The Prophecy

The Prophecy Ch.1

Chapter One

Utter Darkness. It was very unusual; the flames of all the candles that lined the long twisting corridors had been extinguished and the shutters closed, blocking even the faint light of the moon from reaching inside. This would make it difficult to traverse the labyrinthine hallways of the castle. Harder to leave. He heard the heavy footfalls of guards pacing the floor, utterly bored and yet on edge. That was all the proof that prince Aden needed, Eldred had been right; his father knew that he would try to flee. He knew right away that only two options lie before him; he could escape now, or be stuck playing a role that he had never wanted for the rest of his days. He also knew that whichever way he chose, there would be no turning back.

In the end the prince decided that he must leave. Ruling a kingdom was not something that he could do, much less a kingdom that was constantly on the verge of war. He could not rise with the sun each morning only to wear a mask of deception and the pretense of happiness, knowing that he would never be truly happy until he was freed by his last breath. Alec has always wanted the throne; well, let him have it! Oh, how he'd longed to say those words aloud ever since that day.

He remembered it clearly, for it frequently haunted his dreams; he and Alec had been playing in the Garden of Song, it was his eleventh birthday. His father had taken sick recently and panic swept the kingdom; nobody knew what was to become of the royal family. He didn’t understand, of course; he was much too young, but all that was about to change. Mother was walking toward them in a daze, serene, even; but something was off.

"Aden, I need to speak with you." With that she turned and walked over to a secluded section of the garden, Aden followed suit.

"Yes, mama?"

"Your father-“ her voice broke.

“You father is very ill," she had to speak slowly for fear of losing control; he could hear the tension in her voice. He cast his eyes to the ground, not sure if he could trust himself not to cry, the pain on her face was very clear now.

"I know."

"This wasn't intended until your thirteenth birthday, as is tradition, but circumstances dictate that I tell you now."

"Hm?"

She crouched so that she could look at him in they eyes and grasped his shoulders, "You know that are to be king after your father," she said as she slipped a tiny sphere on a seemingly delicate silver chain into his hands. It felt strange, but his anticipation was so great that he couldn't even bring himself to look at it closely; he simply slipped it over his head and tucked it safely away into his shirt. He felt sick; it was as if his stomach had jumped into his chest.

" I fear that you don’t quite know what that means yet, and I fear even more that I cannot tell you. Your sacrifice will be great, but it will all be for the good of our people. Do you understand?”

He didn’t understand, but he nodded nonetheless, doing his best to keep tears from his eyes.

“ You must begin in your lessons starting tomorrow. And should your father..." her words were choked off, she tried to pull herself together long enough to speak.

"I know," he said in a whisper, reverting his eyes once again to his feet. He was incapable of producing anything more than that harsh, strained sound. The lump in his throat constricted his speech and as his mother's words sank in all he could do was cry. It was all either of them could do. He cried for his father, he cried for his mother, and he cried for himself and all the plans he'd made for his future as they crumbled into ashes.