Chapter Two
Neo Queen Serenity paced the floor as she awaited her husband's news about the location of their daughter. There had been so many things that didn't make sense to her. Why hadn't anyone been guarding the door to Serenity's dressing room? The entire palace had been so relaxed they had forgotten about protecting anyone because nothing could go wrong during a wedding. Serenity sighed as she finally settled down in a plush chair. She pulled on her golden tresses hoping this would all be over soon. She was startled when she heard the clicking of heels against the crystal floor. She looked up to see her tan skinned hand maiden Luna with her bouncing ivory curls and catlike eyes walking towards her. Serenity stood smiling meekly at her.
"How's Diana doing?" Serenity questioned the middle-aged women stopping just a few feet in front of her.
"She's doing better…They removed the bullet, and she's finally out of surgery. She should be back to her old self within a few months." Luna retorted trying to keep it together. Diana had been found shot in the back after Serenity had went missing.
"Oh Luna!" the queen replied wrapping her arms around the dark skinned woman. Luna held on tightly to the queen as she cried bitterly. Serenity embraced her securely as they both wept together.
~X~
It had been exactly two days since his beloved princess had went missing. Helios fiddled with the buttons on his shirt with shaking hands. He had been incarcerated in his room for the past two days since he'd viciously attacked his royal advisor: Apollo. He knew they all must have thought him to be a very sick man, but he was perfectly sane. He sighed finally calling himself presentable. He was being closely monitored by his royal physicians, but they had been the ones to suggest this visit and not him. He was going to visit his father for a few hours in another wing of the palace. He hadn't seen him since before the wedding and knew he had to tell him of Serenity's disappearance. He had been hesitant about his decision, but he knew his father may be able to help him. King Kiran was a very wise man but also very old. He had married late in life and had Helios when he was nearly fifty years old.
Helios opened the door to be greeted by his captain of the guard Sirrus. He nodded to Sirrus confirming that he was ready. Sirrus led him down many winding staircases until they reached the bottom floor. The king had been moved to a room near the castle grounds because he was too frail to climb the palace steps. They both stopped at two white double doors with brass knobs that sat under a golden doorframe.
"I'll be fine Sirrus. You don't have to wait on me outside you know." the young prince told the burly man with long snowy hair. Sirrus could have crushed his neck with one hand. He had very large muscles and was the strongest man in all of Elysian.
"Sorry your highness but you know I can't do that." the bigger man replied.
"I understand…" Helios sighed mumbling something under his breath as he began to turn the knob until he felt a firm hand grasping his shoulder. He turned around to be met by knowing amber eyes.
"Give your father my best." Sirrus nodded to Helios.
"Of course Sirrus! I don't know how long I'll be, but I'll let you know." Helios informed his bodyguard. Sirrus only nodded which meant take his time. He turned the knob on the door and walked in the spacious room. The curtains were open letting in the warm sunshine which glimmered off the pale face of the weak man lying in the bed.
Helios walked to the left side of the bed and took the weak mans hand in his own before softly addressing him, "Father how are you feeling?"
The man began to stir when he heard Helios's voice. He opened his bright amber eyes and a big smile spread across his face. "My son what brings you here? Shouldn't you and your lovely bride be within the foothills of Elysian by now?"
The reminder of why he was truly here stung his heart. He felt sick but knew he had to be strong for his father. He had to tell him the truth about Serenity and seek his wisdom concerning the matter.
Helios cleared his throat slightly before speaking, "Father I'm here because I need your wisdom and guidance concerning a certain situation that has risen. I'm afraid princess Serenity and I have not yet wed. You see father someone has kidnapped her, and I don't know where she is." he explained feeling as if he had just spit a pile of lead on the floor.
King Kiran didn't say anything for a long time. He just stared off into a far corner of the room taking in the information his son had just presented him. Helios thought he saw something swirl within his eyes that he'd never seen before. He wasn't sure what to say, but the silence was deafening.
"Helios when I met your mother I was thirty-five years old. I didn't have an interest in relationships until the day I met her, but I became king when I was only fifteen years old. Your mother's name was Aurora, and she was a maenad in the shrine. She looked just like any other woman of Elysian except for her eyes. She had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen-just like an ocean. Your mother was always frail and sickly, but she had the strongest heart I've ever seen, and she bore me a son just as strong as she was. I loved your mother Helios more than anything in this world, and I would have given up my throne just to see her one last time." King Kiran said as he poured his heart out more than he'd ever seen. He rarely talked about his mother but when he did he knew it was going to be important. He kept his eyes on that far corner of the room he was looking at until he averted his gaze back on Helios.
King Kiran took his hand gently in his own and looked deeply into his eyes, "You'll be king very soon my son, and you'll have to do many things to appease your subjects but there's one thing I never want you to do. Don't ever give up on the love you and that precious girl of yours share. She's out there waiting for you, and I just know you'll see her again one day. Don't ever give up on that special bond that you have with her even though she isn't with you now. Don't ever stop searching for her and don't let your heart rest until you've found her."
"Father I-" but before he could speak he felt his father's hand go limp in his on.
"Father what's wrong!? Please wake up!" Helios said in a panic as he began shaking him trying to get him to wake up. He opened his eyes on last time and smiled.
"Your mother is waiting on me Helios…I can't keep her any longer" he said before breathing his last and going completely limp.
"YOU CAN'T DIE FATHER!" Helios yelled feeling the tears pour down his cheeks as he laid himself on top of his body wailing. Sirrus heard the commotion and charged in. He gingerly lifted the frantic prince off of the dead king. Helios didn't object but just clung to the burly guard as he felt the rest of his heart crumble. The two people he loved the most were gone in only a matter of days. He was truly alone in the world or so it seemed, and he had just begun his reign as the new king.
~X~
The last two days had felt like an eternity to Serenity. She wanted to go home, but she still couldn't remember where home was. She sat on the bed staring at the four walls. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Serenity replied cautiously to her unexpected company.
"Malady it's only me Naru the maid." the voice spoke back clearly feminine. Serenity got up and opened the door to meet a middle aged woman with ginger curls and kind green eyes.
"Did you need something?" Serenity inquired feeling a little at unease.
"I only came to bring you your breakfast malady." Naru chirped as she set a tray on a small table in the middle of the room. The tray had a tea kettle accompanied by a few different kinds of fruit and muffins.
"I'm not that hungry." Serenity remarked politely declining the food. She sat back down on the bed staring out the solitary window she wished she could step through into another world.
"I'm not trying to pry malady, but you really need to eat something. You haven't eaten in two days. I would really hate for something to happen to you." Naru said gently placing her hand on Serenity's shoulder. She jumped on contact at the polite gesture. She had been drug around since she got here and forced into things she hadn't been comfortable with doing. She felt the back on her eyes become heavy before bursting into tears. She grabbed onto Naru's apron and cried clinging to her for support. The maid had no idea how to react except to wrap the girl into a firm embrace.
"Please don't cry malady…Tears don't suit you at all." she said consoling her as she rubbed tiny circles on her back. Serenity fell weakly against Naru causing her to panic.
"Are you okay malady?" she asked speaking in quick uneven syllables.
"I just need to lie down is all." mumbled Serenity weakly as Naru eased her back gently on the bed.
"I'll go get a doctor." Naru said quickly, but Serenity grabbed her wrist.
"Please don't tell anyone…I promise I'll eat something." she pleaded causing the maid to sigh.
"All right but let me help you." She insisted as she fixed a spot where she was sitting comfortably on the bed. She propped Serenity up against the headboard and handed her a cup of piping hot tea. Serenity put it to her quivering lips and drank it as the comforting liquid helped ease her stomach. She then ate part of an apple and a blueberry muffin before dozing off to sleep. Naru covered Serenity up before cleaning up the tray and gently closing the door behind her. She would come back and check on her at lunch to make sure she ate something else. She swore she would keep that girl alive and happy if it's the last thing she did.
~X~
"Do you think she's awake yet?" spoke an unfamiliar voice stirring Serenity from her slumber.
"I think she's waking up!" exclaimed another causing Serenity to slowly open her eyes. There were four inquisitive faces looking at her.
"Who are you?" Serenity blinked wondering if she was imagining things until another girl spoke.
"We're the harem girls if that's what you want to call us, but I would rather go by Ceres." the girl with pink loops in her hair spoke. The girl had on a pink dress with yellow bows in her hair. There were three others who had accompanied her.
"I prefer Vesta." smiled the one with red hair pulled back into a high ponytail.
"I'm Juno." clarified the one who wore her hair in a green bun.
"And I'm Pallas!" squealed the one with her hair knit into two braids.
"I'm Serenity…What are you all doing in my room though?" she blinked sitting up in the bed staring at all four of them curiously.
"We heard that Prince Diamond had snatched himself up another woman, so we just had to meet her!" Pallas exclaimed jumping up and down.
"Chill out Pallas!" Juno scolded rolling her eyes at the younger girl. Serenity felt her lips curve into a smile. Were these girls Prince Diamond's other mistresses?
"Yes we all share the same man if that's what your wondering." Vesta remarked as if reading her mind. Serenity felt a blush creep across her face, but they didn't seem phased at all.
"We all tend to stick together because there are a lot of sketchy people running this place." Juno sneered plopping down on Serenity's bed.
"Yes Prince Diamond is a nasty fellow." Ceres remarked crossing her arms loosely under her breast.
"How long have you been here?" Serenity questioned them feeling a little easier about this whole situation. These girls seemed to be here just as much as she did.
"I've been here since I was seventeen but now I'm nineteen." replied Vesta settling down beside Juno.
"I've been here since I was eight years old, but I wasn't taken in as a concubine when I was fifteen. My mother worked as a maid in the palace, but I'm eighteen now so a total of three" Juno explained stretching out on the spacious bed.
"Pallas has been here for three years and is now seventeen." the blue haired girl said childishly making Serenity wonder why Diamond had picked her as his mistress.
"My story is similar to Juno's. My father used to be Prince Diamond's royal advisor, but he passed away, so Diamond thought he was doing me a favor by making me his mistress. I would have rather been sold into slavery than have that scumbag take advantage of me!" Ceres exclaimed balling up her fists. Serenity could see the hurt in the pink haired girls eyes, so she reached out to comfort her.
"It seems like we all have one thing in common. We don't like Prince Diamond." Serenity retorted as the other four girls gave her a nod of agreement.
"Maybe we should escape?" Vesta suggested causing the other four girls to perk up in attention.
"How would we do that? You know Diamond's got this place loaded with security. We wouldn't make it half a mile before being discovered." Juno replied.
"We need a plan!" Pallas chimed in.
"Does anyone have an ideas about how we can make this happen?" Ceres asked scratching her head.
"I think I might have an idea." Serenity smirked as a plan began to form in her mind. The other four girls huddled together eager to get started on the procession. Freedom felt a little more attainable with another member on their team. They had always wanted a leader. Princess Diamond had picked the wrong girl this time because she had been gifted with her father's wit and her mother's intuition.