The Unseen Power

The courtyard was silent after Lucian's remark. Every eye in the crowd was trained on me now, waiting, scrutinizing. I could feel the weight of their gazes like a thousand invisible hands pressing against my shoulders. I had no idea how to show them anything. Sure, I could feel the power in me, swirling and restless, but that didn't mean I could command it. It had always been an unpredictable force—a clash of light and darkness within me, never truly one or the other.

But with the pressure mounting, with every noble, prince, and princess waiting for me to fail or shine, I stepped forward. There was no going back now.

I held out my hand, my breath steady but my pulse erratic. I could feel the familiar tug in my chest—the dark pull that always felt like it was about to consume me, mixed with the soft, golden warmth of the light that kept trying to pierce through.

I could hear the rustle of cloth and the hushed murmurs around the courtyard as I struggled to find control.

Then, without thinking, I opened myself to both.

The first sensation that hit me was the cold—so cold it seemed to freeze the very air around me. It crept up my arm, curling into my bones like a shadow. Then, warmth, searing warmth, filled the space, blazing like the sun. It was as if the two forces inside me had collided, each struggling to outdo the other, and I had no choice but to let them. I felt the ground beneath me tremble, as if the earth itself was afraid.

I clenched my fist, but it was already too late.

The darkness exploded outward first, tendrils of shadow swirling and snapping like whips. They writhed and hissed, their jagged edges clawing at the air, hungry and ravenous. My skin burned as the light inside me tried to push against the shadow, but the darkness was too powerful. It spiraled upward in violent torrents, sweeping across the courtyard like a storm.

Then, a burst of light followed, not soft or gentle, but raw and blinding. It shot from my hand, a spear of brilliance that cut through the shadow, breaking its hold for just a moment. The light flared so brightly that the entire courtyard seemed to glow with an ethereal, blinding aura.

I staggered back, dizzy from the force of the two powers battling inside me. I could feel the pull of both—light, dark—and I had no idea how to stop them.

The ground beneath me cracked open, a jagged fissure running from where I stood. The force of the magic I had summoned was too much, and the chaos of light and darkness around me became something dangerous—something uncontrollable.

Then, as quickly as it had started, the energy imploded. The darkness and the light collapsed inward on themselves, like a collapsing star, and suddenly, there was nothing but silence.

I opened my eyes, breathing heavily, heart pounding, and saw the courtyard frozen in stunned silence. The other princes and princesses, usually so confident in their abilities, had stepped back, their eyes wide with shock and fear. The courtiers and nobles in the stands were no better—many had recoiled, their faces pale, murmuring under their breath.

I was left standing in the center of the courtyard, my chest heaving, staring down at my trembling hand.

"By the gods..." I heard someone whisper from the stands.

Valtor's expression had gone from smug amusement to one of shock. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Elara, my friend, stood motionless, her eyes wide as she stared at me, her normally calm demeanor shaken.

I could feel the uncertainty radiating from them, the fear that was slowly beginning to creep into their minds. They weren't afraid of me in the way one fears a rival—they were afraid of what I had just done, of what I could do.

I could barely breathe. My hands were still trembling, the air still thick with the lingering residue of the collision between light and darkness. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to speak, though my voice was hoarse. "I... I'm sorry," I managed to say, though I knew it was weak. "I didn't mean for it to... get out of hand."

No one spoke. The silence in the air was suffocating. It was as though the world had held its breath, waiting for something, anything to happen.

And then, from above, I heard it—the queen's voice, calm, warm, and full of knowing.

She had been watching from her balcony the entire time, her eyes fixed on me, unreadable. As I stood there, feeling exposed and vulnerable, she smiled softly.

"Now you will know," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else, though her voice carried clearly to me and everyone in the courtyard. "One of the reasons I chose him."

Her smile lingered, the faintest glimmer of pride in her expression. "He is special."

The words hung in the air like a spell. Even though they were meant to reassure me, they only made the tension more palpable. I felt like a puppet who had just revealed a secret too terrifying to ignore. The power inside me—it wasn't just light and dark. It was uncontrollable.

The crowd was still, but I could feel the shift in the air. The queen had chosen me, but I was now something entirely different from what they expected. The powers I held could destroy, or they could heal. They could protect, or they could tear apart.

And no one knew which side of me they would see.

The queen leaned forward slightly, her eyes never leaving me, her smile fading into something more calculating. "There is more to him than meets the eye," she said quietly, as if to herself. "But you will all come to learn that in time."

I swallowed, unsure whether I was comforted or terrified by her words. The room was filled with a murmur of voices now, their uncertainty palpable.

But through it all, the queen seemed to radiate something else—a confidence that I hadn't yet understood. As if she knew exactly what was coming, and that I was exactly who she needed.

I didn't know what that meant. But in that moment, I realized something. This trial, this competition, wasn't just about proving who was strongest or most skilled. It was about something deeper.

And the queen, with that knowing smile, had just revealed the first clue.

But as I stood there, surrounded by the lingering remnants of my uncontrolled magic, I couldn't shake the nagging thought that had begun to form in the back of my mind: What exactly did she mean by 'special'?

Was it because I was the thirteenth prince? Or was there something more—something hidden even from me?

All I could do was wait, and try not to destroy everything in the process.