Chapter 3: Old Loves

The humid room was becoming more uncomfortable with every moment as the ruling royals shifted in their seats, ready for the day's end. The two heated outbursts of the Marian and Jovian kings adding to the tense atmosphere of the stone chamber. Queen Serenity fought through her fatigue to maintain her regeal composure.

"Now then, this first secession of the Planetary security council is ended." Queen Serenity called out tiredly and many of the reigning royals around the table let out sighs of exhausted relief. "I will expect all of you to attend the continuing negotiations tomorrow morning. Now go about your business."

As all of the nobles rose they began to converse among themselves about their lives and of their families. For most nobles, whether they were friends or not, did not often travel beyond the boundaries of their own borders to converse with one another.

"So, how fares your wife?" Queen Aphrodite of Venus asked nervously, yet with interest while walking up beside the intellectual King Lucious of Mercury.

"She is still with the palace healers as of late, the stress of our daughter's premature birth still new to her body." King Lucious answered rubbing the black goatee upon his chin with the back of his hand in thought. "But other than the obvious readjustment, both wife and child are well."

"You had a daughter…what…what did you name her?" Aphrodite asked her cheeks turning a rare shade of pink as she drank in the unexpected news.

"Keia." Lucious answered gauging Aphrodite's reaction carefully as she turned her face away from his curious gaze, sensing some jealously and the foolishness it created in himself at his next words, "And I hear that you have a young son."

"Yes." Aphrodite turned her face back and answered with an earnest smile at the thought of her only child, "Atreus, he will soon be nearly two years old."

"My son will also be two years of age within the coming new year." King Lucious replied with pride of his elder child before relenting to his distant feelings, watching the floor sheepishly as they walked the marble corridors while running a hand through his short dark blue hair. "I regretted hearing of your husband's passing, I mourned for your loss."

Aphrodite looked up quickly into the deep blue eyes of the King of Mercury whom she valued so much and smiled sadly, "Thank you."

"I am only sorry that the healers whom I sent to you were not gifted enough to save him." Lucious replied not meeting the Venian beauty's eyes, feeling that he could not bare the weight of her sorrow on his soul now. "I am sorry that I could not save him-"

Aphrodite laid one of her delicate fingers against the King of Mercury's lips to silence his words and drew his attention towards her. Then without warning she laid one of her small hands on the base of his neck and pulled him down for a long kiss.

The king of mercury was startled by this action, but he did not pull away; he instead wrapped his arms around the Venian beauty's small waist and deepened the kiss. When they finally pulled apart to breathe, the king of Mercury held such fear in his blue gaze that he sent a chill of fear down the Venian queen's spine also.

"We cannot do this." Lucious finally spoke caressing Aphrodite's cheek softly, almost longingly with one of his hands. "We were in love long ago, but that time must come to pass now. I am married, I did not choose to marry Hecuba, this is true to my word…nor did I ever vow to stop loving you, but this is an impossible situation to remedy ."

Aphrodite brought her hand up to hold the one caressing her cheek and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "Love is impossible, but it is not unfair nor unkind. If you only heed its call, it will nurture your interests and take you to the gates of the Gods and back again with the one you love. Do not give up so easily, beloved. I have loved you my entire life, but I was foolish and when it came time for me to marry I refused your proposal, frightened of my family's reaction to my possible marriage to an heir of Mercury and I allowed my father to arrange my marriage to Elector; the arrogant knight and prince of Mars. Nothing gratifying or joyous ever emerged from our union other than the birth of my only son and heir, Atreus. "

"I feared that you had fallen in love with him, after you refused my proposal." Lucious said a little relieved as he enveloped Aphrodite in a warm, reassuring hug while resting his head in the crook of her neck. "He was, after all, considered by all of the women of his father's court; to be quite passionate in the throes of love, although caring and understanding he was not."

Aphrodite held Lucious close comfortingly and leaned her head on his chest as he relaxed into the hug. "No, I could never learn to love a monster, a murderer of men. I love small actions, like a small act of kindness, a reassuring hug, a unrequited gift, or a loving kiss. Elector could never hold a torch to those requirements because he could never be anything like the one whom I held in my heart and measured everyone else against."

Lucious pulled back from Aphrodite in surprise as she smiled sweetly upon him, finding his confused expression amusing and adorable. Aphrodite wrapped her arms around the tall king's neck and met his dark blue gaze with her soft cobalt one, before speaking softly, "Spoken carefully, he could never be you."

Before Aphrodite knew what was happening, the king of Mercury had scooped her up in his strong arms and joyously twirled her around off from the ground. She laughed lightly as he twirled her around in the air effortlessly. Then he set her back down on her feet gently, the most pleased of smiles on Lucious' face, while light danced in his dark blue eyes. "I love you, Aphrodite. If we are forever cursed to live out the lives which have been chosen for us, then so be it, but for these weeks let it be our time."

Aphrodite smiled at the words she had longed to hear uttered from her reclusive love's lips and threw her arms around his neck. Then Lucious brought Aphrodite's head over to meet his own and their lips met in a cascade of love. When they parted, Lucious then effortlessly lifted a lovingly smiling Aphrodite off from the ground and carried her to his guest chambers in the castle.

"Just look at that." Ares commented in disgust watching the queen of Venus and the king of Mercury from his post behind a marble pillar, "I knew it. If only my brother could see this, he would turn over in his grave. I cannot stomach this, have you ever seen such utter rot!"

Ares turned to his companion, the stoic king of Pluto who remained standing silently against the corridor's wall, his garnet eyes perceptive and weary; glowing in the shadows.

"Yes, actually." King Cronous said with an uncharacteristic smile, "It is something that is unhallowed in the culture of you Marians. It is called, falling in love. After all Aphrodite's husband has died, your brother's demise was a sad death, true not quite worthy of a Marian knight; but not her fault in the least and she has been in love with Lucious since she was a small child every since the day he traveled with his father on trade negotiations to Venus. True love cannot be bottled up so cruelly for such a long amount of years without being expressed somehow in some way. True love is after all, profound."

Ares turned on his taller companion and roughly grabbed the elder king's garnet cloak, "My elder brother's body still erodes in his grave and yet you bring dishonor to his name? And that ungrateful witch, had this treachery come to pass on my planet instead of her own, she would have burned for treason in advance; before her marriage could commence."

"T'is no act of treason to fall in love nor to acknowledge love for another when all is free to do so." King Cronous said sagely, his earlier smile fading into a frown as he forcefully tore the young Marian king's hand from his cloak which earned him a death glare from Ares.

Ares ignored the prying garnet eyes piercing through him as he leaned casually against the back of the marble pillar. Ares' ebony eyes were boring holes into the king of Pluto trying to deter him from further argument. Finally deciding, that he could not kill the Plutonian royal here for their were servants to witness the act, Ares decided to frame a more unfeeling state of mind.

"Upon Mars it is…a crime to fall in love. You see my culture has found a way to dodge petty human emotions. We avoid falling in love and rather arrange marriages based upon political alliances, as many royals of other planets do; only we arrange that same action with every common person. Anything one wishes for, one can find in their spouse, even by force; including the production of heirs." Ares stated as he leaned nonchalantly against a pillar of marble, "I have eight wives, none of which love me, nor do I have any affection whatsoever for them, and from my arranged union with them I have five sons and three daughters. My friend, do you not understand? Practicality is the only law which keeps a war machine in motion. Emotions are expendable and can be pushed aside as easily as wind can blow away the sand, but raw human power is only achieved through brute force and reckoning. Those are the spoils of war. "

King Cronous, ever the wise man, did not retaliate; but instead shook his head numbly. Marians were a sturbborn breed and Ares was the most dominate and ruthless of them all. Those who dared to cross him would have their planets swarmed mercilessly with the legions of Mars. No, mercy, that was his belief and he often stopped at nothing to enforce it.

King Marsalla walked the marble corridors alone, for after the spectacle he had made at the meeting, no royal would dare residing in his company. He walked slowly studying the scenes depicted upon the tapestries hanging on the walls, settled in between the amethyst and gold marble pillars, his emerald cloak sweeping the floor as he walked.

They depicted the stories in the Saturnarian fashion of story telling, with the tales being told in order of events from top to bottom instead of from bottom to top on the wall hangings, as was the Lunarian fashion.

He walked over one of the tapestries, richly outlined in red and gold material and stopped before it. At the wall hanging's top was a intricate amethyst rose and leading down from the image were a series of smaller more detailed ones. One was of a girl speaking to a hooded stranger upon a horse, a great serpent embroidered upon his cloak. Another depicted the dame girl weeping in a ruined town, the place he suspected had once been her home. In the last scene embroidered upon the tapestry, the girl was sitting upon a throne beneath the stars with the jeweled crown of Saturn upon her forehead.

"Have you ever been taught the story of Neia I and the Saturnarian Rose?" a man with white hair in a neat ponytail and wearing the gold and white garb of a Lunarian servant approached the Jovian king. "It is a rather inspiring tale, my lord. Allow me to regale it to you."

The Jovian king gazed both inquiringly and threateningly at the servant who had just approached him. "No I shall not be bothered by a servant. What is your name? For further reference so that I may have you whipped for your impudence."

"My name is Malice, high king." the servant said bowing low to the Jovian royal, his voice proud and unwavering, "And I apologize for intruding upon a person of such high station such as your eminence, but I noticed your interest in the tapestry and thought that you might like to have the story regaled to you by a prominent tale teller."

The Jovian king studied the servant wearily. He was bowing, but his stature and proud tone of voice suggested no respect for the royal before him. As the servant straightened up to his full height, Marsalla caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were a dark shade a blue, so dark that they were almost purple and at their depths the Jovian royal could have sworn that he recognized a slight shade of red surrounding the border's of the servant's pupil.

"A gifted tale teller are you?" Marsalla asked still regarding the Lunarian servant wearily.

"Yes." Malice replied his voice taking on a manipulating tone in mid speech with such a smooth transition that the Jovian king did not notice the change. "Would the crown wish to hear tell of the tale?"

The servant gazed up at the king and the Jovian king noticed that in those blue eyes there was swimming a sea of red surrounding the pupil, appearing able to burn like lava. There was also a strange feeling there, which made the Jovian royal who was known for his unmerciful ways, feel at the mercy of the servant himself.

"Tell me the tale servant." the king commanded tearing his eyes away from those of the Lunarian servant to fix them upon the tapestry before him.

The servant walked up behind the king and began to speak in the same tone as before, but with more vigor, "Long ago in the time of the battles between Chaos and the immortals our little known empire was warring between the devouring light and the battling darkness. At that time Saturn had not a reigning royal. The queen Metallia of the righteous dark had begun establishing her empire using the discord chaos was creating among the people. Although the queen was evil and malicious, she longed for great beauty. Now you may ask why if a person was truly evil would they lust after a gift so pure, the answer is this: evil must be born from good and so the two are one in the same and so one cannot be complete without the other. This is the delicate balance which upholds this universe.

"The queen longed for this beauty, not in her appearance, but for her gardens finding the black roses of her flowerbeds to be most unappealing and wanted a rose the color of the darkest of purples to announce her royal status with a dark color. She sent one of her greatest champions, Raizo, to seek a flower breeder for her rose. On one of Saturn's moons he encountered a young girl whom he had observed planting and breeding flowers and entrusted her with one of the queen's black roses to do the job. He left to inform the queen of his action while monitoring the young girl's progress daily in secret.

"Then when the time was right he emerged once more taking the rose and abducting the girl with him to his queen's encampment. He presented the flower and the girl to his queen with great pride. The queen ordered the girl's execution as she deemed that the child had out lived her usefulness, but when it came time to behead the girl, Raizo, had not the bravery to kill the child and so he gave to her his steed and allowed her leave to return home.

"A white haired captain of the queen witnessed this act of treachery to her crown and ran to her, telling her of her champion's betrayal. This saddened the queen as in addition to being her greatest champion, Raizo was also her lover, but justice had to be done and so the queen had her lover arrested and beheaded. The white haired servant then became the queen's most trusted confidant and lover, taking the place of Raizo.

"In addition, the Queen dispatched a battalion of her finest troops to pillage and destroy all of the outlining villages upon the Saturnarian moon. When the rose breeder returned home, she found her home destroyed. Not long after this set back Neia organized a coup d'etat and gained her place as Saturn's first queen, driving the forces of Queen Metallia from Saturn completely." Malice finished, his voice trailing softly away.

"A gain of power through taking power from another?" the Jovian king questioned himself.

"Yes." Malice continued his voice becoming the epitome of exploitation, "What is power if not taken from another? What are we if not powerful? A person in a position of power is a waste if they do not use their power to dominate others. That is why I appreciate your example of ruling, eminence. You are not weak as many of your fellow rulers. You do not imprison those who have no tolerance for you. You take the justified route and torture your enemies until they are captive to your rule or until death takes them. You are powerful, but do you not wish for more power, power you rightfully deserve, your eminence?"

The Jovian king was having difficulties focusing his thoughts as words and ideas swam around confusingly in his head. Malice began circling the Jovian king as the unfortunate royal gripped his head and rubbed his temples for relief from the trap that was his mind while Malice continued.

"Who truly knows what you have wished for in secret all of these long years? What you have whispered to the gods in times of distress, of rage? You wish and yet you do not command. You could be great, eminence, the epitome of power; real power in this universe. Even above Queen Serenity. " Malice spoke seductively, still slowly circling the king of Jupiter.

Simply a few more moments until the Jovian succumbs, I can certainly manage that Malice ,smiled as the king kneeled still cradling his head, Before I was the servant bowing to a king and not the king kneels at my feet. Yes, Jovian, your love of dominance over others shall prove your undoing.

Voices whispered in Marsalla's head as it throbbed painfully at his temples. The unfamiliar voices echoed loudly:

"To the best goes the greatest power."

"The Gods favor the strong, condemning the weak."

"Power is for the deserving."

"Greatness shall be yours."

"The ways we know shall not change, it will simply endure with your succession."

Malice knelt down on one knee so that he could whisper into the king's ear, "The greatest threat to your ascendance is Lucious, King of mercury. He challenges your authority. He believes that he has a greater intellect than you, more intelligence. You must show him that the warrior has power to dominate the healer. He is seizing all of your virtues, opposing them. Telling the other royals that he is a greater hero than you. Stomp his arrogance into the ground! This is the only way you may gain the power which you have long awaited."

Suddenly a memory from the meeting flashed before his mind's eye and his own words rang in his ears.

"Not a pawn to be played."

What was he here if not being a pawn to be moved by this servant who did not seem to know his place? This realization encouraged a flame of distaste to rise within him and grow into a fire of hatred which freed him from his mental torment and returned his free will under his control. Marsalla stood up quickly, knocking Malice forcefully to the ground as he did so.

"Would you make me into a slave?" King Marsalla yelled, his face contorting in rage as the whispering voices in the back of his mind vanished, "From king to beggar is that what you would make me, servant! And all for the conquest of your insane notions!"

Malice crawled backwards as the Jovian king came closer as his back hit a pillar and he could go no further.

"You would have my planet in ruins and my people in rags with me as the royal jester crawling on all fours for your amusement while my kingdom burned! You would encourage war with Mercury when only now has a peace treaty recently been signed and agreed upon!" Marsalla shouted advancing on the servant slowly.

"My only intention was to bring to life your wishes to be more powerful, eminence." Malice's voice shook with fear, his pride giving way to his own cowardice.

Wishing to strike the servant in all of his rage, Marsalla found that all of his strength had suddenly left his being and he could do naught but stand there, his labored breathing echoing in the corridor.

"Well, well, well." a voice sneered from down the corridor, "If it is not the Jovian king come down from his high ego to fraternize with the rest of us."

Marsalla turned his head sharply to see the king of Mars approaching him with a grin upon his face characteristic of a wolf out hunting a dear while the stoic king of Pluto kept his expression neutral walking alongside Ares as he studied the Jovian king carefully. Then the Plutonian king noticed the servant backed up against the pillar and his garnet eyes narrowed as he recognized the disheveled looking man to be Malice.

"What are you doing here?" the Plutonian king questioned Malice unmercifully, "This is no place for you, snake. Retreat back into your lair with the rest of your traitors. Do not worry, Malice, I know what your goal is here and I swear that you will not succeed. We will stop you, Serenity shall hear of this. Get out!"

Malice needed no further encouragement. He retreated, running down the vast corridor and disappearing into the darkness almost as fast as he had appeared.

Ares gazed over at his Jovian rival and gauged his disheveled appearance.

"Well now, do you not look regale? What were you doing to come to look like that?" Ares asked, bemused as he chuckled, the deep rumbling sound resonating down the corridor as he did so, "Or were you vexing the servant? No wonder he appeared so utterly horrified. Perhaps you were, you are sweating profusely."

"This is none of your concern, Ares!" Marsalla shouted, the anger in his being wracking his strong frame.

"You do not have to behave so vehemently." Ares mocked, the arrogant grin still marring his features, "It is of no consequence, I will not tell your wife of your exploits during our stay here."

"Ares!" Marsalla yelled, a fire of rage burning in his emerald eyes, a border of light red blaring momentarily around the rims of his pupils before receding back into the dark green depths of his eyes .

The Plutonian king narrowed his garnet eyes. What was that? Obviously Ares did not notice that as he continued to batter the Jovian king in a war of words he was certain of that, but where had the red come from? It had only existed for a moment, but it was a sign of the seed of deception being planted and it had been planted in the soul of the power hungry warrior king of Jupiter.

"I should have foreseen this." King Cronous whispered to himself as he held his chin with shaking fingers. "But it had by passed my eyes, our fate is in the hands of the Gods now."

Wearied in despair, the Plutonian king covered his face with his hand as Ares and Marsalla continued to argue futilely, not seeing the danger that lay ahead of them all in the impending future.

"Exactly, that is what I was taught also." Nathaniel replied sitting beside Setsuna on a stone bench in one of the Gazebos of the palace gardens. Then Nathaniel leaned against the railing of the Gazebo which their bench was situated against. He looked out across the patches of neatly arranged flowers of all assorted colors, his mind wandering to a far off place where only his memories were permitted to enter. "Death before dishonor at all costs." he chuckled suddenly, the hidden mirth rumbling in his chest, "What a concept."

The young Saturnarian prince sat alone on a bench just before the gates of their castle. He was maybe nine or ten summer's old. He was loosely holding a sword in his left arm and his right arm limply hung down to his side, blood flowing freely from a tear in his shoulder. The boy was not crying as most boys his age would for such a wound, for no tears came and he was not sobbing because his small frame was completely still; the young prince simply was.

Nathanel's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of horse hooves striking the cobblestone paths of the garden. Three riders clad in black came to the Gazebo's enterance and Nathaniel stood up to meet them. They were garbed in silver cloaks telling him that they were emissaries from the moon and their cloaks were clasped to their shoulders with golden rings symbolizing that they were from the Knightly court.

One of the riders swayed closer on his dapple gray stallion, the prized horses of the moon kingdom, and leaned down within an arm's length of Nathaniel.

"Are you the only son of the Saturnarian royal family?" the emissary asked kindly gazing upon the prince with solemn red eyes.

"Yes." Nathaniel answered standing up straighter as the prince he once was titled as.

The emissary reached in his pocket and pulled out a small scroll wrapped in golden thread and reverently handed it to Nathaniel. "Read over this message and then inform the queen of it's contents if she is not aware of it already. Good luck and safe tidings, Campaigning knight." Then the emissary gave his horse a kick and wheeled him around and out of the gates along with his two companions riding out behind him.

Nathaniel starred down at the message which had been given to him. Then he braced himself for the worst and untied the golden string surrounding the scroll revealing its message. As he read his expression turned from one of anger to sadness to everything in between.

As if sensing the turmoil growing inside of her companion, Setsuna came up behind Nathaniel and leaned up on the tips of her toes to lay her head gently on his shoulder as a comforting gesture and also as assurance that she would be able to get a glimpse of the message he held in his hands. Nathaniel paid little attention to Setsuna curious gaze peering over his shoulder, he instead focused on opening the double scrolls to reveal white parchment decorated on its edges with pink blossoms and intricate designs. Written in medium sized elegant script in the center of the scroll was the ominous message, the parchment read:

To the knight Nathaniel Diem, the only prince of Saturn.

Circumstances being what they are, we of the Planetary knighthood here by order you to defend the outer rim. As you are not far from your destination, we will be expecting your arrival in two to three days. Inform the Queen that this is indeed a matter of some urgency, that an enemy known as the Dark Kingdom has breeched our outer defenses.

Report to the queen that our losses were severe and that the council regrets to inform her of the confirmed loss of the two Royal Stars of the outer court: Princess Entarais of Neptune & Princess Regelle of Uranus, if the message has not been conveyed already. The alliance has yet to send word of the two outer knight's demise to their planets and to their families, but that formality is being dealt with as we speak.

The enemy has become a level five threat to our galaxy and they are on their way to breeching the remaining defenses of Pluto as we speak. You are to travel to the outer moon, Chiron, of Pluto. Once their, you will encounter the Royal Star and inner knight, Yamacha Capri, whom will brief you in on your assignment.

I sincerely hope that we can muster the power to crush this uprising, if not then I fear that all hope is lost for our kingdom.

Sincerely,

Dominion Catalus: Distinguished Campaigning Knight of the Outer Court

Both Setsuna and Nathaniel studied the message written on the scroll, Nathaniel gazing upon it with worry and anger, Setsuna doing that same with disbelief written clearly on her features. The Royal Stars dead? No, it could not be. The Royal Stars were the strongest of Serenity's knights, four guardians placed at the four corners of our Galaxy. Two fought with the Outer court, defending the outer rim. Two fought with the Inner court, dedicated entirely to both peace and war between the planets and to the protection of the Lunarian royal family.

How could they have killed Entarais and Regelle? Setsuna knew them, both Outer princesses were sisters and had been close friends of her mother; the queen of Pluto with whom they visited often. They were always kind to Setsuna and her family.

On certain occasions they would bring with them unique gems or c rafted items from far away galaxies and Setsuna would study these strange objects of foreign architecture while the two Outer knights would tell the story of their distant battles and campaigns. But now, especially with the two knights dead, the once distant threat seemed so much more closer to the Moon Kingdom and much more frightening for its people.

"The death of the Royal Stars was a tragic occurrence. I already informed their family's of their passings, so it will come as no real surprise to them." Nathaniel broke the silence which had settled between the two of them like an iron curtain. "But not unbefitting of them. They would have rather died with honor than to let the Dark Kingdom use them as a crutch."

Setsuna remained silent, gazing at Nathaniel whom had angrily crumpled the message up and thrown it down on the ground. Nathaniel stood up and walked over to the far side of the Gazebo turning his back to Setsuna, leaning heavily on the railing there with his shoulders up and his head bent low in disturbed thought. It had started raining and the heavy drops ran off from the roof of the Gazebo in streams of the cold liquid.

"You should leave now. It would be imprudent to get further ensnared in these matters any further." He spoke in a voice reflecting deep melancholia, "I am sorry to have brought you into all of this, I know it is not what you deserve."

"Maybe so, but perhaps it is my destiny to help you through this hardship." Setsuna offered comfortingly.

"And perhaps it is my destiny to die on the rotten battlements of some far away place. How then would you help me?" Nathaniel asked a little more harshly than he had intended.

"Do not mourn for your fate Nathaniel, for it is still undecided." Setsuna said ignoring the harsh tone of his voice when he had spoken last.

"Oh yes, and how are you certain of this?" Nathaniel turned sharply on her.

"Nothing is certain, Nathaniel, and all is possible." Setsuna answered him.

Nathaniel relented, letting his eyes rest on the shinning marble of the Gazebo's floor. Then he felt a soft touch on his jaw as his gaze was adjusted slightly down to meet Setsuna's pleading eyes.

"Do not loose hope." Setsuna pleaded, "I have only known you for this day and yet you already represent a great deal to me. As a royal all I have known has been privileged, but that privilege is receding with every day I grow closer to marrying age. On my planet as in the customs of every other planet, marriage for love between royals is limited and prohibited. From the time your heart labors to fall in love to the time you sacrifice your love for duty to your crown, you are a pawn in a much greater game to be played. I need to know that there is hope to become more in this life than a pawn to be set and moved, for a chance to write my own destiny, and I cannot come to understand that if you die hopeless on the battlefield."

Nathaniel starred at Setsuna. What had she said? She needed him safe, to know that life meant something profound to her? What reasoning could she possibly have for that?

Setsuna stared out over the blooming flowerbeds as her face took on a blush of red, "You should not hold your own life in contempt. After all, I have heard that throughout the Outer court you are considered the most charming of young knights. From what I have gathered there is not one woman whom can deny anything to the Black knight of Saturn. That is quite a reputation to live for."

Nathaniel was surprised that the Plutonian princess had heard of his title. 'The Black knight', a title many had falsely thought Nathaniel had stolen from his elder cousin, Daro, but which instead came from the black sheen of his armor.

"I did not know you had heard of that name. If I had known then I would have punished all those who dare use it in your sight." Nathaniel replied.

"I came to hear it of my own accord as I spent a great deal of time in the guard's house, listening to the older knights tell tales of their wayward companions and far off adventures." Setsuna said, coming to face Nathaniel. "And you were almost always the center of their discussions. 'The Saturnarian Prince', is what they called you. I did not understand whom they were speaking of then or why he held such significance in their eyes, but now I do."

Then closing the distance between them she stood upon the tips of her toes and kissed Nathaniel on the cheek. Then she pulled back slowly and settled down flatly onto her feet, starring up at Nathaniel, studying his reaction to the sudden contact.

Nathaniel gazed into Setsuna's eyes uncertainly. "Setsuna you must understand by now that for royals there is much to surrender to duty. There lay great consequences to be braved in love."

Setsuna smiled knowingly as she reached up to lightly stroke the Saturnarian prince's cheek with her fingers, "I know that and I want to brave all of the obstacles with you. Please, do not lose hope, not when I offer you hope greater than all worlds."

Nathaniel's stunned silence faded away as he took the hand from his face and held it between both of his gently. "I will never loose so long as you remain with me."

"I will always be with you. If you need me I will be there." She smiled warmly at the sincerity of his words.

Nathaniel tried to steel himself and draw his eyes from that pure gaze, but he could not. Oh, how easily her beautiful eyes could captivate him to stillness. His heart pounded in his ears, a noisy reassurance that he was indeed still standing upright and breathing. What was it about her? Why, upon such a short meeting, did she captivate him so?

Suddenly a loud voice sounded through the garden and caused him to drop her smooth hand.

"Setsuna!" King Cronous' called as he stood on the walkway in the entrance archway of the garden. "We must go, now, bid farewell to your companion."

Setsuna seemed torn and then leaned forward quickly, placing a brief kiss on Nathaniel's cheek before racing down the path towards her father.

Nathaniel leaned heavily against the side of the Gazebo as he watched the Plutonian king and his daughter turn and leave his sight. He sighed. He truly hoped that he would be able to see her again, if only for a short moment. For she promised the greatest of all wishes to him with only her actions: the wish for happiness.

Author's Note: Hope everyone enjoyed this short piece. If not still let me know. Thanks! Please R & R!