He must have walked beneath the curves of these stone arches more times than he cared to remember. Tonight he must have paced beneath them a dozen more. The smell of Juniper caught in a warm, ocean breeze couldn't calm his nerves. Neither could the smoked shisha he inhaled through his hookah. He stole another glance at the sundial. Two minutes had passed since he last checked it. A total of forty-nine minutes had gone by since his beloved went into labor.

Was it natural for childbirth to take this long?

  He leaned forward against a column and peered at the garden. It was their first child. They had waited for this day for what felt like an eternity. His thoughts should be filled with jubilation, but in the back of his mind, he knew something was wrong. The nursemaids would tell him if something had happened, wouldn't they? Everyone in the territory had showered them with blessings, even the Prince himself.

   As he raised the hookah to his lips he heard the sound of hasty footsteps on marble. One of his wife’s many nursemaids moved quickly down a flight of stairs. Blood covering her dress set off alarms in his mind. He stepped before the woman. Eyes unfocused, the woman didn't acknowledge his presence.

“Where are you going?” he asked sternly. “What's happened?”

The nursemaid shook her head repeatedly as she kept moving. He grabbed the bend of her elbow and swung her around. Her body shook uncontrollably, her eyes wide and unfixed.

“Is Eden not well? Tell me what's happened!”

She blinked a few times. “I – I – ”

“Speak woman!”

“His hair...his eyes.. It can’t be...!”

  She gasped and yanked herself from his grasp and fled through the garden. Her frightened words echoed in his mind. What could she mean? He trotted up the stairs and stormed into the delivery room. A nursemaid sat sobbing on the foot of the bed, her hands stained with blood. His heart froze.

Sheets covered a woman's body as she laid motionless on the bed. Thoughts of uncertainty filled his head. But before he could step forward the small cries of a baby divided his attention. He walked across the room and nudged open a door. As he watched, it seemed as if a third nursemaid was washing blood from the newborn in a sink. But its tiny body was completely submerged.

What was she thinking?

He rushed over and pushed the nursemaid to the floor. “Are you mad, woman!?” he scolded, pulling the child out of the water. “I should have you executed!”

“Sir, please, forgive me...” the nursemaid sobbed. “I – I didn't know what else to do..”

  He covered his child with a towel and checked for any signs of life. Its soft cries and gentle wiggles eased Malik's heart. “The child...you must know what he is,” the nursemaid said. “She told you didn’t she?”

“Get out of my sight!”

The nursemaid grabbed his arm. “You must listen! Look at the child, please!”

  The newborn’s head was covered with a shade of silver Malik had never seen before. But the most troubling feature was the darkness in his waxing and waning crescent-shaped irises. “Eden...she died giving birth to him. She died during labor, just as it was written it would happen to a Khalina. Sir, that child can not be allowed to walk among us!”

  Malik stared at the newborn child in his hands. Few others knew of the ancient text written by a long dead tribe of people of whom his beloved was a descendant of. He hadn’t given it a second thought, until today. “If you so much as speak a whisper of this to another soul, I will have you thrown in the deepest dungeon. The same warning goes for all of you!”

“Sir, please! Don't let your emotions blind your judgment! You will doom us all! That child must die!"

“I’ve heard enough!” Malik took the nursemaid by the arm and slung her out of the room like a rag doll. “Get out, Farah! All of you!” he ordered. “And hold your tongues or I will have them removed!”

  As one of the kingdom’s most respected and influential guards, Malik's threats held weight for the nursemaids. They scrambled out of the home as if chased by damnation. 

     With the newborn in his arms, he sat by his wife's side. He removed the sheets from her head, slowly. She was as beautiful as ever, with no signs of distress on her face. She died bringing their son into this world. How can anyone expect him to slay her only son?

  Wrapped in a squall of emotions, Malik peered at Eden's lifeless body, oblivious to the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Malik!” a robed man called as he entered the room. He froze in his steps, gaze fixed on the new father as he mourned. “I – Is it true?”

Malik grinned his teeth. Had word spread even after he forbade those nursemaids to speak? “Yes, Jaff. It's true. Every word of it.”

Jaff lowered his tagelmust to his neck. “What are you going to do? The Prince – he will send his executioners once he's aware.”

“Then they'll have to kill me too. No harm will come to Eden's son.”

“Brother...” Jaff paused. Malik's grief had overtaken him. 

   The Prince would surely kill anyone who protected the child, even one of his most loyal guards. Unlike his older brother, Jaff had believed the ancient prophecy. He had spent much time and wealth learning all he could about it. With two other nations holding the most deadly runes on the planet, the prophesied Destroyer of Rebirths could prove to be a beneficial card for the kingdom. 

   The kingdom would fare better to keep him among them. This was an opportunity no other nation would dare pass up. But the Prince wasn't a man to reason with. He was young but obedient to the rules set before him and the old advisors around him. But perhaps time would give birth to other rulers, perhaps some with more independent thoughts. 

  Jaff closed the bedroom door and locked it. “Brother, you're the last of my kin. I'd hate to part with you.” He hastened his way to Malik and knelt before him. “Let me take the child.”

   Malik raised his gaze. He glanced down at the curved sword strapped to Jaff's waist. Jaff quickly added, “I give you my word, I won't do him any harm. There are places the child can go and live safely.  I will see to that.” 

“Where?”

“It’s better that you don’t know. I will send word to you once it’s safe to do so. Like I said, you're the last of my kin. I don't want to lose you, too.”

“This child is your family, as well,” Malik said. “Do not forget that.”

“Yes, of course. My little nephew.” Jaff shifted his gaze to the child as his head poked out of the blanket. “I'm bound by honor to protect him the same way I will you. But we must act swiftly before it’s too late.”