Black and White Soul

Once upon a time there was a prince. His name was Kai Haven the 3rd. The people loved him dearly; he was kind to all his subjects. Braver than most of the knights too, willing to put himself in almost any situation to help those in need.

But there was something his subjects didn't know about him. There was an evil inside him. One passed down from his mother, who everyone thought was the queen. But the truth was, she wasn't his mother, at least, not biologically. No, his birth mother was an evil woman who had disguised herself as someone else and tricked the king into falling in love with her. Her name was Angelica, and she was a witch.

Angelica wanted a powerful child, and who better to make a powerful child with than the king himself. She had hidden the fact she was pregnant, making sure she wouldn't be stopped from drinking an elixir that would heighten her son's strength and power. But she was caught anyway.

The king went to her cottage at the edge of town, expecting to see the lovely woman after such a long time apart. When he found her, she was going into labor, and in her intense state of distress, she admitted who she was and that the child was his.

Of course, like any good king would do, he took the child and pretended the mother was his wife while the evil woman was thrown in the dungeons.

The king had a sorceress inspect the child, ensuring the child's health. That was when the darkness was found. The prince's soul was as black as obsidian, darker than any other soul. Even darker than his witch mother.

But the king and queen decided that it mattered not. That they would take care of their son and raise him to not give into his darkness and be the future king that the land needed. If you were to ask any of the people of the kingdom, they would tell you that his soul was as pure white as a dove.

The darkest soul though, will always show, no matter how kind the owner is. The prince controlled his soul with efficiency. When he felt it wishing for things, dark things, he would retreat to a training chamber. He would take his sword and practice his movement against a wooden dummy. Once he thought he could fight it without locking himself in a room. It resulted in him punching a knight that had done nothing wrong and locking himself in the room for a full day. The maids say that the dummy was nothing but small blocks of wood and even the walls had slashes and some of the knives and two swords were broken in half and chipped.

Today, he has made the same mistake, but only because it is a busy time for him and his family. It is time for the annual celebration of fall. Their kingdom is the Fall Kingdom. The royal family has abilities to do with wind and crops. This year, the prince will show an elaborate display of bringing crops ready to harvest early. After which, there will be a ball in the castle. So, they prepare the castle, the prince is tailored to many different suits and attires. He runs through his display a hundred different times. All the while forgetting about the dark soul that resides inside of him. Forgetting that, if left unattended, the corrupt power that comes from it will try and spring out.

But it doesn't matter, he has gone this long with only one person hurt. Besides, it wasn't that bad of a punch, the knight had said something that had upset the prince anyways. Maybe being harsh isn't always a bad thing.

"Now son," the king says at dinner the night before the celebration. "Do not forget to release some tension tonight. Tomorrow will be full and will make you tense. You will have no time to escape to reorientate yourself."

Kai smiles, "I know, father. You don't need to worry about me. I don't even feel anything right now anyways. I think I am getting much better control over it."

His mother chuckles, "Don't be too full of yourself now. I remember when your father was younger, and he thought he had control over his wind. But when he asked me to marry him, I replied no at first, just to tease him at first. I thought my hair was going to blow away with how upset he was." The king grimaces and Kai laughs.

"Not my best moment." They laugh, talk, and eat until it is time for them to retire to bed.

The morning starts quickly, a blur of last-minute preparations and buttoning together shirts and cuffs. Kai would fight the dummy, but he doesn't have time, and he was so tired the night before that he didn't even think about it before collapsing into bed. Maybe the display today will help with any tension that accumulates today.

Throughout the day, Kai talks and makes everyone he comes across happy. He pleases people left and right, always the diplomat. And when his family takes to the streets to greet the people and wish them well, he is seen talking to people he just met like he has known them all his life. They see him as the perfect future king, the prince that any kingdom would die for. What they don't see, right below the surface, is a monster, brewing and stalking, searching for the perfect moment to strike.

At last, it is time for the performance. Kai stands before the field of corn sprouts just waiting to burst up. He kneels down stoically, fighting back a smirk when he feels the brush of wind against his back making his coattails flutter in the wind. With more force than planned, corn shoots for the sky, roots coming up out of the ground. People gasp in awe. Kai gapes as his power, he didn't know that it could be done so forcefully. Maybe this, this was a better way to calm his soul, to drive back the darkness that threatened to overcome him.

The corn begins to shrivel, it begins to blacken and decay, and he watches in enraptured horror at his power that made the corn grow, begins to kill it all. He watches in enraptured fascination.

He does not pull away, relishing in the moment of pure control. He only stops once the last corn stalk crumbles to nothing and floats away in the wind. He looks down at his hands in the soil, the still fertile soil. At least he contained it only to the corn stalks. At least it was only corn and not people. But that corn was going to be a part of the main meal for the ball, for the people.

He doesn't dare look at his subjects, doesn't dare turn to look at the horror that no doubt consumes their entire beings. Instead, he shoves his hands back into the dirt. He pours his power into the soil, more gently, urging any good seeds that might have hidden during his display up, and trace amount of anything would do. Calmly, corn begins to come up, as do other things like wheat and carrots. He was able to find the seed and scraps that had been unable to sprout and forced them open, forcing them to grow when they should have died.

He pushes them up and to their fullest extent but stops when they are at their best. He stands on fearful legs. slowly turning to his people. Looking for his father and mother, scared of what they will think of him now that they all know what he can do.

His fathers' eyes are hard, boring into him, but he is the first to clap. The first to praise his son. The prince knows that the praise is not for his power or the fact that he has provided for the people. No, his praise is for his son fighting. fighting the darkness that the witch, his mother, but inside of him before he was born.

The people cheer and clap for Kai, and it makes him wonder, maybe instead of fighting this darkness that is in him, he should accept that it is there, that he cannot get rid of it. Maybe, a little bit of darkness is good. Maybe a little bit of darkness is human.