I sigh. How much of this must a girl take? This must be the twentieth time Miss Dracos has said that today and while Toraiko may enjoy being brainwashed I'm beginning to find this quite dull. I glance back out the window and gasp with shock as I see a large boat approaching. "Excuse me, Miss Dracos, father's ship is here. Couldn't we be excused for now?" Miss Dracos turns to look out the window and then turns back and glares at me. Adjusting the wire glasses on her small nose she shuts the tome she has been preaching from and gives a sigh. "If I said no would you listen, Aida?" I smile and shrug. She may be my teacher but that doesn't mean I have to like her. After all she is of silverleaf. She is one of the ones that killed Serenity and her senshi. She may believe that Serenity was a witch, but I know the truth. I wish that I could be as great a ruler as Serenity was, however, I worry that the Doom Kingdom will find a way to take even that away from me. Grabbing Toraiko by the wrist I rise from my desk and dash towards the door. I'll teach that boy how to live yet...
Just because my father's ship is fast, that doesn't mean that my /father/ is expedient. We stand and watch the ship unload crate after crate of who knows what. "Aida!" Toraiko protests, "We should be in class." I roll my eyes. "Do you really want to hear that phoney account of old Earth one more time?" Toraiko stares at me his deep blue eyes pondering my implications. Deep down I suspect that he knows that Miss Dracos is lying to us... After all, even if he can't tell, I already know who he is. I won't tell him of course. He's not really mine to tell. If Serenity were here, she'd set him straight, but she's not and it is not my place. Just once before we die I shall call him by his true name, but call me selfish, I'm rather attached to Tor, and if he knew who he truly was I doubt he'd waste any more time with a silly girl like me. He is still staring at me as if waiting for me to explain and so I smile mindlessly at him remembering the first time we met.
A girl of ten cares little for dressing up in a frilly pink smock and waiting in the throne room, a perfect doll, for whatever guest would merit her dressing up. The girl, her red hair a row of tight shiny ringlets, of course, would much rather be exploring the palace grounds, or bothering Master Tatsu. Sitting in an uncomfortable wooden chair next to my nanny and watching my father seated on the throne was definately not my idea of fun. It explained why I squirmed constantly and periodically disrupted the court with some odd outburst. After that day it was several years before I was invited back to court... Although I felt no loss about not being invited to court. I always found court etiquitte to be fake and dull. Nevertheless, that warm summer day found me inside the throne room, awaiting destiny. I had no concept of it, but my solitary life of exploration and mischief was about to change. Sometime close to noon, a boy of about my age was brought in. He had clear blue eyes and dark ebony hair and while he was still very much a boy, there was no doubt that he would some day be an intimidating man. I suppose the thing that caught my interest with this boy was that he seemed cool and confidant, completely at ease with standing before my father. He was introduced as prince Toraiko of Kinnatsu and with a stately bow he easily spoke his case with my father. Apparently he had been sent by his father to learn the ways of Tokai, the most powerful kingdom on earth. He wished to study the kingdom of Tokai in order to better rule Kinnatsu some day. It was a reasonable enough request and my father was glad to grant it, on the condition that Prince Toraiko had no objections to having a classmate. Toraiko, the amiable person he's always been, had no objections and so my daily studies with the prince of Kinnatsu began.
continued
"Excuse me, Miss Dracos, father's ship is here. Couldn't we be excused for now?"
Miss Dracos turns to look out the window and then turns back and glares at me. Adjusting the wire glasses on her small nose she shuts the tome she has been preaching from and gives a sigh. "If I said no would you listen, Aida?"
I smile and shrug. She may be my teacher but that doesn't mean I have to like her. After all she is of silverleaf. She is one of the ones that killed Serenity and her senshi. She may believe that Serenity was a witch, but I know the truth. I wish that I could be as great a ruler as Serenity was, however, I worry that the Doom Kingdom will find a way to take even that away from me. Grabbing Toraiko by the wrist I rise from my desk and dash towards the door. I'll teach that boy how to live yet...
Just because my father's ship is fast, that doesn't mean that my /father/ is expedient. We stand and watch the ship unload crate after crate of who knows what. "Aida!" Toraiko protests, "We should be in class."
I roll my eyes. "Do you really want to hear that phoney account of old Earth one more time?"
Toraiko stares at me his deep blue eyes pondering my implications. Deep down I suspect that he knows that Miss Dracos is lying to us... After all, even if he can't tell, I already know who he is. I won't tell him of course. He's not really mine to tell. If Serenity were here, she'd set him straight, but she's not and it is not my place. Just once before we die I shall call him by his true name, but call me selfish, I'm rather attached to Tor, and if he knew who he truly was I doubt he'd waste any more time with a silly girl like me.
He is still staring at me as if waiting for me to explain and so I smile mindlessly at him remembering the first time we met.
A girl of ten cares little for dressing up in a frilly pink smock and waiting in the throne room, a perfect doll, for whatever guest would merit her dressing up. The girl, her red hair a row of tight shiny ringlets, of course, would much rather be exploring the palace grounds, or bothering Master Tatsu.
Sitting in an uncomfortable wooden chair next to my nanny and watching my father seated on the throne was definately not my idea of fun. It explained why I squirmed constantly and periodically disrupted the court with some odd outburst. After that day it was several years before I was invited back to court... Although I felt no loss about not being invited to court. I always found court etiquitte to be fake and dull.
Nevertheless, that warm summer day found me inside the throne room, awaiting destiny. I had no concept of it, but my solitary life of exploration and mischief was about to change. Sometime close to noon, a boy of about my age was brought in. He had clear blue eyes and dark ebony hair and while he was still very much a boy, there was no doubt that he would some day be an intimidating man. I suppose the thing that caught my interest with this boy was that he seemed cool and confidant, completely at ease with standing before my father. He was introduced as prince Toraiko of Kinnatsu and with a stately bow he easily spoke his case with my father. Apparently he had been sent by his father to learn the ways of Tokai, the most powerful kingdom on earth. He wished to study the kingdom of Tokai in order to better rule Kinnatsu some day. It was a reasonable enough request and my father was glad to grant it, on the condition that Prince Toraiko had no objections to having a classmate. Toraiko, the amiable person he's always been, had no objections and so my daily studies with the prince of Kinnatsu began.