Ripples in the past.

"How could you love a Thalorian, Erik?" Kalon Ardentis asked, his voice strangled by disgrace. Erik stared at his feet. He could never look his father in the eye while he screamed at him. 

"You dare to bring her into OUR home?!" Kalon bellowed, pointing at Josephine who knelt in chains at the steps leading to the Sunforged Throne. 

Erik rose from his seat beside his father, and fell to his knees in front him, his head remained low almost as low as the ground itself. 

"I love her, she loves me. She is having my child. Let her live and we'll leave." He pleaded to his father, who's face soured. 

"Get up, Erik. Who would be? Your bastard?" He asked sarcastically. "Answer me that." Kalon stroked his messy black hair trying to hide the grey that seemed to be more vibrant at his age. He struggled to stand, a few guards rushed to his side to help him. 

"I won't allow it," he said, his voice low and sharp, each word cutting through the air like a blade. His tone was void of empathy, dripping with cold, calculated menace. "She dies, and if you care for her so much, you can share her fate." A cruel smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, his eyes burning with twisted determination as he leaned forward. "Or, you can abandon this foolish sentiment and do your duty."

The guards flanking Kalon walked briskly to Josephine, one of them seized her roughly, his gloved hand tangled in her golden locs as he yanked her to her feet without a hint of care or hesitation.

"This ends now, Erik." Kalon said. "Renounce your love and she'll live."

Erik paused for a moment staring death at his father. He opened his coat revealing the sentinel core hidden behind it. His father's eyes widened. 

"Advance." Erik commanded coldly. Erik's shock solidified on his face, murmurs could be heard from all corners of the room, while the doors flew open and the metal army walked in. Josephine broke free from the grasp of the guard binding her and scampered to Erik who held her safely between his loving arms. The metal soldiers stood in formation behind Erik, the core glowed ominously in his palm. 

"You dare break your oath, boy?" Kalon jumped from his seat in a flash of anger, his old bones cracked from the sudden movement. A faint light from the high windows casted long shadows that flickered uneasily like restless spirits of their ancestors that were rumoured to roam the castle. Kalon turned and his fingers brush gently on the edge of the Sunforged Throne. "This is the throne that rides the dreams of men, forever. The seat that drives men mad." His voice was steady, but a hint of bitterness weaved through his words as he circled the throne, his movement remained slow and deliberate. 

"You intend to remove me? Here and now?" Kalon asked controlling the rage that fought deep within his abdominal region to escape. "Take it, it was meant to be yours, but you will realise it is nothing short of a curse, veiled in gold and glory." He glanced over his shoulder looking back at his son who still held the Thalorian girl, his gaze sharpened and his tone gained weight as he continued.

"Every king, every queen who dared to sit upon it thought themselves chosen. Chosen to rule, to lead, to bend the world to their will. But they forget, the throne was never theirs, it never belonged to the Ardentis. We were merely slaves. Slaves of her people!" Kalon paused, his expression darkened as his voice shrunk to almost a whisper. "The throne belongs to the hunger. To the whispers of ambition that gnaw and claw at the soul. The endless craving for more, more time, more power, more control." 

Erik scoffed. "Is that your excuse for all the suffering you caused? To your family and people?"

Kalon stopped, staring at the throne as if it holds a truth he cannot unsee. His fingers twitched at his sides, the subtle tremor betrayed a buried fear. 

"No one who believes they can master it, walks away unscathed." He said softly. He turned slightly, his eyes searching for something, understanding, perhaps, or absolution, in the shadows around him. "You think you are saving them from me? Am not that far gone, all you're doing is giving them a tyrant, a catalyst to an uprising." A bitter smile flickered across his face as sharp as a blade.

"And that is fine by me!" Kalon's voice turned sharp and was laced with a chilling edge that cut through the air like a blade. His lips curled maliciously into a wicker smile, the faintest glimmer of madness flickering in his eyes. 

"He is already marked." Kalon said pointing at Josephines stomach with his wrinkled finger and ratty nail. "The one who is fated to hold dominion over time itself. A noble heart, no doubt, but the seeds of his fall are already sown." He pulled his hand back sharply, clenching his fists. "He cannot see it yet, but the whispers of the throne will find him and claim him, like it found and claim our heirs for years. Just like it found and claimed you, it will twist his gift into chains, his power into ruin."

Erik was confused, he never believed in the timekeeper's prophecy. He was never a religious fanatic like the rest of the Ardentis. To him the prophecies are old stories.

Kalon stared at his throne one last time before turning with a maddening smile still reaching ear to ear that shortly erupted into a maniacal laughter.

"Will you still sit, knowing this?" He asked taunting Erik.

Erik walked to his father and took the golden crown off his head, then walked to the throne where he sat down slowly in defiance. He held the crown in front his face turning it and examining the rubies, precious stones and symbols that all made up the design of the crown before placing it on his head in a doubled-down action of defiance.

His lips opened slowly as the core glowed again.

"I, King Erik Ardentis, son of Kalon Ardentis The Grey, King of Xandria, Lord of the Solstice Citadel brand all men is this room as traitors and enemies of the Kingdom. As such I order you to execute them." The whole room fell to a haunting silence after Erik's order. 

One of the guards bowed instantly after hearing Erik's command, just as quick as he fell to his knees he said, "I pledge my loyalty to you, my king."

Erik looked over at him, it was the same guard who man-handled Josephine by the locs of her hair. In his vision he could see Kalon's smile fading slowly from his face, his time was up.

"Arise Cregan." Erik said calmly staring at him. A line of sentinels stepped forward with blades in their hands, they massacred everyone in the room except: Erik, Josephine and Cregan who remained on his knees despite Erik telling him to rise. Erik was now the undisputed Ruler of Xandria anyone who could deny that was dead. Almost instantly the cursed chair started digging into his soul, the moment he sat down and claimed the crown, the once pure prince had vanished. It was cut from him like a cancer and the cruel Ardentis King was all that remained.