To follow this story from the beginning, do check out the sequels;
[Part 1], [Part 2], [Part 3], [Part 4], [Part 5], [Part 6], [Part 7], [Part 8], [Part 9]
Badar, the Moon prince turned away from Diana, looking forlorn. He sat with his face in his hands presenting a classic picture of resigned defeat. He had loved her from afar since she was a child and had kept himself chaste while waiting for her to come of age and return to Moonland from the surrogate Earth. However, his beloved was in love with Richard, the earthling who had the gift of Lycanthropy and could change from a man to a werewolf at will. Myriad thoughts flew through his mind in those few seconds. How was he going to save Moonland from the pending destruction? They could not afford to wait another 27 years for a different Moonland girl to be born of an earthling and raised till the time of transition! Diana had rejected him and would return to Earth, was this the end of their beautiful land?
Diana watched Badar as he brooded in a corner and her heart ached for him. This was a man she could have loved without reservation if she hadn't already fallen in love with darling Richard. In the little time she had spent with the Moon prince, she could already tell that he was honorable, brave, loyal, kind, loving and sensual. She had also come to love this beautiful planet whose inhabitants predominantly looked like her kind, all white, glowing, shimmering and glimmering like the moon. She wished to get to know her mother, the Moon queen who had swapped her pregnancy with the earthling Morenike. She longed to give in to the undeniable pull of the situation but thoughts of Richard as well as thoughts of Morenike and Femi, her Earth parents, stopped her.
Outside the Moon palace, Richard in his werewolf form, lurked in the darkness, hidden behind a crop of trees. His keen eyes kept up a constant surveillance of the palace and its perimeter but nothing seemed odd or out of place. Unpleasant thoughts clogged his mind. Could she have been bewitched or bedazzled into forgetting he was out here waiting for her? He concentrated hard on locating her via telepathic communication but he came up blank. He wondered where Diana was and imagined what she was doing. Was she meeting her Moon family and already forgetting her earthly ones? His heart skipped a beat at the horror of that thought and he shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. "Focus Richard! You will get you both back home on Earth safe and sound" he soliloquized.
Soon it was dawn and the Moon began to shine almost as bright as the sun. Lucinda flung open the oak door and the host of palace guards could be seen behind her. She walked in quickly and looked expectantly at Badar. The tableau before her took her breathe away. "It cannot be!" she thought. Badar and Diana were seated quite obviously apart and it was excruciatingly clear that they were not a couple who had consummated a sexual relationship. The look of resignation on Badar's face confirmed her suspicions. Lucinda stood with her head bowed for what seemed like an eternity while Diana and Badar watched her, waiting for an explosion of fury. She threw up her beautiful hands in defeat and said to Diana, "Return to earth and take your werewolf friend with you!" Diana suddenly felt weak and everything went dark. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and behold she was standing with Richard in the driveway of her parents' mansion in Lagos!
Cheers and thanks for reading!!
