Before the prophecy was spoken, Aurelen was a kingdom that breathed,
Morning light spread across its valleys like spilled gold, Wheat fields bent gently to the wind, and the river that crossed the plain moved slowly, as if it had nowhere urgent to go,
The city stood at the center of it all,
White towers rose toward the sky, their marble walls catching the dawn in soft reflections, Markets filled with laughter, Bells rang from temple roofs, Children ran through streets where soldiers once marched,
Peace had returned,
And with it, a king who had finally grown tired of war,
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King Edrion arrived at the gates of Aurelen just as the sun lifted above the hills,
His armor still carried the dust of distant battlefields, The sword at his side had seen too many wars to count,
The soldiers lining the walls saluted as he passed beneath the great archway,
But Edrion barely noticed them,
His eyes were fixed on the palace courtyard ahead,
Because waiting there was Queen Lysara,
She stood beneath the shade of the courtyard trees, sunlight catching the silver threads in her dark hair, Her hands rested lightly over the gentle curve of her stomach,
The king dismounted before the horse had fully stopped,
For a moment neither of them spoke,
Then Lysara smiled,
"You came home earlier than the messengers promised,"
"I promised myself this would be the last campaign,"
Edrion removed his sword belt and placed it across the saddle,
"I have no wish to march across another battlefield,"
Lysara studied him carefully,
"Are you certain?"
He looked around the courtyard, the quiet fountains, the palace walls, the sky stretching endlessly above them,
"For the first time in many years," he said, "I am,"
She took his hand and placed it gently against her stomach,
The king froze,
A heartbeat passed,
Then another,
"You're certain?" he asked,
Her smile widened,
"Completely,"
Edrion closed his eyes briefly,
For a man who had faced armies without fear, the feeling that rose in his chest was strangely overwhelming,
A child,
Their child,
A future that had nothing to do with war,
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The news spread through Aurelen like wildfire carried on summer wind,
The queen was expecting,
The palace erupted into preparation,
Servants hurried through corridors with fabrics and polished cradles, Priests whispered blessings in temple halls, The people celebrated as if the kingdom itself had been reborn,
But not everyone celebrated,
Because on the night the palace held its first feast for the unborn child…
a visitor arrived,
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The Seer of the Sunstone did not knock,
She simply walked through the palace gates as if they had always belonged to her,
The guards felt her presence before they saw her,
Some stepped aside without realizing why,
Others bowed instinctively,
She entered the great hall while the feast was still underway,
Music stopped,
Conversations died mid-sentence,
Even the torches seemed to burn more quietly,
King Edrion rose from his seat,
"You come without announcement,"
The Seer looked at him,
Her eyes shone white as pale fire,
"I come because time demanded it,"
The hall grew colder,
Lysara stood beside the king, her expression calm despite the unease spreading through the room,
"What do you see?" she asked,
The Seer's gaze shifted toward her,
Then slowly, to the queen's stomach,
When she spoke, her voice sounded less like speech and more like thunder heard from very far away,
"From love he shall bloom…
and by love he shall fade,"
No one moved,
The Seer continued,
"The sky will chain him,
The earth will mourn him,"
A faint tremor passed through the hall,
"And the song of dawn… shall end in silence,"
The words fell like stones into still water,
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For several heartbeats the king said nothing,
Then he stepped forward,
"Prophecy is not fate,"
The Seer tilted her head slightly,
"No?"
"I have fought men who believed themselves chosen by destiny,"
Edrion's voice carried across the silent hall,
"They died like everyone else,"
The Seer's expression did not change,
"You cannot fight what this child will become,"
"Then I will protect him,"
"You cannot cage the sky,"
Edrion's eyes hardened,
"We will see,"
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The decision was made before dawn,
Messengers rode across every kingdom,
Builders were summoned from the farthest lands,
Stonecutters from the frozen north,
Glassmakers from the desert cities,
Architects who had once built fortresses that touched the clouds,
And under the king's command, the greatest construction the world had ever seen began,
The Endless Keep,
A palace vast enough to contain gardens, rivers, towers, and entire districts within its walls,
A place where nothing from the outside world could reach the prince,
A place where fate itself might struggle to enter,
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Months passed,
The walls rose higher,
The towers grew closer to the sky,
And one quiet morning, beneath a sky washed with pale gold, the child was born,
Queen Lysara held him close, smiling softly,
"Arvail," she said,
King Edrion repeated the name slowly,
"Arvail,"
The priests whispered its meaning,
The Song of Dawn,
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Far below the palace windows, workers continued building the endless walls of stone,
Above them, the sky stretched wide and silent,
And somewhere in the distance, the wind carried the faintest whisper of the Seer's prophecy,
A song that would one day fade,
But not yet,
Not for many years,
Because for now, the boy who would be called the Sky Prince slept peacefully in his mother's arms,
Unaware that the world had already begun building a cage around him,