To The Moon And Back

Prologue: The Only Thing That Mattered

The woman stood in the dimly lit room, towering over a smaller object of furniture.

Her face was nothing short of gorgeous. She had tanned skin, mesmerizing brown-gold eyes, and ruby-red lips that could make any man's heart melt. (And indeed they had, several times.)

But the child this beautiful woman stood over could have outshone the lovely queen, even being only a couple of weeks old herself. The infant lay in the crib, swathed in blankets emblazoned with the lunar crest. Her cheeks were tinged with shades of rose, and her tiny fingers fisted around the blanket that kept her warm and safe. Indeed, Princess Selene of Luna was a beauty indeed.

Queen Channary gazed down at her daughter with a touch of a feeling that took her a moment to identify as... Love? She didn't quite know. Love, to her, was an unnecessary, weak, utterly unwanted thing in her life. She had never loved and had never been loved, as far as she knew.

Except now there was this new child, and for the first time, she felt something that felt like love. Love, for this child, that for so many months she had resented and blamed for her unnecessary condition and pain. But now that Selene was born, Channary could not feel anything but affection for this child.

She was the only thing that mattered.

And yet, the queen realized that in her daughter's birth, she could lead the entire country, the entire planet, into a new age. Channary herself had never been betrothed or married; but what about Selene? There was an Earthern prince that Channary had heard of, crown prince Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth. He was a mere two years older than Selene. If Selene was to marry him, it would ensure that Luna was in quite a powerful position to take over their neighboring planet.

But Channary snuck a peek at her newborn daughter again.

And in that moment, Channary's thoughts of invasion subsided. But just for a moment.