This chapter was written by @lickerfish

A silky breeze seeped through the sheer fabrics of Sakura's juniper hued curtains half veiling the balcony. The Queen herself sighed through her sticky pink lips as she allowed her hand to glide up her cheek but she immediately winced recalling that the makeup her mother had applied on her still hadn't fully dried yet.

The sun was already starting to set and her mother still hadn't returned with the finishing touches she had been so excited about to put on her daughters face. Due to Sakura and her father having yet another argument earlier on in the day her mother was doing her best to cheer her up. With boredom dulling Sakura's mind she instead squinted her feathery lashes at the scenery outside.

Inky droplets of lavender tones curdled into the oily tendrils of velvety wine shades. Orange nestled in-between the two currants creating a warm shadow over the layers of mountains and thick grasslands below.

She remembered a time in the past of her father boasting about claiming these lands from their previous owners driving people out of their homes only to build this lavish establishment. But to Sakura it wasn't a home. It was a prison.

It didn't even phase Lucario or make him think twice about the thousands of people he made homeless due to his extreme demands. As long as he had the best he didn't care who he hurt.

Loud thumping on the door caused Sakura to flip around to suddenly be encased into a strong hold.

"Your Highness, thank God you're ok" her royal guard Philip squeezed onto her petite body cupping the back of her head with his hand.

"Why wouldn't I be?" creases etched onto her face as she lifted a brow. "And how dare you touch me so inappropriately know your boundaries as my royal knight-"

"My apologies my Queen it was an emergency and I just wanted to make sure you were ok" he quickly dropped onto one knee bowing his head at her.

"What emergency?!"

"There's an intruder"

"Who?"

"Aya Kamishiro"

"Take me to her now" Sakura brushed him aside strutting towards her violet cloak resting upon a coat hanger.

"She's escaped"

"Then send the guards after her, you shouldn't even be here right now you should be out there hunting her down, you know that if she gains anymore support from the peasants with her rebellion then an uprising will take place soon-"

"Under normal circumstances I would obey your commands but I'm afraid we have more pressing issues"

"Such as?"

"Please follow me your highness"

Sakura paused frowning for a moment before flipping her hair up to slide her cloak on as Philip led her out of the room.

Their footsteps clicked against the black marble flooring with only the red carpet dissolving out its sound as it led up to the intricately detailed throne sitting underneath a portrait of Sakura and her parents.

Trickling down from the large windows came the flow of moon dust and wind almost blowing out the tall candle stands illuminating a soft glow onto chiselled features of Philip's sharp jawline whilst the fiery embers of candlelight wisped into his amber toned orbs. As she turned over to him instead of looking at him from the corners of her eyes she watched as his face dropped.

"What is it you wanted to show me?"

Philip gestured his hand forward as he walked over to throne. Similar to the wavering candlelight's Sakura's heart pulsed with cold threads strangling her breaths as she walked towards the throne. Bending down Philip lifted up the carpet to reveal two white sheets with something bulging from underneath them.

"What is this?"

He remained silent combing his sweaty hands through his blonde hair as he darted his vision from her.

Feeling the sudden hitch in her pulse Sakura clipped her dainty fingers onto the white fabrics slowly lifting it up but once she did she gasped jumping back. She gaged at the thick stench of rotten meat leaking from the decaying piece of flesh she had just discovered.

She blew out a shaky breath feeling her ribcage burn into her core as she fully ripped of the sheets off. Due to her horror it was no surprise that she almost threw up looking upon the disembodied and mouldy parts of her parent all bundled together by a loose piece of string.

"Your Highness-"

"Get out!" she yelled, gulping down the lump swelling in the back of her throat.

Once Philip's footstep faltered Sakura collapsed to her knees closing her eyes as she tried to hold back the tears stinging against her lids.

She let out a choked sob tasting the salty tears bleed onto her lips as she opened her eyes staring with a blurry vision at the broken parts of her parent's body. Rage thickened her bloodstream into a pulpy hot mess as she felt a sharp memory grip onto her thoughts.

Earlier this morning Sakura had warned her father about seeing Aya whilst she was collecting taxes. But Lucario simply mocked her in front of all the royal advisors. Degrading her claims over the mundane basis that she was a woman so she was either making it up to gain some sort of attention from her busy father or just to cause drama because she was a bored little princess. No matter how hard she tried Sakura would never be able to live up Lucario's expectations.

Being hurt by her father yet again she rushed to her mother's comforting arms who decided to cheer Sakura up by playing dress up. But this wasn't just an ordinary bonding experience between mother and child it held a much deeper and darker meaning behind it. Hiding under a sheet of makeup was only the physical part of the transition, the emotional part was much more difficult to obtain.

Ever since she was young Sakura's mother Diamond had done everything in her power to teach Sakura about the difference between a woman and a queen. A woman would use whatever assets she has to get what she wants from a man whilst a queen is ready to throw away whatever emotions she has for the crown. But Sakura didn't want either of those things all she craved was power.

It was the main thing her mother had taught her to seek after due to her own regret of losing that power as a ruler to her controlling husband. Men would always have some sort of power over a woman but the one thing they couldn't control was their mind-set.

If Sakura could control the skill of trickery she would be a true queen always blinding people by her plastic smile and sweet words whilst in her heart she plotted a sick game ready to take down whoever she needed in order to stay in power.

Smearing away the residues of her tears she dusted herself getting up from the ground. Now that she would fully become queen due to her father's promise many years ago that once she had fulfilled the deed of assassinating Aya's father the rebel leader Exavier Kamishiro she would now have full power.

But all to herself.

She would have the help of her royal guard and royal advisors but not from the loving eyes of her own flesh and blood. With a rebellion stirring up could she really trust them though? How did Aya manage to slip in so easily without anyone alerting her parents in time?

Could her father have had enemies within the palace?

Sakura thought of one place she could start to find clues. She headed to her father's chamber in hopes that maybe he could have written down what he was dealing with.

The dusty silky smells lingering through the warm air of her father's chambers felt foreign to her. Even the thoughts of her father actually sleeping in the golden King sized bed taking up the centre of the room seemed like such an alien thought to her.

Strutting around the room she trailed her hands over the large bookshelves, desks, wardrobes and other objects to try and find any piece of information that would indicate to traitors within the walls of the palace. But sadly she found none.

Sinking into the soft linens draped over the marvellous bed she stared up at the beautifully decorated ceiling. If something were to be hidden it would be kept concealed from people's eyes but what if that was too obvious. Maybe having something out in the open would be the least suspicious hiding spot.

This thought put a curve on Sakura's lips as she rose up from the bed stepping back over to the bookshelf. Flicking through the pages of various books she finally halted at one. But the difference was that it was a fake book with a smaller looking book encased into it. She slipped it out and looked upon it realising it wasn't even a book it all it was a letter. She read upon what it had to say.

Dear Lucario

I fully support your idea of having him murdered. It would be as if we are killing two birds with one stone. Not only would it bring an end to whatever rebellion he is planning it would also get rid of him questioning the fact that I am of child. But my dear King you need not worry yourself with our little problem I already have it taken care of when the time comes it will be abandoned and taken in as an orphan to one of the peasant women.

Love Priscilla

Sakura's hand spasmed as she scrolled through the letter again just to make sure she read it correctly. Her father and Aya's mother Priscilla had an affair.

Did that make Aya her sister?

Swallowing a quick gulp she looked upon the date and exhaled in relief seeing that it was written well after Aya was born.

Thinking back to what her mother had taught her about power it made sense as to why she had drilled it into her mind. It must have been so hard on Diamond to know that her best friend was sleeping with her husband.

In that moment Sakura made a promise to herself that she would never allow a man to steal whatever power she had. As she was in the process of doing so a soft knock sounded on the door before Philip slipped in.

"Your Highness the crowning ceremony is happing soon all the royal advisor have gathered in the throne room and are waiting for you, would you like me to accompany you to the room?" he bowed before her.

"Of course"

"Are you sure you don't want more time to mourn and get closure?"

His shoulders slumped and his face softened looking into her eyes which only caused Sakura to flinch away feeling the sense of pity he was emanating towards her churn her stomach. Along with the rapid pulse of her heart spasming in her core it squeezed the burning sensation of vomit up her throat but she gulped it down glaring at him.

The pitiful look he had casted on her was similar to the man that stole her innocence.

Both staring at her as if she was weak, powerless and so fragile. She wouldn't allow any part of her vulnerability to be exposed. Not like the last time.

"Closure for what? My mother and father are gone but it's no different from when they were alive apart from the fact that whoever tries to make a fool of me again will end up just like them" she strutted in front of him smirking over her shoulder to look back at him. "The only value my mother and father had were being symbols of the crown and now that role is being passed onto me, why mourn over something that was meant to happen eventually whether it was naturally or by the hands of that mutt"

Philip noticed a sudden shift in her attitude but he remained silent not wishing to upset the new queen with more interrogations so he instead returned to his duties escorting her back to the throne room.

Blurry aces washed through Sakura vision as she strut her way up to her new seat on the throne. The white sheets previously covering up the body parts of her deceased parents had been removed from the scenery.

Crossing her legs she rested her chin into her palm awaiting for the priest to arrive with the crown. Her eyes lit up once it was bestowed upon her sparkling with the finest gems the Kingdom had to offer but that wasn't the true reason that brought a smile to Sakura face.

"My first order of command is the execution of Aya Kamishiro I want flyers and posters to be distributed to all corners of the kingdom offering up over 1.2 billion worth of gold to anyone who brings her in" she smirked winking at her audience with a playful glint in her eyes. "If she won't turn herself in then I'll tempt her own people to"

....
Thank you for these beautiful covers made by M-A-Y-T-E 

 please make sure to check out her page she is so talented 💖☺️

This chapter is dedicated to her <3

Copyright © 2018 by LickerFish

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