The throne room of Vale trembled with rage as King Aldric slammed his fist against the armrest of his golden seat. His voice thundered across the chamber, shaking even the bravest guards.
"How dare you curse what has not yet been born!" he roared at Madame Calista, his eyes blazing.
But the seer did not flinch. Her gray eyes glimmered with something deeper than fear—knowledge. She raised her chin and spoke with calm defiance.
"I am not the one speaking, Your Majesty. It is her fate that has chosen to reveal itself through me. Do not mistake my tongue for the voice of destiny."
Queen Seraphina, pale as snow, staggered to her feet. Her hands trembled as tears streamed down her cheeks. "You are human," she said, her voice cracking. "And humans can err. Do not expect us to believe every shadow your dice cast upon the floor."
Calista's lips curled into a sad smile. Without another word, she opened a small leather pouch. Inside it was nothing but ashes—black and fine, like dust from a long-forgotten grave. Slowly, she dipped her hand into the ashes and smeared them across her own forehead.
Gasps echoed through the room.
"Mark my words," she whispered, her voice eerie and heavy as though carried by unseen winds. "If you trust your faith more than my vision, then let this be my seal. What I speak tonight is the truth carved into the bones of fate itself."
Her words hung in the air like a curse. The firelight flickered, shadows stretching across the marble floor as she continued:
"You, Queen Seraphina, shall bear a daughter whose beauty will eclipse all mortal grace. From the Nightshade Kingdom, another daughter shall be born. And from Celestine, a son. On the very same day, under a storm the likes of which none of you have ever witnessed, all three shall come into the world."
She lifted her gaze, eyes glowing faintly as though touched by something not of this world.
"In that tempest, when the heavens weep and thunder cracks the earth, you will see him… a man cloaked in black, standing beneath a black umbrella. The moment your eyes fall upon him, know this: your daughter belongs to the Devil."
A collective gasp filled the throne room. The flames sputtered in their sconces, as if the prophecy itself had shaken the palace walls.
"Enough!" King Aldric roared, his face dark with fury. He surged to his feet, his crown tilting slightly in his wrath. "Seize this woman at once! To speak evil over my child is treason against Vale. May the gods forgive her wicked tongue!"
Guards rushed forward, clashing their spears against the floor as they dragged Madame Calista away. Yet even as her wrists were bound in iron, she laughed softly—a haunting, hollow sound that sent shivers crawling up spines.
"Cage me if you must," she said, her voice echoing as she was pulled from the chamber. "But no prison can silence destiny."
When the doors finally slammed shut, silence swallowed the room.
Queen Seraphina collapsed onto her throne, sobbing uncontrollably. Her friends, the Queens of Nightshade and Celestine, hurried to her side. "Do not listen to her poison," one whispered, stroking her hair. "We break it. We cast it away. It shall not touch your child."
But Seraphina's cries only grew louder. "What if she spoke the truth? What if my child is cursed before she even breathes her first?"
Her mother rushed in, her silken robes rustling as she knelt beside her trembling daughter. "Seraphina, listen to me," she whispered, clutching her tightly. "That woman is only human. And humans stumble. Do not let her words chain your heart. Perhaps—perhaps she has made the greatest mistake of her life."
Still, the Queen's tears would not stop. And though her family and friends remained at her side through the night, a seed of fear had already taken root in her heart—a fear that no comfort could erase.
For beyond the palace walls, the wind howled… as though the heavens themselves had overheard the prophecy.