[ WP ] Begin with the sentence , `` I am alone , but I am happy '' .

*I am alone, but I am happy. * Queen Malvina lies. 
 
 It is a comforting lie she tells herself; that all is well in her world. Though even she can not escape the realities of her life. For a hundred years her island kingdom has hide behind the Veil. A titanic storm created by her destroys all ships that attempt to pierce the barrier between her home and the outside world. Within these walls of thunder and lightning, Queen Malvina lives, and contemplates, and broods. 
 
 Her kingdom reflects their mistress's mood. Her magnificent castle, once proud and shining at the entrance to her kingdom's capital, is but a fraction of its former glory. The dining hall, able to sit hundreds underneath it's awe inspiring frescoes, has not held a living soul in a century. The numerous sitting rooms and drawing rooms are empty, save the largest of furniture. Those are covered in blankets. Queen Malvina only uses a small suite of rooms. Her bedchamber, dressing room and boudoir are the most used by her, the library and gallery less so. The gardens have long been neglected, are now a veritable forest. She does not care. Many things she has not cared about. 
 
 The shoreline below her castle is covered with the remains of ships from the storm around her kingdom. Massive timbers from masts stand upright in the sand, bits of stained sailcloth and rigging still attached. The hulls of the vessels appear like beached leviathans, broken upon the waves. Occasionally, the remains of their crews also wash ashore. She sees to it that they receive proper burials. It is the least she can do, considering their deaths are the result of her actions. 
 
 For a hundred years, the only living soul in her kingdom has been her. Again, the result of her actions. Ashamed at the damage she has wrought and terrified of those outside her domain, her self-imposed isolation has only allowed dark thoughts to fester. Her servants and subjects can only grow sadder as they watch their beloved Queen slip further into despair and malice born out of fear. They remember, all those decades ago, the young princess on the cusp of adulthood, eager to rule well and to do good. Much of that innocence is gone, replaced with a loathing of herself and a hatred towards those beyond her kingdom. There is nothing they can do to help her. Still, in the temples and shrines throughout the kingdom, prayers are said regularly. They pray for the gods to intercede, to heal their beloved Queen and to remove the miasma that envelops the island. For a hundred years such prayers were for naught. Still they do not lose hope.
