Year 1450,
Rika was born as the 5th princess of the Alkadain Empire.
The night she was born was one of beauty and chaos. Beyond the palace, a storm boiled. Rain beat against the windows, thunder rumbled perpetually in the sky, and lightning briefly illuminated the sprawling imperial city. The air was dense, buzzing with an energy that seemed almost sentient.
In a time of war, a princess is born, and both the dragons and the humans have hate for her. But it happened, and she changed the world. This is the journey of Rika.
The night was dark, and it rained everywhere. The emperor and the dragon queen were sitting alone in a corner of the palace room.
She was pregnant, and she was beautiful. Her long white hair and her beautiful eyes. Her mouth was ambrosial with the tint of the rosy hue.
Her age was unknown, though similar to that of a seducing woman in her best, glowing orbs adorning her face like polished gems.
"It was dark, the moon was dim, but your eyes were different. I didn't need a moon as long as I had you." So said the emperor, whose voice is soft but firm.
He had black hair and was a man of his word. He was the most bountiful person in his kingdom, despite the fact that he was in his late 40s.
He was a true tenacious man. His extraordinary eyes and long, long very long.... sword was a true beauty but as dangerous as it gets.
The moon shone over the velvet sky, its pallid light illuminating the garden terrace where the emperor and his dragon queen sat.
The night air was crisp, but not crisp enough to puncture the warmth between them. She rested her hands protectively over the soft curve of her stomach and leaned against the marble balustrade.
"I am going to die after I deliver when we have our child," she told him, her voice low and full of pain.
"That's the end of life for us royals." A pearl of moonlight slid down her porcelain cheek, gleaming like a piece of a moon.
The emperor stretched an arm, his fingertip delicately caressing the tear as if to wipe it away, the gesture somehow sacred. And his hand was still on her skin, his thumb gliding along the soft curve of her jaw.
Her face was perfect in the low light, her golden eyes shone with their kind's soft luminescence. There was an unearthly beauty to her, but one that felt fragile, a candle burning too hot, too fast.
"Fate as if it cannot be broken," he murmured, his tone low and tinged with an edge that suggested his anguish. "But you know not that I am a man who has defied fate before."
She gave a small, bitter laugh and shook her head. "You are a man, beloved. And I ā¦ I am a being governed by ancient laws that predate your empire."
He authenticated her, alas his hand was soft as he took her hand in his.
"Then let me rewrite those laws," he said darkly. "If the gods will take your life as payment for our child, then I will steal you back from their hands."
Her eyes bulged, and fear sparkled in their golden depth for an instant. "You will challenge the gods on my behalf?"
"I would tear apart the heavens for you," he said flatly. It sent a thrill of terror through her, his focus burned through her.
"You are mine, and I am not losing you to them."
Her heart surged with love at his devotion, but her lips trembled with unsaid words. She averted her face and gazed into the obscuring garden where shadows played beneath the fluttering lanterns.
"You don't understand," she said, gently. "There is a darkness that follows breaking the laws of our kind. A curse that will devour anyone who dares defy it."
The emperor tightened his grip on her hand, jaw tight. "I have been in dark places in the past. If it comes, let it come. I will face it with you."
They both fell silent, an awkward void of unuttered truths expiring in the air. The gaze of the dragon queen fell upon her stomach, her expression inscrutable. Then, with what was almost indifference, her lips turned upwards in a tiny smile that held no joy. Only resignation.
"Your fate is more than you know," she whispered, the sound so soft I almost did not hear it. "A lot more than I can bear to tell you."
"Then tell me," he said, his voice deepened low, but the order was firm.
She faced him, looking him in the eyes. And what he saw in them ā he had never seen before ā not fear, but a glimmer of something darker, a secret she had, heavy and unrelenting.
"This child I carry," she said, her voice breaking, "...is not fully yours."
The emperor stilled, a breath stuck in his throat. For a split second the world came to a standstill, the only sound the cares of night rustling through leaves.
"What are you saying?" he said, barely above a whisper.
Without flinching, her eyes bore his as the words that would break the night fell from her lips.
"Our baby has the blood of the gods in them. And they are coming for it."
The lanterns flickered, shadows dawdled around them, as if the very darkness was alive and there was pure evil, waiting for its moment.
Before the emperor could answer, a figure came out from the shadows, He looked just like a human but his aura was not. The atmosphere thickened, electric with something unearthly as the silhouette crossed the light of the terrace.
The dragon queen's breath was slow and in now, her golden eyes widening with recognition. "You, have come" she spoke, her voice shaking itself with awe and horror.
The figure tilted its head, hood slipping back just enough to expose a face of hard angles that looked as though it had been hewn from obsidian.
His eyes blazed brighter than all the stars, and his voice was both fearsome and calm when he spoke. "It is time, my queen. The child must be born."
The emperor stepped toward the queen, shielding her from the stranger.
"Who do you think you are to make demands?" He growled, his hand darting to his sword's hilt. Flames pouring from his anger. His aura was glowing to defy the emperor.
The figure, unchanged, continued to give the emperor a death stareāa very cold death stare.
"I'm only the messenger," he said, his tone level but firm. He looked toward the queen again.
"You are mistaken, my queen. The daughter that you will bear has a destiny that is beyond your comprehension. For she is yours, and the emperor's ā but she is chosen by the gods for a mission that will shape the fate of realms."
The queen's lips parted; she looked shocked and confused. "A girl? Chosen by the gods? What mission?"
It came forward, its presence so thick in the air it felt like it could suffocate. "That is not for you to know. Not yet. But know this: her birth will be the beginning of a storm that no kingdom, no empire, will be able to endure."
As the figure's words echoed through the air, the lanterns flickered again ā and their light dimmed until the terrace was enveloped in shadow. As the light came back, the mysterious figure was gone, but with them also the echo of his last words and the burden of a prophecy that would alter everything.
((PART - 2 tmr I am tired :( it will be a good one.))