title: Elusive Thoughts | Prologue (revised) rating: PG author: Mir email: incandescence@juno.com website: http://cathedraldragon.tripod.com/sm/ disclaimer: Sailor Moon, et al. belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, etc., etc., and so on and so forth ^_^. The other characters belong to me...for whatever that's worth. I have no money to speak of, so suing me will not make you rich. Yes, and this story was inspired by Melanie Rawn's *Dragon Prince*. Kudos to her, it's an excellent novel. *Prologue* The desert air hung heavily with the smoke from a hundred burning fires. Above the top of every watchtower dancing flames licked the sky, a somber message passed from town to town, from tower to tower. Ashes, falling like darkened snowflakes, covered the people who passed below, people mourning the death of their Prince and Princess. - - - - - - - - - - The bandits had fallen upon the unsuspecting couple in the dark of night and overwhelmed the guards by sheer numbers alone. The Prince stood over his dying wife, one arm clutched against his bleeding side, but he knew that they were surrounded. He lifted his sword and slashed blindly at the darkness, then collapsed, dizzy from loss of blood and exhaustion. He covered her body with his, even at the brink of death protective of his beloved, and whispered that he loved her always and forever. A slight smile crossed her lips, and she exhaled softly, her soul rising from the bloodstained earth. The Prince followed; he took her hands, and they drifted away across the metaphysical landscape while their attackers slapped each other on the back and grunted in triumph. - - - - - - - - - - And sitting by himself, a small boy hugged his knees to his chest and wept, shoulders shaking from shock and fatigue. They'd made him light the first fire; it was his duty, his responsibility - afterward he'd fled, run away from the blazing tower to the quiet sanctuary of his garden. No one had pursued him. Caught up in their own loss, they had let the crown prince escape from the public eye. It was his sister who took the trouble to find him, and it was her shoulder to which he clung fiercely. She rubbed his back and pulled him close, putting aside past disputes to offer the comfort he needed. He looked up at her with eyes red from crying and blew his nose on her sleeve. Then, hand in hand, they walked back toward the tower where their Godmother Ariane was waiting for them. "Darien," she greeted, firmly taking his clammy hand in hers. He looked back at his sister who reached again for his other hand, but Ariane stopped her with a glance. "Thank you for finding Darien, but I need to talk to him now - alone." And as Kerri stared into her Godmother's eyes, so dark and serious, she pulled her hand back as if she'd been slapped. "Yes ma'am." Kerri bowed her head in resignation then disappeared with softly echoing footsteps that faded into the night. After all, she thought to herself, Darien was a pain in the neck, wasn't he? Just a little kid brother who always buried his nose in books and asked way too many questions. Darien turned to watch his sister leave, but his Godmother tugged at his arm, pulling him back outside. He dug his heels into the ground stubbornly, his mouth turning down at the corners. "Where are you taking me? Why did you make her go?" he asked in a thin voice, once again on the verge of tears. She stopped and knelt down so that her eyes were level with his. "Darien, I've something I'd like to show you, something that you may not understand now but that you will some day, when you're older." Her voice was soothing, her tone surprisingly gentle. "You've had a hard day, and you loved your parents dearly, I know, but can you come with me, please, just for a moment?" Startled by his Godmother's unexpected benevolence - he'd always seen her a being rather caustic, holding herself aloof and disinterested - Darien found himself nodding and following her without knowing why. The moon filtered brightly downward, piercing though the smoke to light the pebbled paths beneath his feet. He didn't notice they were back in the garden until the rich sent of spring blossoms intruded upon his sense of melancholy dejection. It had always been his shelter, a quiet oasis in the middle of the desert sands, a place where he could disappear to for hours at a time, a place that he had helped create by the work of his small hands and his eye for elegant simplicity. Ariane stopped at the edge of the pond and bid Darien to sit by her side. A pass of her hand smoothed the ripples into submission, and she lifted her eyes to the pulsing moon above. The prince held his breath as light began to collect at the surface of the water, a shimmering opacity that condensed out of the air. Ariane dipped her fingers into the cool water, and a face coalesced in the radiant luminosity, a pale oval framed with fluttering blond hair and pierced with dancing blue eyes. Darien stared, his mind working to memorize every detail before Ariane let the conjure fade away. "Who is she?" "She'll be yours some day, Darien. Make sure you guard her well. You're meant to be together, and you will be...in good time." She smiled tiredly, knowing full well that she'd failed to answer his question. "Come now, let's try to get some sleep. Tomorrow they'll expect you to light your parents' prier, and you need your rest." He reached toward the water, the trembling fingers of a six-year old child grasping for something enticingly beautiful that the he hadn't quite understood; he hoped to capture the magic of just moments before, but managed only to get his arm wet. His lips formed the first word that came to his mind. "Why?" Ariane, not expecting the question, shook her head. "Not tonight. You'll understand when you're older. Now, scoot - off to bed. I don't want to have to carry you back inside." She rose from the ground and dragged a reluctant Darien back from the edge of the pond. Her tears fell silently onto the ground, and she turned her head away so the prince wouldn't see. *end of prologue* - - - - - - - - - - Here's the revised Prologue - mainly just minor grammatical adjustments... nothing major. I'm working on the rest of the fanfic, so keep your eyes open for upcoming revisions - because I'm doing some major plot additions to some of the later chapters *g*! - Mir (11.20.00 ~ revised ~ 02.09.01)