The Shattered Noble

The storm that had swallowed the old palace finally died, leaving behind a silence too deep to be natural. The moon, thin like a cut on the night sky, cast its pale glow down the fractured marble corridors where Kedar and the Prince walked — slowly, cautiously, side by side.

Though the Prince’s body was cracked and skeletal, his steps were unnervingly soft. He looked human again, but only barely. His aura — that strange mix of bitterness and ancient sorrow — weighed heavily on the air.
Kedar kept his stance straight but alert. After the chaos of their clash and the revelation that the Prince wasn’t the true enemy, he couldn’t relax… not yet.

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1. A Moment of Uneasy Peace
The two stopped near a collapsed balcony overlooking the moonlit valley.Wind fluttered through broken lattice windows; dust spiraled like lost spirits.
Kedar extended a hand.“Sit. Your form is unstable.”
The Prince hesitated like he wasn’t used to being offered kindness. Then he sat — not regally, but like someone exhausted down to their soul.
“You shouldn’t stand too close,” he said quietly. “I am still cursed. Parts of me… slip.”
Kedar shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ve seen worse. I’ve fought worse.”
The Prince looked at him — truly looked — his hollow eyes softening.
“You remind me of someone,” he whispered. “Someone I once wished I could be.”

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2. A Noble Past — Fragments Only
A faint blue shimmer rippled over the Prince’s skin — a sign the curse was weakening for the moment.
Kedar asked gently, “Back there… those illusions you showed me. Were they yours?”
“Some,” the Prince replied. “Some were memories. Some were regrets.”He touched the cracked tiles beneath him as if touching a grave.
Kedar didn’t push; he let the silence breathe.
After several moments, the Prince spoke:
“I was born in a palace more radiant than the moon. I had tutors, warriors, servants, everything a royal heir required…”His voice trembled slightly.“But I wasn’t strong. Not in body. Not in resolve. I lived in fantasies. Daydreams. Stories.”
Kedar listened carefully, noting how guilt flickered through the Prince's aura like dying embers.
“My father despised dreamers. He wanted a warrior king. I was an embarrassment he couldn’t hide.”A bitter, small smile.“So he threw me out.”
Only fragments — nothing too specific. Nothing revealing too much. Just enough to feel like a person, not a monster.
Kedar said quietly, “No one deserves that.”
The Prince’s lips parted, surprised.“No one has ever said that to me.”

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3. The Seduction of Power
Wind carried the faint whisper of chanting — memories creeping like shadows.
“When I wandered… I met men who practiced forbidden rites.”His gaze darkened.“They promised power. All I had to do was offer what I no longer valued — myself.”
“You didn’t know what you were giving away,” Kedar said.
“I knew enough.”His voice was steady now, almost cold.“But I didn’t know they served a deeper darkness. A presence I felt but never saw. A voice that promised me kingdoms yet delivered me a tomb.”
The Prince clenched his hands.
“The moment the ritual ended… the earth split. Fire swallowed the palace I dreamed of ruling. And that darkness — the one I believed had chosen me — sealed me inside the ruins of a palace that wasn’t mine.”
Kedar frowned.“So you were tricked.”
“Just like every fool who wants a throne he never earned.”

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4. The Rumbling in the Palace
The ground trembled.
The Prince froze. His aura flickered violently.“No… no, it’s too soon. The bindings are returning.”
Kedar stood. “Bindings?”
The Prince grabbed Kedar’s wrist — his touch icy, desperate.
“This palace isn’t abandoned. It’s a cage. And the real warden is awakening.”
Kedar felt a cold pressure spread through the air — like unseen eyes opening.
The Prince rose shakily, shadows curling around his legs.
“I have only a little time before the curse drags me back. Listen carefully—”
But before he could finish, the palace groaned as if something massive shifted deep beneath the earth.
Cracks split the floor.
The wind died.
The air froze.
A voice — hollow, ancient, cruel — whispered through the stones:
“Return to your place… cursed heir.”
The Prince’s face twisted in fear — genuine fear.
“Kedar,” he said, trembling,“You need to run.”
Kedar took a step forward instead.
“I’m not leaving you.”
The Prince stared at him like no one had ever said such words to him in his life.But the darkness surged again, swallowing the corridor.
To be continued.....