Shining Sovereignty
Author's Note: Yes, I know, I have other stories to be working on. WahwahwahI was struck by this one in a dream, and my friends are very, very excited about it. They're beating me with sticks! xD Okay, maybe not, but my best friend will if I don't at least get this thing started.I promise, the next chapter of Their Poison is coming soon, and my motivations for Silver Tears are few and far between. I apologize to the readers of that story, few as they are.Also, this story is rated 'M' because of very mature subject matter to come. It just starts out all happy and nice and stuff. Anyways, please enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own the
Chapter I: And So It Began
Princess Sakura slept within the chambers of her room as the sun began to rise on this lovely morning. A large pink and white four-poster bed supported her thin, tired frame. Her large, jade eyes were still shut with sleep, but if one looked closely enough, they could see them fluttering and darting beneath their lids. She shifted a little, a quiet grunt escaping her slightly parted lips, and her soft pink hair splayed across her white, silk pillow. Finally, her eyes slipped open as the sun's rays attacked them violently with light. TenTen had thrown open the curtains again to ensure she woke early, it seemed. Her famous orbs slightly blurred with sleep, the middle princess of the Lite Kingdom crossed the large chamber and snapped the curtains closed with an exasperated sigh, although she did not intend to go back to bed. Striding in the other direction, she pulled out a drawer and began to prepare herself for her day.
A few minutes later, the Princess floated her way down the many halls and flights of stairs that lead to the main dining room for breakfast. The hugely long table centered in it was mostly empty, with the exception of her family sitting at the far end. Her father stood from his seat at the head of the table and welcomed her with a large smile. He was a tall man of a large build, his hair a light blonde that fell just below his ears, and his eyes the same color as Sakura's. A small beard was centered on his chin, and an ivory fang-shaped item protruded from his left ear. An elaborate but small golden circlet wrapped around his forehead, with a large topaz glowing in the center of it, surrounded by diamonds. A cape was clasped around his neck, white with golden embroidery, and his clothes were mostly the same colors. He raised one large hand in greeting and it glowed brilliantly from the number of rings adorning each finger. His hearty voice boomed, "Good morning, my dear daughter Sakura! I assume you slept well?" All the time, Sakura had been walking up the table to get closer to him, and when he finished the sentence, she was at her seat, a few from his.
"Good morning, Father," she replied with a glittering smile, slipping into a seat next to her elder sister. The King seated himself again, and they waited patiently for the youngest member of the royal family to arrive so that they may begin eating. In conversation, Sakura responded to his question: "Of course I slept well, by the way. That bed feels as though I am sleeping on clouds." Her father replied with another large smile, and she didn't let hers diminish any. This was how things worked in their family.
"Sakura," started the sister next to her. Where Sakura's hair was short and light pink, her sister Akiko's was long and darker, reaching to about the middle of her back when braided. Wispy bangs fell slightly into her face, and she had fun puffing them with air to move them out of her eyes, which were their mother's deep shade of violet. She was known to really be the spitting image of her mother. "Have you told Mother and Father what you told me yet?" A mildly devious grin tugged at the corners of her lips, but she knew that Sakura wouldn't be teased by something that silly, especially since she had been planning on telling the King and Queen anyways.
At this, though, their mother leaned forward. "What is it you were going to tell us, Sweetie?" Her hair, much in the same fashion as her eldest daughter's, was draped over her right shoulder in a thick braid with gold thread braided in amongst the magenta strands. A circlet identical to her husband's was wrapped around her own forehead, and glittered beneath her bangs. Her clothes were a combination of deep purples and pinks, and white, with gold stitches weaving sinuously throughout to make lovely looping patterns. Several large gold bangles and rings adorned her small and thin wrists and hands, which were pressed interestedly against the table.
Feeling the pressure put on her, Sakura flushed slightly and looked down at her lovely, still empty, china plate. Gold leaf made gorgeous patterns across the otherwise plain and white surface, and she stared at the intricate designs with interest until she felt her sister prod her with a thin finger. "Well… I was considering marriage…"
Queen Takara had to remind herself that it was unladylike to leave her mouth hanging open. For the longest time, Sakura had been adamant about not marrying—at least not until she found someone she was sure she wanted to marry. "Are—are you sure? Really!? Oh, Sakura, that is so great!!" a cry of joy escaped the queen's lips, and Sakura felt her blush deepen a little. Luckily, before her father could boom anything to the entire kingdom, the huge double doors at the other end of the dining hall slammed open loudly, and a little girl was seen panting hard with her arms spread wide as if she had been the one to push the heavy portals open. Short blonde hair stuck up in pigtails and large green eyes stared at her startled family.
"Sorry I'm late!!" cried the small voice of Princess Hazumi, interrupted slightly by pants and gasps for breath. The girl seemed no older than ten, at least six years younger than Sakura, and ten from Akiko. Not to mention their elder brother Kogane, who was even five years older than Akiko. But he had left to travel and hadn't been heard from for months, so bringing up his name was a sensitive subject.
"Hazumi! There is no need to slam open the doors!" Queen Takara cried, but was calmed by King Ouken as he rested a steadying hand on her dramatically smaller shoulder. "Anyways, please come sit down next to me so that we may begin our meal." The youngest princess skittered quickly across the dining hall and slipped into a seat next to her mother, who fussed with her hair while the King clapped his large hands and called out for their meal to be served to them, now that Hazumi had arrived. Servants and cooks came out carrying large trays filled with steaming and lovely foods, which were all served heartily to the royal family. Sakura's trusted maid, TenTen, stepped into the hall and was beckoned to join them in their breakfast, and who was she to decline such an invitation? So they ate and talked and Ouken proclaimed to anyone who would listen—which meant everyone, because who would ignore the king?!—that his daughter was actually planning to marry. "What about King Kakashi, Dear? He's recently widowed—since Queen Anko died so suddenly and all. A snake bite too. So tragic…." Takara trailed off slightly, but was brought back up by Ouken's loud, merry voice.
"Of course, we shall invite him as well! He is an honorable young man! Fought with me in the Sendian War, and I knew his father well. And I was there, watching, as he found the need for that eye-patch of his!" Sakura shuddered visibly. King Kakashi was a nice man, no doubt. He had even helped her to become better at horseback riding, and was not a bad teacher. But he was older than her by a decent amount—at least fifteen years!—and, as her father had mentioned, wore an eye-patch. Yeuck. But she figured that there would be other, younger choices. And she couldn't rule him out just for his age and…erm… disability. That would be horribly cruel. "But also! We'll have to invite Prince Naruto! I like that boy. He is a funny one!" Just thinking about the boisterous young prince caused Ouken to chuckle heartily, until he was interrupted by Akiko.
"Oh, oh! And Prince Sasuke, too! Soooo dreamyy" Akiko rested her chin in her hands and her elbows on the table as she gazed up at the ceiling dazedly, until her mother leaned slightly across the table and whipped each arm with her napkin.
"No elbows on the table, young lady!" Takara lectured, then smiled warily at Sakura. "I don't quite know about that Prince Sasuke, though. He seems…. A little 'off', if you know what I mean…"
"Are you crazy, Mother?!" Akiko sputtered. She knew that the younger prince of the Fire Kingdom was far too young for her—his older brother was more her age—but she still insisted that he was the more handsome of the two. Sakura agreed, but appeared to be better at hiding her attractions from her family.
"Don't talk to your mother that way!" And so the fight began.
A few minutes later, all was silent until Hazumi piped up: "Oh, what about Prince Lee? He is so nice to me—he gave me candy once!" she smiled widely, and TenTen, from the other side of the table, giggled slightly and muttered something about her being cute enough to kill. Sakura smiled only barely; Lee was a nice enough boy, but very… odd.
She remembered the first time they met very clearly: His parents had thrown a ball and invited her parents. All of the parents, being, well, parents, decided that it would be 'so cute' to make a pre-teen Sakura dance with the year-older Lee. She had been utterly perturbed at the idea, but they had forced her into it. He walks up to her, him thirteen and her twelve, and tells her with a huge smile, "You are very pretty! Will you be my girlfriend? I will protect you with my life!" His eyes were large and dark, and his eyebrows even larger. It was them that scared her so badly that she actually ran away to hide in the gardens, while she watched the swans on the pond, the moonlight reflecting… And then Prince Sasuke…Sakura felt herself blushing and the table becoming silent. When she came back to earth, she stared around her and found her family and TenTen staring back. "You space out something major, Sakura," Akiko commented with a grin, and Sakura smacked her with an open hand. Shortly after, the meal was over and the whole family was allowed to leave the table and get themselves ready for whatever it was that they were to do. Ouken set himself to personally writing messages to be delivered to each of the respected guests that they knew would be soon to arrive. Sakura was still in a little shock that they were moving it along so quickly—she just hoped that they wouldn't force her to pick within any less time than a few months. At least!