50 years ago, the two sisters Nimue and Maeve were the candidates to be chosen by Gaia.
Maeve was the older sister and, at first, she was known to be the much more talented and recognizable one. There was no villager who hadn't heard of her name and reputation as a prodigy. Meanwhile, Nimue was always the quiet one. She had rarely shown her magical power and preferred to practice in peace.
On that one fateful day, Gaia's blessing fell upon Nimue.
At first, as an older sister, Maeve was happy for her sibling. After all, perhaps this was what young Nimue needed to come out of her shell.
Time went by, and Nimue's magical power grew by leaps and bounds from the blessings of Gaia. Happiness became resentment and their relationship deteriorated.
The villagers no longer look at Maeve like they used to, the whispers of her talent became whispers comparing her to her now better sister. The torture eventually got to her and Maeve decided to break the sacred seal of the forest before leaving, exposing the village to the outside world.
Since then, Maeve became obsessed with finding ways to increase her talent by any mean.
With the opened seal, the forest, that was once unable to be entered by people, started to be known. Word started to spread about the mysterious place.
What started as simple curiosity became rumors, rumors became information and the truth about the secretive people of the forest started to spread throughout the seven kingdoms.
It didn't take long until the mysterious place filled with amazing plants and unique creatures became known by explorers.
People started to try and enter the forest, from friendly explorers to hunters trying to steal the bounty of the forest by force. The forest people became more wary and the village started to build its own force tasked to protect the place.
It led to some altercations between them.
Years passed, more and more people attempted to trespass, and the royalty led by the Knights of Divine Order started to get involved.
Envoys were sent between them, communications were built and everything was going well. They started to establish borders between their territory and talks about resources started to be thrown in their discussions, until that fateful day 20 years ago.
Maeve returned to create chaos, leading to the death of the envoys sent by both sides.
They blamed each other and, before anyone could truly take decisive actions to correct the mistake, everything escalated beyond control. The Divine Order sent their best knights to attack the forest, leading to a massive battle that took hundreds of lives. Most of those who died are well-known knights from noble families.
After hundreds of lives were lost, both sides decided to create a pact. They would cease attacking each other and isolate themselves from each other. With the pact, the heat between them quickly died down.
Or at least, that was what history recorded.
"That is the known story, Emery, but the truth was that we managed to stop them all. 20 years ago, the Divine Order was completely defeated. In order to ensure they would not bother us again, we even gave them what they asked."
It couldn't be anything else other than the Gaian Essence currently in Emery's hand.
"Though peace was established, the deed was done. The death of so many important people left a lot of hate lingering between us. There was no way to truly mend it, considering how many had perished. Do you understand now, Emery?"
Emery nodded.
This battle 20 years ago must be the time when Emery's parents met and also the time when the queen, Gwen's mother, died at the hands of the chrutin.
The powers of the fey, in addition to the chaos Maeve caused, was the root of their hatred, but greed was what led to the tragedy.
Now that Emery understood what actually happened. He could face both Princess Gwen and Prince Arthur better.
With gratitude, Emery took the precious gift from the high priestess.
Using that liquid, he could once more try to pull the sword from the stone.
While he was deep in thought, the High Priestess spoke once more.
"Emery, there is a reason that sword is referred to as the Sword of Destiny. I have faith you will be able to continue the quest Gaia trusts you to complete."
"I understand, High Priestess." Emery nodded.
"Ah, one more thing, Emery, I have seen that your path and Morgana's path have started to intertwine. Remember, Gaia has plans for her. I have also seen the young prince in my vision. I want you to tell him that I will see him when he is ready."
Emery was about to ask for the reason, but he felt something unsettling in the back of his mind. Arthur, the Golden Prince, definitely seemed trustworthy, but knowing what he was capable of, there was no way he could place his trust on the prince just yet.
Nevertheless, he decided to agree.
"Yes, High Priestess, I will see to it. I'll make sure he receives your message."
The High Priestess dismissed him and Emery walked through the forest and the bridge with a much clearer head. There was still the problem of Morgana and Gwen.
Morgana was under the care of someone presumed to be an enemy, the Golden Prince of Logress Kingdom himself. The prince might have treated her well, but he couldn't help but worry about the prince's ulterior motives. He had promised to come back within hours, yet he failed to complete that simple promise.
Second, he had to deal with Gwen. Now that his cover was completely blown, he wonders how this childhood friend of his would react. Delivering him to the Quintin's despite knowing was a good sign, but what would she do next?
Both need to be taking care of immediately, Which one should he do first?
Written by Avans, Published exclusively by NovelFull,