Serena and the Nobles at Court: Chapter 2 by Keely Thomson :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: "There are two things you can never deny, fate and love. Sometimes it can seem that destiny is cruel but there's one thing that you must always hold onto, and that is faith. It's the only thing people really need, and they should never stop believing in it." -Neo-Queen Serenity As Serena walked home with the groceries she remembered the prince. *Hmm, I wonder what he was doing out here in the village? Definitely NOT here to see ME!* Serena giggled at that thought. Soon she entered the house and cooked dinner. About ten minutes into cooking a knock came on the door. Serena opened it to reveal a tiny basket on her doorstep. "What's this?" She saw a letter attached to it and read it. "Dear Serena, I have been watching you and how you raised the kids by yourself. I can no longer take care of my daughter. Please take care of her until I can make enough money to support her. Thank you so much! I will get her in three years for I must go away for a while. Please take care of her. I know it will be difficult and I know it's not fair that I leave her in your care but you are the only one I can really trust with her safety. I know you can do this. Goodbye for now. -A friend." Serena stared at the letter until she heard a rustle. Serena removed a tattered old brown blanket. There was a little girl with black hair and unusual dark green eyes. Serena lifted the baby out of its crib and looked at it. The baby giggled and started to play with her hair. Serena giggled and heard the children running up. "Kids, come here. I want you to meet some one!" The two kids ran to the door to see a bundle in her hands. "A baby! Is it a girl or boy?!" asked the kids excitedly. "It's a girl. Jane dear, please go get the Latin book." Jane ran to their small collection of books and got a faded green book. Serena opened up the book. She looked at the baby then at the words. Suddenly she snapped her finger. "I've got it! why don't we name her Terra? It means 'earth' and she will definitely mean that much to us, right?" The kids laughed in delight and thought it a good name. "Well Peter, why don't you go milk Betsy and I'll warm it up for Terra. Come on, let's get going!" In about ten minutes the baby was fed and burped, and baby Terra fell asleep, for about ten minutes that is. They ate dinner and instead of talking about how the day was they played with the baby and talked to it. "Ok time for bed!" "Aww, must we?" whined Jane. "Yes, you really must. Now come we have a busy day tomorrow and I need to go to the temple to work." She led them through the hall holding the grouchy baby in her arms. "Serena, will you sing us a song?" asked Jane as Serena tucked the kids into their beds. "Sure, why not. Now settle down." The kids nestled down in their beds and closed their eyes. Serena sat in the rocking chair and started to sing. "Oh the summer time has come, and the trees are sweetly blooming. The wild mountain thyme blooms, all around the purple heather will you go laddy go. We'll all go together to pull wild mountain thyme, all around the purple heather will you go laddy go. I will build my friend a bower, by on clear crystal fountain and in it I will pile all the flowers from the mountain will you go laddy go. We'll all go gather to pull wild moutain thyme, all around the purple heather will you go laddy go." She stopped there, for the kids had fallen asleep as did the baby. Serena blew out the candle and tucked the baby in a wool blanket and set her in one of the drawers. The next morning Serena woke up the baby and set her on the floor with some toys. The baby giggled happily as she played with a rag doll. A few minutes later the two kids came into the kitchen and sat down. The baby sat in an old chair and was served some warm milk while everyone else had porridge and eggs. Serena handed Peter a few coins. "Peter, here is some money. Will you please go buy a baby chair from Mr. Wood today?" The boy smiled. "Of course! If I have enough money left may I buy some candy?" Serena looked at him in thought. "Well okay, but you have to share it with your sister." Peter sighed and nodded his head. Peter left for work and Jane started a new quilt for the fall festival, which was coming up in about another month. "Well Terra, it looks like you're going to work with me." The baby giggled and started to play with Serena's hair again, happily. Serena smiled and gathered up her shawl and her basket, then she left for the temple. Serena walked up the long stairway and rapped on the door. An old man opened it. "Oh, hello Serena! Ray's in the back, sweeping the porch. Come on in." Serena thanked him and ran in before he could notice she had a baby in her arms. "Ray! Ray! Look what I found on my doorstep." Ray turned around to see her friend with a tiny baby in her hand. "Oh, Serena! What is its name?" asked Ray as she looked at the baby. "Well, it's a girl and we named it Terra for 'earth' because that's how much she means to us. Some one left her on our doorstep with a note saying that they will come back for it when they can support it." "Well I'll help you and give you some baby clothes and a cradle. Would you like her to baptized?" Serena nodded her head. "Yes, very much! Oh thank you Ray! Thank you ever so much!" Serena hugged her and Ray laughed at her good friend. A few hours later Terra was baptized and had a new cradle, clothes and blankets. "Why don't you go to the market," Ray suggested. "They have some good nightgowns for low prices." "Oh, I couldn't- I need to save up my money." "That is not a problem my dear, I'll just give some extra money today. In fact, take the rest of the day off." Ray smiled. "Bu-b-but-" Serena stuttered. "No! You just go out and enjoy yourself," said Ray as she gave her a pouch full of money while shoving her out the door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Now go!" Serena walked out with the baby smiling. When she got home, Serena dropped off the baby stuff and called for Jane. "Jane, come let us go spend a girl day together." Jane widened her eyes. "Really? Just you and me for the rest of the day?!" Serena laughed and nodded her head. Jane ran to get her shawl and shopping basket and they left, Terra taking up one of Serena's hands and Jane holding her other "What do you think of this one?" asked Serena as she held up a long sleeved dress nightgown. It was white and tied in the front. ''It looks *marvelous* on you," giggled Jane. "How did you find that word?" asked Serena in wonder. "I found it in the dictionary while I was looking for a book to read," replied Jane. Serena just smiled at her. "Let's go get something to eat, shall we?" said Serena as she mock bowed to her. "I would love to," said Jane asthey linked arms and walked to a small tea shop. they got a medium box of tea that was quite a good deal for so much tea and some bread rolls. Suddenly they heard lots of voices around them. "Did you hear that?" "Yeah I can't believe that happened!" "Why would he be coming here?" Serena, overhearing the commotion, stopped a nearby woman. "Excuse me, but what is going on?" "Well the prince has come back to town and I heard from a good resource that he is looking for a girl." "Really?" asked a second woman. "Well I heard he is looking for a lost princess and is going to marry her as soon as he finds her." "Oh really," said yet another woman. "Well, I heard that he was looking for the girl to excite her." said another. Serena got nervous at the last comment. "Why would he want to excite the girl?" she asked, trying not to be nervous. "Because she had insulted him," replied the lady matter-of-factly. "Oh. Well I really must be going." said Serena. "Oh my, what a cute baby! What is her name?" asked the first lady. "Her name is Terra," said Serena. "Terra- what an odd name. Well it was nice to meet you. I'm Sally and this is my daughter Lindsey," she said as she shoved a girl about Serena's age toward her. Both girls felt something click as they looked at each other. "Hi! My name is Serena, you're Lindsey right?" she said, offering her hand. Lindsey shook her hand. "Yes. Say, can I join you? I'm getting sick of all this gossip." Serena laughed. "Sure! I don't really want to hear it anymore either." The three girls walked about town and Serena felt comfortable. She told Lindsay what had happened two days ago. "Oh my! You actually got to see him! You are soooo lucky! I wish I were with you then! By the way, Terra means earth, doesn't it?" Serena looked at her, shocked. "Why yes! How did you know!?" "Well I learned to read from a friend. Anyways do you know how to read?" "Yes I do." Lindsey had already become friends with Jane so Jane decided to leave the two girls alone to talk. "So you found her on your doorstep? And the note said they would come back for her?' asked Lindsey as she held the baby. "Yes. It didn't have a name so I looked through a Latin book and we decided to name her that. Say, would you like to stay the night at our house? We don't get a lot of visitors there." Lindsey brightened. "Sure! I would love to! Oh! Sere, watch out for the-" Before she could finish, Serena walked straight into someone. "The person," Lindsey finished. "Oh I'm dreadfully sorry! I don't usually bump into people." Serena looked up to see the prince again. *Oh no! He's going to kill me," thought Serena desperately. "Um I'm sorry your majesty! It won't happen again. Hello Nepflite. I forgot to say thank you so I dearly say thank you." Nephrite smiled at her. "It was nothing at all. Who is your friend?" Lindsey was seriously starting to drool over Kunzite and snapped out of it when Serena took Terra out of her arms. "This is my friend Lindsey. And this is Terra," said Serena, holding up the baby. "Terra? Doesn't that mean earth?" asked Zoisite. "Well, um yes it does. Why do you ask?" "Oh, I was just wondering how you came up with that name." Serena was starting to get uncomfortable and Lindsey sensed this. "Oh my, look at the time! Really we must give Terra a nap now. Come on Serena. Let's go to your house shall we?" Serena nodded her head and tried to run but the prince grabbed her arm. "Serena, where do you live?" Serena's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "Uh, um, why might I ask do you want to know where I live?" she asked. "Uh, um, I, uh, just wanted to know where you lived that's all." "Uh well I don't think you would really care so I will just leave now. Ta ta!'' Serena took off running with Lindsey and the baby, with the men in persuit. Serena finally arrived at home. "This is your home!?" asked Lindsey in awe as they walked in the door. Normally houses were made out of straw and branches and the fireplaces were put in the middle of the floor, but this house was made out of wood with a porch and a fireplace built into the wall. Suddenly they heard a knock on the door. The girls were breathing heavily and the baby was crying. Jane ran out of a room, very scared. "Serena, what's going on? I'm scared. Who's at the door? Is it a bad person?" "No, Jane, it's the prince." The girl gasped and Serena picked her up. After all, Jane was only five years old. She held on tightly to Serena's blue dress. Serena gave Terra to Lindsey. She took a breath, held Jane tightly, and answered the door. There stood the prince looking a little annoyed and the guards looking at her like they had just chased the wind. "Do you need something, your majesty?" she asked innocently. Darien looked at the girl that Serena held. She was hugging Serena tightly, and tears were already starting to form. "Why did you run away from us? What are you scared of?" He looked around to realize that the house didn't look like your every day peasant's house. "I had to put Terra to bed. She gets grouchy and pulls really hard, and if you really must know I have to cook dinner. I mean really, it's already five thirty. It's dark, after all it is coming close to fall." The little girl looked at Serena and whispered something in her ear. Serena set her down and handed her a key. The girl ran out of the room. Darien, who was VERY interested, started to follow but Serena stopped him. "I didn't say you could come in." The prince of course was not used to this kind of behavior. "Well! I am the prince so I command you to let me in." Serena knew he was right and let him in. She put on her apron and walked into the living room where the men were sitting. "I take it you will be eating with us?" The men looked at Serena who was tying a knot in her apron. "Would you mind?" asked Kunzite. "No, of course not! After all it's not every day the prince and his nobles come to eat with peasants. Lindsey, will you come and help me?" "Sure!" said Lindsey and she got up. They left out the door. Suddenly the door opened and a boy with a dead turkey came in. "What are you doing here?" he asked nicely to the strange men. Serena came in with some smudges on her. "Yes Peter, the prince and his court will be dining with us. Is that the turkey I had asked for? Did you bring the chair?" The boy grinned and ran back outside after handing the turkey over. He ran back in with a nice smooth wooden high chair. "Oh thank you Peter. Now why don't you go bring Terra back?" Peter ran down the hallway and emerged with Terra and handed her to Serena. Serena set her into the high chair and the baby giggled. "I take it you like it then?" asked Serena with a laugh while she cooked the bread and turkey. "Jane do be a dear and get some wine from the cellar will you? And some milk for Terra?" The girl nodded and ran off. "Lindsey how is the corn coming along?" Lindsey looked at her and winked. "Going great! How long till the turkey is done?" "Oh about half an hour till. After you're done can you please come help with the green beans?" "Sure." Jane came back in and put the wine and mile bucket down. "Go ahead and serve the wine, Serena, I'll cook the beans." Serena smiled gratefully, took off her apron and walked out with the wine and glass cups she had taken before they had to leave their home. Serena set it down at the table and poured everyone a glass. "Thank you," said Jedit and Serena blushed a little. Suddenly a wail could be heard through the door then a "I didn't do any thing!" could be heard. Serena sighed. "Serena, how do you peel these?" asked Lindsey through the door. "I can't leave the kitchen for one minute with out it going crazy! Excuse me, I'll be right back." Serena set down the wine and ran into the kitchen. "She sure is a nice girl," commented Jedit while watching her run. "Ohh, looks like Jed has a crush!" said Zoisite. Suddenly the crying stopped and the yelling too. "Wow! She sure can keep all those kids in control!" exclaimed Kunzite. "She has just about as much trouble as we do with Darien," said Nephlite. "Oh har har,'' said Darien sarcastically. Suddenly a knock came at the door. Serena rushed out of the kitchen with Terra in her arm. The door was knocked again. "Coming," yelled Serena. Serena brushed her hair as best she could and asnwered the door. "Oh hello, may I help you?" she asked as she saw a couple at the door. "Yes, we would like to see our son Darien. We got a message from Malakite saying he would be here. Are we imposing?" Serena recovered from her shock when she heard crying. She turned around to see Jane running toward her. Serena bent down to her knees. "Janey, what happened?" Jane whimpered and showed her finger. "Oh, you cut your finger! Well we'll just patch that up. Go see Lindsey and she'll rap it up, then come back and I'll give it a kiss alright?" Jane smiled a watery smile and ran off to the kitchen. "I'm sorry your majesties. That was my little sister. Your son and his court are in the living room. Please, come in, come in!" She smiled warmly at them and they smiled warmly at her. Serena led them to the table and the men instantly stood up. "Mother, Father, what are you doing here?!" exclaimed Darien. "I told them we were here," said Malakite sheepishly. "Well I think I'll just go finish dinner. Um do have a seat, and would you like to join them for dinner your majesties?" Serena asked cordially. They smiled at her hospitality and sat down. Suddenly a little boy came walking out and served them some salad. "Thank you young man," said the king. "What is your name?" The boy smiled. ''I'm Peter, Serena's younger brother." The king smiled at him. The little boy ran into the kitchen. Suddenly there was a large crash and then a loud, "I didn't mean to!" The prince and his court started to laugh. The king and queen were trying not to laugh and they hid their grins. A few minutes later a full course meal came out. There was turkey, green beans, cornbread, mashed potatoes with gravy and other things. The king and queen enjoyed the meal immensely. "Thank you Serena, the food was delightful," exclaimed Geia (the queen) who had taken a liking to Serena. "She reminds me of my good friend Mary," whispered the queen to her husband. "Yes, I wish she were still alive. She was such a great person, and she had such adorable kids," replied the king. Serena looked outside to see it raining. "Oh my!" exclaimed Serena as she heard the thunder. "What is it?" asked Geia. "It's raining quite hard outside! If you don't want to get struck by lightning then I suggest you should stay here." said Serena. "I don't think we should stay, though. We wouldn't want to impose," said the king. "Oh nonsense! We wouldn't want you to catch a cold. Your Majesties can use my bed and the prince and his court can use my brother and sister's room." The king and queen finally agreed to stay and they went to their rooms. Late that night, Serena was awakened by the two kids. "Serena, I can't sleep. Could you read to us?" asked Peter. Serena got up, her new nightgown glowing like gold from the fire. Serena put on two more logs then Jane gave her the key. Serena lit the candle and they walked down the corridor as quietly as they could. Darien could not sleep a wink. Jedit kept tossing and Nephlite kept snoring. *Well now I know why they all have such thick doors,* Darien thought and he chuckled a little. Suddenly he heard a creak. Darien got out of bed, careful not to wake Kunzite and left. As he went to the living room he saw Serena and the two kids on her lap. Her hair was down in a golden cascade and her body was melded in perfectly with the chair. *She's reading? How did she learn to read? Peasants can't even spell! How did she learn?* Suddenly her soft voice stopped and she closed the book, careful not to move the kids. She scooped them up gently and set them down on the floor. She covered them up and kissed their foreheads. She got back up, picked up the book, and began to read again. "I knew she looked familiar," said a low voice behind him. Darien turned around to see his mother. "What do you mean, she looks familiar?" asked Darien. "Well, she just looks so much like her mother that it scares me. Her mother and father died when she was twelve and the kids just infants. Anyways they went into poverty and Serena took care of the two kids by herself. I don't know if that is her child or not. She always did love books and learning languages. She had a knack for learning them. I miss her mother so much. She was my childhood friend, you know." With one last look they both went back to bed. Serena heard a creak but didn't see anyone. She closed her book and put it back in the library. She went back into the bed and fell asleep. The next morning Serena and Lindsey woke up and prepared breakfast, which consisted of muffins, eggs, pancakes, porridge, and bacon. Serena milked the cow and fed the baby. The royal family woke up to the smell of food cooking and for a minute Darien forgot he wasn't at home for he had stepped on Kunzite who yelled in pain. "Ow! What did you do that for?!" Darien apologized and the family went downstairs for breakfast. When they got there the whole table was steaming with freshed baked food and the plates were set and everything. Suddenly they realized Serena wasn't there, just Peter and Jane. "Children, where is Serena?" asked Geia as they sat down. Jane spoke up first. "She went to work." Then Peter spoke while his sister ate. "Yes, my sister works at the temple up the hill and I work at the market." "Yeah Seerena has to work extra hard now 'cause the-" She was cut short when her brother stuffed a muffin down her throat. "She has to work harder now because the food is going up. *Ok so it's not COMPLETELY true. But the taxes are getting higher every month. We shouldn't say that when the king is here.* Suddenly they heard a crying. "Uh oh! Looks like Serena forgot Terra. I'll go bring her back to Serena. Excuse me," said Jane and she picked up Terra on the way out, surprising the baby. Suddenly the king had an idea. "So, what do you think of your home?" Peter was surprised by the question. "I like it. We have everything we need, including each other. Serena takes good care of us. She is practically our mother. She's always there for us when we get in trouble. I wouldn't know what to do if we didn't have her," he said, looking at his plate. "Well, I had better get going, don't want to be late for work. Make yourselves at home!" With that, he left, but not after taking his lunch Serena had packed him. "Well, I think she was quite nice," said the queen. Suddenly Jane barged in. "Your majesties! Serena, she....." :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: To be continued...