The Four Generals of Earth were only a year older than their Prince, twenty-one to his twenty, trained since birth with the duties of becoming young Endymion's guardians and protectors. In the process, they had also become his closest friends. Which was why they could get away with talking so familiarly to him.
The dark-haired monarch currently gave the General of his Air Forces a nasty scowl. Though he was normally cool, calm and collected . . . his fast-approaching nuptials to a girl that had hated him for most of his young life was plenty to get him into an unsettled state. And being that it had been nearly an hour since they'd arrived, with no word at all from the Queen, he was even more upset than usual.
"Well what do you expect me to do?!" he finally questioned incredulously. "I'm going out of my mind! What's taking so long? Why haven't they called us to the throne room yet?"
"Endy relax!" Jadeite, the General of his Ground Forces, called lazily from where he was lounging on the huge, cushioned divan, an arm thrown over his eyes to shield them from the bright sunlight pouring in. "You're starting to give me a headache with all this belly-aching."
"I can't help it!" Endymion growled, collapsing back into a chair and cradling his face in his hands. His head slowly rocked back and forth, in helpless denial. "I can't do this. I just can't. You guys don't understand. I can't marry her! She's the Meatball-headed demonspawn from hell!" He suddenly straightened and glared at Malachite, the High General of Elysian, who stood a few feet away leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
"You're supposed to be my guardian," Endymion snapped. "So guard me already!" A slight smile cracked through the somber man's icy mask, a rarity.
"Aye, I am your guardian, My Liege. And I will protect you from any villain, any foe, any danger with my very life." His smile broadened, a teasing twinkle lighting up his cold silver-blue eyes. "But I will not, cannot protect you from your future wife," he finished heavily, shrugging, his hands spreading before him in a helpless manner. "It's out of my jurisdiction."
"You haven't even seen the girl in seven years, Endy," Zoisite, General of his Naval forces, suddenly piped sensibly from where he sat next to Nephrite. "That's plenty of time to change a girl. You might be pleasantly surprised."
"Not likely," Endy muttered, crossing his arms with a jerk. "She's a whimpering, spoiled, loud-mouthed cry-baby. She's constantly whining about something."
"That's odd," Jadeite suddenly called, moving his arm to flash Endymion a teasing grin. "That description sounds so familiar to me."
"Someone we know perhaps?" Nephrite joined in, his lips twisting hard at the effort to not crack a full-blown smile.
"I wonder who it could be?" Zoisite chimed, blinking innocently, but with a sinister twinkle in his green eyes.
"Ha, ha," Endymion sneered, scowling, their sarcasm not missed on him. "Very funny."
"You think so?" Jadeite questioned, settling back with a smug look on his face. "I thought so too."
Before the bristling Prince could take his presumptuous friend to task, a round of knocking sounded at the door. Malachite, who was closest, answered it. All of them heard the message.
"The Queen Serenity will see you now. Please follow me."
Endymion hesitated as his Generals got to their feet and straightened their appearances. He fidgeted somewhat nervously, then frowned, straightened his shoulders and stalked out. Malachite, Zoisite, Jadeite and Nephrite fell into step; with Mal at his right shoulder, Nephrite at his left, Z taking up position behind Mal and Jade behind Neph.
They were met in the hallway by a somewhat tall, slender man dressed all in white, with long white hair that fell down to his knees, pale blue eyes, a golden crescent moon marking on his forehead and an elaborate moon- shaped medallion around his neck. The man bowed respectfully.
"Greetings, Prince Endymion. I am Artemis, High Chancellor and First Advisor to Queen Serenity. It is an honor and a pleasure to have you with us."
Endymion nodded to the greeting, then he and his four Generals followed Artemis as he led the way to the enormous throne room. It was crammed with people, all moon citizens that had turned out to see the spectacle that was sure to ensue. It was no well kept secret that the two intended didn't care for each other much at all, and no one wanted to miss the show.
At the very end of the long hallway sat a large throne, a huge gold crescent moon behind it. In that throne sat the beautiful Queen Serenity, her features calm and tranquil as always. Endymion strode forward, outwardly confidant but inwardly quaking, and made his way toward the powerful monarch. He didn't notice the line of girls at the Queen's side at first.
"Prince Endymion," Queen Serenity called happily, her voice light and musical. She smiled and gained her feet, then glided down the steps to greet him personally.
Her silver hair floated regally around her tall frame, her matching gray eyes warm and friendly, as the older woman bent and placed a kiss to the young boy's cheek. "It has been too long, child," she murmured, her voice full of kindness and affection. "Welcome back."
Endymion couldn't help but smile. He was in awe, as he always was, with Queen Serenity's grace and beauty. If only her daughter could be the same.
"It has," Endymion agreed tightly, fibbing. "I thank you for having me." Queen Serenity's smile was bedazzling. He cleared his throat, and motioned to the men standing behind him.
"Allow me to introduce my Generals. Lord Malachite, First General of Elysian."
Mal respectfully dropped to one knee, his head bowed, silver hair tumbling down on either side of his face.
"Lord Nephrite, Second in command and Warrior General of the Air Forces of Elysian." Neph dropped onto one knee as well.
"Lord Zoisite, Warrior General of the Naval Forces of Elysian," Endymion called, and Z followed suit.
"And finally, Lord Jadeite, Warrior General of the Ground Forces of Elysian."
Jadeite dropped to one knee as the others did, but as they all straightened and regained their feet he sulkily muttered, "how come I'm always last?"
Endymion felt his cheeks color at the embarrassment, not that Jadeite cared. Malachite swung around to give him a reproachful glare, while Zoisite snorted, then clamped his mouth shut tight in an attempt not to laugh outright. Even Nephrite coughed a little, his hand rubbing at his mouth to hide the wide grin that spread shamelessly across his face.
Queen Serenity pretended as though she hadn't heard and nodded to each in turn, then she hooked her arm in Endymion's and led him forward.
"Please, let me introduce you to the girls," she called, motioning to the line of five that still stood next to the throne. "Lady Minerva, Princess of the Venutian Kingdom and Sailor Soldier of Venus," she called.
A blonde girl dressed in shimmering orange stepped forward, smiling. The thin gown clung to a lithe frame and lush curves. Exceptionally beautiful, she was a true credit to her naturally attractive race. The Princess dropped into a polite curtsy, her bright blue eyes drifting somewhat off of Endymion's face and fixing instead to his right shoulder, or rather, the huge Mal standing point there. Her smile was wide, flirtatious even, though her high-boned cheeks flushed with bright color.
"Lady Litonya, Princess of the Jovian Kingdom and Sailor Soldier of Jupiter."
Next off the dais was a very tall girl dressed in green, with matching eyes and a high auburn pony-tail that curled it's way past her shoulders. She walked confident, her head held proudly, and curtsied with grace despite her somewhat ungainly height. Her emerald eyes strayed over to Endymion's other shoulder, where Nephrite stood. Endymion felt himself frowning. Apparently his Generals were more interesting than he was.
"Lady Amira, Princess of the Mercurian Kingdom and Sailor Soldier of Mercury."
A small, dainty girl with shimmering blue hair and eyes to match it, dressed in an equally modest and airy gown of water blue, glided down the steps toward them, her cheeks flushed a bright pink. She fell into a curtsy, her eyes downcast, not near as bold as the others had been. But as she straightened, her deep ocean irises flickered briefly over to where Z stood, just before she turned away and stepped back behind the Queen.
"Lady Rayna, Princess of the Martian Kingdom and Sailor Soldier of Mars."
A dark-haired girl sauntered down the dais next, her violet eyes bolder than brass and oozing with confidence, hips swaying seductively as she walked. This one well knew of her exotic beauty and flaunted it, both with the way she moved and the dress she wore, a dangerous red number that accentuated every sumptuous curve. This one had eyes only for him as she curtsied, though that suddenly changed when Jade whistled low through his teeth. She glanced over at him with a faint, offended scowl, then she flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and turned away, nose upturned into the air.
"And my daughter," Queen Serenity called, voice warm, "Serenity."
Endymion braced himself, then lifted his eyes up to the female standing at the top of the dais. His eyes got really big all of a sudden, and really round.
Endymion's mental image of a small, sprightly little child with a pale dust of freckles and a stringy mop of yellow hair faded away into nothingness. It was replaced instead by a tiny, slip of a girl dressed in a pink chiffon gown, slender and dainty and beautiful beyond all words. She was a younger, golden-haired, blue-eyed version of her mother as she slowly made her way down the steps, nervously clasping her hands before her, the golden half-moon insignia on her brow shining brightly.
She approached somewhat timidly, and allowed her mother to take her hand and pull her closer. Queen Serenity deftly snatched Endymion's hand and placed her daughter's tiny hand in his grasp, then pushed the two nervous people closer together before taking a step back, smile smug. The two simply stared at one another for a time, Endymion continuing to clutch her little hand in his and only half aware that he was doing it. Finally, with the help of a light nudge from Mal from behind, Endymion broke the hush that had come over the congregation.
"H-hello Princess," he managed, his voice slightly strained and husky. "I-it's good to see you . . . again."
"Thank you . . . I-I guess," she managed, just as flustered and nervous as he was.
They finally noticed that they were still holding hands and released each other with a jerk at the same instant, faces coloring with embarrassment. In the moments that followed the two monarchs did their best to pretend that the other wasn't there, fidgeting and squirming with nervous impatience.
