A King stood at the edge of a small wooden balcony, the cool night breeze faintly flowing through his golden hair. His gaze danced over his sleeping kingdom of Lucifenia, every building or so dimly lit with candle light. He heard frantic footsteps behind him, and turned to see a servant of his rushing up at full speed.
"Your majesty!" He said in a breathless wheeze. "The queen has birthed you twins. A boy and a girl." The servant than rested his gloved hands on his knees, giving the king a full view of his back clothed in black cloth rise and fall at a faster rate than normal. Pushing the man aside, he raced into the room behind him and down a spiraling set of stairs, taking two steps at a time. He turned into a long cooridor orned with large tapestries of Lucifenia and himself, his footsteps echoing through the space as his leather boots crashed against marble floors. Finally, he reached his chambers where his wife and two screaming newborns lay. He shoved open the grand golden door and immediately walked over to his wife, who was laying on one side of the bed staring up at the ceiling in a daze.
"Anne." He said softly, brushing pale hair off the queen's forehead. She slowly rotated her head to face him, and her face curled into a weak smile.
"Arth, aren't they beautiful? They'll grow into such wonderful rulers one day." She said weakly, and he leaned in closer and nuzzled her neck.
"Yes, both of them will. You've done a fine job, my love. A fine job." Her head fell limp on his, and he slowly repositioned it on the pillow. Anne's face was still smiling, and he could see faint tears in the corners of her lashes. Arth wiped them away with his thumb and planted a kiss on her forehead, before turning to one of the many maids stationed in the room. "Summon the mage Elluka to my quarters. I wish to know my children's future." The maid bowed and ran off out of the room. Arth turned to the two babies, both of which had fallen asleep and been wrapped up in blankets by the nurse. Looking over the two, he noticed that they look exactly alike, despite them being different genders and even in their chubby, red-faced state.
The door suddenly opened, and the maid he had sent off hurriedly rushed into the room Behind her, a woman wearing a worn brown cloak with long pink hair that flowed mystically around her walked in with a graceful manor in her step. She stopped a few feet in front of him, and bowed down deeply.
"Congratulations, your majesty." She said slowly, her voice soft.
"Thank you, Elluka. I suppose you know the reason I summoned you?" She got up from her bow, her head still slightly facing the ground.
"You want me to grant you a fortune for your children, correct?"
"Yes." The woman grinned.
"Always the same with you, your highness." She said playfully, pulling the hood of her cloak up around her head and moving towards the sleeping twins. She glanced over to Anne, who had a dozen nurses tending to her sleeping body at the moment. "Tell Anne I say hello when she wakes up, will you?" She asked.
"Of course I will." Arth said warmly, and walked up beside Elluka. She nodded at him, and turned her attention back towards the twins, placing the tips of each of her index fingers to their foreheads and closing her eyes to concentrate. The spot around where she was touching both of them began to glow a soft white, before ribbons of light shot up from the ground and surrounded her and the babies. Her hair began to float out from under her cloak and flow gently above her head, as if a wind were flowing up from the ground. Elluka spoke, her voice deeper than normal, it coursing through the room at full volume.
"The pair shall grow up in serenity, surrounded by market and shore. Eight days after their sixth birthday, a scar inflicted by hate will appear on one's skin. They shall take the throne from it's owner, and be the end of the Yellow Kingdom." Her hair flew back down to her sides, and the light faded until the room was back to normal. The maids stared, and the nurses I did too before rushing back to the queen. She opened her eyes, and Arth was slapped with a gripping fear and anxiety that tore at his insides. Slowly, he glanced over to his two beautiful children.
How? How could these two angels be anything but innocent? But the thought quickly shrunk away as realization kicked in. One of them will destroy everything I've worked so hard to build. One of them is just a power hungry demon, aren't they? Elluka saw his growing expression of disgust towards the children, but her work was already done. She didn't need to intervene. Pulling her hood up again, she said her farewells and waved goodbye, before disappearing out the door.
A maid standing near the king saw his unpleasant expression, and leaned over to him with a bowed head. "Your majesty? Are you unwell?" She asked, and he blinked, snapping out of his thoughts.
"I'm fine." He said, shaking his head to clear his mind. The nurses began to shuffle out, and Anne's whisper-like voice came from the bed.
"My children... I want to see my children." Arth rushed over and gently picked up the twins, trying to refrain from looking at them. He musnt grow attached, for one will have to die at a later date. His wife reached up to him, and he placed the two in her arms. "Oh, you're so beautiful. We didn't name them yet, right?" He shook his head.
"You can pick the names." He said flatly. Anne smiled, and looked at the girl in her arms.
"You shall be Riliane, my beauty." She weakly said, and tapped the tiny child's nose before turning her gaze to the boy. "And you... You are Allen." The queen giggled. "Welcome to the world, my gorgeous twins of yellow." She gushed, and snuggled the two close to her face as Arth stood at the foot of the bed, staring at the group with a grimace.
Welcome to the world.