~Chapter 1~

Cold. Lifeless.

That wasn't her mother. That was a lie. They had told her that her mother had joined the great beings of the afterlife, living the rest of forever in harmony - no longer in pain.

As she ran through the corridors, the vision of that thing in the casket still plastered in her mind, she did take little solace in remembering that her mother was no longer in pain. Who were they trying to fool? Parading that thing around, pretending that it was the queen, just giving some "closure", as they put it. They said it was important to preserve the body - the body, they said, even they knew it really wasn't the queen - so future generations could look upon her and know of her beauty and power and love.

It was tradition, they told her. They took her mother's body, dressed her in her favorite dress, applied make-up and preservatives, and showed her off to the world. She had died in peace, that thing told the world. She died beautiful, smiling, accepting her invitation to the afterlife and join her ancestors before her.

It was all a lie, and Lucy, being only eight years of age, knew more truth than the whole kingdom - and the world beyond - could ever hope to begin to understand. A lie.

Lucy sobbed, running into her mother's private chambers. Normally she'd been banned from that room, the essence of death still lingering in the air. It was bad luck, they had told her. Death was still hiding in the shadows of her mother's room. They had to cleanse it, lest it take another soul with it. If dying was so wonderful, then why fear death? Those fools. They made no sense. They didn't know what they were talking about.

Hearing footsteps in the corridor behind the heavy door, she quickly threw her tiny body under her mother's bed. She refused to be caught. She wouldn't be taken away to that lie. That wasn't her mother. She wasn't going to pay her respects to a lifeless vessel that used to be her mother. Her mother's spirit was still in this room, Lucy could feel it, and she refused to say anything to that lie. Whatever she had to say she would say to her mother, who was still in this room, wrapping her warm arms around Lucy, gently whispering sweet nothings into the child's ear.

Lucy closed her eyes as she allowed herself to be engulfed in the strange warmth that she believed to be her mother. The door opened, and whoever had chased her now walked into the room; the stories and legends that revolved around the dead only caused that person to stay for only a moment, fearing for their soul. They left in a hurry, mumbling something about how the girl was obviously not in there.

As soon as the door closed, Lucy allowed herself to cry. Now she would cry for her mother. She wouldn't cry for that lie. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry for a lie. No. She wanted to cry and mourn for her mother where her mother still resided. She wanted her mother to pull her against her chest, humming a sweet song, telling Lucy that everything would be all right. The girl cried, harder than she'd ever cried before. Don't leave me, Mother, she screamed in her mind. Don't leave me alone with them! For hours, long after the funeral had ended, long after the residents of the castle had gone to bed, she still lay, crying for her mother.

The moon shone through the small window, illuminating a small area in front of her. Exhausted, Lucy crawled out from under the bed, and almost immediately the warmth grew around her, calming her. Though she didn't hear the words, Lucy could feel the comfort she sought. In her mind, she could hear that faint humming. She crawled onto her mother's bed, sunk under the blankets, and sighed deeply, the exhaustion of the day overtaking her, and she slept.

~.~

"Princess."

Lucy groaned and rolled away from the disturbance, right into the rays of sunshine filtering through the small window. She flinched and rolled back over, letting herself face the cause of her annoyance.

"Princess," the voice whispered again. "Please wake up. Do you know what the king will do if he finds you in here?"

The child opened her eyes, but she couldn't see much. Her eyes were still blurred from her crying and the exhaustion of a sleepless night. She knew who was with her, though she couldn't see him. She rolled onto her stomach, rubbing her face in her mother's pillow.

"Princess, you really must get out of this bed. At least let me take you to your own room, and you can go back to sleep there."

She felt a hand rest on the back of her head, and tears threatened to fall again, and she choked down a sob.

"I can't," she mumbled into the pillow. "I don't want to leave. If I don't leave, neither will she."

The bed shifted and she felt the body of the boy lay next to her, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her tightly against him.

"She isn't going anywhere," he whispered, "as long as you remember her love with all your heart, she will never leave you."

Lucy moved her head slightly, only allowing him a single eye. Her vision had cleared immensely. "Promise?"

Her friend smiled. "Have I ever lied to you?"

She shook her head. She allowed him to give her a quick hug before climbing off the bed, pulling her with him.

"We need to leave here before the priests come," he told her, pulling her toward the door.

She planted her feet on the rug, tugging her hand from his grasp. He turned to look at her, blinking a question at her. She hugged her arms against her chest, looking around the bright room. There were no shadows, no place for death to hide. Only her mother. She slowly turned in a circle, studying everything in her mother's room. She needed something. She needed a piece of her mother before those liars came in and destroyed everything with their "prayers" and "cleansing".

Her eyes locked on a silver box sitting on her mother's vanity. Her mother valued that jewelry box, though Lucy never really knew why. Her mother promised to tell her one day, but never got the chance. Lucy grabbed the small box, and ran out of the room, following her friend to her own room.

Once there, he left her alone, knowing that if her nanny were to show up and he was still there, it would be his life she took. Lucy stood in the middle of her room, cold, lonely. She gently ran her fingers over the surface of the jewelry box. Gentle patterns decorated the metal, a smiling dragon's body wove its way through the silver. No one had ever touch it before, and Lucy felt a sense of pride. No one except her mother had touched this box, no one had ever dared.

Lucy wouldn't be caught dead allowing them to take this out of her mother's room. "Cleansing" they called it. More like taking everything out of the room and selling it on the street.

She gently pulled the latch, and opened the box. There wasn't anything in it, save one necklace. Lucy blinked, expecting it to be filled to the brim with precious jewels and other fine jewelry that her mother had owned, possibly from her previous life before becoming queen.

But no...A single silver dragon lay on its side, breathing frozen flames of silver. The surface of the silver dragon shimmered different colors. She hadn't seen anything like it before. She felt tempted to put it on, something in the back of her mind pushing her to do so. She gently ran her fingers of the rough edges, the bumps of the dragon's scales and the fire. As she did so, she could almost hear the roar the dragon would surely be making while breathing its flames. Her eyes widened at the realistic noise her imagination was producing.

There was a knock on the door, and the girl jumped. She slammed the lid closed, and stuffed the box in her trunk that lay at the foot of her bed. Throwing a dark green cloth over the box, she shut the trunk lid just in time for her nanny to open the door, a sad smile on the woman's face.

"Good morning, my dear," she said softly. "I'm glad you're dressed." Her nanny must have been extremely devastated if she didn't realize Lucy was still in the same dress she wore the previous day. "It's time to meet with your father."

She took her nanny's hand and allowed to be pulled out of the room.