Of Warriors And Kings

Chapter 8

Many decades passed, and it became obvious that Klein and Naruko were not only inseperable, they were very much in love. Klein was a master swordsman by the time he came to be an adult, but he was also very talented in the arts of strategy, history, performance, and even as a culinary master. He was often in the kitchens of the palace, turning it into a kitchen of Hell if he didn’t like what was being prepared down to the last detail. Naruko had the immense beauty of her mother, with the grace and commanding spirit that would make her a wonderful queen.

But all was not well. Because of problems that Earth was having with the other Solaris planets, Endymion had been forced to return to Earth. I would often receive letters from him, but recently they had been arriving less and less often. When he had first left, his letters had been nothing but professions of unending love for Kunzite and me. But that too had become much less. While I had my suspicions that something might be going on, I chose to try to keep faith that he would return to us. Then, finally, it happened, and I received a letter from him that would confirm my worst fears.

My great King Zoicite, this is something that I have been thinking about for many months. I know that I have been by your side since before you became king, and I am eternally grateful for the love that you have always shown me. There are two things that I must tell you now.

The first is not my decision. My father, King Endymion, has decided to break off all ties with any of the Dark Kingdom planets. I am not happy with this decision, and I have pled with him to reconsider it. It is his belief that he cannot trust any of you who are not aligned with the sun, and that your hearts have become corrupted by Queen Beryl. I believe that while not everything that is being done in the Dark Kingdom is wise or right, the majority of the people are doing what they believe in. My time in the Dark Kingdom, and especially in your service, Great King, was incredibly rewarding, and I do believe that I was meant to be there with you for the time that I was there. I have no regrets in that.

The other point that I must tell you is that I have fallen in love.

I stopped reading and stared at those words. I have fallen in love. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be. He had betrayed me. But who was this bitch who had stolen him away from me?

This princess, heiress to the throne of the Moon Kingdom, and I met shortly after I returned to Earth. In an attempt to bring peace between the Earth and the Moon, a grand ball was staged in which I was introduced to her and we spend the evening together. That was nearly six months ago, and we have spent as much time as possible together. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I do know that I love her.

I couldn’t finish reading this letter. It just hurt too much. Why had this happened? Why was he choosing to love this… Woman! Especially when he had for so long sworn his love and devotion to me! I knew that he wasn’t to blame for his father breaking ties with Yrucrem, but that only added to the insult and pain.

“KUNZITE!” I screamed. He instantly appeared by my side, a look of worry on his face. “He’s betrayed us! Prince Endymion has betrayed us!” I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I watched them read the letter, and as soon as he ready those five words, I have fallen in love, he looked at me with pure sympathy and pulled me into his embrace.

“Oh, Zoicite, I’m so sorry,” he said, holding me tight. “I’ve got you, my love. You’re all right.” It seemed like an eternity that we stood there as I cried, my heart turning into an icy mass as my hatred grew for not only the Earth, but much more for the Earth’s moon. From then on, I would see it as nothing but a mass of ice and glass that were filled with Lunarians who deserved to die. I knew that Queen Beryl had been at odds with both Queen Serenity and King Endymion in recent times, and that relations with both were highly strained, probably beyond repair at this point. As someone who considered me to be like her son, I knew that when Queen Beryl found out about this, it would seal her decision to finally attack the Earth.

The next day, after a much-needed love-making session between Kunzite and myself, mostly to help me forget my problems for a little while, I traveled to Queen Beryl’s castle in the center of the Dark Kingdom. Klein and Naruko were engaged to marry in a few days, and while I didn’t want to bring sadness to the event, I had to inform the bride that one of her favorite members of the guard, the man who she had asked to give her away, was no longer going to be welcome in the Dark Kingdom. Klein, having witnessed the heartbreak I had felt the night before, had fully understood the situation. However, he had asked me to be the one who informed her. It was Dark Kingdom tradition for the Bride and Groom not to see each other for a week before the wedding. While this was not always followed by many commoners, it was highly expected of nobles and royalty.

“Your Highness, King Zoicite is requesting to see you,” I heard one of Naruko’s attendants say when I knocked on the door of her suite.

“Please, send him in,” I heard her say softly. “Everyone else, leave.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Greetings, Princess Naruko,” I said upon entering the room. “You are looking well, as always.”

“And you, Great King, are not looking well,” she said. “I heard that King Endymion is breaking off ties with Mother and all the other Dark Kingdom planets. That is unfortunate.”

“Indeed it is,” I said. “Unfortunately, that means that Prince Endymion will not be allowed here anymore.”

“I expected that, yes,” she said, frowning. “But something tells me that is not the only thing troubling you.”

“You read me very well, Princess,” I said, smiling sadly. “Even if Prince Endymion were allowed by his father to leave Solaris, he would not be allowed here.”

“Why is that?” she said, though I think she suspected that something had happened between us.

“Because I will not allow someone who has betrayed me, personally, to attend the wedding of the young man who I have raised as my own sun for over one hundred years, let alone participate in it.” I felt my chest tighten, old emotions rearing their heads once again. “I’m sorry, Princess. I shouldn’t let my emotions get the better of me.”

“It’s understandable, Your Majesty,” Naruko said. “I saw the pain that my own mother went through when Father betrayed us, and brought another child into the world by another woman. A Lunarian, of all people, and now that woman’s daughter is meant to inherit the throne of the Moon Kingdm even though she is illegitimate.” My eyes widened at what she was saying. Her father was also the father of the very woman that Endymion had left me for.

“This is to remain in strictness confidence, Princess,” I suddenly said, taking her hand. “This is to be spoken of to no one, you understand?” She nodded, and so I continued. “It is my belief that the woman that Prince Endymion is now with is none other than the bastard child Moon Princess. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work, but you have given me the perfect justification to suggest to Queen Beryl that we attack King Endymion, followed by Queen Serenity’s precious Moon Kingdom. Will you help me?”

“I am as skilled in fighting as any of my guards, Great King,” she said, her features filling with darkness, which only added to her beauty. “However, she is my sister and I will not kill my own flesh and blood, no matter of the facts.”

“I understand,” I said. “It is my goal for the entire population of the Moon Kingdom to cease to exist, but I will not force you to do the deed.”

An hour or two later, as I was trying to relax a bit inside my guest room, I got a call from Queen Beryl to come to her immediately. When I arrived in the throne room, two people that I hadn’t expected to be there were there. Kunzite and Klein, as were Prince Nephrite and the recently-crowned King Jadeite of Sram, whose father had recently been killed by Amaranth, the brother of Jasmine, the one who had killed my father. Being about Klein’s age at the time, the young man had sought revenge for his sister’s death since day one. Now, Amaranth too was dead. Jadeite had beheaded him in a much more brutal manner than I had killed Jasmine. It seemed that the meaning of his name, immortality, had not held true for him. Standing between Beryl and Klein was Princess Naruko, which was what surprised me the most. She knew the customs…

“Your Majesty, I am at your service,” I said, bowing before Queen Beryl.

“Thank you, Zoicite,” she said. “I see that you are troubled by seeing the children here, and I can certainly understand why. However, because of what is happening I see that the plans we had made for their dream wedding day will never happen. I have already spoken with them about this, and they understand, so I have decided to have them marry today.” I looked up at her in surprise, and then looked to Kunzite, Klein, and Naruko. They were not terribly happy about this, but Kunzite nodded in acknowledgement of the facts. Klein was holding Naruko’s hand tightly, and the other two men were both looking at me with pursed lips.

“I also understand, Great Queen,” I said. “However, may I be the one to escort the bride down the aisle as Endymion will not be here?”

“Uncle…” Klein said, a smile appearing on his face.

“It is the least I can do for the both of you, Son,” I said.

“Would you mind that, My Dear?” Queen Beryl asked.

“Not at all, Mother,” she said, then looked at me. “I would consider it a great honor to have my father-in-law-to-be escort me to Klein’s side.”

“Then go, get ready, all of you,” Beryl said. “Naruko, your ladies are waiting for you in your room. Klein…” She trailed off as Naruko headed quickly to her bedroom, waiting until the door was closed. Then, she nodded her head, and Klein’s clothes were instantly transformed to the elaborate clothes that I had only ever seen pictures of the last Dark Kingdom king wearing. “As you will one day rule the Dark Kingdom with my daughter, you are entitled to wear the royal robes of the king of the Dark Kingdom. I didn’t want Naruko to see you in them until she walks toward you for the wedding. Everyone else, I trust you can quickly change yourselves.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” we all said, and it seemed that we all changed in unison into our finest clothes.

“May I speak to my husband alone for a few moments, Majesty?” Kunzite said. Beryl nodded, and we proceeded out of the room.

“Kunzite, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I’m surprised that you didn’t sense me come into the area,” he said. “You’re slipping, Zoicite.”

“Well, can you blame me for being distracted?” I sighed. “With Endymion leaving, and finding out that Naruko’s father is responsible for creating the woman that Endymion left us for…”

“Wait… What?” The look on Kunzite’s face was that of pure shock. “King Amethyst is the Moon Princess’s father?”

“Yes, and that is one of the reasons he was banished by Queen Beryl,” I said. “Believe me, I was as shocked as you are when Naruko told me, and Queen Beryl confirmed it. He was never given a place in power by the Moon, but he was taken in by Queen Serenity until he died about fifty years ago. The Princess was still never named, but never named as a bastard child, but the way I see it, she has no right to any throne, especially not that of Earth.”

“Well then, we must stop that from happening,” Kunzite said. “I will kill her myself if Queen Beryl will let me, for what they did to you. I don’t want to kill Endymion, but if he refuses to give her up and fight for the Dark Kingdom, I will destroy both of them.”

“Thank you, my love,” I said, melting into his arms. “You’re so good to me.”

A little while later, I walked into Princess Naruko’s suite, where she had just gotten her veil placed over her face. I smiled brightly, and she returned my smile as our eyes met. She was strikingly beautiful, and I instantly saw what Klein saw in her.

“Your Majesty,” she said, bowing slightly.

“You don’t need to be so formal, Dear,” I said. “You’re getting ready for the biggest day of your life, and becoming a part of my family. Please, call me Zoicite.”

“Thank you, Zoicite,” she said.

“You look gorgeous, Naruko,” I said, and I could see her blush through the material. “You know that I love your mother like my own mother, as she is that much older than me. You are close enough to Klein’s age, though, that you are like my own daughter.” One of the servants approached with the bouquet of flowers, and I took them from her, handing them to the picture of beauty in front of me. Instead of white flowers, as most brides in Solaris used for their weddings, Naruko’s bouquet was full of black roses and red lilies which only grew on Htrae and Yrucrem. “Are you ready?”

“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my entire life,” she said, almost breathless at the idea that she was about to be married to the love of her life. I signaled one of the guards to run ahead and prepare the way for us, and to make sure that Queen Beryl and Kunzite were ready as well. We met them at the doors, where Kunzite assured me that Klein was waiting at the front of the throne room. The doors opened when we were out of sight, and Queen Beryl were announced, walking down the aisle arm-in-arm. We took our place by the doors, and I squeezed her hand once more. “I’m so happy, Zoicite. I love him so much.”

“You look very happy,” I said. As the doors opened, I saw Klein turn around and take his first look at his beautiful bride. Unbeknownst to me until now, Klein had been given a silver circlet to wear, and I also saw that Kunzite had placed his crown on his own head. As we walked into the room, we were stopped momentarily, and my crown was also placed on my head. A circlet would be placed on Naruko’s head at the end of the ceremony.

“Who gives this man and this woman to be married?” said the priest as we arrived at the front and I joined their hands.

“I, the uncle of the groom, and Queen Beryl, the mother of the bride, give them to be married,” I said. After smiling at them, I joined Kunzite at his seat and took his hand. It seemed like only a few moments before their vows had been said, rings exchanged, and the binding kiss given, but the next thing I knew, I was being asked to place Naruko’s circlet on her head. As I took the cirlet, Klein helped her to kneel, which was not an easy thing in her large gown. “Princess Naruko, I now name you as the Crowned Princess of the planet of Yrucrem. You will rule with your husband, Klein, as his queen when he becomes the king after I am gone.”

“Kneel as well, Klein,” Queen Beryl said, and he did so. “Prince Klein, I name you as the Crowned Prince of the Planet of Htrea and the Dark Kingdom. You will rule with your wife, Naruko, as her king when she becomes queen after I am gone.”

“Thank you, Great Majesty,” they both said, and we helped them to rise.

“Long live the Crowned Prince and Princess of the Dark Kingdom!” Nephrite called, and we all repeated it after him. I kissed Kunzite as the two of them walked back, all those in attendance cheering and applauding them. However, our happiness would be short-lived. Klein and Naruko would be able to return to their bedroom and enjoy each others’ company for a few hours, but they would be expected to return the next morning to prepare for battle.

“Zoicite, Kunzite, you may go,” Beryl said. “You have been under a great deal of pressure, Zoicite, and I want you to relax a bit before we attack Earth tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Queen Beryl,” I said. We bowed and left the throne room in an instant, returning to my room. “Well, that was rather unexpected. I didn’t expect them to be married so soon.”

“Indeed,” Kunzite said, pouring each of us a glass of celebratory wine. “What is unfortunate is that they may only have one night together as husband and wife. And the same for us as well…”

“Please don’t talk like that!” I cried, cutting him off. “I can’t lose you, I just can’t!”

“You won’t,” he cooed. “We will fight together, you and I. I won’t leave you, I promise, until death takes us.” I drank down the wine and sat the glass down on the table, and he engulfed me in his arms once again. “When I swore fealty to you, I meant what I said. I will stand by your side for the rest of my life. However, there are many casualties in a battle of this size. One or both of us may not survive, and you know that just as well as I do.”

“I know, but I don’t want to face that,” I whimpered. “I just want to forget for tonight. Please, Kunzite, help me forget.” Kunzite captured my mouth with his in a kiss that, even after a century together, still burned at my lips. I moaned and felt him smile against the kiss.

“Still the same reaction, after all this time,” he said, almost possessively. “That’s one thing I love about you, you know. You’re always so predictable.” Kunzite backed me up against the wall, using a little more force than I was used to, and I realized what role he was taking tonight. He would be the dominant one, and I didn’t have a choice. He wanted me to fight him, plain and simple, to see how much of a fight I had in me, but in the end I knew he would claim me before very long. He wouldn’t hurt me, but he wouldn’t be gentle until I gave in completely.

“I’m no pushover,” I said. “You’re going to have to fight to take dominance this time.”

“Oh, you’re scaring me!” he said sarcastically. I growled, my eyes narrowing, flashing a light green. His eyes widened, not having expected that from me. “My, my, Zoicite, you’re actually getting angry? I know how to rectify that.” Keeping one strong hand on my shoulder, he moved his other hand down to my groin, playing with me gently. The blood rushed to my head and I couldn’t help letting out a moan as my eyes fluttered closed. “What, you’re not going to fight me?” My eyes snapped open, now a steady, deep green glow emanating from them, as I ripped out of his grip and pushed him down so he was laying on his back.

“I told you, Kunzite, I am no pushover,” I seethed, moving to straddle his waist. “And like I said, you’re going to have to fight for dominance.” I knew that this was just a game, and that I would eventually allow him to take control, but I had to maintain control for as long as I could. But it seemed that Kunzite had other plans. Reaching up to my wrists, he took hold of them and held them together long enough for strong cords to bind my hands together. I swore under my breath, and he smiled wickedly.

“I’m no pushover either, my love,” he said. “You should know by now that I am stronger than you.”

“You could at least give me a bit more time to fight back,” I whined. He reached up and took a fistful of my hair into his hand. I cried out softly and gritted my teeth as he pulled my head so that I looked straight into his eyes.

“Don’t whine,” he said. “Be defiant all you want. I like it when you get feisty, when you try to fight me. But don’t whine when you don’t get your way. Now get off of me.” I looked down at him with a look of skepticism when he let go of my hair.

“You honestly expect me to get off of you just because you tell me to?” I scoffed. “You haven’t won yet!” I couldn’t move my arms freely, but I could still use my hands together. I leaned back down, kissing him with full force. He seemed to relish in the kiss, but as soon as he needed air again, he took hold of my hair again and pulled my head back.

“I said get OFF of me,” he said, letting go of my head and pushing me off of him, sending me flying to the bed. He was on top of me in less than a second, looking at me like a wild dog.. His pelvis ground into mine, creating an incredible friction between our groins. As though there was a magnet in the headboard, the binds on my hands were pulled up and somehow attached themselves to the wood of the headboard. My arms were completely immobile. Shit! One more strike and I would be down for the count, completely susceptible to his will.

“Go to hell, Kunzite,” I snapped at him. “Just because you have the advantage doesn’t mean you’ve got everything. I still have my voice.”

“Yes, and at the rate you’re going, you won’t have control of that for very long,” he said with a smirk. “Do I have to gag you, or will you call me –sama for once?” My eyes widened. I had fallen right into his trap by talking back to him. I should’ve known where it was heading, with the number of times I had done this to him, and to… No, I couldn’t think of that traitorous bastard right now! Not now, when my world was supposed to be focused on only Kunzite and nobody else. As though reading my thoughts, Kunzite’s eyes fixed on mine with a look of sympathy for me. “You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry, Kunzite, but I can’t help it,” I said, my face crumpling.

“It is okay, Love. I understand,” he said, wiping a tear from the edge of my eye. Nodding, he allowed my hands free of the bonds that held them, and I wrapped my arms around him. “Oh, Zoicite, I’m so sorry that this had to happen right now, as we are about to enter into this war. But remember, we must be strong for each other, if not for our child.”

“Yes, Kunzite,” I said. “We must.”