Author's note; Yes, I'm still alive. Barely, but I'm here. Once again, personal problems have plagued me this year and made writing difficult, but I've managed to somehow get through it and finished a few chapters of each of my stories, ensuring that I'm keeping ahead so updates can become a bit more regular.
I'm currently hoping to update every one of my stories once a month, maybe twice a month depending on how ahead I am on chapters/how high the demand is/how many reviews and alerts I receive. I'm not making any promises as I hate breaking them, but I will try. Also, would love to receive some feedback on what Selenity's betrothed should look like/be named. Suggestions would be awesome and super helpful. So please let me know if you have any ideas!
Anyway, please enjoy the next chapter and remember, reviews are very much loved. :)
CHAPTER ELEVENWhen the sun rose early the next morning, Luna was already awake, dressed and prepared for the day ahead. After Artemis had left her room the night before, Luna had laid in her bed, thoughts swimming through her head. She had felt such a range of extreme emotions that she had not experienced in years over the previous few days, from incredible sadness at learning the fate of her beloved home, to ecstatic joy at the prospect of spending more time with Artemis.
There was something there, something she had not faced in years, that had laid deep and dormant within her since she had arrived on the Moon. Now with the presence of her childhood friend, it was rising, beginning to bubble at the surface. Feelings that had not been considered in a very long time. Luna had attempted to make sense of them before she succumbed to sleep, but to no avail.
After they entered the South Kingdom, she would have roughly a week to figure them out, as well as grow closer to Artemis. For now, she had to focus on the long day of travelling they had ahead of them. Sometime that evening, they would reach their destination and Selenity would meet her betrothed, the future King of the Moon. She knew that the young princess was nervous, but also excited as the prospect of her future life.
Once married, the current King and Queen would retire, leaving Selenity and her husband to take their places as rulers of the Moon. Then she would become pregnant with the future heir to the throne, and once that child was of age, the cycle would occur once more. Selenity had been groomed to become Queen her entire life, and there was no doubt in Luna's mind that she was now ready for that title.
As soon as everything was packed, her bed made and the room tidied, Luna made her way to Selenity's door, knocking softly upon it before awaiting for the princess to respond so the dark-haired woman could enter and prepare Selenity for the day ahead. When no noise was heard, no voice calling out to allow the woman to enter the room, no ruffling of the bed sheets, Luna rapped her knuckles on the door again, this time louder in case the fair-haired woman had been too deep in slumber to have heard the noise the first time.
Nothing.
Worry setting into her exotic features, Luna turned the handle and opened the door impulsively, her heart begin to pound forcefully in her chest when she realized that the princess was nowhere to be found within the rather lavish room. Her bed had been made quite neatly, her garments, jewellery and general luggage gone. Luna's red eyes darted around the room frantically in a desperate bid for some kind of clue as to what had happened, but there was no trace left that Selenity had ever resided within it.
Panicking, Luna quickly exited the empty room, closing the door promptly behind her before hurrying back her own room as she began to stress, pacing across the floor as her mind went into overdrive. Had something grievous happened to the princess as she slept? Luna hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary, her hearing more heightened than most other beings as she was of the feline race of Mau. Her ears were rather sensitive to noise and yet she had not been awoken from her slumber that night.
Perhaps the young princess had simply woken up early and decided to go for a walk to clear her mind for the big day ahead of her. Luna often did that when she became quite stressed. Calming herself down with that thought, she sat down gently on the bed, only to return to her feet moments later with the realization that such a scenario could not have happened, due to the state of the princess' room. Selenity did not know how to make a bed, and even if she had tried, it would not have been so neat. And what about her missing luggage? She would not have taken those with her for a simple walk.
Something was definitely amiss.
Her curtains open, Luna flashed her red orbs at Artemis' room, wondering if she should perhaps go and alert him of the disappearance of the princess. She bit her lip in thought, a habit she had developed out of sheer worry. It would probably be better that she wait and see what happened before making such fuss over it, especially if there was a simple explanation. A part of her still held hope that this was all a misunderstanding on her behalf and that Selenity was actually fine and not in danger.
Yet the raven-haired beauty still fretted about a possible abduction.
Such an incident occuring had been one of her biggest fears of this journey to the other side of the Moon. The princess was staying in ordinary villages along the way, and while guarded by Artemis and Luna herself, it was nothing compared to the security at the palace. She had faith in Artemis' abilities as a guard , after all, he had been hired as the brawn in case something like this occurred. Still, there was every chance someone could slip into Selenity's room at night, undetected, and take her.
Yet, there had been no ransom note to be found, no evidence of any kind of struggle nor fight. As well as this, Luna was certain that such people would not tidy the room and make the bed as they took princesses in the middle of the night. Such people who did these kinds of things did not take the time to tidy up after themselves. She couldn't quite make sense of it, and doubted that she would.
Perhaps it was time for her to take a walk and clear her thoughts, she had been considering it since pondering over the possibility of Selenity doing the very same thing.
Sighing, Luna left her room and made her way to the nearby gardens, knowing that were rather notable in the small village they were currently in. And she could understand why. The lushness of the garden was breathtaking, and although rather small compared to the vast gardens of the Moon Kingdom, they were equally as beautiful as the ones she was accustomed to, if not more.
The variety of colours was astounding, mixed with a cornucopia of pungent aromas that varied from the sweet and fruity, to the musky and spicy. Instantly Luna felt her head clear, and would have been rather content to spend all of her days in the garden if she were able. A small path lined with pebbles led her through the foliage, boasting various flowers and plants from other planets.
A particular cluster of flowers on one side of the path caught her eye, ones she had not seen in many years. Luna hurried over to them, fingering one of the flowers gently as she admired the unique shape and familiar fragrance. The snow-like petals were soft and just as beautiful as she remembered. She couldn't remember their exact name, only that they had been native to Mau. Luna had always liked how they stood in such contrast to the plethora of coloured flowers who had such bright hues, yet these were pure white.
The crunch of approaching footsteps behind her made Luna retreat from the flowers and spin around, her red gaze meeting that of the local gardener, an older gentleman who gave her a warm smile before proceeding to bow. Luna returned the gesture with a curtsey, her cheeks flushing with warmth as she realized she had allowed herself to become quite distracted with the foliage behind her.
She was about to turn and leave to return to her room when the elderly man spoke. "I see you've taken a liking to those white flowers." he commented, indicating to the plants behind Luna with a slight nod of the head. Luna's cheeks flushed again as she nodded in response. "They're beautiful." she added, spinning back around to gaze at them once more as the gardener moved to stand beside her.
"These particular flowers are from the feline planet of Mau. Beautiful place, filled with the most colourful foliage known throughout the Silver Millennium. These were brought back just a few years before the Queen of Mau passed away and the planet was sadly destroyed." the man explained wistfully. "It is a shame, I would have loved to have added more of the different varieties of them to this garden."
Luna frowned slightly, touching one of the delicate flowers again. The snowy petals reminded her of Artemis, the tone just like that of his hair. "I remember these." she exclaimed aloud, unaware of the gardener's eyes widening as she spoke. "In the vast sea of coloured flowers, these ones always stood out for me. When I was a child, I had a bouquet of them beside my bed so my room would be filled with the rich perfume." Luna leaned forward and let the aroma tickle her nose, the sweet and musky scent calming.
"You are a Mauan?" the gardener asked Luna incredulously, breaking her from her daze as she stood up straight once more and turned her eyes to him. "One of the remaining few, it seems." she replied sadly, her smile fading as the man looked wistful. "I offer my condolences for what befell your home. If you would like, you may take one of the flowers as a momentum."
Luna's eyebrows raised slightly out of surprise before she moved to pluck one of the pale flowers, twirling the stem between her fingers. She turned to the elderly gardener and curtseyed again. "Thankyou." she expressed her gratitude, before turning to make her way back through the path and to her room, smiling as the man waved in farewell at her as she departed.
Once back at her room, she took the flower and placed in within her luggage, knowing the aroma would stick to her clothing and she would have a sweet slumber that night indeed. Now all that was left to do was to have breakfast and then they could depart from the village-
Luna shoot to her feet once again, remembering that the princess was still nowhere to be found. She had become so enamoured by the garden that she had completely forgotten that Selenity had seemingly disappeared, and needed to be located before Luna could relax.
Rushing out of her room, Luna hurried into the main part of the building they had stayed in the previous night, looking for any signs of the young princess. As she began to descend down the stairs, she heard a peal of laughter, the familiar tinkling putting Luna at ease as she recognized it as Selenity's.
Once at the bottom of the stairs, Luna entered the dining room to find Artemis and Selenity already seated and currently in the process of devouring their breakfast. Artemis' blue eyes rose from the bowl before him to meet Luna's red ones, and instantly he stood from his chair, a gesture of chivalry as he awaited for her to sit down before he would resume his seat.
As Artemis moved to his feet, Selenity noticed this movement and turned around in her own chair to make sense of what had happened, her delicate features lighting up as she saw Luna, a beaming smile appearing on her lips. "Luna!" she exclaimed, looking to the chair beside her. "Please, come and join us for breakfast!"
Luna folded her arms for a moment, pointedly looking at Artemis with what she sensed was an icy glare. She was not furious, but she was quite annoyed and made sure that he was aware of this. Not only had the princess been dressed and organized by someone else when it was Luna's job to do so, no-one had even alerted her to Selenity being awake. The young princess knew that if she were to rise first, she was to knock on Luna's door and wake her.
Despite this, and the fact that they had begun to eat without waiting for her to arrive, Luna was glad to see that Selenity and Artemis were spending time together and getting to know one another, especially as the princess had not quite known what to make of the snow-haired man at first. Now she could see the true Artemis that Luna had known since they were children, despite the fact that she had no idea that he was actually the Artemis she had heard stories about from Luna in her youth.
Sighing, Luna moved to the table and sat down next to Selenity, Artemis returning to his seat also before resuming to eat. Selenity, always perceptive, looked at Luna woefully. "I am sorry Luna that I did not wake you this morning. I was just so excited about today that I rose before the sun, and could not return to my slumber. Luckily one of the maids helped me to prepare for the day, as I thought you deserved to continue to sleep." Selenity explained, frowning at the tanned woman beside her.
"You gave me a fright this morning when I came to your room to wake you, only to find you gone. I feared the worst." Luna admitted, her tone slightly scolding. "As your confidante, I must know where you are at all times. I do not wish to lose you, Selenity, I must keep you safe." she explained, patting the girl's slender arm affectionately, a smile appearing on her face.
Artemis broke the conversation as he finished his meal and cleared his throat. "Selenity, I advise you to finish your breakfast as Luna receives hers. In the meantime, I will finish loading the carriage so that once you are both done, we will be able to depart and be on our way. Today's travelling will be the longest we have had so far, yet we will have breaks so that the princess may stretch her legs. However, these breaks cannot be too lengthy as I wish to enter the South Kingdom before nightfall."
Back to business, it seemed. Luna smirked at him momentarily before her meal arrived, the bowl placed in front of her as the delicious aroma wafted up to meet her nose. Selenity looked up at Artemis and nodded. "We shall see you at the carriage then, once we are done." The Mauan rose from his seat, bowing to the two woman seated before striding from the room, leaving Selenity and Luna to finish their food.
Watching him go, Luna could not help but wish it was night already. Those were the only times she and Artemis could spend time together, and there were things she wanted to ask him, to tell him, to discover about him. All she wanted to do at that moment was show him the flower she had found, but that too would have to wait until nightfall.
It was going to be an incredibly long day, and it had only just begun.