads looking at her expectantly. "Because I myself didn't know about it until that very evening!" she ignored the gasps and continued, "Mother knew I would say no from the very beginning, so she coerced me. She told everyone before even talking to me so that I wouldn't be able to say anything. And then she's nice enough to also tell me that this, this prince of Earth and I have been betrothed for ten years! A decade and she never bothered to tell me once." "Well Serena, I can kind of understand why your mother chose to do what she did. You would have done anything and everything to get out of this marriage if she had told you earlier," Amy said. "That still doesn't make it right," Raye argued, "Serena should have some say in her own future. I mean, she's getting married to a man she's never seen before!" Serena shot her friend a grateful look and then groaned, "Raye's right. I forgot all about the fact that I've never even seen him before." "Well, just cross your fingers and hope he's not some ugly bent over hunchback with dirty teeth and big feet." "Thanks Lita, for your great consolation, always the blunt one, aren't you?" "This place is certainly beautiful," Nephrite said under his breath. "I've never seen such splendor," Jadeite added. "Think the princess is as beautiful as her surroundings?" Zoicite asked. "Don't know, but it wouldn't be funny if it turned out to be otherwise," Kunzite replied, looking over to Darien, who for the most part, stood there, staring at the palace in front of them, his expression unreadable. "Come Endymion, Queen Serenity awaits us," Queen Augusta said, coming forth, her arm linked with her husband, King Terrence (AN: I had no idea what to name the poor man! So sue me if it's lame.) The group was led to the throne room where two figures stood, awaiting them. "Augusta!" "Serenity!" The two women rushed to each other and embraced. "Augusta, it is so good to see you again. I hope you are doing well." "I am, this is my husband, as you know, King Terrence and that is Endymion and flanking him are the Generals, his royal guard." "I am pleased to meet all of you." Queen Serenity said, nodding her head in acknowledgement towards them. "Darien, you might be quite lucky after all, that young woman with the Queen, she's absolutely beautiful. She has to be the princess," Kunzite whispered. "Why, Kunz, I do believe you sound jealous," Nephrite drawled, causing Zoicite and Jadeite to snicker behind him. "No," Darien said quietly, "something tells me she is not the princess." As if on cue Augusta spoke, "Serenity, is that your daughter?" "Ah, no, this is Lady Mina, of the Planet Venus. She is my daughter's top guard and close friend. My daughter, is, ah, currently occupied elsewhere at this moment but she will make an appearance later." Once I can find her, the Queen thought, where is that ungrateful daughter of mine? "Well, that should be no problem, Queen Serenity you must tell us what has happened since the last time we spoke," King Terrence said. "Father, if you don't mind, the trip was a bit tiring and I was hoping I could be shown to my room?" "Oh Prince Endymion, I'm so sorry I hadn't thought of that. Lady Mina will show you five to your rooms. Lady Mina?" Mina who had been staring at Kunzite, being that he was the most fine specimen of man she had ever seen, blushed furiously when she realized that they were all looking at her expectantly. "Ahem, yes of course. Right this way," as she turned to show them the way, she winked at Kunzite and began walking leaving the men to follow her. "She winked at me!" Kunzite whispered. "Methinks she has something for you," Zoicite drawled and slapped Kunzite on the back as he walked away. "She winked at me." When Mina had shown the men to their rooms, she quickly ran to Serena's room and burst in, startling Serena. "Mina! Haven't you ever heard of knocking before entering?" "Oh my goodness, Serena you would not believe," Mina gushed, ignoring Serena's glare, "I just met the handsomest man I have ever seen on this side of the Moon. You would not believe how gorgeous he looks, long white hair, piercing silver eyes, oh it was like he was the man of my dreams! You should have seen his reaction when I winked at him." She twirled, her blond hair flying behind her, causing Serena to roll her eyes. Mina always seemed to be love-struck and her actions came as no surprise to Serena. She could only feel sorry for the poor man who had fallen victim to her friend's affections. "So tell me, what did Prince Endymion look like?" she asked. Mina stopped twirling and for a second a blank look came across her face, "Oh him, well, I didn't really notice him. How could I when the most perfect man was standing right next to him and-" "Mina!" "Oh alright, he had silky black hair, nice face, a great body, strong and muscled, not an inch of fat anywhere and um, let's see, oh! He had the most captivating eyes, not as captivating as my man, but they were mysterious sort of eyes. You couldn't really tell what he was thinking." "Thank you Mina, for that wonderful description which really got me nowhere!" Mina turned her nose upwards and gave Serena a haughty look, "Well, you never asked me to examine him Serena so why should I have bothered? But if you'd like to see him for yourself, I can show you to his room." Serena's eyes widened, "You know where his room is?" "Showed it to him myself," her eyes lighted with mischief, "Hey, why don't I show you his room right now. Maybe you can meet Prince Endymion personally without having to go through all those formal introductions you know you'll have to do later on." "Oh come on Mina, you know that's just an excuse for you to get closer to 'your' man." "So what if it is? This is your chance! Take it! C'mon Serena, you've always been the daring one." "Oh why not. Let's go," Serena said, getting off of her bed. Even though she wouldn't admit it, she was quite curious to see this man that she would be living with for the rest of her life. It couldn't hurt to take a peek, could it? End.