At the dawn of time, when fire was cold and water warm, when thunder was silent and

rain
roared, when oceans had steep peaks and mountains were earth deep, when the sun fell in
love with the moon only for one to rise when the other set, whispers of fate twinkled like
stars in an otherwise bleak sky. A voice came, as ancient as time, as deep as a long-
forgotten secret:

"In twilight's veil where shadows dance,

A child of fate will find her chance.

With two hearts beating, fierce and true,

A destiny the heavens drew.

From blood of kings and ancient lore,

She'll rise to shake the empire's core.

Her dual hearts, a powerful thread,

Could lead to ruin, rivers red.

Yet in her hands, both hope and dread,

For she will weave what lies ahead.

If left to breathe, the empire falls,

Her silent whisper shakes the walls.

But if the knight with courage bold,

Should strike her down, the tale be told.

The kingdom saved from twilight's blight,

In darkness, one must end the light.

A choice to make 'neath starlit skies.

The girl with hearts of doubled beat,

Could spell the end or peace so sweet."

A prophecy was made and sealed the fate.

It would take eons to pass before it ever came true, but it would come to pass nonetheless.
Time witnessed the rise and fall of empires and emperors slaying each other. It witnessed
fire turning warm and water cold, the rumble of thunder in the sky and the silent pour of
rain, oceans running deep and mountains getting steep. And then the universe sucked in a
breath and held it for a minute until a wail roared and she was born.

The oracle came to the king, seeking an audience. Once granted permission, he stated the
prophecy and impending fall. He informed the king of the motion of stars and such a girl
coming to an age of maturity, which would now put the prophecy of fate in motion. It could
only be avoided if she was killed. The king, getting an idea, summoned the traitor's son,
whom he had stripped of the title of knight because of his family's treason. The king
commanded him to find and kill her, and for this, the king would grant a royal pardon and
restore their state to them. If he failed to do so, his family would pay the price.

Driven by the need to save his family, the knight set out on the hunt for the girl born with
two hearts. It was a rare affliction, and if someone was born with it, word must have spread
widely. But the knight found nothing. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into
months. The knight was now tired and disappointed in himself, but the looming
apprehension of his family's doom kept him motivated. He searched cities after cities and
went to every village that came in his way, but he could find such a girl nowhere.
On one such day, on his fruitless hunt, passing through a small village, he asked people
around but to his disappointment, he found nothing and decided to go to the next village
and search. On his way, he came across an orchard, and his stomach rumbled in protest,
reminding him of dinnerless nights. Seeing no one guarding or tending to it, he decided to
pluck some fruit. The beautiful orchard mesmerized him, and he sat down, his back to a
tree trunk, and ate some apples. The sudden tranquility forced a slumber on him, and he
fell asleep only to wake up with a dagger to his throat and a feminine voice ordering him to
yield his name and intentions.

He told her he was new in the village and was really hungry. "So you decided to steal from
my orchard?" she said. "No, not steal actually, I was hungry, and I couldn't wait to find
someone, and besides, these apples looked ravishing," he said in his defense. She didn't
detect any fear in his voice, which any man would have felt given the situation. "Now that
you have eaten and stolen, you better help me pluck the weed, or you can die at my
hands," she stated with a little too much emphasis on the last words. "I'll help you," he
said, amusement evident in his voice. He felt her moving away, and he stood up. The
moment he saw her, he felt something breaking inside him to catch a glimpse of her and
save it forever. She, on the other hand, didn't let anything on, but long after she had gone
home, she could hear the echo of her soul splitting in two to make room for his. They both
seemed to catch each other off guard, as if they didn't expect each other to look like that or
feel the way they felt.

She handed him tools to pull weeds, and he helped her clean the foliage. They spent the
day silently and both went their own way, oblivious to the thread of fate tethering them to
one another. No matter how far they went, they somehow found their way back to each
other. She had never seen someone like him, and he had never met the likes of her. After
months of traveling, he wanted to stop and explore what he felt for her, oblivious to the
diabolical game of fates.

He saw her walking down the street a few days later and followed her to a clearing that
opened into a beautiful lake. He was taking in the scene before him when he felt her knife
to his throat. "Must we always meet like this?" he asked. "Must you always be doing
something questionable?" she retorted. "Why were you following me?" she asked. He
realized how honeyed her voice was; it took effort to make it sound domineering and hard.
"I just wanted to meet you again," he whispered. Even though the answer didn't sit well with
her, she said nothing and sat on a boulder, facing the lake. The sun was setting, and the
water reflected all the shades of pink and red. They both sat in silence, each lost in
thought.

"Have you always lived here?" he asked, and she told him she was born there, to a humble
background. Even though their village was part of the empire, it had always been neglected
except for the collection of tithe. They both talked and felt something between themselves
click. He told her about his family, how he belonged to the house of Nox, which was now
stripped of all its titles and state because of his father's rebellion. He told her how he
always wanted to be a knight and was head of the king's guard, and she told him how she
wanted to build a library and help educate the girls of the village. He told her how he got the
scar on his left brow, tripping on some stone, and she told him how she broke her arm
falling from a tree. They seemed to fit into one another like puzzle pieces. Every day they
made it possible to see each other, and any day they failed to meet, they felt as if some
part of them was missing. They talked about everything and nothing. Sometimes they sat in
silence, and sometimes they raced to talk first. She knew he was searching villages and
royal pardon was at stake for himself and his family, and he knew she was engaged to
some lord her father was indebted to. Both were caged in cages of someone else's
decisions. But with one another, they found something indescribable.

One day he went to a nearby village, and she went to the clearing and sat there by herself,
thinking about what she was afraid of. She grew up running with the wind and singing with
the rain, unaware of the doom that crept nearer every day. She wanted to stumble and fall
but never stop. Suddenly she came to a pause and thought about what she was afraid of.
Neither storms nor the dark. Neither heights nor the fall. Oh, the broken heart! She
concluded. She realized how afraid only the thought made her. She knew she was falling
for the knight, and he felt the same. They both had a stubborn spark of love in their eyes,
but she started sewing soliloquies in her head, intending to push him away in an attempt to
save her heart. She reasoned with herself, thinking if she felt no further, then the damage
was repairable. She built walls high all around her heart, promising herself never to let her
guard down.

He made a temporary home in her village but still went on the search for the quest the king
set him on. He knew doom was near now since it's been a year, and he had to return to the
capital, defeated and in love with someone he wasn't supposed to be with. He loved her
blue eyes with a ring of gold, her honeyed voice which was only soft when she talked to
him. He loved her strength and her courage to speak her mind. He loved how she humbled
him and never faltered to state her opinion. While on the search, he asked people around,
but no one seemed to know of a girl born with two hearts.

One day they both sat staring at the sun sinking in the lake. He said, "You know I have to go
back to the capital someday soon."

"I know," she whispered, as if the mere idea seemed to hurt her. They both knew he
couldn't take her with him, and he couldn't stay either. He touched her hand and looked at
her, leaning in close. His eyes seemed to tell her all he couldn't, and hers held up the
ground. His eyes promised her something he couldn't give, and hers yielded to stubborn
emotions. They both seemed to have made a silent promise. He leaned in close as if to kiss
her until his eye fell on her bosom, right below her collarbone, where he saw a heart-
shaped birthmark. He froze as

if something struck him. His breaths became shallow, and his heartbeat fast. He stood and
left as if running from the plague.

She couldn't understand what happened and left for home with a little too many thoughts.
He stood up all night pacing about his room, thinking about what he should do. He had
found the girl the prophecy was made for. He could save his family and restore their title,
but he couldn't bring himself to harm her in the slightest. He couldn't think of her beautiful
eyes without light, lifeless, unseeing. He couldn't bring himself to live in a world where she
didn't exist, and he couldn't let anything happen to his family. He could restore their honor.
Equally torn in both ways, he paced all night long. The next day she waited for him at their
spot, but he never showed up. Disheartened and apprehensive, she left to find him at his
cottage. It was getting near sundown, and she had to get there soon and then get back
home. On her way to his, she passed through the orchard and saw a shadow in her
periphery. She stopped and saw; he was sitting right under the tree she found him against
the first time. He was lost in thought as she went to him.

"You didn't show up at the clearing today and left rather abruptly yesterday," she said. Her
voice seemed to startle him. He looked at her as if he had never seen her before. He didn't
smile or light up. He stood up and walked toward her, full of intent, and slipped an arm
around her waist and kissed her. It sent her into oblivion. The taste of him, the nearness,
the entirety of him being so close to her, and suddenly she felt something sharp prodding
under her ribs. Startled by searing pain, a little cry left her mouth. She realized she was
being stabbed, and that too at his hands. "Why?" she whispered. Tears were streaming
down his face, and helplessness was evident in his voice, "You are the one," he said, "the
girl with two hearts who will bring the empire to its fall."

She felt herself dying and in disbelief at the betrayal. She always thought of death as
something inevitable but never in her life did she think she would die at the hands of
someone she loved. The light left her blue eyes, and he felt some tether snapping under his
sternum.