Dignified. It was the only word the burned the fore of her mind as she stood, surrounded by the kingdom that she would soon lead. As their queen. The words echoed around her mind, the faint, blurry images of her mother and father replaying over in her mind like a broken video screen. Garbed in black, her face was illuminated by the fire the would forever clasp her parents in it's burning grasp. Her face was cold, almost bordering emotionless, yet luckily for her her face was masked, almost unseeable, by a thin layer of expensive silk, the threads so fine that it lifted in the gentle caress of wind that breezed through the courtyard. The whole clearing was silent, save for the faint crackling the fire made as it devored the wood used to light it up. The soon to be queen watched the flickers dance to the sky, slowly dying in both light and beauty as they ascended. Perhaps one of them could be her parents? Childish yes, but she couldn't help but indulge herself in childish fantasies now that she had taken such a responsibility on her shoulders.

It was one of both joy and depression. Who wouldn't want to call themselves a proud leader of a nation, with soldiers behind their backs and loyal citizens ready to bend to her every whim? Well, that sounded harsh, but there was no other way to describe it. As a Princess, Lin had been doted on. She had no brothers, no sisters, and an only child was what her parents had wanted. Being young, she could never quite shake off the feeling that her father was disappointed that she had been born to the feminine side. Growing up to become a fine young woman, intelligent and well defined in both mind and body, she realized that she was dreaming it. Her father and herself had always gotten along, moreso than herself and her mother. The thought of his jolly face made her eyes sting slightly,and she blinked the accused away furiously, refusing to make herself look weak. She was a queen now. She had a name to make for herself and one to live up to. That of her family's. Mournful sobs rang around the courtyard, echoed by those of the cilvillians below in the town square. Many of the were paid for, expert cryers who could shed a fake tear at even the most unimportant of things. She scoffed, gleaning the slightest comfort from the fact that many of the tears shedded out there were genuine.

She dipped her head as the priest acknowledged her wishes of preferring not to speak. The scar on her throat wasn't exactly a pretty picture, and it did nothing to help her enunciate. The disfigurement suddenly became sensitive, as if to only prove the fact that it was the worst thing that had happened to her. Well, almost. She found the she was slowly struggling to crawl out of the overwhelming depression that had settled in the pit of stomach. She had just lost her parents. Both of them, in a horrible murder. Why wasn't she hiding in her room? Why wasn't she crawling on the floor with tears streaming down her face as she called for them? She guessed that it was only a matter of time before that happened, but, for now, her parent's teachings had kicked in and helped her through it. She could grieve later. Right now, it was a matter of politics, of marraige and coronation. She listened rather absentmindedly as the funeral went on, lost in her own little world that was slowly becoming all the more darker.

But as her father said, the world was always darkest before dawn, right?

The law had stated that a woman may not claim the throne as unwed. In her father's will, (clever him for making one so soon) it specifically stated that 'in the instance that my daughter is unable to claim to claim her rightful place as queen, the throne will go to Kuroshin, she son of my beloved brother Haru.' The princess sighed sourly, deeming the situation to be the one she should first and foremost take care of. The only option she could think of was changing the laws, yet that would be blasphemy when the covenant had been standing for a century. No doubt she would have suitors calling left and right, and for the most minscule of seconds, she felt her shoulders slump in horror. She couldn't be able to handle that. She didn't expect complete aggression or domineerance from a relationship. If she did find the man to name as her king, she expected there to be trust and sensitivty, and most importantly, love. A political man who wouldn't be unwilling to help her with problems, both personal and bureaucratic. She sighed, a reluctant smile pulling on her lips as she thought of such a man. Hard to find one such as that these days, since there was so much hunger for power. She felt a rather startling surge of confidence. Her cousin was a tyrant, a power-hungry fool that he had inherited from his 'beloved' father. The Princess wouldn't allow that to happen, she wouldn't allow the citizens of her country to bow down to such an atrocious man while she stood by and done nothing. She should really order an inquisition to the both of them; their activity was quite suspicious lately.

The funeral passed by in a depressing and boring blur, her parent's ashes scattered over the blessed river that ran alongside their castle. The world was bathed in silence as the ashes drifted downstream, soon to come to a roaring waterfall that would release her kin into the beyond, wherever that was. Their remains finally going out of sight, she dipped her head as a final statement of respect, breathing out a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she was holding. The stress she felt was staggering, and the to-be queen considered it a struggle to make her way to her personal chambers, accompanied by three of her childhood servants. She ushered their concerned voices with a wave of her hand and an irritated sigh, basking in the homely silence that her room held. The girl immediately made her way to the window, staring out for a moment before she finally allowed the tears to fall.

She hadn't asked for this.