The dark seed

As Sienna approached the entrance of the cave, she could feel the cold air rushing out chilling her to the bone. She took a deep breath and stepped inside, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. The only light came from a small hole in the ceiling, which cast a dim glow across the cave floor.

As she move deeper into the cave, she could hear a faint sound coming from the shadows. It was the voice of her sister singing a haunting melody. She followed the sound until she came to a large chamber. At the far end of the chamber, she saw a figure chained to the wall.

As she got closer, she could see a face four parts similar to hers but unlike her, she was clad in clothes fit for a servant yet she (Sienna) was adorned in the finest fabric in Rosemane.

She was shivering slightly from the cold her chains rattling with her body. At the sounds of footsteps, her singing stopped and she shifted her weight as she looked up at her sister with eyes that were cold and unfeeling like she was looking at a stranger.

Sienna approached the iron bars slowly and tossed something wrapped in cloth towards her. Selena glanced at the cloth on the ground unmovingly with no interest.

"Today it's our birthday. I saved you some cake," said Sienna but Selena remained unmoved.

"I know you hate being here.. hate being in this place but it is after all for our own good. For the good of Rosemane. At least here, you won't be able to fulfil the prophecy."

An unsettling sound of chains being dragged on the ground drew Sienna's attention and the person who was sitting down silently walked over her sickly thin body hard to look at.

She clasped the iron bars and without looking at Sienna she said, "Then why not kill me? Death is better than this. I would rather follow Mother to the grave than live like an animal," she said her voice brittle and groggy as she rarely spoke throughout the years.

She let out a soft self-deprecating smile her fingers tightly clutching the iron bars. She couldn't help but wonder if their mother was here would she protect her or just like father, lock her down here in the name of preventing a calamity?

Sienna glanced at her sister's sickly pale skin and bony hands with no trace of sympathy in her eyes. "For the sake of Rosemane and our people, you are where you are supposed to be... Take care sister."

After she said this she turned to walk away. Selena's thin hands hung in between the bars watching her disappearing figure with a sheepish smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her heart had long grown cold hence Sienna's words didn't hurt her.

She glanced at the cake wrapped in a piece of cloth on the ground. Like every other birthday she picked it up and with an eager gaze unwrapped it.

Every year she hoped that this would be the year someone poisons it to end her misery but after eighteen years it was still the same. She savoured the sweet taste of the caramel cake her posture looking like a beggar on the street.

If one saw her they wouldn't think she was the daughter of the mighty lord of Rosemane. Instead, there would regard her as a member of the beggar association.

***

In a mist-filled forest with an eerie atmosphere and ghostly presence, four horses galloped through with no fear of what could be lurking in the shadows. The riders wore cloaks with large hoods covering their faces.

They had been travelling for hours, their only guide being the eerie glow of the moon filtering through the dense trees. Finally, they arrived at a desolate hut in the heart of the forest.

The woman in the group dismounted and strode towards the door. She pulled down her hood, revealing a beautiful face with a patch of grey hair on her temple.

As she knocked on the wooden door, it creaked open, revealing an old woman with a bald head and runes written on her skin.

The woman entered the small hut, which was filled with the scent of burning herbs and mysterious oils.

The old woman sprinkled something into an earthen pot, and a red smoke puffed out her face as cold as ice. Without looking back she said, "I warned you of the dark seed," her voice low and gravelly.

"But you insisted on giving it to your son to regain your husband's legacy and reunite the five kingdoms. I told you that the more blood he gets on his hands the more the evil will consume him, and eventually he will be nothing but a bloodthirsty tyrant. You knew the price, but ignored it."

The woman balled her hands into fists, desperation etched on her face. "High priestess... please, tell me there is a solution. I can't watch him go down this path because of my selfish decisions," she implored her eyes red.

The old woman fixed her with a hard stare. "There is a solution... but it is a difficult one. The only way to remove the poison from your son's soul is with the Cayaline flower. Unfortunately, the one that would have saved him was plucked years ago to save the daughter of Rosemane. The only solution is to marry her to your son. Only then can the poison slowly loosen its grip on him?"

The middle-aged woman bowed her head in gratitude and placed a heavy pouch on the table as payment. The price was high but she would gladly empty her treasury as long as her son was saved.

She hastily left the hut, her mind racing with the implications of the old woman's words. She thought of her son, consumed by darkness, his eyes blood red and his temper like that of a beast and her heart sank.

She had to act quickly if she wanted to save him and prevent him from becoming a monster. The horse galloped through the forest with winds blowing in her face but she didn't care. She just wanted to reach her son and tell him the good news. A solution had been found and it was in Rosemane.