Daddy's Little Princess
Author's note: Though this story occurs as a prequel to "Dark
Princess", it will not spoil the story to read "DP" first. In fact it may
help to do so. This story is what happens between the prologue of
DP and the actual story...
"Daddy! Daddy, watch me!" the little
girl was barely three years old, but she ran around faster than some of
the other children in the courtyard that came out to play in the puddles
after the rain. She slid in the mud under a wooden fence and then climbed
up it to show off. "Daddy, watch me walk up on the fence!!" she called
out and stood on the thin edge of the log fence. She took a few steps on
the fence without waiting for her father to reply to her, then started
to lose her balance. "Whoa...." her little slipper-clad feet slipped on
the still wet fence. "Ai-yiiiiiiii!" she screamed and fell backwards, shutting
her eyes tight.
Suddenly the girl stopped falling and opened her
crystalline blue eyes to look up at her father's dark ones. She giggled
and smiled up at him, despite the stern look on his face.
"Did you see me?" she asked proudly.
"I certainly did." he said calmly. "Next time try
to stay on the fence. Better yet," he added, while putting her back
down on her feet, "Stay on the ground." The girl nodded and ran
off after a dark haired boy a few years older than her, tackling him in
a mud puddle and giggling sweetly. The man rolled his eyes heavenward,
"And don't pick on the boys!"
The girl stood up in the puddle, now so totally
drenched with the mud that no one could tell her pretty gown was once made
of beautiful silver-pink fabric, or that her hair was gold. Now she looked
like a little dirty-blond with a black dress. Make that a black dress
with no straight hemline. One of her slippers was missing in the clumps
of mud. She grinned at her father wiped some mud off her forehead, trying
to look like a perfect little lady. The silver haired man laughed and shook
his head.
"Little Princess, when will you remember that you're
a lady before you get in a mess?" he asked.
The girl shrugged and picked up her muddy slipper
out of the water. "When I'm old enough to be a lady."
"I suppose that's a fair enough answer. She is
only a child, Malachite." a young man with dark hair said and smirked,
crossing his arms. He looked over as the girl went back to chasing the
boys around the courtyard. "She's got a wild spirit, I'd hate to see her
as an adult."
"You're right, as usual, Endymion. Another ten years
and the boys will be chasing her. If she lets them." Malachite said
and sighed.
"She'll let them, if she's anything like her mother."
Endymion glanced over at Malachite through his lashes, unaware that the
little girl was now hiding behind a corner. "Are you ever going to tell
her who she is? That she is more than just your princess?"
"I'll tell her when she's old enough. For now she's
just a child, as you said." Malachite said resignedly, "I'll tell her when
she's old enough to understand why her mother gave her up, and who her
mother really is."
"Why not tell her now? It would make a fabulous
bedtime story. She's always bothering you for one of those." Endymion said
and smiled.
"Good idea." Malachite said and looked out on the
courtyard for his child. "Where is she?"
Endymion fell forward out of his lazy posture and
gave the area a quick look around. "I don't see her... Damn, you don't
think...?"
"If she left the palace she's in danger." Malachite
said worriedly.
"It's not much safer here." Endymion said,
frowning. "If I could, I'd send every child to the Lunar palace. But there's
no one to watch them. Let's find her before they do."
Suddenly another male voice spoke abruptly. "What
are you doing back there, little princess?" It was Zoisite. He was walking
over behind a nearby building. Malachite and Endymion sighed with relief
and followed him.
"Hi, Daddy." the little mud covered girl said sheepishly
at being caught.
"Young lady, I told you spying was not a good thing.
If you want to learn that fine, just tell me first." Malachite said and
picked her up.
"Sorry, Daddy. I was just curious." the little girl
said and frowned.
"Curiousity kills cats." Zoisite said and shook
his head.
"I'm not a cat!" the child said and stuck her tongue
out, then looked up at her father. "Can I ride?"
"After the scare you put us through?" Malachite
said sternly.
"Malachite, she's just a little girl, she didn't
know better. Let her ride." Endymion said warmly and smiled at the little
girl. She grinned at him and got a wink in return.
"All right, but this time pick a horse your
size, princess." Malachite gave in and carried his daughter to the stables.
"I dun want a little pony! I like Uncle Endy's horse!"
the girl said and pouted.
"The last time you rode him he nearly killed you.
No."
her father said sternly and put her on a little white pony.
It was nowhere near as fun as Endymion's
big black horse. He'd let her ride it nearly a week ago and she was so
excited she accidentally spooked the horse into tearing off with her hanging
on. Everyone yelled or screamed, terrified that she'd fall off and her
head would crack open on a rock or a branch would rip her off the horse's
back and fling her into the air... She just hung on to the horse's mane
and laughed until he calmed down and brought her back to the stables. Her
father had yelled at her for nearly an hour, saying that she'd scared him
witless and if she ever rode that horse again he'd make sure it was when
she was big enough for it! Endymion just smiled at her, rumpled her windblown
hair, and told Malachite she'd make a good rider one day, provided she
started out with something a little calmer until her arms were long enough
to reach the reins.
"This is boorrriiiinng!" the little girl
said and pouted while the pony trotted around the courtyard. "I wanna at
least ride outside like last time!"
"Princess, you know that's not possible,
there's danger out there!" Malachite said and picked her up off the pony.
"I'd rather face danger than die of boredom." the
girl said, giving her father a defiant glare. It would have worked better
had she not been limply sagging vertically in his arms with her own arms
starting to slip above her head. He laughed and juggled her into a cradled
hug. "You'll have adventures soon enough, but first you need to be a little
older. You could never stand up to the Evil out there at your age."
"Yes I could!!" the girl said and frowned.
"Sweetheart, grown men even tougher than your daddy
have fallen to those warriors." Malachite told her and put her down.
The girl grabbed onto his pants leg and looke dup
at him questioningly. "Will they ever come here?"
"Maybe." he answered, frowning down at her. She
gave him an adoring and proud smile.
"If they do I'll bet you'd wipe them all out yourself!"
she told him proudly, "And I'll take care of the leftovers!"
He had to laugh at that, so he did and smiled. "Then
I'd better leave you the short ones, huh?" he asked and knelt to ruffle
her bangs.
"I'm not that short! There's four year old
boys shorter than me!" the girl said and grinned. "Daddy, can I go see
the garden over next to the palace? Please?" she pouted and gave
him the best sad eyes she could.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. No one's seen them
anywhere near here so it should be safe." he said and picked her up. "What
do you want to see?"
"All the flowers!" she smiled and cuddles against
his shoulder.
"Okay." he carried her across the courtyard, "But
tomorrow, it's getting late."
"Awww, I'm not sleepy!" the girl said and yawned...
"Okay maybe I am..." she sighed and closed her eyes.
***********************************************************
The next day the little girl pulled on her father's
arms and legs all the way to the gardens. She gasped aand giggled when
she saw the first layer of plants. It was so green and the little dots
of red and violet and yellow looked like a painting. She pulled on her
daddy's leg again.
"Can I play in here?" she asked eagerly.
"I suppose, but stay in sight..." Malachite said
and pushed her on ahead.
The little three year old laughed and found a squirrel
to chase up a tree and as pretty bluebird to sing to. "Daddy, look at all
the aminals!!" She knew better, but still liked to call them that. Her
father smiled and nodded.
"Just play nicely with them, honey. They're fragile."
"Okay, Daddy." the girl nodded and ran off. "Here
squirrly, come here!"
Suddenly with one turn down the garden path, the
girl found herself awayf rom her father. She cuold see over the plants
and the corner was so sharp he probably couldn't see her either... She
forgot that a second ago he'd been less than a yard away and cried out
in fear, "Daddy! Where are you?" A breeze started to rustle the bushes
and trees around her. Something about it set her off. "DADDY!!!" she cried
and ran the wrong way down the path.
Her father called out her name but she couldn't
tell where it came from, she stopped running and looked around. She never
noticed this part of the palace grounds.... It was dark and shadowed...
it scared her. She whimpered and turned small circles, trying to get her
bearings. She heard a sound behind her.
"Daddy?" she suddenly felt very small and shivered
from a cold chill. "Izzat you?" she pouted and sat on the ground, curled
up in a ball. "Uncle Endy? Zoi-Zoi?"
It wasn't her daddy. And it wasn't Uncle Endy or
Zoisite... It was a woman. A beautiful woman, but she looked dangerous
and the girl didn't know her. The girl gulped and stood up, backing away
slowly. Just then her father came down the path on the other side of the
small clearing.
"DADDY!" she cried out and ran over to him, hiding
behind his leg. "Daddy, who is she?"
Malachite looked down at her and frowned. "I don't
know. I don't recognize her."
"You'll know me soon enough, warrior, and join me."
the woman said cruelly. A dark force appeared behind her. The little girl
screamed and clung to her father's leg tighter.
"Daddy what's that?!?" she ducked behind him and
whimpered. "I don't like it!!"
"Me either..." he put his hand on her head and looked
down, trying to smile. "Little Princess, I want you to run, as fast as
you can. The palace is right down that path." he pointed to where he'd
come from. "Go."
"No. I'm not leaving without you, Daddy!" the girl
said and looked straight at the woman and the shadow behind her. "You don't
scare me!" she titled her chin arrogantly. "Nothing scares me!"
The shadow-thing with red eyes laughed, it sounded
like a woman. Suddenly it moved and a rush of black wind moved over and
around the little girl. The child stood her ground, huddling to protect
herself, and wrapping her arms around her. She sniffled and shuddered from
the force of the wind and the horrible sound of the thing's laughter.
"Go AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" she screamed, lifting
her head up and letting out a scream to rival a 'shee. It backfired, when
she screamed a flash lit around her and concentrated on her forehead.
"You....." the thing whispered and quickly retreated.
Malachite knelt and grabbed the girl's shoulders.
"I told you to run, I meant it, get out of here before they really attack!"
The girl sniffled then saw the panic in her father's
eyes. She nodded and turned on her heel, running as fast as she could from
the clearing and into the wooded pathways of the garden. Her eyes teared
up and the water threatened to flow from them, but she stayed brave for
her father's sake... suddenly something came under her foot and tripped
her. When she hit the ground she cried out. It was HARD! The tears spilled
when the pain made her forget being brave. She threw back her head and
wailed, the light came again...
"What's wrong, little girl?" the woman said softly.
The golden-haired girl gasped and looked right at
her. "You! You took my daddy!" she said angrily. She wasn't sure how she
knew that the woman had taken her father away, but she knew.
"Don't worry, you're going with him..." the woman
said cruelly. The shadow appeared behind her again.
"NO!" the little girl stood up and turned to run
again, but less than a second later, the black wind was around her again.
It pulled at her to stay and whispered her name in an odd language. "Noooooo!"
the girl held her head and lifted it in a scream so loud that she was sure
the palace heard it. It sounded like an echoing bird cry, but a few pitches
too high... and somehow the soundwaves were visible. They shone with a
golden light.
The shadow thing screamed and the black wind was
gone again. The girl could have run back to the palace if she wanted, the
path was clear now... but the scream had unexplainedly taken energy from
her and she couldn't get it back in time to gather her strength... she
collapsed and her entire world went black...
"Daddy....." she whispered and curled up to protect
herself as the black wind came again.
Author's Note: Well that explains what happened to Alexandrite
on Earth. Feel free to go back to the MAIN
PAGE and read the rest of the story... or go to
Re-Life
if you've already read that ^_^