Faith Saebin Sarver CRIMSON MILLENNIUM FF4 Prologue: Before the Sailor Scouts or Sailor Senshi, there was the Silver Millennium. But before even the Silver Millennium there was an age. It has been remembered as the Crimson Millennium for the bloody wars that were fought. The standing Empire based out of Syroc, which later became a barren satellite that orbited earth. During the Crimson Millennium the first royal child named Serenity was born. As she grew, she was betrothed to the Prince of one of the Traveling Planets that were common in that time. She married and had a daughter. The child was named Falah. He ruled the planets with an iron hand. He was killed and Serenity came to rule. Falah would inherit the throne when she came of age. She was very much like her father: cold and cruel. Serenity remembered a time when she was the same. Her bodyguard whom her mother had placed taught her many hard lessons. She knew she needed someone like that for her daughter. The one who had taught her arranged for a traveling planet to become allied with the Empire. Like other planets it sent a representative to join the princess's court. *1* The newcomer met Queen Serenity and Princess Falah in the Royal Gardens. She bowed at the waist as to an equal. "I am called Saebin. I have come to serve." Queen Serenity stood and nodded formally. "This is my daughter Falah. You will be joining her court." Falah grinned, fresh meat. Saebin smiled and pushed off her hood. She took off herr cloak. "I will serve if and when the terms are in agreement." "You've no choice." Falah said nastily. Saebin ignored her which enraged Falah. Falah hit at Saebin's arm. "You serve us now!" Serenity grabbed her daughter angrily. Falah had never seen her so angry. "You will refrain from abusing the Queen of Merce." Falah was shocked. A queen was joining her court?! Saebin sat gracefully. "My twin brother and I reign. He does most of it. I have the power of veto. I don't really rule." She smiled at Serenity. "Have you agreed to what I asked Elpsbeth to explain to you?" Serenity nodded. "Hostage bond is such a harsh term though." Saebin shrugged. "Such is tradition." She knelt in front of the Queen of the Empire. Her form blurred then she appeared wearing a green shirt and skirt with gold trimming and short sleeves. The skirt was short, but not overly so. Black boots laced up to her knees. Black braces were worn on her arms up to her elbows. A sheathed sword hung from her waist. Her long red hair hung around her head in tiny braids that were pinned in the back but still hung down to a very nicely sized chest. Her eyes were dark, almost black. She drew her sword and held it out, handle to Serenity. "I, Dihm Merce pledge myself and my sword to the protection of you and your household. I swear hostage bond as it is to my people. I swear to serve in my best capacity in your daughter's court." As Saebin fell silent Serenity touched the girls head with her scepter. "Your oath is accepted. As in Hostage Bond I take you as my daughter and put you in line for the throne after my sole daughter Falah." Saebin stood. Her sword, bracers, and green outfit vanished. "Mother," She hugged Serenity. She was now wearing a long white dress resembling Falah's. It was trimmed in green in stead of gold. Her hair flew free around her face. "What's going on?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Falah exploded. Saebin smiled at her. "Hostage Bond is when the Royales of one kingdom adopt the Royale of another kingdom. I became as part of your family as well as bodyguard." Falah's gaze darkened dangerously. She stormed out of the garden. Serenity sank onto the bench. Her long silver hair hung limply from the buns on her head. The small picture of a dove glowed on her forehead. Saebin held the distraught woman. "I will watch over her." @ Xalen was practicing the la'dor, a stylized fighting tradition of her planet, Zalonden. Her body whirled around her quarters, her movements perfect. Then a foot went a bit out of place, her balance shifted, and she had to jump up to avoid falling over. Damn! she thought. I wish I could consult my teacher. Her thoughts shifted back to the day she had been called to leave her home. Her teacher had stared her in her emerald eyes. The teacher sighed. "Xalen, it is time for us to send a representative to the Imperial Court. It has to be one of the generals." Xalen nodded bitterly. "Bowing and scraping to them, eh? One question: why me?" The teacher smiled a small rebellious smile. "Because, we also need someone to keep an eye on them for us. So instead of becoming a bodyguard oath, you'll take the Warrior's Oath." Xalen laughed, doubled over with silent laughter. "That's just great. Will they accept that?" The teacher's eyes grew sly. "They will, Princess." Xalen looked surprised. "Remember now, you're a princess. So they think." Xalen snorted. "Princesses. Ah well. You know, you never explained why I got this job." Her teacher rose an eyebrow. "Don't play with me like that Xalen. I've known you too long. You know perfectly well it is because of you talents. You are the best spy. You're a genius, you have special powers, and you are a gifted warrior. After that experience on Casolan, everyone knows that secrets can't be tortured out of you." Xalen nodded, serious now. She drew her sword and looked at it. "I'll serve my planet. And if need be, theirs." Xalen was awakened from the memory by the passing of two palace servants. Dork was speaking. "That's right, she didn't take the normal vow. Took 'her own form of the Hostage Bond'. Dweeb said he'd been gard'ning and heard her say, "I pledge my sword to the protection of this household. I take the Hostage Bond, as it is to my people. I'll serve in my best capacity." Ever heard of that?" Lout laughed. "Actually, its happened before. Like that barbarian princess. She said somthin like that too. You know, Xalen? Doesn't really have any friends. A real loner." Xalen shut the door and the servants' voices. She did have friends, they were just really far away. Her mind wandered back to the day that she had arrived. She had arrived on the transporter pads, dressed in the formal dress of her own people. To others, it appeared to be a fancy set of leather armor. Her boots had clicked on the floor and she had strode into the throne room. Queen Serenity had been seated upon her throne, the room full of courtiers. Many of which had gasped at the appearance of the visitor. Xalen had approached Serenity and bent one knee. She drew out her sword and held it in front of her in an almost religious fashion. "I take a Warrior Oath to you, Queen Serenity. I'll do nothing but good for all your household. I will uphold justice and preserve peace. May our ways never part and our blades never cross in anger." Then she stood. Suddenly, she was dressed in the more standard royal dress of the Empire, a long green and black dress. Inside, she was whining. Gosh is this dress uncomfortable! Ah, well, must act like their idea of a princess. Though it clashed with her breeding to defer to those who were born to rank. Falah stormed into Xalen's room just then, interrupting her reverie. She slammed Xalen's door. "How could that insolent wench be so.... insolent? She acts as if this is HER court and its mine! She's only the queen of a little puny PLANET! I'm the heiress to the entire EMPIRE!" Inside her own head, Xalen was laughing hysterically. Then she realized she was supposed to say something soothing. Hmm, soothing. "Well, perhaps she is not used to our ways?" @ That night, at dinner, Saebin was inroduced. Serenity stepped out followed by a bodyguard. Falah and her court folowed onto the dais. Saebin followed after them. Falah and her court sat at the table. Serenity remained standing and laid a hand on Saebin's shoulder. There was complete silence in the hall. Serenity smiled. "It is my pleasure to present to you Queen Saebin of Merce. I have adopted her as my child and she follows after Princess Falah as heir to the throne. As such she will be treated accordingly. She is a bodyguard to my daughter. Let us all toast in welcome." They all raised their glasses obligingly. "To Queen Saebin!" "To Queen Saebin!" the people echoed, all but Falah that is. Serenity and Saebin sat down. After all formalities were finished the Royales and Court left the Hall. Serenity left Saebin with Falah to introduce her to the court. Falah glared at her and then introduced her to the others. The first was a girl with long bronze hair pulled into two braids. She was Princess Sito of Venus. She was short, but beneath a facade of timidity Saebin could see a something deeper. A girl with long green hair left free around her face was introduced as Princess Galen of Jupiter. She was tall, but submissive and very quiet. A girl with red hair that was cut to her neck except the long braid that hung down the middle of her back was Princess Salith of Mars. She bore the mark of the FireDancers on her forehead. This one would be a powerful ally. A girl with long stormy grey hair and a haughty expression was Princess Tiffe of Mercury. Black hair framed the face of the next. She seemed simple, but had eyes that glittered at times. This would be a perfect spy. Her name was Faolon of the traveling planet Garec. Falah looked around in annoyance. "Where is Xalen?" She looked to Tiffe. Tiffe shrugged. Falah raged. "Where could she have slipped off to?" Falah nodded. There was only one thing to be done. "Find her and tell her she is to be punished. Make sure she gets here fast." Though she spoke to no one in particular, Tiffe nodded. "Yes, my Princess." and turned to leave. Saebin walked up to Falah and whispered in her ear, Veto." Falah looked confused and shook her head. "Never mind, I'll talk to her in the morning. I'm so tired." she wandered off. Sito, Salith, Galen, and Faolan recognized that something odd had occured and made mental notes to observe this new addition. @ Right after dinner, Xalen silently sneaked off to the comm room. Falah didn't notice. Xalen slipped into the empty room and locked the door. She dialed in a private frequency which Queen Serenity had granted her due to her unique status. An operator replied. "Who would you like?" Xalen grinned. "Hi, Loedne. How are you?" "Xalen? Is that you?" "Yep. I'm playing hooky." Loedne shook her head. "The little witch hasn't given you any time off, huh?" Xalen shook her head. "No, unfortunately not. I'll just make her forget my absence tomorrow. The generals are in session, right?" The operator nodded. "Let me check." A moment later. "Yes, they're waiting for you. Have a nice day." "You too." In a few minutes, the video com was hooked into the General's Session, the conference of the ten rulers of the planet. "Hi guys." A distinguished, older looking man with grey hair nodded at the video pickup. "General Xalen. Welcome. Do you have anything urgent to report?" She shook her head. "Nothing concrete. I think I may have gained an ally, though." Another grinned. He looked to be in his early twenties. "Good for you. Just as long as you don't try to take over the Empire." Xalen made a disgusted face. "Ugh! You wouldn't believe the hierarchy and politics they have here. Hopefully, I won't have to be here forever." Yet another of the ten laughed. A middle aged woman, she had very cunning eyes, as befit the General of Intelligence. "Well, in a few years they may notice that you don't age. So you'll be out sometime soon." The grey haired man, the Chairman General, looked concerned. "Is your distaste effecting your ability?" Xalen laughed. "No. I wish. I'd have an excuse to come home." Her eyes took on a mock cunning. "So that's it. You all want a chance to escape farmers who think their honor has been impinged and soldiers who complain about bugs in the barracks." Her friend, the young man, General Niyen, smiled at the joke. "Actually, it hasn't been bad recently. Nothing we need you for. Just local squabbles. No interplanetary problems. The only serious annoyance is that Baroy agitating against the Space Mining League again. Nothing new and exciting." Xalen nodded. "I have to go. Before Falah notices I gave her the slip." They all nodded. "You are serving your planet well, General Xalen. We salute you." She nodded and signed off. Time to go find Falah. She unlocked the door and searched the palace. She saw Faolan in her quarters. She stuck her head in. "Faolan? The black haired princess looked up from her contemplations and smiled. "Hi Xalen. Falah's in a fit. You didn't show up when she was introducing us to the new girl." Xalen walked in and closed the door. "You mean the one who took the odd vow?" Faolan nodded. "Yes. She's the queen of Merce. I think she's.... gifted." Xalen's mind raced. "What did she do?" Faolan shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not really sure. Falah told Tiffe to go get you and raved on about how you were due for some punishment, but one word from this new girl and she decided to go to bed instead." Xalen was intruiged. "One word? What?" Faolan thought a minute. "Veto I think. Yeah, that's it." Xalen nodded. "Thanks. See you tomorrow." Faolan nodded distractedly. "Sure. Bye." @ The next morning, the court dressed and was ready, waiting in the common room that connected their quarters, when Falah, still in a nightgown walked out. Tiffe approached her. "Princess, may I go back to Mercury for a few days? I'd like to visit my family." Falah's lips turned up in a sneer. "You mean your betrothed, right?" Tiffe had no response. "Forget it. You have work to do here." Saebin looked puzzled. "Why, Princess? Don't you let your bodyguards visit their homes?" Salith rolled her eyes. "That would involve giving us time off." Saebin was scandalized. "Princess, don't we have time off?" Falah flung her hair around arrogantly. "No. Your duties are to important." Saebin leaned over concernedly. "Why? I may need to soon visit my sick, elderly Uncle Veto." Falah's attitude seemed to change rather quickly. "On the other hand, you do a decent job. You can all have some time off to visit your families. In fact, I think you should all have some free time each day." Suddenly Falah seemed very happy. "Okay. I'm going to my room to change now. See you soon!" @ After breakfast, Xalen decided to use her new found free time to practice her lad'or. As she pounced around the room her body falling into the familiar patterns, her mind roamed free. This Saebin was from Merce. That was a traveling planet. Perhaps....? There was only one way to be sure. Xalen left her quarters and discovered Saebin relaxing in her own quarters, drawing a dragon. Xalen knocked, "Hello?" Saebin looked up. "Hello Xalen. How do you fare?" Xalen countered her just as formally. "Quite well." Then she asked a very strange question. "Queen Saebin, what is your opinion of Plato's theory?" Saebin smiled. "Well, his theory was a bit earth centric. But I must say that the naming of the planets was rather uneducated. After all, not all planets wander." Xalen smiled. "Does yours?" Saebin nodded. "Ever since The Crossing. And yours?" Xalen nodded back. "It does indeed. Would you follow me?" Saebin assented, and Xalen lead her to a garden. Xalen turned to her. "This is my private garden. I told Queen Serenity that I was homesick, and that I was considering leaving. She gave me this place as an inducement to stay. I like to practice la'dor here sometimes." Saebin nodded. "It's beautiful." Xalen sat on a bench. "I've heard of you. The Queen with veto power." Saebin concentrated. "I've heard of you as well. You are the Zalondonian General of....?" She thought. "Interplanetary Politics, correct?" Xalen nodded. "Here I have assumed the title of princess. It is not known outside the Wanderers that Zalondon has no royalty." Saebin nodded. "They won't hear of it from me. And I hope you will preserve my planet's secrets." Xalen laughed. "Of course. Faolan's planet also wanders, but she does not have the rank to know much about its wandering." She suddenly looked wary. "How do you feel about our charge?" Saebin's answer was wry and frank. "She's a spoiled brat, but she has potential." Xalen nodded sadly. "She is. But unfortunately Syroc does not have the challenges that would mature her into something greater. She's too coddled, protected here." Saebin nodded. "I have some ideas about that. With Serenity's permission, of course." "She misses her father greatly. Though he was a hard man, she was greatly attached to him." Saebin looked curious. "You've been here that long?" Xalen snorted derisively. "Of course not. But I am the chief diplomat of Zalondon. A competent one, at that." She sighed. "Perhaps if her court was a little less... obliging, it would do her some good. Saebin looked surprised. "I'm surprised you haven't taken care of that already." Xalen shrugged. "Faolan and I are here more as spies then as representatives. We can't afford to make a wanderer/empire conflict. Tiffe is absolutely too nice for her own good. She accedes to every request. Galen, Sito, and Salith privately rebel, but they are too scared to do anything to endanger their planets, which are under Imperial control." She smiled wryly. "The last four don't have a terribly high opinion of me either. Faolan is a loner like me." Saebin considered. "If I could earn the imperials respect, what can you do with the traveling planets?" Xalen laughed. "I already have had contact with every representative to visit here. The traveling planets don't want to see the Empire fall into chaos at Serenity's death. Their trading is too lucrative for that. Most wish Falah would just disappear." Saebin looked concerned. "That is not good. She has quite a bit of potential. She could become an able ruler." "If she can grow up. If we could reform her, then the wanderers could possibly accept her as an ally." Xalen shook her head. "But it would be hard. But perhaps, between the two of us, with our mind bending talents...." Saebin looked confused. "I understand me, but you?" Xalen smiled a roguish grin. "I have the power of Forget." Saebin started