The sun rose over the mountains of the east slowly. It climbed the sky leaking colour into the world as it went. The land was illuminated in a warm orange glow which filled the valley and down into the city below. The city, compared to the rest of the land was a lot darker. It was drab and old, with grey buildings and tall winding streets. The houses were all of the same design as were the cobbled dark grey roads which wound between them.
It was the same sight that I saw every morning from my balcony which overlooked this dead city. The city which was one day promised to be mine. Whitehollow.
How ironic the name was; to be so light and safe when the reality of this place was so dark. The people were like the living dead, unable to move on from their sorrows of the present war and the losses that we were suffering. Up here in the palace we were safe, with food and necessaries, but down in the streets the men were sent off to war and supplies were running bare.
I leant heavily on the sill of my balcony, wanting to tear my eyes away from the scene of the city but unable to. When I am queen of this kingdom things will be different, I will not let my people suffer like my parents have.
"Miss Albarn?" I quickly turned to the sound behind me.
"Ah Tsubaki, did you want something?" The young maid behind me smiled kindly, her dark blue eyes lit up with their usual optimism. She had long black hair that was tied back and was much taller than me although not in an intimidating way. Tsubaki was a good friend, as well as my personal maid.
"Well I know that it is early but your mother and father wish to speak with you." She bowed slightly, "They will see you in the main hall." Then Tsubaki turned and quickly scurried away.
My mother and father keep me inside the palace always. I am like their precious jewel that they wish to hide away from the eyes of the public. Because of this it is so hard for me to make friends or meet anyone who doesn't work in the palace. And even when I do make friends they are to only be girls, my father makes sure of that. It's a good thing that he doesn't know about Black Star though or he would go mental…
I carefully slipped on my shoes and left my room, heading down the steps to the main hall and throne room that I was told my parents would be waiting in. When I arrived they were sitting there, stiffly positioned on their thrones as if they were on duty.
My father's face was one of regret and sorrow. His deep red hair hung down over part of his face and although his body and clothes gave the impression of a strong king his face made him seem like a broken man. When he saw me his expression lit up and he stood, stretching his arms out to me.
"Maka, my little princess!" the man cried out to me running over to embrace me. My mother stared at him in disgust. She had always been a firm woman, set inside her mind and not willing to change for the sake of others; but today there was more of a resentfulness aimed towards father. Even though he often gave me more love than my mother, she was still the one I aspired to be like. She was strong and independent but unfortunately not the one who was allowed to make the decisions for the kingdom…
"Spirit." My mother said his name sharply, "We did not meet her for you to show your 'love' but to discuss the future plans of this kingdom." The man stepped away from me and skulked back to his throne, not looking my mother in the eyes.
"Yes, Kami darling, I know that…"
"…don't call me darling…" She whispered under her breath but I heard the comment and it hurt. The way my parents were acting, it wasn't their usual carefree and loving attitude to each other, it was lined with hatred and anger and regret. They were hiding things from me…
I waited though, standing silently in front of them so that they could explain, instead of questioning them.
"Maka dear," my mother spoke in a much calmer and loving voice to me, "we need to talk about the future that will be right for Whitehollow. You are not a stupid girl so by now you must have noticed the dire state of the city. The people are not happy and we fear that there may be an uprising soon if things do not change." She stood and paced over to the window so that she could gaze out into the grey. "As you also know you shall be next in line for the throne and that day may come sooner than we all thought…"
"What do you mean? I'm not supposed to take over till I'm at least twenty, if not older…"
"I know but things have changed and, well, your father and I cannot afford to keep up this shenanigan of a marriage any longer. Not when we do not even love each other..."
"It isn't like that Kami, you know that… I love you so much; I love this family so much. You know I would do anything for you…" The man was pretty much begging and I looked at him in confusion. What could my father have done so wrong to my mother that she would despise him like this?
My mother turned sharply, to face my father. Tears were beaded in the edges of her olive eyes and her face was contorted with fury.
"You'd do anything?!" She yelled, finally snapping and pointing towards the man. "How can you say that?! How can you?! You were the one who did this! Oh the times I pretended to ignore the countless maids and village women who were creeping into your room! The times I turned a blind eye and promised myself that it was just a phase that would pass, that you still loved me…" She shook her head, only letting a single tear fall before wiping her eyes. "And how wrong I was… how stupid and naïve, how foolish I was! To even believe that you still loved me like before, it was a ridiculous joke…"
The woman strode towards her throne and sat down, ignoring my father.
"I can't believe you! " I shouted at him, desperately hoping that he would defend himself and prove to me that this wasn't true. He said nothing but hung his head in shame. "Why would you do this?" I wanted to cry and hit him and tell him that I wanted nothing to with him, but I couldn't. Not when my mother was being so strong and self-confident, I wouldn't let her down by being the one to break.
"…Maka…" He finally spoke, "I am so sorry and I know that you probably hate me for this but please… please remember that you will still always be my little girl and if… when you're ready to forgive me then I will be here… I will always still love you…" He looked up at me with shameful eyes smiling ever so slightly but I forced myself mot to look.
How could he have done this to me…? How could he have let me and mother down like this…? And then how could he ever expect me to believe him again and ask me for forgiveness. It made me sick. I wanted to cry and run away from this but one glance at my mother told me that I couldn't. She had called me here to talk and she wasn't going to let me go until she had finished.
"My dear Maka, this wasn't how I planned on telling you…" She smiled weakly but I could tell that the shouting had taken it out of her. "You need to know though that you're father and I am failing our kingdom, we are leaving it to slowly crumble by neglecting the problems to focus on our own. This is why we have come to a decision on what to do." She paused.
"And what is your decision?" I asked hesitantly.
"At the autumn ball which is approaching your father and I shall abdicate from the throne." I gasped slightly.
"No, what will happen to the kingdom? You can't just leave your people…." The woman gave me another of her tired smiles and shook her head at my concern.
"Don't worry, that will all be taken care of; your father has agreed to rule alone for the moths between then and your seventeenth birthday. I hope that when it does come to your birthday that you will choose to take the thrown though, a new leader will do Whitehollow some good." I could only stand there in shock. "Of course it isn't all fair that we leave you to rule alone and dig everyone out of our mess but that matter will be taken care of-"
"What? No!" I interrupted, "You can't just abdicate, I'll only be seventeen, I won't have done anything with my life!" I wanted to be queen yes, but not now, I wasn't ready. "And why just him; where will you be?" I didn't feel like calling that man my father right now…
"I used to tell you Maka that you can never run away from your problems, you must turn and fight them otherwise you can never be strong…" She stood and hung her head, "But now, now the only way for me to fix this is to leave... When you are older you will understand and I will come back but till then I need to go…" The pain on the woman's face was deeply set and I nodded, lowering my head so that my lose hare would hide the tears trickling down my cheeks.
"Please may I me excused…?" I asked as normally as my shaking voice would allow me to.
"Yes…" My mother replied flatly.
I quickly turned and walked from the room but once the door was closed I began to run. I ran down the stone corridors, not caring who I bumped into or where I was going. My eyes were blurred with fat tears and I couldn't see the difference between the walls and the floor.
My foot caught on a stone and fell, smacking myself on to the cold stones below and grazing the edges of my arms. I hurriedly picked myself up, one of my shoes slipping off, and began to run again. The lost shoe didn't matter, I didn't care.
Finally I was stopped by the thick dark wooden doors of the place which brought me the most comfort. The library. I wrenched them open, knowing that it would be the only place where no one would be, the only place where no one would look for me, my own secret hideout. I closed the doors carefully behind me and sank down into the corner of the great room, curling into a tight ball and wrapping my arms round myself. Then I cried.
I wept and sobbed, letting my cries echo around the vast hall so that only the books would hear my weakness. I let it all out till my eyes stung and my throat was sore. Then once I had finished I was silent. I didn't move but stared at my feet, one bare and one coved in a small white slipper.
When I was younger my father used to tickle my feet. I would laugh and squirm in his arms and he would finally stop, looking at me and whispering 'daddy loves you' while rubbing his nose against mine. My mother would always sit or stand further away, smiling but shaking her head. She would tell my father that he doted on me too much and that it was silly but I knew she loved him. She was the strong leader who was always there by his side to whisper in his ears the things to say or the path to take. She pulled the strings and he was her puppet but she did love him.
Now everything I had was gone. My father; once the loving man, was a cheater who had lied countless times, and my mother; the independent queen was running away because she couldn't face her problems. And both of them had abandoned me in the middle, not caring about the effects and claiming it was for the good of the kingdom, but I wasn't stupid…
The sound of the library door opening caused me to flinch back although I still didn't look up. My other white slipper was dropped down on the floor in front of my feet.
"Whatcha doing down there?" I instantly recognised the voice and looked up to see the cocky smile of my Blue haired friend Black Star. He stared down at me before offering out his hand to help me up. I didn't take it. "You don't expect a godly guy like me to actually fall down to your level?" He frowned.
I giggled slightly at him; he was always like this, talking about himself like he was a god, but really he was just a village boy who had a habit of sneaking into the castle to visit me and Tsubaki. It was sweet really, how he would treat me like a little kid, not a princess and Tsubaki like a lady, not a servant.
Finally Black Star sighed and sank down to my level.
"So what's up and why is it that I find you acting like Cinderella, dropping your shoes around places and running off to hide?"
"Well, my parents are planning on abdicating and leaving me in charge at my seventeenth birthday…" I mumbled, "It's their entire fault though, my father was the one who messed up, he… he is a cheating liar!" I burst out in sudden anger, "And my mother, she's just a hypocrite! I hate them both for this, for running off and abandoning me in this!"
"Nah!" Black Star rolled his eyes, not taking me seriously at all. "You don't hate them; you're too much of a goody two shoes princess to do that." He smirked at me. I smiled back because I knew he was right although the tears were back in the corners of my eyes.
"… I don't want to be queen…" I whispered.
"Why not? You always used to talk about it. When I'm queen this and when I'm queen that… so this is your chance."
"But you don't understand! I wanted to see the world and finish my studies and maybe fall in love before any of that but now I have no time…" I whined to him.
"So what? Stop moaning and get on with things! I mean your dads pretty crap at ruling and you said your mum's leaving? So this is your chance to rule and to make a difference, you can help the people and maybe you can stop this war." I sighed in response.
"It might seem bad now but everyone will be better for it." He said staring off, "At the moment the people's souls are dying and there is no hope left. The war is pointless, any idiot can see that, and someone needs to make an end to it all. Maybe you can be that someone."
"Wow Black Star that's deep…" I muttered.
"Whatever!" He stood up, pulling me effortlessly to my feet with him. "It's that once your queen the name 'Lord Black Star' seems to be more certain!" He let out a laugh and turned to leave, pausing by the door of the library. "Just think it over though."
I didn't want this but Black star was right, someone had to change thing and if it had to be me then so be it. But for now I was still princess so I could still have those luxuries. I went over to a shelf and ran my fingers over the spines of the books till I found the one I wanted and slid it out from the shelf.
Then I curled up in one of the chairs, flipped open the cover and began to read. And although the story was fictional it was a little piece of reality in the new world that had been dumped onto my shoulders.