Fifty Years Earlier
Smoke still drifted over the border village.
What had once been a cluster of homes and fields was now little more than ash and ruin. Burned roofs collapsed inward like broken ribs, and the charred skeletons of trees clawed at the gray sky.
Crows circled above the devastation. Their cries echoed across the empty land.
The Natron army marched through the remains in silence.
At the front rode King Zattall. The old ruler sat tall in his saddle, his expression unreadable as his horse stepped over fallen beams and blackened corpses. To him the destruction was not a tragedy. It was a necessity.
Beside him rode his son, Crown Prince Antivo, aged thirty-two years old.
Antivo's face was pale. His eyes lingered on the bodies of villagers lying in the dirt—men, women, even children.
"Does this make you happy, father?" he asked quietly.
King Zattall did not look at him.
"One day," he replied, "when you sit on my throne, you will understand that sacrifice is sometimes necessary."
Antivo's jaw tightened.
"Sometimes," he agreed. "But not this time."
His gaze swept across the ruined village.
"These people were innocent."
"The royal secret escaped the palace walls," Zattall said calmly. "And it found shelter here."
Antivo frowned.
"This is the border village," the king continued. "Across that river lies the Pavo Empire. If word had reached them…"
He paused.
"An inevitable war."
Antivo shook his head.
"So, you slaughter an entire village because of one man?"
"You still think like a child," Zattall replied. His voice hardened. "That one man would have told another. And that man would have told another. Secrets travel faster than armies."
Antivo's hands clenched on the reins.
"But what if that man never existed?" he asked.
The king turned sharply.
"What did you say?"
"It was speculation," Antivo continued. "A rumor that a delivery boy might have overheard something."
His voice grew colder.
"My grandfather slaughtered every priestess in the palace over the same fear. But at least his cruelty stayed within the walls."
He gestured to the devastation around them.
"You burned an entire border village. You think you prevented war?" Antivo said quietly. "I believe you may have invited it."
Before the king could answer—
A faint cry carried across the wind.
A baby's cry.
The soldiers immediately became alert.
Antivo slid down from his horse.
"Did you hear that?"
The cry came again.
He followed the sound toward the village well. Two soldiers pushed aside the charred leaves covering its opening. They peered inside. Then one of them gasped.
"Prince Antivo!"
Antivo rushed forward.
At the bottom of the deep well floated a woven basket.
Inside it lay two infants.
Alive.
Antivo stared in disbelief.
"Bring the longest ladder," he ordered immediately. "And ropes!"
The soldiers moved quickly. Within minutes they carefully descended into the well and lifted the basket to safety.
The babies began crying louder as they reached the surface.
Antivo took one of them gently into his arms.
She was warm.
"Take them to the carriage," he ordered softly. "Feed them. Keep them warm."
Behind him, the king's voice cut through the air.
"They are not going anywhere."
Antivo turned.
"Yes, they are."
"I said no."
The prince stepped closer.
"They are children."
"They are from the border village," Zattall replied coldly. "We don't know if they even belong to our kingdom."
"I don't care if their skin had scales," Antivo snapped, "They are coming with me."
The two men locked eyes.
Neither looked away.
Finally, Zattall spoke again.
"Are you going to raise them?"
"Yes."
"You already have a son," the king continued. "What will your wife think?"
Antivo shrugged.
"That is not your concern."
He turned to the soldiers.
"It's cold. Move!"
The soldiers obeyed.
As the army continued its journey back to the palace, the silence between father and son grew heavier than before.
...
Two days later.
The palace welcomed the army with celebration. Lanterns glowed in every corridor, and the halls filled with music and feasting.
But inside the crown princess's chambers, the atmosphere was far more intimate.
Princess Waridi embraced her husband warmly.
"Welcome home."
Their three-year-old son Bazi ran toward Antivo with joyful laughter.
The prince lifted the boy into his arms.
Later that evening, after Bazi had fallen asleep in his mother's lap, Waridi poured tea for her husband.
"You argued with your father. Again." she said gently.
Antivo sighed.
"You should have seen the village." His voice grew heavy. "Innocent people slaughtered over a rumor."
Waridi frowned.
"You confronted him?"
"I had to."
She shook her head softly.
"You should wait until you sit on the throne before opposing him openly. The court knows that your ideologies differ, but the ones who sit in there are his people."
Antivo hesitated.
"There is something else."
Waridi looked up.
"What is it?"
"I rescued two infants."
She nearly spilled her tea.
"Alive?"
"In a well."
Waridi stood immediately.
"I want to see them."
...
In the palace infirmary, the two babies slept peacefully under warm blankets.
Waridi leaned over the bed.
Her expression softened instantly.
"They are beautiful," she whispered.
Antivo stepped beside her.
"My father wanted me to leave them behind."
"Of course he did."
Waridi gently brushed one baby's cheek.
"They are not sisters," she said thoughtfully. "Look at their hair."
One child had faint red strands in her dark hair.
The other shone gold like moonlight.
"We should name them," she decided.
Antivo smiled.
"Go ahead."
Waridi pointed to the red-haired baby.
"This one shall be Omuro."
Then she looked at the golden-haired child.
"And this one…" She smiled warmly. "Stara."
Antivo nodded.
"Stara and Omuro."
He looked down at the sleeping infants.
"They will be my first act as king."
Waridi tilted her head.
"How so?"
"I believe they are Pavians," he said. "Citizens of the neighboring empire."
His voice softened.
"I will raise them as daughters of this palace to atone for my father's sins."
She smiled slowly.
"That is wise."
"These girls will become a bridge between Natron and Pavo." Antivo added.
And Waridi had decided to fully support him.
***