Through the great marble halls of the palace Anderran squeals of laughter ran and echoed. Princess Asteria Semele, daughter of the Emperor and Empress of Heaven and beloved favourite of her father the Emperor, ran down the halls of the palace squealing with laughter dragging a yard of purple silk as she ran. The gods and goddesses of the court of heaven knelt as she ran past, her guardian and playmate Artemis close behind her. Artemis laughed as she chased her tiny ward across the slippery golden floors her skirts flying behind her.
Her peals of laughter suddenly stopped and she suddenly screeched to a halt, tripping on her skirts and falling face forward, Artemis failing to catch her. Asteria, without a word, picked herself up straightening her skirts and curtsied to the Empress.
      "My lady mother"
     "Is this any sort of behavior befitting a young lady of eight years old?," the Empress demanded coldly. Her white face gave a forbidding look, her turning from their soft liquid silver into hard flint. Her silver white gown made her look paler than snow, like a ghost.
    "no ma'am"
The empress eyed the yard of silk which lay on the floor in a heap forgotten. Artemis immediately picked it up and in an instant it had disappeared. The Empress nodded.
"I hope her other guardians have a better keep of her than you", she snapped, in a softer tone she turned to her daughter
   "You and I will have a talk about this later".
Asteria curtsied and hung her head as the empress walked away with her antourage, the court bowing as she glided down the hall, her gown whispering along the gold marble floors.
Artemis turned to look at her charge, she looks so empty, she thought.
"Come on honey, lets go play in the garden! bet i'll win against you in a race today!"
Asteria shook her head and walked down the hall in the direction of the palace kitchens. Artemis sighed and followed her.

...................................................................................................................................

Hestia took one look at her and soon had the princess cheered up with a hot batch of cookies and warm milk.
“How do you always know what she wants?”
“Easy, I raised you didn’t I,”? she grinned.
“Now then, she turned to Asteria, “why don’t we do something special for your mother? To show her you’re sorry.”
“A dinner party!”, she exclaimed excitedly.  
"Will you be inviting your sisters as well?", Hestia asked.
"Yes aunt, I was thinking I might if they are not too sleepy"
Hestia nodded approvingly “Well then we had better get started
"Im soo excited!" she squealed, "wait till mommy sees what I did!".
Artemis laughed, it was often easy to forget that the most important girl in the world was still only a child.
"I'm sure she'll love it", she said tousling her hair, Asteria beamed.

She had the enormous table set by dinner time and excitedly sat down to wait for her mother in the small lavender colored reception room, her legs dangling over the cushioned chair that was too big for her.  Hestia and Artemis remained in the antechamber before Asteria’s reception room in case she would need anything.  Fifteen minutes had passed when a page dressed in the Empress's silver and navy blue livery arrived with a note which he handed to Hestia with a bow.

" What does it say?" Artemis querried, trying to look over her aunt's shoulder.
Hestia playfully pushed her away, and began to read it. She frowned.
"What is it?"
"The Empress wishes to dine with her other daughters only and sends her thanks. Perhaps another time".
Artemis' face reddened with fury
"but she knew Asteria wanted them to eat together! she made it especially for them!! It was supposed to be a family dinner!!," she yelled
"I know, so we should invite the emperor and go in."

The Emperor was seated beside his daughter, the empress’ silver chair replaced with the emperor’s golden chair.
"It was very nice of you to do this for your mother, it all looks delicious!"
He looked at his daughter hopefully, she sighed, still disappointed he thought irritated by his wife's insensitivity. He had married a queen of ice it seemed.

"We've come to join you!", Artemis called, Hestia close with Athena who had just finished the court paper's. Asteria's eyes glowed.
"you guys are going to eat with us?"
"of course! we're family too.", Athena pointed out, her grey eyes dancing.
They took their seats, Hestia and Athena on the emperor’s right and Artemis next to Asteria as usual.
Artemis eyed the food, "I wonder how we'll be able to eat all this?"
Asteria grabbed the two nearest dishes, meat pies. She set one in front of Artemis and one in front of herself.
"Bet i can finish this faster than you can!" she taunted.
"You sure about that?" she asked her eyes glinting at the thought of a challenge.
"yes" she replied coyly.
Before any of the others could stop them both were shoveling pie into their faces as fast as they could. Hestia had the grace to look disgusted but the emperor and Athena roared with laughter and goaded them on. It was a boisterous and loud evening.

...................................................................................................................................

"Aunt Hestia?"
"yes baby?"
"Does mommy love me?"
It was late, the servants had dimmed the lights in Asteria’s bedchamber and had pulled the blue silk covers back from her great four poster bed. She sat in front of her crystal mirror as Hestia brushed her hair before bed. Her hair, long and wavy and a deep dark brown with a golden gloss, fell almost past her waist.

"Of course she does sweety, she just has a funny way of showing it. It's hard for her you know. She has fifty other girls of her own to take care of too."

"Yeah but they're always sleeping. It doesnt take much to take care of them", she replied sulkily.
"it only seems that way to you. Now come on into bed,"
Asteria leaped up. She ran and leaped into her bed with a loud whoop.
Hestia smiled and tucked her into bed.
"There you are my little princess."
"Hestia?"
"hmm?"
"Will you tell my story again?"
"You've heard it a thousand times"
"Pleeaaase"
She smiled, "oh alright, scoot over"
Asteria moved over as Hestia got into bed with her. She wrapped her arms around her aunt's neck and snuggled in next to her.
"Once upon a time", she began.
"there was a King!"
"Yes, a very young king, newly come to the throne who fought to unite the many kingdoms around him under his ruling. He was soon successful and was crowned Emperor of his vast new kingdom. And yet he was sad, he had been married once before but had lost his family to tragedy and now longed for the loving family he had always had. He began in earnest to look for a suitable young woman to be his bride and empress. This lady had to be wise, beautiful, and fair. Young women from across the kingdom came to apply for the post, but none seemed worthy of the title of empress. One day a young woman came to the palace. She was Selene, Lady of the Moon.
"He fell in love with her at once, cause she was very beautiful"
"Yes, she was. She had all the graces of a queen, and he married her at once,
"even  though she had been married once before and had many children"
"Yes, but he loved her and crowned her anyway. Not long after the Empress gave birth to a princess."
"and that princess was me!"
"exactly!, you were born in a blaze of light that blinded half the court. You were magnificent. Soothsayers around the world predicted great events far into the future. You were, and still are, the brightest star in the universe. Your light brings warmth and happiness."
"Do I have a destiny?", she was beginning to get drowsy, her eyelids were drooping.
"Im sure you do, and when you find it, it will be one that you have made for yourself. In that you are truly blessed."
She looked at Asteria, asleep her long eyelashes brushing her cheeks. Hestia got up slowly unlocking Asteria's arms from her neck and laid them next to her head. She kissed her forehead and quietly slipped from her room.