Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Lady of Love ❯ Tale of What Has Come Before ( Chapter 3 )

Kunzite watched as the woman who he had sworn to marry came towards the throne to greet the King. She was pleasing enough with her sunshine hair and intelligent, sparkling blue eyes. Those eyes of hers swept over everyone and everything.

He observed as she gazed at the King, then the Queen. As she looked at her soon-to-be liege lady, Kunzite could have sworn that her eyes seemed to soften and sparkle all the more.

`Is she an angel come from heaven to save us all?'

Kunzite couldn't help but be startled at the notion. He'd given up on believing in such things when God and his angels had come and taken Lily and their child, their son who never had a chance to exist. He narrowed his eyes and banished such thoughts of his future wife.

Just as he did so, her eyes settled on him. Her eyes flashed with something that he could not identify at first. When he saw her hesitate in her next step, Kunzite began to believe that it was something akin to fear.

`She feels the same as I do about this. This is not something she wants. Mayhap I have found an ally.'

Finally, the girl stopped in front of the thrones and curtsied in respect.

Endymion spoke, "Minako l'Eros, Princess and Heir to Erosa, I, King Endymion du Alon, welcome you to the sovereign state of Avalon."

Promptly, Minako replied, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your gracious welcome. I am honored that you would send the Lords Jadeite and Zoisite and the Ladies Rei and Ami to meet me. It is a pleasure to be in this wondrous land."

The two royalty's exchanged a few more pleasantries until gestured to Kunzite; "I'd like you to meet my High General and your betrothed, Kunzite d'Ava."

As decorum demanded, he stepped forward and took her hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it formally.

After a moment, he spoke, "I greet you, Your Highness. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. All I have here is yours to command."

*!*

Minako stared at him as he came down to take her hand. She forced herself not to flinch when he took it in his much larger one; he felt like ice.

When he raised it, she was surprised. Though the rest of his body seemed to be freezing, his lips were quite warm.

It was his words that shocked her the most. His voice, though devoid of emotion, was not at all cruel. It seemed… almost comforting.

`Of course,' Minako thought as it dawned, `he probably doesn't want this any more than I do. And yet, he does it for the good of his country. Perhaps I have found a kindred spirit in this man.'

Once he'd finished speaking, she smiled faintly and answered him.

"Thank you, my lord. I greatly appreciate your kindness towards a stranger in a strange land."

*!*

The pleasantries continued after that as Kunzite introduced her to the other important members of the court, such as Lord Nephrite and Lady Makoto.

Once that was finished, the King and his Generals retired to the war room to continue on the progress of the war, while the Queen and the three ladies agreed to escort Minako, Michiru, and Haruka to their rooms.

"We've had the servants setting everything up for your arrival for the past two weeks," Serenity was saying brightly.

Minako couldn't help but smile. The Queen of Avalon was a bright, sunny creature, that much she knew. She'd heard that the King could often be dower and depressing in certain circumstances, but that obviously hadn't affected his wife at all.

"I thank you, Your Majesty."

The Queen turned to her with a luminous smile and chirped, "Please, call me Serenity at times such as this. I despise formality."

The other three, who had been letting Serenity do most of the talking, nodded as well.

"Yes, please do call us by our names. I am Ami."

"I'm Makoto."

"Rei, please."

Minako nodded and replied, "Then you must call me Minako. I have rarely been called `Princess' or `Your Highness' in informal circumstances."

Haruka and Michiru added their words to them as well. Serenity, Ami, Makoto, and Rei accepted them without question. If they were dear to Minako, then they could be friends with them as well.

By then, they had reached the double doors leading into Minako's chambers. The two footmen bowed and opened the doors. The Princess of Erosa gasped at what she saw.

The walls of the room were made of dark blue marble with swirls of glittering silver dancing through it. Here in the receiving room, only a few servants were present as they finished unpacking the furniture that Minako had brought with her.

Delighted with what she saw, Minako dashed for the inner rooms, Haruka and Michiru following with amusement and contentment. It was good to see their princess happy again.

As Minako found, all the rooms were made of marble, which she loved. The inner receiving chamber was tastefully decorated with an pine end table, chairs made of oak that had plush white cushions.

The inner chamber was her favorite, though. The bed had an overhang and was surrounded by see-through curtains that held sky blue tints to them. The bedspread was an aqua color with silver swirls, much like the marble walls.

Opposite of the bed, which was placed in the center of the wall connected to the door, was a large picture window. It had a view of the natural beaches that had been held off limits to most people, save the King, Queen, the Generals, and their wives.

At the window was a settee. It was at an angle that was perfect if a person wished to stare out over the ocean or look to the stars, if they wished.

In the corner to the left of the bed was a smaller window, along with a drawing table. When Minako set her eyes on this, she thought, `Michiru will probably use that more than myself.'

Scattered throughout the large chambers were Minako's new ladies-in-waiting, who were putting all of their lady's clothes. Michiru spotted them and immediately went to take charge and introduce herself. Haruka stayed close to Minako while looking about the room, memorizing it and mapping out escape routes, should there ever be a need.

After finishing her explorations, Minako returned to the receiving room, where the Queen and the Ladies were waiting patiently.

"It's… beautiful! How… Who…"

Rei smiled slightly at her new friend's stuttering. "I believe that Kunzite himself lorded over the refreshing of this room. He spared no expense for it."

Minako could only shake her head at her future husband's generosity. "Could… could you… tell me about him? I know only what little the High Priestess told me."

Makoto nodded eagerly. She'd been waiting for this. As she had watched Minako come into the throne room, she'd seen the young woman's eyes roam about the room. She was a curious creature.

The five women settled down into the surprisingly comfortable chairs. Ami was the first to speak.

"Before we tell you about Kunzite, you must understand a few particular customs and beliefs of Avalon. You see, at the age of fifteen, the heir to the throne of Avalon, be they male or female, must travel throughout the Kingdom and select his or her four Generals. They will serve as the heir's counselors, confidants, guards, and friends for life. They sacrifice their normal, simple lives and become, for lack of a better term, `extensions' of the heir's will. The Generals are trained by the current ruler's Generals. When the King or Queen dies and the heir becomes ruler, the Generals of the previous ruler stay at court long enough to finish whatever training they have been giving, then they leave to live a comfortable retirement in a place of their choosing. They usually do not live long after the death of their liege."

"That's right," Rei cut in, "Though I do believe that one General of Endymion's mother, Queen Terra, is still alive. It is said that Lady Agalia still has as sharp tongue as she did in her younger days."

Serenity nodded knowingly. She herself had been on the receiving end of that sharp tongue many times in the early days of her marriage. Lady Agalia had always been very protective of Endymion and had made sure that Serenity had known how to `take care of him and keep him in line when needed.'

Eyes lit with delight, Minako gaped, "You mean that women have been Generals before?"

"Oh yes," Ami replied with a small grin, "Queen Terra had two women and two men. In the past, some queens, such as Alaia II, have had four women take the position of being Generals."

Now Makoto spoke up, her normally sparkling emerald eyes becoming grave. "Kunzite lived in Vami, a tiny village on the border of Luna and Avalon. He was a born warrior, according to the leaders of the village, and began learning the craft of a soldier at a young age. At the age of fifteen, Prince Endymion arrived in Vami, looking for his first General. Every young man appeared before him, but none of them truly caught his eyes. After deciding to take a break, Endymion went out, incognito, to see the village for himself. He overheard Kunzite talking about some sort of weapon in such a way that Endymion disagreed. The Prince gave his opinion to Kunzite, who did not appreciate a stranger interjecting into a private conversation. Eventually, the two drew swords and began to fight."

"They didn't," Minako gasped, her blue eyes wide as saucers. "Right there in front of *everyone?!*"

Makoto fought off her laughter, as did the others. They'd heard this story from the other three Generals, who had heard it from Kunzite and Endymion.

"Yes! And since no one knew that Endymion had left the inn he was staying in, no one moved to defend him. So people just watched. It was a long, drawn out battle, but in the end, both of them knocked the swords from each other's hands. Both were in shock. No one had been able to beat them in a long time. By then, their tempers had cooled and were merely fighting for their pride. Endymion knew he had found someone unique and offered to buy him a drink at the inn. Two days later, Kunzite was saying farewell to his family and leaving with Endymion to find the other three men who would Endymion's Generals."

Minako shook her head, laughing slightly. "I don't believe it. So that is how things started for them? That is the kind of man I am to marry?"

At those words, the other women's faces grew sad and pensive. Minako immediately noticed and asked what was wrong.

For a moment, none of them said anything. Finally, Serenity answered her.

"About two years after Endymion had finished his search, Queen Terra found herself in a tight spot with one of the lords of Avalon. The only compromise he would accept was that his daughter, his only heir, be married to someone of rank. Since the Queen's two male Generals were already married, she had only Endymion's Generals to look to. Kunzite was the oldest of all of them at nineteen. So she asked him if he would marry the girl, whose name was Lilieanda, so that there would not be civil war in Avalon. Kunzite didn't want to marry, but he cared too much for Avalon to let it be torn apart by war. So he agreed. They were married a few weeks later. At first, the two despised one another, but slowly, *very* slowly, the two developed a friendship. They began to do things together in order to get to know one another, trying to give one another a chance. The result is that they fell deeply in love with one another."

Minako's eyes filled with tears. She knew what was coming.

Sighing mournfully, Serenity continued, "Things were fine until Queen Terra died. By then, two of her four Generals were dead, and one died soon after. That winter was known as the Black Winter. Throughout that winter, the Queen, one of her remaining General's, and many of the people died. But was tragic was that during that winter, Lilieanda was pregnant with hers and Kunzite's first child. When she went into labor just after the rise of the new-year, everything went wrong. She was early and none of the midwives or doctors were prepared, her rooms were not ready to handle a woman in labor, and the men were at a hunting lodge on Mount Evera, which is several hours away by horse. We sent one anyway, hoping Kunzite would get here in time.

Soon after her water broke, Lilieanda began to bleed profusely. Nothing we did could stop it completely. And whatever was happening to her was extremely painful, for some people later said that they heard her screams down in the city. When the baby finally came, we saw that it was a boy and that it was stillborn. But Lilieanda would not stop bleeding. It continued on all day and into the night. Kunzite and the men made it home around nine o'clock that night. They made it just in time… to see Lilieanda die in Kunzite's arms.

That was eight years ago."

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Minako placed a hand on her mouth and tried not to scream.

`By the Goddess! How could Juno allow the woman to die in such a painful way? How could the Gods keep her alive like that, only to have her die painfully in the arms of her husband?'

"So you see," Rei whispered, "Kunzite has not been the brash young man he once was since her death. Nothing has been the same since her death."

Calming herself, Minako choked, "Did any of you know her?"

Serenity answered softly, "Yes. Rei only for a few months, but yes, we did."

"How could the Gods be so cruel?"

"No one knows, but I hope they had good reason for it."

*~*~*~*