Once a Princess Chapter 4, a sailor moon fanfic

Once a Princess: Chapter 4
Charlyne
[email protected]
07/20/03

"I didn't do anything, father, I swear!"

Alric frowned at his adopted daughter. "Then why did the Sailor Senshi request a meeting with us?" He feared that she might have angered one of the planetary princesses, or even the Queen of the Moon herself. But if she told him the truth--and she'd never lied to him before--she'd behaved quite lady-like at the ball.

Cleo sighed and slumped down into her chair. "I don't know."

Patting Cleo on the head, Alric sat down in the chair next to hers. "So tell me again, what did you do after you danced with Prince Endymion?" he asked.

"Well, I was a little flustered because he kept complimenting me," Cleo replied, a slight blush staining her cheeks. "So when the waltz ended and he left to get me some punch, I escaped outside and stood on the balcony. The sea was so beautiful I decided to go for a walk down by the shore." The sight of the ebony water, dotted with the reflection of the stars, had held her captivated. The moon, so full and bright, had seemed to call to her. She'd silently stared up at the glowing orb until the sea spray had started to soak through her gown and the wind hand begun to chill her.

"And then?" Alric prompted when it seemed she'd gotten lost in her thoughts.

"And then I went back to our rooms, changed into my night clothes, and went to bed," Cleo finished with a shrug. "I didn't see or speak to any of the Sailor Senshi, or Queen Serenity."

Leaning back against the plush cushions of the chair, Alric thought over the night's events. He'd greeted his monarchs, Queen Kaia and King Endymion, and had been introduced to the Queen and King of the Moon. After a brief conversation, he'd wandered off to check on his children. He had seen Cleo twirling around the dance floor with the prince and had been surprised to say the least. That the prince had noticed her wasn't what astonished him--he knew she was a beautiful child--but what had startled him was that she had not been stepping on the prince's toes. He hadn't thought she'd paid attention during her dancing lessons.

This morning, he'd received a note requesting a meeting with himself and Cleo from the Sailor Senshi. Although he hated to admit it, his first thought was that his child might have, in some way, been disrespectful. The Lord knew, Cleo rarely kept her opinions to herself.

"Milord, the Sailor Senshi have arrived," a servant announced.

"Show them in, please," Alric replied.

With a nod, the servant left. A few moments later, four young girls entered the room. They seemed to be around the same age as Cleo was, and each wore a similar uniform in an different color. Alric and Cleo both stood, as was proper, and Alric bowed while Cleo curtsied.

"Your Highnesses," Alric greeted. "Please take a seat. I am Lord Alric and this is my youngest daughter, Lady Cleo."

All four girls were staring at Cleo with such intensity that it was beginning to make her nervous. The Senshi looked as if they had seen a ghost. After a few moments of silence, the leader, a tall black-haired girl with exotic violet eyes, shook herself out of her stupor and introduced herself. She said her name was Raye and that she was the Senshi and Princess of Mars. Just behind her stood Mina, from Venus, then Amy, from Mercury, and then Lita, from Jupiter.

"I don't think we need to ask any questions now," whispered the blond-haired Senshi of Venus as the girls took their seats. Her eyes darted over to Cleo. "I think it's obvious that it's her."

"Mina, stop whispering, it's rude!" snapped Lita, the Amazonian from Jupiter.

The Venusian blushed and fell silent.

Clearing her throat, the leader began to speak. "I'm sorry to have requested this meeting without giving you a reason, milord," Raye apologized. "But it is a matter of utmost importance concerning your daughter Cleo." Every set of eyes in the room rested on the silver-haired girl.

Cleo shifted uneasily in her chair. What had the girl named Mina been talking about and why was everyone staring at her?

"It was no trouble, Your Highness. If you would, please explain this matter," Alric replied.

Raye sighed. "In this instance, I am afraid that you must answer some questions before the tale can be told. The story itself is for Queen Serenity to explain if the answers you give are satisfactory."

Alric frowned but didn't push any further. It was not his place to argue with royalty. "Ask your questions, then."

The previously silent princess of Mercury sat forward in her chair. "I will be recording this interview and inputting figures into my computer during the meeting."

What's a computer? Cleo wondered. She knew that the Lunarians were a highly advanced society, and that the only planet that surpassed the Moon in technology was Mercury, but she wasn't quite sure what 'highly advanced' meant. Obviously advanced enough for intergalactic travel if their Alliance spreads throughout the galaxy.

"Cleo is your adopted daughter, correct?" Raye inquired.

"Yes, though we've always treated her the same as any of our biological children," Alric answered.

"Could you tell me how she came to live with you?"

Alric shrugged. "I had been heading to Terra, to the Golden Palace, after putting down a rising in the North. I had been summoned by King Endymion. I stopped by an inn to rest for the night as was awoken by the sound of a crying baby. I found Cleo alone in a room, wrapped in a blanket and lying on the bed. The innkeeper said that the father had left that morning and not returned. They feared he had abandoned the child. So I made the decision to take her home and make her part of the family."

"Do you remember where this inn was and the name of it?"

Searching his memory, Alric replied, "It was the Royal Rose, in the village of Wildwood."

"Did the innkeeper know the name of the baby's--Cleo's--father?"

"No, he could only give me a description."

All four girls leaned forward in expectation. "What did he look like?"

Why all the interest in Cleo and her father? Alric asked silently. "The innkeeper told me that the man had dark brown hair and brown eyes. No distinguishing features. A quite plain-looking man."

Which would let him sneak into the Palace easily without being noticed, especially if he disguised himself as a servant, Raye thought.

"Although," Alric added as an afterthought, "the innkeeper did say that the man had a visitor. The visitor looked like a noble and had the most eerie gray eyes."

"I'd just like to ask one final question," Raye said. "What was Cleo wearing when you found her?"

"Wearing? She had on naught but rags and a diaper. Looked as though the father had scrounged up any old towels and cloths he could find, then wrapped the child in it. I do remember thinking, though, that the diaper was made of fine linen, not at all like the covering. I figured the cloth had probably been stolen from the drying line of an upper-class house."

Raye stood and the other three girls followed suit. "Thank you for your time, milord Alric and milady Cleo." They then left the room, leaving a puzzled Cleo and a confused Alric alone.

"They didn't even ask me anything," Cleo commented. "They only stared at me. It was unnerving. I wonder what that was all about."

"I suppose that if the answers I gave are 'satisfactory' we shall find out," Alric said.

______________________________________

"Your Majesty, I do not doubt that this is her. She looks exactly like you did at her age, she has the same silver hair as all Moon royalty have had since the very first Serenity and the same silver blue eyes that you used to wonder if they would darken and become silver-gray like yours, or lighten to match her father's." Amy grinned slightly. "It seemed that they stayed as they were."

Queen Serenity wiped away the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief. Her husband, King Chander, lightly patted her back. He was not letting his emotions rule him, as the queen was doing, but Serenity could tell by looking in his eyes that he was deeply effected by the news. In his blue orbs she could see a light of hope and joy that had been extinguished the day they had found their precious child gone. "You're positive it's her?" Serenity asked.

"I would stake my life on it. We have all the evidence we need, aside from taking a blood sample for a DNA test." Amy chuckled softly. "And I can just imagine trying to explain DNA to these Earthlings. With their primitive technology I don't think they'll ever advance."

Nodding her understanding, Serenity turned to her husband. "Shall we meet our daughter?"

"Tomorrow we shall see her. We must also give our thanks to her family for taking such wonderful care of her all these years," Chander replied.

"Of course!" Turning back to the Senshi, Queen Serenity thanked them for their help in locating her daughter and bid them all a goodnight. As Mina was leaving, the queen stopped her. "Could you please send a notice to Lord Alric and his family that I would like to meet with them?"

"Of course, Your Majesty." Mina bowed and left the room.

This is so exciting! Mina thought. I can't wait until we finally get to know what kind of person Serenity turned out to be.

______________________________________

"I really didn't do anything, father!"

"First a meeting with the Sailor Senshi, now a meeting with Queen Serenity herself?" Alric muttered. "Cleo, what is this all about?"

"They were asking you all the questions, not me," Cleo retorted. That earned her a frown from her father. Cleo quickly apologized for using that tone of voice.

Walking into the antechamber that connected the suite of rooms they'd been given, Alric looked around at his family gathered there. His wife sat on a chair across from the settee where his two daughters sat, and his son leaned negligently against the wall. When everyone's attention was on him, Alric announced, "We will all be meeting the Queen and King of the Moon tomorrow. I want everyone to look their best."

"Moon Royalty?" Bethany gasped. "I've heard so much about them! Queen Serenity is supposed to be the most powerful woman in the universe!"

"What am I going to wear?" Lily moaned.

Cleo rolled her eyes. I guess I'm going to have to wear another dress and act like a perfect lady again. That's three days in a row! I hope father knows that I won't be wearing a dress for another five years after this.

When her father dismissed the family meeting, Cleo walked into her room and flopped onto the bed. As it had the night before, a picture of the prince floated before her mind's eye. She got a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought of him. It was almost like a combination of fear and excitement. Shaking her head, Cleo pulled on her night shift and crawled under the covers. A short while later, Cleo drifted off to sleep never thinking that the next day would change her life forever.

______________________________________

"I would like to thank you all for coming to this meeting," Queen Serenity said, staring at the family before her. She had caught a quick glimpse of the girl they called Cleo but she seemed to be hiding in the back of the group. I suppose that is best. I do not think that I would not be able to contain myself if I saw her.

"Thank you for inviting us, Your Majesty," Alric replied.

"I'm sure you are all very curious as to why I sent my Senshi to question you without answering any of your own questions, then asked you here to speak with myself and my husband. I guess I shall start at the beginning of the story.

"Sixteen years ago I gave birth to a daughter, whom we named Serenity. She was a beautiful child with silver hair and blue-silver eyes. She embodied the hope of the Moon Kingdom and the people rejoiced at her birth. You see, my husband and I had been married for fifty years and no heir had been conceived. We feared that we may never have a child. Then the Goddess blessed us with Serenity." Queen Serenity seemed caught up in emotion. When she spoke again, her voice was choked. "However, it seemed that not everyone on the Moon was overjoyed with the birth of an heir. Someone--we do not yet know who, though we have been searching--did not want Princess Serenity around. When Princess Serenity was only a year old, someone sneaked into her room sometime during the night. They took the baby and fled the planet--indeed, the whole Alliance. She has been lost to us these fifteen years."

The Queen's shining eyes, wet with unshed tears, sought out the silver head of her long-lost daughter. "I have every reason to believe that my child was taken to Earth and left at an inn called the Royal Rose, where you found her and integrated her into your family."

Every eye in the room swung around to rest on Cleo. The young lady gazed at her parents with shock and surprise. "No," Cleo denied, shaking her head. "I'm not a princess. It's not true."

Queen Serenity stood from her throne-like chair and walked slowly over to Cleo. "Serenity, my daughter, I've been looking for you for so long." The tears that the queen had tried to hold back were now trickling down her cheeks. "I never gave up hope that I would find you alive."

"I'm not Serenity, I'm Cleo."

Enfolding her protesting daughter in her arms, Serenity felt the dam of emotion break. Shaking, she clutched her child to her and cried. Cleo stood absolutely still in the queen's embrace. The queen had to be wrong. Cleo was not a princess, she was just Cleo. Cleo.

King Chander joined his wife and gave his daughter a brusque hug. "You're just as beautiful as I knew you'd be, Serenity," he said, his voice gruff with emotion.

"I'm not Serenity!" Cleo shouted. She pushed herself out of the queen's arms and retreated back to her family. "I'm not." Tears filled her eyes and she looked pleadingly at her parents. "Momma, Papa, I'm not."

Turning, Cleo ran out the door and down the hall. She had to get away from this lie. It was naught but a hoax, a cruel joke being played on her for some unknown crime. Cleo left the palace and ran down to the shore. Finding a section of the beach blocked off by trees, Cleo lost herself in the shade of the forest. She would not return until she felt she could handle the situation.

Which might be never. Sitting on the damp ground and pulling up her knees, Cleo wrapped her arms around her legs and gently rocked back and forth. A litany kept repeating itself in her mind like a prayer. This is not happening.

Author's Note:
I'm finally back to updating this story! I've been pumping out chapters to "Overcoming the Past" lately and have had no time to devote to this or "The Beginning of Forever." But, I'm back--for the moment, at least. This was quite an emotional chapter, wasn't it? Poor Cleo just got her entire identity snatched away from her. :-(

In Chapter 5: The engagement is on. Prince Endymion, meet your bride.

Review, please!