I stay deathly still, I forget to breathe, my eyes wide and my mouth open in shock. I do not cry, though I want to. My body will not obey as I hear those four words which will change my life forever. "Your mother is dead."

 It's been a year since then. As soon as I turned eighteen, I would marry. I would also have to have perfect manners, be able to dance, fight, and know how to run a kingdom. The sound of church bells woke me up. I fling out of bed only to be greeted by my maid, already waiting to strip me of my nightclothes. I gesture for her to put the clean outfit on my bed. With a flick of my finger she comes in. "So young and yet so wise" she says, trying to make polite conversation to distract me from the emptiness of the castle. The room had polished obsidian from the roof to the floor beside the door. I look at my reflection, red velvet cloak and a small gold crown atop my blonde hair.

I look at her. I never knew what my mother was like, just that she was almost as wise as I am. My father always said that I have her intelligence and more. I'm already sixteen. 'Today's the day' I think, as my maid finishes and wipes her hands. She looks at me as if she already knows what I'm going to do. "It's time," a deep voice says from behind the door. I smile nervously and take a deep and needed breath as I smile reassuringly at my maid's concerned look. "Just be yourself" she says with a bow, leaving me to change. I smile and nod up at her as I take a deep breath to prepare myself.

My father told me that it was time to move on, forget about the past. Easier said than done, but my father meant it and everyone agreed it was better for not only the kingdom, but also for the royal family. Moving on meant a new queen that everyone knew won the hearts of both my father and I, but it also meant forgetting mom forever, which wasn't hard for me since I barely knew her, but it was very difficult for my father. When my father finally got the ring, he told me who was going to be my new mom.

Father tells me as he starts to wrap up our private meeting. "Thank you father" I say, and bow as he dismisses me, I smile politely and walk away. I make my way to the first of the thousands of sixteen yr olds. I am supposed to talk with everyone before my father tells me who he's chosen. The first girl I walked up to in the room had a beast of a knight following close behind her. "Hello your majesty, I am Princess Aileen" the girl says with a small curtsey, her velvety red cloak dress matched my cloak and she had black hair with blue eyes.

I smirked. "Hello Princess Aileen. I am Prince Edward, but you may call me Ed," I said. Edward isn't my real name, but I only want my wife to know what that is. "Hello, Prince Ed" she said and looked around as she let a deep breath slowly out. "So, now what?" She asked. I knew from that, that she had never done this before. I look around at the other royals mingling as if they didn't care that they were being forced to marry "I am supposed to talk to everyone so what's your favorite color?" I asked her, she raised an eyebrow "that is the first question you ask your potential queen? Fine then. Blue, what is The first word that comes to mind when you look at me?" She asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. I stared at her blue eyes and all of the sudden I couldn't respond, I stood there trying to get a word out "uh.. wh….. re…" she interrupts my babble with a smile "speechless, well I guess I know you like me," she says and walks away, I instinctively reached out as if I could reach her "what just happened?" I asked myself aloud "you like her" a voice sounded behind me, I instinctively moved to an attack position.

 I instantly lowered my guard "father" I bowed "I made the right decision," he replied "you mean?" I asked, my father cut me off "yes. She's the one I chose to be your wife.. she comes from another part of England that agreed to ally with us when you marry" he informed. I felt nervous and excited, I didn't expect to like the girl he chose. I nodded and went to say my introduction to the other royals.

The rest of the royals from the other castles and countries seemed boring, all they did was talk about themselves and how much better their land is compared to mine. It was so mentally exhausting that by the end of the day all I wanted to do was sleep, my mind drifted to the one my father picked for me.

I didn't get to talk to her, I groaned at the thought that she would be just like the others. I was dressed for bed and alone, I looked at the small photo of me, my dead mom, and my dad I kept in the closet. The picture hung in the back, in the center of the closet. I smiled sadly, I wished for a moment I got to know what she was like before exiting the bathroom.

I laid in bed and as I was drifting off to sleep, my mind drifted to thinking about the last time I saw my mom. I was only five, I ran to her in the field with a smiling face and held out a sunflower. She smiled down at me and kissed my forehead, then my mind went fuzzy. I couldn't remember anymore as I fell asleep.

I felt happy for my son, the pack needs someone like her. Especially at this time, I knew they were mates when I saw how they looked at each other, I made sure she was clueless as well as him. I know that they will find out soon anyways. My wolf told me their wolves will awaken soon. Thankfully it didn't take long to find his mate, we might not have made it. He'll have to marry her tomorrow. I'll have to lock them in together.

When they shift, they'll immediately mark and mate as they won't be able to control their wolves. I need to see them right before that happens to tell them everything, I can feel it.. my wolf and I.. we've been fighting to live to that moment but I know I won't make it to see their wolves. I've been dying and war is coming, we have two allies and three going to strike when my reign ends.

Even odds, either side could win. I wanted him to live normally and it turns out that she was mistreated and she was also kept in the dark. I've already informed my Beta that he'll have to come in and retrieve my body, I'm sure that my death will cause their wolves to awaken. They will have to deal with a pack kingdom, a baby thanks to the arrival of their wolves and the war. I just hope I made the right decision to keep him in the dark.

"TOMORROW!? DAD, I THOUGHT YOU SAID WHEN I TURN 18!!" I shout at my father, who is on the chair in front of me. "The Stakes Have Been Raised! What Else Could I Have Done!?" my father replies, half shouting, half almost crying. "I just met her! How am I supposed to get her to marry me? What about her parents? Have you even talked to them about this?" I asked him, a little angry and a little curious. "I already discussed it with her parents, they've agreed as long as you produce an heir by the time you're twenty they don't care.. as far as the girl goes, neither of you have a choice, so I suggest you suck it up and marry her, you like her don't you" he finished firmly "why do I have to marry tomorrow, father?" I asked, more softer and respectful as if not to anger him more. Curiosity still burned in me from all the unanswered questions father postponed but conveniently forgot about, even though I kept asking him "well.." he replied hesitantly

"If I were to tell you that, then what fun would it be?" he finished, chuckling the tense subject off. "I'm sixteen now, I have done all you asked of me. Why won't you answer my question?" I asked as my father sighed "I will answer all of your questions after you marry, so don't forget them" he answered truthfully. I smiled thankfully and I hugged him as he laughed.

I woke up to the gentle touch of the maid's hand as she stroked my straight blonde hair away from my face but because of the way I had it styled, it just fell back down. "It's time, you must change, I will make sure neither you nor she, shall see each other till the walk down the aisle" I looked at my maid as she prepared for me for my wedding.

"You look deep in thought" she commented "it's nothing" I said trying to cover up my lie with a smile. She looked at me with narrowed eyes and I could tell that she didn't believe me, though I wasn't surprised, she had always been able to tell when I was lying. She sighed, letting the subject go as she most often does. "Now I know that you're getting married at such a young age but that doesn't mean you're going to start dressing yourself" she informed me firmly and before I could comment, she continued "and don't go making no babes before you turn eighteen" she finished firmly "I won't" I answered, though not as sure as I sounded.

A knight came into the room with a couple of different prince attires for me to try on, I saw one with blue "I want to try this one on first" I said pointing to it, the guard handed it to me and then stepped out to give us some privacy. "Interesting pick young prince" she spoke formally for the guards could still hear "you made a wise decision sire" she said as she changed me into the clothing I chose. I blush a light pink "I don't know what you're talking about… and besides, she doesn't like me too much" I said, my heart pounding just to think of her "maybe not, but it seems the sire fancies her" she chuckled at my embarrassment, we spoke no more of the topic, seeing as I was redder than an apple. So when she finishes, she finally lets me look in the obsidian as she combs my hair "very handsome indeed" she comments, I stare at the sideways cut of my hair, my bangs somewhat covering my brown eyes.

I look away from the obsidian for fear of becoming self conceited "why do you think father wants to get me married so badly?" I ask as she shakes her head in defeat "I don't know sire, and at such a young age too" she responds as she escorts me to the guards right outside the bedroom. She follows behind the guards that circumference me, leaving a respectful distance between as I discover that I made the correct decision in letting the others decorate the field in which we will have the wedding and I can't help but wonder if she'll be happy.

'even if it's a forced marriage, she should at least be happy on our wedding day' I thought. My mind drifted to the way she looked, her blue eyes, I felt strangely pulled to her.

When I was informed we were going to be staying.

I choose a dress that feels like silk and compliments my curves without showing too much. I had to go through the grueling process of picking the flowers (white, blue, and purple), the bird (dove), desserts (cake, pie, and chocolate), before I realized my dress was sparkly and I let out a small squeal of happiness. I didn't care for much of this wedding but I wanted for anything they could get to be sparkly or shiny, they pinned up my hair in a small braided bun before giving me some touch ups, which included sparkles! I may be sixteen, but I'm still a girl. The wedding ends and my heart's still pounding from the kiss, I don't know if I can take any more of this, not to mention what will happen to me when I return home. "don't ever let me return home" I said aloud to my new husband, though I was talking to myself "you can't return even if you wanted" he replied as I jumped, not realizing that he was there "promise?" I asked through the surprised fast beat of my heart "promise" he said sternly, looking me straight in the eye. "Good" I said, sighing in relief.

I hate putting my son and daughter-in-law through this and at such a young age..

"The roles are fulfilled, now leave us alone" a deep voice echoed through the halls, followed by another, even deeper, threatening voice "bring me the new queen, then we'll talk" he hissed "why? What will you do with her?" the other voice whined "that is not something you should be worried about" he warned, the voice silenced as a man in a robe stepped out of the shadows. The man took a deep breath "what am I to do?" he asked himself as he walked back to the castle. No longer cheerful of having a new queen, but now depressed for the upcoming missing girl.

The man made it just in time, for the wedding was over and everyone was going home "where's my daughter-in-law?" he asked cheerfully, not wanting people to ask why he's depressed. A guard came with a girl in a wedding dress "here she is, your majesty" he claimed, pushing the girl gently to the king. The girl looked up at him as the guard left them to speak in private "what'd you want to tell me sire?" she asked respectfully, holding back her instinct to question him. The king smiled and kneeled down to her "I would like to show you something, if you would be so kind as to follow" he chuckled. The girl smiled kindly "am I to get my.. uh.. husband? Shall I tell him where we are headed? Could I just tell a guard to tell him I am to go with you?" she asked, curious of his response. The king laughed the questions off, not wanting to answer "it'll be fine, we'll only be gone for a while and I'm sure he sees us chatting right now. Besides, he's talking to people, you wouldn't want to bother him, now would you?" he asked her, now putting her answer in the spotlight "no sir, that would be most unkind" she agreed, following him wherever he was taking her.

"so, what's your name?" he asked, trying to make the situation less awkward "don't you already know my name sire?" she asked him, unsure of how to answer. He chuckled "yes, just trying to make light conversation" he informed truthfully, grateful for the chance to tell her something truthful. "I'm Hope sire" she informed him as he led her to a wall "um.. Sire, why did you take me to a dead end?" she asked as the king sighed regrettably "don't think ill of me" he begged as he opened the secret passageway, giving way to a dark corridor with stairs leading down, the shadows engulfing the sight of the rest. Hope instantly became aware of the impending danger "where are you taking me?" she asked in a wary whisper.

The king pushed her gently toward the stairs with a newly lit torch "to your death" he answered her as the way back closed, keeping her from escaping. She took a deep breath and bravely ventured forth, the king right behind to light their path. He was surprised by her bravery, he never would have expected the girl to actually act like a queen and was glad he picked her. At that moment, the king felt worse about this than he had before, now knowing what a great future queen she would be. He held back tears as he heard her trying to talk to him, noticing his sudden silence "what's wrong sire? I thought you wanted me to come" she said, not turning around to face him or stopping. "Nothing you should be worried about dear, just regretting some things is all" he replied, not entirely lying to her. "Well I was just wondering, a moment ago you were all chatty and now that supposedly we're almost there, you've gotten awfully silent. Is there something I should be worried about?" She asked him.

The king admired her intellect and sharp perception but he didn't know how to tell her everything though he desperately wanted to. "To be honest, I don't have any clue as to what you're going into. So I don't know of the danger ahead, I might be leading you to your death and not even know it" he sighed, she nodded in understanding "I see" is all she said as we reached the bottom. A snakey hiss came from the shadows before a black creature slithered from the shadows but stopped, seeming to stay in the shadows away from the light of the candle. The king tensed "hand the girl over, sss" the snake hissed at him "no need" Hope replied to the snake as she walked slowly to the snake, it laughed and hissed at the same time "hest hest hest" type thing as she got near "pretty and brave, sss" the snake hissed in admiration as the girl stopped, in between the shadow and the light