The Wolf King and The White Lotus

Chapter Two: The Priestess

Ren's POV

Black smoke.
Red dots, no red splotches. 
What could this mean?
Above, there was a dark sky, clouds frowning and menacing. The clouds give way and out comes the most pale of moons, bright and gleaming but with a hint of sadness, like a lover's final embrace. Below, lies a mountain huge and foreboding. At its side is a flat, grassy plain and at its center is a lake with only a single blooming white lotus.
At the shore of the lake is a wolf.
A wolf without a pack, all alone in the world. It cocks back its head and sings a woeful tune of sorrow and longing for something it lost. At the sound of the wolf's song, a red dragon springs out from the gentle waters of the lake and roars mightily at the wolf who defiantly growls back.
The two charge at each other but once they touch, they disappear into a dark mist.
The lotus weeps and begins to fade away, but as it does screams drown out the serenity.
"You all will suffer!"
I had never screamed so loud as I did at that moment. It seemed when it was announced I'd be engaged to the esteemed king of the great western lands, my visions, nightmares I'd call them, no, what they were, intensified. My uncle, the emperor, arranged it so our two families could be united and both of the rulers could fatten their treasuries with trade. It seemed as though my opinion mattered little, if any, but at times I wonder if all of it could just end. If I could just run away, and the grey wolf from my dreams as a little girl would take me to the blossom lands, where all the pain would be gone, and where I could find my mother.
"Ren, my dear are you alright?" Came my uncle rushing in with his guards.
"Yes uncle, it was only a-" I paused. I never liked lying to my uncle. He was always kind and reassuring and gave advice that would always seem to fit the occasion but in this case, he would be no help- "a-a Vision."
My uncle motioned for his guards to return to their stations and he sat beside me on my bed.
"And what of, if I may?" He asked, concerned.
"It was my mother." I lied. "It was the night she was taken, by those...men."
Uncle Hideaki's concerned gaze quickly turned into one of sadness as through his face I could see the fond but distant memories of his sister. "I feel the pain you bear every day, my little lotus, but one mustn't dawn on the tragedy of the past so they may not cloud their future." He says wisely.
"And what future is that? All that awaits me in my future is a distant king in a far off land." I protested. "And one in that I may bear his children, so that they may be conquering kings and queens, but I will never truly feel the love of my family as I do here."
As I said this, I noticed a look of shock on my uncle's face and I finally felt the tear that was already half down my face.
"I just want to be needed," I continue, "not like when I'm at the temple as the people's priestess and princess, but truly needed. Uncle Hideaki, please. I only want to be loved."
The one tear now was a storm of tears and I felt myself fall into my uncle's arms.
"My dear lotus, sometimes people must do things they may not wish to, but it's the best thing to do for everyone else and not for yourself. Do you understand?" My uncle says. I nodded my head and he smiled and kissed me on the forehead. "In the morning we will hold a tournament for who will escort you to the west. So please, have some rest, and remember I always love you my little lotus."
With this, uncle Hideaki left my room, leaving me alone to the dark nightmares once more. It now was set in stone, I could never escape my fate and in the weeks to come, I would begin my journey to become the queen that my country would wanted me to be and the slave it needed me to be.