The full moon bathed the kingdom in an eerie glow, casting long, twisted shadows across the palace grounds. The air was thick with anticipation, as if the very land itself sensed that something dark was approaching. Deep within the walls of the royal palace, in a room untouched by time, a prophecy was about to be revealed—one that would forever change the fate of the kingdom.
Princess Hazel, the heir to the throne, paced restlessly in her chamber. The heavy silence of her gilded prison pressed down on her, the walls of her luxurious prison made her feel more isolated than ever. As a princess, she was meant to be the jewel of the kingdom, the object of admiration, a symbol of grace and purity. Yet, within her, there was a deep and growing hunger—a hunger for freedom, for power, for something she couldn't name.
Her gaze flickered to the silver-framed mirror on the wall. Her reflection, framed by her long dark hair and flawless skin, held an air of melancholy. The reflection didn't match the tumult in her heart, the flames of anger and desire that burned beneath her poised exterior.
Tonight was no different from any other. She was still locked away, under constant guard, preparing for a marriage to a man she had never met, a prince who had been chosen for her long ago by her father, the King. Hazel could feel the weight of her future pressing upon her, a future that was already written in stone, a future that she had no say in.
But tonight, there was something different in the air. A sense of foreboding. She couldn't explain it, but she felt it deep in her bones. And that feeling intensified when the door to her chamber creaked open, and her trusted handmaiden, Selene, stepped inside.
"Your Highness," Selene said softly, bowing her head. "The King has summoned you."
Hazel's heart skipped a beat. She had never been summoned so urgently. Her father rarely called for her unless it was to remind her of her duties, to remind her that her life was no longer her own.
"Why?" Hazel asked, her voice betraying none of the panic she felt rising within her. "What is it?"
Selene hesitated, a flash of uncertainty crossing her face. "It is... the prophecy, Your Highness. The one the Kingdom speaks of."
Hazel's pulse quickened. The prophecy—the one that had haunted her dreams, the one that spoke of the rise of a dark power, a son of the Devil, who would either save or destroy the kingdom. She had heard whispers about it her entire life, but her father had always dismissed it as mere superstition, a story told by the old witches in the kingdom's darkest corners. Yet, there was a truth to the prophecy, a truth that seemed to have always been lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.
"I see," Hazel said, her voice cold as ice. She turned away from Selene and moved to the window. The moon was high now, casting its ghostly light over the land. "I will come."
---
The throne room was quiet, its opulence suffocating. The heavy crimson drapes hung like the bloodstained robes of some forgotten king. The scent of incense lingered in the air, masking the metallic tang of fear that had slowly begun to seep into the room. The King sat upon his throne, his eyes narrowed as if he had been waiting for Hazel's arrival for hours.
As she entered, the tension in the room thickened, a silent warning in the air. The courtiers had gathered, their whispers dying at the sight of her. She was beautiful, too beautiful for her own good. It was said that the Devil himself had once fallen for a woman like her—a queen, her mother, who had died under mysterious circumstances when Hazel was only a child. And the rumor had persisted ever since—that Hazel was the Devil's bloodline, that the magic coursing through her veins had been born from a forbidden union between her mother and the Devil.
But Hazel had never cared for the rumors. She wasn't interested in the fantastical, in the legends that tied her to the world of shadows. She had her own destiny to shape.
The King, her father, looked at her with cold, calculating eyes. "You are summoned here because there are matters that cannot be ignored, Hazel," he said, his voice laced with authority and fear. "You are the heir to this kingdom, but there is something more that you must know. Something that has been kept from you."
Hazel tilted her head, intrigued but wary. "What is it, Father?"
He stood, his heavy cloak brushing the ground as he descended from the throne. "The prophecy has returned."
Hazel's heart skipped a beat. The prophecy—the one she had heard about only in hushed tones, the one whispered by the elders. The one that had terrified her mother before her death.
"You've always known the story," the King continued, his voice tinged with a rare vulnerability. "About the Devil and the Queen, about the child they conceived in secret."
"Yes," Hazel replied, her voice steady, though her pulse hammered in her throat. "But what does this have to do with me?"
"The child," the King said, his eyes dark with the weight of his words, "is not merely a child. He is the Devil's heir. And he is alive. He is here."
Hazel froze. "Here? In the kingdom?"
"Yes," the King nodded. "The son of the Devil walks among us, and the prophecy says that he will either destroy everything we have built or save us. His power is like nothing we have ever seen. It is said that he will unite the realms of both heaven and hell, and only those with the blood of the Devil can withstand him."
Hazel's mind raced. The prophecy had always been something of a distant legend, but now it was real. The Devil's son—alive and here, in her kingdom. She thought of the man she was to marry, the prince who had been chosen for her by her father. Could he be the one? Could he be the Devil's son, the man destined to either save or doom them all?
"You must find him, Hazel," the King said, his voice low and urgent. "He is the key. And you must keep him from the others who would use him for their own gain."
Hazel's eyes narrowed. "And what of my marriage?" she asked, the question feeling like a dare.
The King didn't flinch. "Your marriage will take place as planned. But you will not marry for love, Hazel. You will marry for power. And if the Devil's son is the one you are meant to marry, then it will be you who decides his fate."
A chill ran down Hazel's spine as the weight of her father's words settled in. Her life, her future, was no longer her own. The prophecy had woven itself into the very fabric of her existence, and she would be forced to follow it, no matter the cost.
And somewhere, out there, the Devil's son was waiting.
---
The night stretched on, and as Hazel lay in her bed, her mind swirled with the implications of what she had just learned. She had never been one to believe in fate or destiny, but tonight, the very air seemed to buzz with something dark and ancient. The prophecy was real. And she was at its center.
As she closed her eyes, a strange, unsettling thought flickered in her mind. What if the Devil's son was not the monster they all feared? What if, instead, he was the one who could save her—save them all—from the darkness closing in around them?
Tomorrow, she would begin the search. Tomorrow, she would face her destiny.
And nothing would ever be the same again.