CHAPTER 6:THE PRINCE WHO WASN'T
1587 Words
THE PRINCE IS NOT ADRIAN.
The words remained carved into the stone.
Nobody moved.
Nobody dared to speak.
Seraphina stared at them until the letters seemed to blur before her eyes.
“What does that mean?” Captain Elias finally whispered.
Adrian didn't answer.
His sword was still in his hand, but his grip had tightened around it.
Seraphina slowly turned toward him.
“Adrian?”
He looked at her.
For the first time since she had met him, she saw something in his eyes that frightened her.
Not anger.
Not confusion.
Fear.
“You know something,” she said.
“I don't.”
“Then why do you look terrified?”
Adrian glanced at the message again.
“I don't know what it means.”
A servant suddenly screamed.
“Look!”
Everyone turned.
The words on the wall were changing.
The letters began to dissolve, turning into tiny streams of water that ran down the stone.
Then new words appeared.
HE WEARS THE FACE OF THE ONE WHO BETRAYED HER.
Seraphina's heart dropped.
She looked at Adrian.
He looked back at her.
Neither of them spoke.
Captain Elias stepped between them.
“Your Highness, perhaps we should leave this place.”
Adrian nodded.
“Everyone out.”
The servants hurried away.
But Seraphina remained.
“So that's it?” she asked.
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
“You're going to walk away again?”
“Seraphina—”
“You've been seeing visions of us for days. You saw yourself holding the sword. You knew your family was connected to my past. And now the palace tells us you're wearing the face of someone who betrayed me.”
“I don't have the answers.”
“Then help me find them.”
Adrian stared at her.
Something softened in his expression.
“I will.”
Before Seraphina could respond, the tower shook.
A deep rumble rolled beneath their feet.
Captain Elias drew his sword.
“What was that?”
Another tremor followed.
This one was stronger.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Then came a sound from beneath the floor.
A heartbeat.
Boom.
Seraphina froze.
Boom.
She placed a hand against her chest.
Her heart was beating in rhythm with it.
Boom.
Adrian noticed.
“Seraphina?”
She couldn't answer.
The sound wasn't coming from her heart.
It was coming from underneath the palace.
Something was alive down there.
Something enormous.
That night, Seraphina couldn't sleep.
She sat beside her window, staring at the ocean.
The moonlight reflected on the water.
For once, the sea was calm.
Too calm.
She remembered the woman in the water.
Her mother.
The woman's frightened eyes.
Don't let him remember.
Seraphina had lied to Adrian about what the woman said.
But she didn't understand why.
Was she protecting Adrian?
Or was she protecting herself?
A knock sounded at her door.
She stood.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
She opened the door.
The corridor was empty.
A single wet footprint appeared on the floor.
Then another.
Seraphina followed them.
They led toward the old library.
She hesitated.
She knew she shouldn't go.
But something inside her whispered:
Come.
She followed.
The library was dark.
The enormous shelves disappeared into the shadows.
Seraphina walked toward the hidden passage she had discovered before.
But this time, the wall opened before she touched it.
She stepped inside.
A narrow staircase descended beneath the palace.
She followed it.
The deeper she went, the colder the air became.
Water dripped from the ceiling.
At the bottom was a massive stone door.
There was no handle.
Only two symbols.
A blue symbol.
And a silver one.
Seraphina placed her hand over the blue symbol.
Nothing happened.
Then she remembered Adrian's hand.
The silver symbol.
She suddenly understood.
She pressed her palm against the blue symbol.
The door remained closed.
Then a voice came from behind her.
“You're not supposed to be here.”
Seraphina spun around.
Lady Miriam stood on the stairs.
“How did you find me?”
“I've been protecting this place for forty years.”
Seraphina stared at her.
“Protecting it from what?”
Miriam's face became pale.
“From you.”
Silence.
Seraphina stepped closer.
“You knew.”
“I knew there would come a day when you returned.”
“Who am I?”
Miriam looked at the blue symbol.
“You already know.”
“I don't remember!”
“And that is the only reason you're still alive.”
Seraphina's eyes narrowed.
“What happened a thousand years ago?”
Miriam looked toward the door.
“The official story says the Water Goddess was betrayed by the prince she loved.”
“And the truth?”
“The official story was written by the people who survived.”
Seraphina's breath caught.
“Then it's a lie?”
“Not entirely.”
Miriam stepped closer.
“Someone betrayed someone. Blood was spilled. The underwater kingdom fell. And the Water Goddess disappeared.”
“Who betrayed whom?”
Miriam shook her head.
“I cannot tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because there are still people alive who would kill you for remembering.”
Seraphina stared at her.
“People?”
Miriam's eyes flickered toward the ceiling.
“Not all of them are human.”
A cold chill moved through Seraphina.
“What is behind this door?”
Miriam didn't answer.
Suddenly—
The stone door opened.
Both women stepped back.
A cold blue light flooded the staircase.
Inside was a circular chamber.
At its center stood a massive mirror filled with water.
But there was no reflection.
Instead, it showed a man.
Adrian.
He stood in a strange palace wearing a silver crown.
Seraphina's breath caught.
“That's Adrian.”
Miriam whispered:
“No.”
The man in the mirror turned.
His face was Adrian's.
But his eyes were completely black.
Seraphina stepped backward.
The man smiled.
Then he spoke.
“Seraphina.”
She couldn't breathe.
Miriam grabbed her arm.
“Don't answer him.”
The man laughed.
“You still trust humans.”
His voice changed.
It became deeper.
Older.
“You always did have a weakness for them.”
Seraphina stared at the mirror.
“Who are you?”
Miriam pulled her backward.
“I told you not to answer!”
The man leaned closer from inside the water.
“Ask Adrian who he really is.”
Then the mirror shattered.
Water exploded across the chamber.
Seraphina fell.
When she looked up, the room was empty.
Except for one thing.
A small silver crown lay on the floor.
She picked it up.
The moment she touched it—
A vision struck her.
She saw herself standing in an underwater palace.
She was wearing a blue crown.
Adrian stood before her.
But he wasn't a prince.
He was kneeling.
Blood covered his clothes.
Seraphina was crying.
“You promised me,” she whispered.
Adrian looked up.
“I did.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
He reached for her.
She stepped away.
Then another figure appeared behind him.
A man wearing a black crown.
Seraphina couldn't see his face.
But she heard his voice.
“Kill her.”
Adrian looked at Seraphina.
His eyes filled with tears.
Then he raised the sword.
Seraphina screamed.
The vision disappeared.
She dropped the crown.
Miriam caught her.
“What did you see?”
Seraphina was shaking.
“Adrian.”
“What about him?”
“He wasn't alone.”
Miriam's expression changed.
“Who was with him?”
“I couldn't see his face.”
“Did you hear his voice?”
Seraphina nodded.
“What did he say?”
Seraphina looked toward the shattered mirror.
“He told Adrian to kill me.”
Miriam closed her eyes.
“Oh no.”
Seraphina grabbed her arm.
“You know who he is.”
Miriam said nothing.
“You know!”
“I know enough to understand that he has awakened.”
“Who?”
Miriam looked at her with tears in her eyes.
“The first king.”
Meanwhile, Adrian stood alone in the palace corridor.
He had been searching for Seraphina for nearly an hour.
He finally reached the library.
The door was open.
“Seraphina?”
No answer.
He stepped inside.
Then he saw it.
A trail of water.
It led toward the hidden passage.
Adrian followed it.
At the bottom of the staircase, he found the shattered mirror.
And beside it—
A silver crown.
His hands began to shake.
He picked it up.
Instantly, pain exploded through his head.
A voice whispered:
“You failed her once.”
Adrian dropped the crown.
Another voice followed.
“This time, you will finish what you started.”
Adrian looked up.
A shadow stood at the end of the chamber.
He reached for his sword.
“Who's there?”
The shadow stepped forward.
Adrian froze.
The figure had his face.
Exactly his face.
But older.
Colder.
And wearing a black crown.
The stranger smiled.
“You finally found me.”
Adrian couldn't speak.
The stranger lifted one hand.
“You've been asking the wrong question, Adrian.”
“What question?”
The stranger's smile widened.
“You keep asking who am I?”
He stepped closer.
“The real question is…”
The chamber shook.
“…who are you?”
And beneath the palace, something enormous opened its eyes.
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