The Prince With Ten Brides - S01 E03

Story 2 weeks ago

The Prince With Ten Brides - S01 E03

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 3

The Prince With 10 Brides

The moon rose high into the night sky on the third night. It was a very big moon. It was round and bright. It looked like a giant silver plate in the dark sky. The stars were also out. They were twinkling like tiny diamonds on a black cloth. In the village of Omalin, the houses were dark. Most people had put out their cooking fires. They were tucked into their beds. They were trying to sleep. Usually, this was a very quiet time. You would only hear the sound of the crickets. You would hear the wind blowing through the palm trees. The village should have been asleep. Every man, woman, and child should have been dreaming of happy things. But on this night, the peace was gone.

The forest paths were not empty. Even though it was late, the paths were very busy. If you looked closely, you would see many shadows. These were hidden figures. They were moving through the tall grass. They were walking under the big, dark trees. These shadows were the young ladies of Omalin. They were the ones who wanted to marry Prince Azu. They were the ones who wanted to be the Queen. They were moving very quietly. They did not want anyone to see them. They did not want their neighbors to know their secrets. They were walking into the deep parts of the forest where the light of the moon could not reach.

These young ladies were feeling a very strong hunger. It was not a hunger for food. It was an illegal hunger for power. They wanted to live in the big palace. They wanted to wear gold jewelry. They wanted everyone to bow down when they walked by. They had decided that being beautiful was not enough. They had been sewing dresses for days. They had been rubbing oils on their skin. But now, they were afraid. They saw that all the other girls were also beautiful. They saw that everyone was a good dancer. They did not want to leave the choice to chance. They did not want to wait and see who the Prince would pick. They did not want to trust the heart of Prince Azu.

One by one, they went to the forbidden places. These were the huts and the caves of the dark herbalists. The people of Omalin knew these places were bad. The elders always told stories about the darkness that lived in the woods. They said that visiting these people was against the law. But the girls did not care about the laws anymore. They only cared about the crown. They wanted a shortcut to the throne. They wanted to use magic to win. They thought they could control the future. They thought they could make the Prince love them by force.

Zola was one of these girls. Zola was very pretty, but she had a very sharp tongue. She often said mean things to people. She thought she was better than everyone else. Zola did not want to lose. She had a small pot made of clay. Inside the pot were many gold coins. This was all the money her family had. They had worked for many, many years to save it. But Zola did not care about her family’s hard work. She took the gold without asking. She carried the pot through the dark woods. She walked until she found a cave. The cave was hidden behind long, green vines.

Inside the cave, there was a man. He was a dark herbalist. He lived alone in the damp cave. He sat near a very small fire. The fire was not orange like a normal fire. It was a strange, sickly green color. The air inside the cave smelled like wet earth and old, bitter herbs. Zola walked right up to the man. She was not even a little bit scared. Her heart was full of pride. She set the pot of gold coins on the ground. The gold made a loud noise as it hit the stone.

Give me something that will make the Prince see only me, Zola demanded. Her voice was very loud. It echoed off the walls of the cave. She did not say please. She spoke like she was already a Queen. She looked at the herbalist with her sharp eyes. She wanted a way to make the Prince look away from all the other girls. She wanted to be the only one in his eyes.

The man looked at the gold. He smiled a very creepy smile. He reached into a dirty bag. He pulled out a tiny bottle. Inside the bottle was a diabolical powder. It was a grey powder that looked like ash. He told Zola that it was made of crushed beetle shells and the dried tears of very sad people. He told her to rub it on her forehead before the dance. He said that if she did this, the Prince would be under a spell. He would not see any other girl. He would only see Zola. Even if she was standing next to the most beautiful girl in the world, the Prince would only have eyes for her. Zola took the bottle and left. She thought she was very clever. She did not think about the price of using such a dark thing.

In another corner of the dark woods, there was another girl named Nneka. Nneka was very famous for her dancing. Her feet could move as fast as the wings of a bird. But Nneka was also very worried. She was afraid that the Prince might like someone else better. She was sitting in a small clearing in the forest. The trees around her were very tall. She had a wooden bowl in front of her. The bowl was filled with a thick, red liquid. It looked very strange in the light of the moon.

Nneka began to speak. She was reciting incantations. These were magic words that were very old and very dangerous. She spoke in a low, humming voice. She said the words over and over. She moved her hands in circles over the bowl of red liquid. She was hoping to bind the soul of Prince Azu to her dancing feet. She wanted a spell that would make his heart beat in time with her steps. She wanted him to feel like he had to follow her wherever she went. She wanted to take away his freedom to choose. She wanted to make him her prisoner with her magic dance.

Zola and Nneka were not the only ones. All through the forest, other girls were doing the same thing. They were using charms and manipulations. They were trying to bend the will of the Prince. They were breaking the ancient laws of Omalin. These laws had been there for hundreds of years. The laws said that no one should use magic to steal a human heart. A heart must be free to love who it wants to love. But these girls did not respect the old ways. They were using darkness to get what they wanted. They thought they were being smart, but they were being very foolish.

The air in the village of Omalin began to change. Even though it was a warm night, a cold wind started to blow. It was a wind that made people shiver in their sleep. The animals were the first to notice. The goats in their pens started to bleat and cry. The chickens started to flap their wings. The dogs in the village began to howl at the moon. They could feel that something was wrong. They could feel the dark magic spreading through the trees. The magic was like a thick, black smoke that was moving through the air. It was reaching out toward the palace.

The girls walked back to their houses before the sun came up. They hid their magic powders and their bowls of red liquid. They tried to act like nothing had happened. They looked at their parents and smiled. They looked at their friends and pretended to be nice. But their hearts were now full of secrets. They were no longer the simple girls of Omalin. They were now people who used darkness to get power. They thought they were the only ones using magic. They did not know that many other girls had done the same thing. They did not know that the forest had been full of people that night.

Magic is a very dangerous thing. The elders of the village always said that magic is like a wild fire. If you use a small fire to stay warm, it is good. But if you let a fire get out of control, it will burn down everything. It will burn the houses, the trees, and the people. A wild fire is very hard to stop once it starts burning. The girls were starting a fire that they could not put out. They thought they were just using a little bit of magic to get a husband. They did not understand that they were bringing a curse into their village.

Would their charms bring them a husband? That was the big question. They all wanted to be the one who stood next to Prince Azu on the wedding day. They wanted the gold and the fame. But if the Prince loved them because of a spell, it would not be real love. It would be a lie. And a life built on a lie is never a happy life. They were willing to trade their souls for a crown. They were willing to hurt the Prince just to be the Queen. They did not think about the sadness they were creating.

Or would their charms bring a curse upon the palace? A curse is a very bad thing that stays for a long time. It can bring sickness to the land. It can make the crops stop growing. It can make the people feel very sad. By using dark magic, the girls were inviting trouble into the home of the King. They were bringing shadows into a place that should be full of light. The Prince was a kind and good man. He wanted to find a wife who would help him lead the people with love. He did not know that his brides were planning to use charms to steal his heart.

The suspense was growing every single hour. The two weeks were almost over. The day of the grand competition was very near. The village of Omalin was like a drum that was being pulled very tight. It was ready to snap. Everyone was waiting for the music to start. Everyone was waiting to see the girls dance. But now, the dance was not just about beauty and skill. it was about magic and secrets. It was about which spell would be the strongest. It was about who had the darkest heart.

As the morning sun began to rise, the shadows of the forest went back into hiding. The girls were in their beds, but they were not having sweet dreams. They were dreaming of the powder and the red liquid. They were dreaming of the gold and the power. They were waiting for the moment they could stand before the Prince. The wildfire of magic was now burning quietly in the dark. Soon, it would flare up and show itself to everyone. The choice of the Prince was no longer simple. It was now a very dangerous game.

The third night had ended, but the trouble was just beginning. The ancient laws had been broken. The dark herbalists were laughing in their caves. They knew that something terrible was going to happen. They knew that when you use magic to steal a heart, everyone loses. The kingdom of Omalin was on the edge of a great disaster. The Prince was still sleeping, not knowing that he was the target of many dark spells. The race for the crown was no longer a race of love. It was a race of shadows and lies.

Do you think Zola is a bad person for taking her family's gold to buy a magic powder?

If all the girls use magic at the same time, what do you think will happen to Prince Azu?

Why do you think the magic powder was made from the tears of sad people?

Do you think Nneka’s magic dance will be stronger than Zola’s magic powder?

The plot is thickening and the danger is rising in Omalin! The girls have turned to dark magic to win the Prince's heart, but magic always comes with a price. Will the spells work, or will they destroy the kingdom before a Queen is even chosen?