Chapter 60: Shadows of the Banished Prince
That night, sleep came uneasily for both Elara and Ariella.
Though they stayed in different homes on opposite sides of the village, their dreams were eerily aligned—woven by an unseen force that reached for each of them across space and slumber. The Blue and White Queens came not together, but one to each girl, in solitude.
Elara's vision began with a whisper, a gentle wind that lifted her into a sky of glimmering stars. The Blue Queen awaited her on a path of light, her robe flowing like mist, her face solemn.
Meanwhile, Ariella drifted into a dream of deep silence and moonlit silver. The White Queen stood before her in a glassy forest, her expression troubled.
"You must listen, child," both Queens began in their own voices, worlds apart yet connected by the same tale.
In Elara's dream, the Blue Queen opened a portal through time. A royal court shimmered into view—golden banners, polished floors, and two princes. The elder, proud and intense. The younger, gentle and full of promise.
"The Master was once heir to this land," said the Blue Queen. "But the king deemed him unworthy."
At the same moment, Ariella saw the same scene through different eyes. The White Queen guided her through the same memory: the king's decree that the younger son would rule, for he had wisdom and compassion the elder lacked.
"The elder prince sought another path," the Blue Queen explained. "A darker one."
Both visions revealed the same harrowing scene: the elder prince making a pact with the devil. In exchange for eternal rule and dominion over the village, he offered his loyalty—and believed the devil would claim his aging father as payment.
But the devil took the younger brother instead, who collapsed during his coronation.
Elara watched the betrayal unfold with horror, feeling the grief of a family shattered. Ariella's heart clenched as she saw the king fall to his knees, realizing what his firstborn had done.
"The prince was banished," said the Queens in unison, in their respective dreams. "Cast from the kingdom and condemned to be consumed by the darkness he had welcomed."
But the prince survived. He wandered far and built a secret empire, drawing in children under false pretenses—training them, shaping them, using them. Among them: Little 5, Percy, Little 7,… and finally, Little 9.
Elara's vision faded with the Queen's final words: "You must find the pot. The source of his immortality lies where the prince fell from grace."
Ariella's ended the same way, the white Queen whispering, "Seek the ruins of the banished prince. Only then will the chains be broken."
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The morning sun was only just peeking over the mountains when Elara rushed through the village path, her cloak brushing against dew-covered grass. At the same moment, Ariella was already waiting at their usual spot near an abandoned watchtower , her face pale.
"You saw it too?" Elara asked, out of breath.
Ariella nodded slowly. "He was the king's son… the Master."
They exchanged everything—each detail of the separate visions fitting together like broken pieces of a puzzle. The elder prince, the sacrifice, the banishment, the pact with the devil, and the creation of an army of stolen children.
"He made a deal and paid for it with his brother," Ariella said grimly.
"And now he's using Little 9 and the others as his tools," Elara added. "We need to find that pot."
Ariella nodded. "The Queens said it's hidden in the place where the prince was banished."
"Then that's where we go."
With renewed purpose and shared understanding, the girls set off to prepare for the journey ahead—one that would take them deep into the forgotten corners of their history, to face the remnants of betrayal, bloodlines, and power bought at too high a price.
This time, they wouldn't fight blindly.
They knew the truth—and truth would be their weapon.