The wind tore through the Land of Promise carrying along with it whispers of a powerful curse in a language that was foreign and ancient. She stood at the top of the highest mountain, clothed in scarlet robes and watched as her magic bound the land under her spell. Her anger at his betrayal and the death of her son was more than she could bear. Where tears once flowed now was replaced with a mask of pure vengeance. Her lover King Edric, would suffer the consequences of his betrayal and all his children with him.
The earth trembled beneath her as the spell took root and creeped in like an unseen plague. The people of this land would never again enjoy the harmonious cycle of the four seasons. The balance was broken. The once golden rice fields swaying under the gentle autumn breeze now crumbled under a never-ending fall. The embrace of winter once soft now hardened the north in an eternal frost. The season of spring, once a renewal of paradise now became a prison of perpetual bloom, where flowers did not die but neither did they grow anew and the south which was the heart of betrayal, suffered under an unyielding sun where the air shimmered with heat and the rivers dried up.
An evil smile curled her lips as she thought of the empty promise, he had made, a love for an eternity, only to abandon her for another. A love for an eternity she thought bitterly had been nothing more than a fleeting summer's day affair. The sky echoed with thunder as she spoke,
"Let the land suffer for the promise made,
Let them weep, for every tear I shed,
Let their children inherit this curse,
For the pain they caused mine,
This curse will be unyielding,
As they keep living,
In never-ending suffering."
The royal banners tore from their posts taken by the wind as forgotten relics of a once united kingdom. In each region, the leader chosen knelt gasping for air as the magic wove into their veins. The curse would be passed down to the firstborn in each bloodline and the crowns they inherit would be nothing more than chains binding them to the sins of their ancestors. In the south, the son of King Edric fell to his knees as heat rose under his skin as it glistened with sweat, his people cried in dismay as the lakes, ponds and rivers dried up. This land became known as the Summerlands. In the west, towards the setting sun, a woman clutched her chest as she watched the trees striped bare revealing their branches, never to grow leaves again. This land became known as the Autumnlands.In the north, a lady of noble birth, shivered in fear as frost crawled up the walls of her home, sealing her home land in an unrelenting grip of snow. This land became known as the Winterlands.In the east, a young governor wept as the flowers tangled in his garden did not die their fragrance a suffocation of clean air. An endless season of false blossoming as nothing was renewed. This land became known as the Springlands. The enchantress observed her handiwork under the light of a full moon, her heart no longer flesh but stone. For once her heart had known love and kindness but now it was buried under the weight of betrayal and his world would pay a heavy price for it.She vanished into the night sky, leaving behind the echoes of her powerful curse that divided the land forever.