Prologue 3

Age 680

This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. Nothing had gone according to plan. She was supposed to have it easy; becoming royalty, her wildest desires becoming reality with a flick of her wrist. All she had to do was be a good wife to the gallant and noble ruler of her home world. Even after the true nature of the ruthless King Cold was revealed, she could take solace in knowing that she could raise her children to be more than he was. Even in that, she had failed. Cooler was cunning and merciless and Freeza was paranoid and sadistic. Her daughter never had the chance to be anything at all.

The Queen had once adored the King. Then she had feared him, a deep terror jolting her heart at the very thought of his touch or a mere glance in her direction. For a while she felt nothing at all, almost s if she left her body when in his presence. Since that day, however, when he had allowed her a small sliver of hope before reducing her newly born baby daughter to ash in front of her eyes, the Queen felt nothing but pure hatred. The memory of that day crinkled her brow and tightened the corners of her mouth. The small creature within her womb stirred at this, feeding off of her emotions, growing stronger.

'One day, little one, you will be more powerful than your father can possibly imagine. You'll be the ruler this galaxy deserves. You might even save your brothers from his corruption, if it's not too late.'

The Queen's scowl turned to a smirk. Today was the day she would escape the King once and for all. She had been planning for this since the very moment she discovered she was once again with child. Luckily, King Cold was on the other side of the galaxy putting down a particularly troublesome rebellion. According to the rumours he had even had transform to his final restricted form. Who knows, maybe the fighters in this rebellion would be fearsome enough to put him down for good before he could transform. The Queen was jarred from her thoughts by the calls of one of her handmaids.

"Come, your Majesty," she whispered, "It's now or never."

Since most of Colds strongest forces were taking part in the battle with the rebellion, the palace and grounds were relatively unguarded and the space around the planet was mostly focused on keeping enemy ships out, so would most likely pay little attention to a small cargo frigate leaving the barricade. This was the best, and possibly only chance she had of leaving.

As she walked through the palace grounds to the underground hangar where her lifeline ship was kept, she was joined at various points by her team of handmaids. Having been the only ones who had truly witnessed the extent of King Cold's cruelty towards his Queen, she was sure that she could trust them. They were the only ones she really trusted on this planet any more.

When they finally arrived at the doors to the hangar, she took a deep breath before leading her loyal subjects- no, loyal friends, inside.

The take off had gone without issue, and as they had now left Arcosian space, the Queen allowed herself to breath a sigh of relief. She didn't have a chance to inhale before a massive shadow began creeping along the length of her ship. Raising her head, too scared to breath, she saw the source: a massive circular dreadnought – Prince Coolers in fact. Her heart sank, as her breathing had returned at a quickened pace. She knew that Cooler was murderously jealous of Freeza's superior strength, and she didn't doubt that he feared for the strength of the newest addition to his family, and wouldn't hesitate if given the chance to eliminate the threat before it could manifest. She began to wonder whether they would demand the ship board, before taking her back to be executed by the King personally, whether Cooler would kill her there and then with that 'death beam' technique he was so proud of, or whether they would simply blast her and her friends to ashes from the comfort of their ship.

As quickly as the shadow came, it passed. Whether they hadn't been detected, or whether Coolers pilots had simply chosen to ignore an insignificant Cargo ship, it didn't matter. They had made it. They'd actually made it. The Queen began to smile, until she felt a moistness around her feet. Had she actually wet herself in fear, in front of her maids?

"Your majesty," one of them began, "I think the baby is coming!"