*Bangs head against table* all right, that's it. That last installment made up my mind- after this arc I'm definitely going over the first arc to remove poor grammar, lack of description and (of course) stinky cheese and foamy soap.

August Moon
Part 10 : Choix
©MMI T h r e a d s

She watched him silently.

She stood behind a stone pillar, gently, watching him.

Watching him talk with her.

The raven-haired girl narrowed her eyes. Why was he talking with her? Just because she was Princess didn't make her more beautiful or more desirable, more enchanting or intelligent.

But she was Princess, and all those things had to be true.

The Prince began to stroke the Princesses hair fondly.

The girl turned away- she couldn't watch it any longer; she could hardly stand it anymore.

Silently she turned and walked out of the gardens, her black and ivory dress flowing behind her.

As she pulled open the doors back to the castle her strength seemed to leave her all at once. The door, almost holding itself shut, didn't budge and the force of the effort threw the girl to her knees.

"Endymion…" She moaned.

Why did it have to be her?

Why?

"Because she is princess..." The girl thought aloud. "Because she is destined for everything… and I, I am nothing."

She clasped her hands in her face. She wouldn't cry. It wasn't because she was too proud; her sorrow went beyond the menial comfort tears could offer.

She shifted her weight back around to lean against the glass door. She could still see into the garden. The flora stood illuminated from the sun's glare through a cloudless sky.

The growth was so thick she couldn't see through it, the path split into two directions into the garden, and a narrow stone path leading up to a square dais sheltered by a while awning in front of the French doors.

The girl stared into the garden for a while, not thinking, not planning… just staring. Her pain seemed to almost numb her from any conscious thought or feeling… just watching… that was the easiest to do… just look…

The girl heard the sound of light laughter and narrowed her eyes. She couldn't see the source, but she knew it came from the Princess.

She heard it again.

Clenching her fists she rose to her feet and moved to pull the doors open, she couldn't take this anymore; she couldn't even enjoy a day in the gardens without hearing the Princesses joy… without feeling pain.

She snatched up the door handle and pulled, but it still wouldn't open.

She pulled harder.

Someone must have locked it from the inside, maybe the Prince and Princess wanted some privacy…

The girl shuddered at the thought.

She stormed off the dais and down the path heading away from where the two lovers sat.

She heard the laughter again, and walked even harder. There was a door at the opposite end of the gardens; she would open that one.

Every time she heard that poisonous sound she walked even faster, glancing behind her occasionally, almost to see if the noise was indeed following her.

Maybe it was just her mind tormenting her, it did that often it seemed.

She walked briskly around the corner and stopped suddenly in front of a striking woman with her hands cross.

The girl tried to read her expression, but she had none.

She stood there, like a statue, her arms crossed.

The woman wore a strapless, scandalously tight black dress- clinging to her body all the way to her bare feet. It fanned out slightly in the back. She had waist length black hair tied messily in a high ponytail- tendrils falling out all around her face and neck.

Her dark features accented her eyes… pure gold.

"Uh… s- sorry…" The girl muttered. She felt terribly inferior to the strange woman, as if she were in the presence of royalty.

The woman still stood, unmoving.

The girl made a motion to move around the woman, but accidentally she met her hollow stare and froze.

She looked down at her feet and waited for the woman to do something, she was too terrified to meet that gaze again.

The woman's hand moved suddenly, her finger drawing a line down the girl's jaw and up to her chin, tilting her head up.

The girl swallowed.

The woman moved her head closer, so close the girl thought she would kiss her, but the girl was also to afraid to move away.

Within millimeters of the girl's lips the woman stopped. She looked into the girls eyes, her stare burning holes through any sort of independent thought the girl had ever had.

The woman smiled slightly, and whispered, in a light, rasp voice.

"I know your secret." She said quietly.

The girl's eyes widened in shock.

Her lips began to quaver, trying to form words, to plea her case.

The woman put a finger to the girl's mouth and moved back away to an appropriate distance.

"I know… it all." She said smiling cruelly.

Finally finding the words and courage, the girl spoke up.

"How… how do you know?" She asked in a nervous voice.

The woman smiled again. "Emotions are never subtle."

"But- but… but it's not like that, I just admire-"

"You never admire a man, child!" The woman snapped. "You admire a Princess for the power she has, for her beauty, for her skill. You only 'admire' a man if you want him."

The girl looked away.

"As I said…" The woman began again, her tone softening. "I know your secret."

"And what do you plan to do?" The girl asked, fearful to the outcome.

"What would you expect?"

"I know it's punishable by death or exile to interfere with the relationship between two of noble blood… and especially with someone like… like me."

"Like you?"

"Because I'm-"

"Not of royal blood." The woman finished.

"Yes." The girl whispered.

"That's all rubbish. You take what you want."

"I- I can't."

"Why?" The woman pressed.

"Because… I'm merely a courtier… and why would someone like Endymion want to be with someone like me? I offer him nothing. No title, no land, no beauty…"

"You think your physical appearance is useless?"

The girl nodded. "My hair, my eyes…" The girl said, running a hand slightly through the black waves that cascaded down her back. "All plain."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "My hair is black. Does that make me unattractive?"

The girl breathed in sharply. "N- no… you- you're different. You're- you're…"

"The same as you."

The girl bit her lip and continued her averted gaze.

The woman reached her hand back out to the girl and pulled her face close.

"Do you want him?" She asked harshly.

Tears began to well in the corner of the girl's eyes; fear began to claw at her sides.

"Yes…" She whimpered.

"Would you do anything to have him?"

"Yes."

"Then come with me."

"W- what?" The girl spluttered in surprise. "I, I don't have anything to give to you… nothing that-" "Payment will come later. I will make you what you want to be, and one day I will collect."

For a moment the girl pondered the offer, what could the black-clad woman want that she would miss? The only thing she would never give up was Endymion, but the woman could get him easily.

The girl weighed her options for another moment, and then nodded.

The strange woman bowed to the side slightly, fanning her hand out to the side for the girl to walk down the path past her.

Beryl stepped forward and the woman followed.

End Part Ten.

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