An Empire Fallen

Prologue: The Princess Who Became Queen

Once, a long time ago, there was a young princess who came from a kingdom far away. The princess adored her parents, as every child does. They were ruthless, killing any subject who dared defy them, and their rage left the cities of the kingdom soaked in blood. Despite the terror, horror, and destruction they left in their wake she adored them nonetheless. Especially her father, the king. To the princess, he was a fair and just ruler, beloved by his people and those he struck down were nothing more than traitorous scum. But of course, nothing is ever that simple.

One cold, stormy night as the wind whispered through cracks in the spiralling stone towers of her castle, the little princess sat alone in her father's study, gleefully imagining a world where she would lead as he did, a world where she was queen. As she played she came across something in her father's notes, something new, unlike what she had seen before. She was hardly old enough to conceive what it was but she knew deep in her heart it was wrong, so very very wrong.

After that night the princess no longer loved her parents, as few children do... As time passed she learned more of her father's terrible deeds and the lengths he would go to in order to keep the crown she once admired so upon his head.

And so, she devised a plan, a plan of treachery, of betrayal, of murder. Recruiting friends old and new for assistance. Slowly, but surely the pieces were put into place and, finally, at seventeen, the time had come for the princess to act.

It rained that night. Stormed even. The rain beat against the windows and the wind screeched as if it knew of the princess's plan. As if it were angry with her for what she intended to do...to the princess, it felt a fitting reflection of the rage that had stormed inside her all these years. Anger brought about by her inability to protect her people from the dragon that scorched her kingdom with the flames of its rage. From her father. As she plunged the king's own prized dagger into his heart she screamed 'no more'. Things would never be like that again, for now, she was the queen... And as she strolled onto her father's balcony, his blood still wet against her skin mixing with the rain as it soaked through her clothes. The princess looked down upon her derelict empire and thought. Thought of how mighty it could be, thought of all she could do, thought of all she could be, now that, at last, the princess was queen...