His Forbidden Mate

Chapter 1.

Stoneville. May 13, 1814.

"Grandma! The scrolls are shining! The walls are glowing but I can not tell the writings on the wall!" Clara cried out.

"What?" 94 years old Annabel spoke immediately and sprung from her seat.

"It stopped glowing immediately after I saw it and it suddenly disappeared!" Clara added.

"Those walls have not glowed in 7 decades now! What must it be?" She blurted out as a heavy lump rose in her throat.

She picked her staff and started walking toward the chamber. When she got there, she saw Clara by the door as she gave her a look.

"Let us see what the Progenitors have to say. I just hope it is good" she spoke and Clara felt fear grip her immediately.

When they got into the chamber, Annabel saw the scrolls glowing as she took one of them, she opened it and there were writings on the walls immediately.

Clara watched in terror as she wished that she could also read the writing on the scrolls and walls.

But she could only read it when her grandma, Annabel was dead and she would succeed her. For they can never be two scroll keepers.

Annabel kept her eyes glued to the wall as her facial expression changed immediately.

"What does it say?" Clara was agitated.

"There is a new prophecy! Prepare! We are going to meet the Queen! It is about her pregnancy!" Annabel, the keeper of the seven scrolls announced after reading the handwriting on the wall.

"What does it mean? What does the prophesy say?" Clara inquired.

"You have not been reading your manuals lately that is why you are asking me such questions! Scroll keepers are not allowed to announce a prophecy except in the presence of the council. I can not even say it to the Queen alone except in the Council, even if the prophecy is about her pregnancy!" Annabel tutored as she walked out of the chamber with Clara trailing at her back.

The doors of the chamber closed immediately after they left.

"But why can't you relay the message to the Queen first since the prophecy is about her?" Clara inquired.

"Because of political ambitions my dear. When you become the next scroll keeper, you would understand all this. Now stop bothering granny and go hit the giant bell! The council needs to gather before we arrive!" Annabel instructed as 16 years old Clara nodded and ran to the giant bell.

She held the rope that was connected to the bell and started dragging it as it gave a ringing sound. She did it three times and ran back to her grandma that was waiting for her.

"Now, let us go" she said as they walked out of the house with Clara locking the door after them.

*.*

At the council meeting.

The black and witch witches were gathered as Queen Ursula sat on her throne, heavily pregnant. Lucas, the king sat next to her as he was visibly worried about the incoming prophecy.

All the council elders were visibly scared as they murmured and hoped that the prophesy be good.

"Why is Annabel taking so much time?" One of the elders who is a white witch spoke as they turned to look at him.

"Annabel is an old lady. We should pardon her and wait patiently. She summoned us here, and I believe that she would be here, anytime soon" King Lucas said as the hall became dead silent.

A royal attendant suddenly walked to the hall as he took a bow.

"Annabel, the keeper of the seven scrolls, is here" he announced and quickly left as Annabel was seen, walking with the aid of her stick with Clara, trailing at her back.

"Forgive an old lady for coming this late, my old feet can not carry me like they used to" she apologized and took a bow, Clara saw what her grandmother did and did the same.

"Annabel, you are welcome!" Queen Ursula spoke for the first time and she seemed calm.

"Thank you, my Queen" she bowed.

"My King" she bowed too and bowed at the council as she decided to start to the point as all eyes were fixed on her.

"There has been a prophecy and I believe that it is causing chaos because there has not been anything from our ancestors for 70 years now" she began as everyone listened attentively.

"But this prophecy has to do with the Queen" she announced as everyone gasped except the Queen who was still calm.

"Silent please!" One of the elders of the black witches spoke as the place slowly died down and the elder turned to Annabel who kept mute and was watching.

"Why does this prophesy say about the Queen?" He inquired.

Everything seemed strange to Clara as she was just watching what was happening.

Annabel glanced at the queen and smiled, the queen held no facial expression and she looked calm and fierce.

"Speak, Annabel!" The Queen commanded when Annabel hesitated.

"It has to do with the pregnancy!" She announced as the council started murmuring again.

Lucas and Ursula exchanged looks as they gaped back at Annabel who did not allow the murmur to die down as she began to speak.

When she started, the murmuring died down immediately.

"There are two nations in the Queen's womb" she said as Lucas smiled and turned to Ursula who smiled back at her.

"The Queen is going to have a set of twins? That is good news then!" An elder said as they began to cheer and clap.

"It is good news, yes, but there is something else" Anabel spoke as the cheers and claps died down.

"What is it?" An elder asked.

"The two nations are of a different race. A black stone, and a white stone. One to rule the day, and the other to rule the night! And both would wrestle for power and it would lead to more doom to Stoneville" She announced as one do the elders immediately sprung up from his seat and said.

"That is impossible! It has never been written in the history of the witches before!"

"A black and white witch in the Queen's womb? This is interesting!" Another mumbled under his breath.

"It is not impossible! My husband, Lucas, is a black wizard" The queen tried to remind them as the council chief of the white witch stood up to address the council.

"This is rare because something of this nature has never occurred before. Queen of the coven has always come from the White Witch origin. This might bring to the Coven. What would happen if the black witch comes out as the first twins?"

"It is all the Queen's fault! Queens have always chosen a husband from the white witch origin! But she decided to ignore the rule and break the laws! We have to do something about this!" A white which spoke.

The Queen still did not remark anything, neither did Lucas. They were just watching the elders fight over each other over their pregnancy.

"There is only one thing that has to be done!" The council witch spoke and the Queen quickly looked up at her.

Annabel knew that the prophecy would bring chaos and she hoped that they settled it amicably and do whatever it takes to avert the prophecy of doom.

"The black stone has to be killed!" The council chief announced as Ursula stood from her throne angrily and the chandeliers fell to the middle of the hall.

The glasses flew to all corners in the hall as every witch took cover, suspending the flying glasses with their magic so that it would not hurt them.

"Nonsense!" She finally spoke when her rage had died down.

"No one is terminating any of my stones. Whether black or white, I do not care! We from the lineage of royalty are people too. My ancestors married husbands that the council chose for them because of being able to produce the next queen. But for me, I married for love and I do not regret it. I have a choice too! I have a voice. All my life, I have been pushed around to do things and not to do some things because I am a queen. This time, it would not work because no one is killing any of my babies. You said I made a mistake for choosing Lucas as a husband, I did not remark that, but thinking of killing an innocent baby is what I would not tolerate! And I swear it, no one is killing any of my babies!" She announced aggressively as the place shook.

"Ursula, please calm down!" Lucas held her hand as she was breathing tensely now.

The council kept mute as they were still in shock at what her rage had caused and the drastic decision she was about to take.

"Did you hear what the scroll keeper said? There would be doom on all of us because they struggle to be Queen! You are going to risk the lives of an entire race because of one child?" One of the elders spoke and stood up immediately.

"There would be no doom and no one is getting killed, especially not my baby!" She blurted out.

"Do not do what we would live to regret and suffer for next generations to come!" Another white witch warned.

The black witches were not saying anything as they do not like the idea of killing one of their own, even if they were one. The motion, brought about by the white witches brought about sectionalization in their hearts.

"What if the white stone was delivered first? What if I trained them to love each other and..."

"Help! Please! Grandma is dying!" Clara spoke out in tears, cutting the Queen's speech as they quickly looked at her, holding Annabel who was lying in the pool of her blood.

The glasses from the chandelier that scattered on the ground, flew in her direction and hit her abdomen as she does not have magic to avert it.

Chapter 2.

"Please help me! Grandma is dying!" Clara kept crying as she held her dying grandma on the ground as they rushed up to her.

"Go and get the Herb doctor!" One of the elders said to the attendants as he quickly ran away while they carried Annabel to the royal chamber.

The Queen just stood in shock as she did not know what to do. She was tensed that something bad might happen to Annabel while Lucas tried to calm her down.

While they waited for the herb doctor, the Queen followed them to the royal chamber where they took old Annabel who was struggling for her life.

Clara was crying next to her grandma as the Royal Attendants took her away. The Queen sat next to Annabel and sat next to her on the bed.

"I am sorry, Annabel. I did not mean to. I am truly sorry" she apologized as Anna was struggling to speak.

Ursula noticed that Annabel was struggling to talk, so she moved closer and took her ear close to her mouth.

"Do what is right and there is something else that I..." She did not finish as the door to the room sprang open, revealing one of the elders and the Herb Doctor and the Queen stood up before Annabel could finish what she wanted to tell her.

"Do not worry, Annabel. You would be taken care of and be alright, soon" Ursula said to her as the Herb Doctor asked them to leave the room so that he could take care of his patient and they did as instructed, and the door was closed, leaving just the herb doctor and Annabel.

Clara was whimpering at a corner as she silently prayed for the ancestors to pardon her and allow her grandma to stay alive.

Ursula walked up to her and patted her shoulders.

"Annabel would be fine, just have faith" she spoke as Clara looked up at her still crying.

"You have faith, don't you?" She asked as Clara nodded as more tears rolled down her eyes.

They waited outside as the door of the room that Annabel was kept creaked open, then the Herb doctor appeared.

He walked out of the room and closed the door after him.

"What happened? How is she?" One of the elders asked as the Herb doctor glanced at Clara who was crying and was staring at him with great intent.

He sighed and turned to one of the royal servants.

"Please, take her away" he instructed the servant who nodded and walked up to Clara. She whispered something to Clara who nodded, then she held her wrist, leading her out of that chamber.

Immediately after the servant took Clara away, the elders, the Queen and King turned to face the Herb Doctor who sighed.

"What has happened to her?" The King asked as he was getting impatient.

"We lost her. She could not make it" he announced as they exclaimed in shock.

The Queen was more shocked as she was the cause of it. Her blood boil from within as she bit her lower lip. Then she remembered that Annabel wanted to tell her something.

"The Queen has killed the scroll keeper!" One of the elders of the black witch blurted out immediately.

"What?!" The Queen was shocked at this accusation.

"That was not intentional. I did not..." She did not finish her talk when her water suddenly broke and she went into labor.

The elders and Lucas were staring at her while she was grunting and staring at the water on the ground.

"Quick! Get the midwives!" Lucas yelled as he rushed to support Ursula who was still grunting.

One of the male servants wanted to leave as the council chief of the white witches volunteered and left immediately to get the midwives.

"Help me, let us take her to her chamber!" Lucas called for help but the white witches were reluctant. The black witches went to help out before the white joined and they gently helped her to her chambers.

*.*

Clara sat on a chair in the chamber of the seven scrolls and massaged the necklace that belonged to Annabel which she was holding. It was given to her by the Herb Doctor. By this time, she has been told that Annabel was dead.

The Doctor had told her that Annabel wanted her to have it that she would be with her in the spirits.

She sniffed and wondered how she was going to cope without her grandma.

She immediately regretted telling Annabel about the glowing walls because it was what led her to her place of death. If only she could turn back the hands of time.

Her attention was drawn to the glowing scrolls. She immediately stood and walked up to the shelves and took the scrolls.

Then, a name suddenly appeared on the scrolls that had a long list of names of Scroll Keepers.

"Annabel" she read the name out as a flicker of years dropped from her eyes and touched the scrolls.

She took the scrolls back to the shelf as she was about to leave, as the walls started glowing and there were writings on the walls immediately. She stopped and waited if the walls would stop glowing and if the writings would disappear like the last time, but they did not as it continued glinting.

She moved closer to the walls and was surprised that she could understand the strange language that she could not earlier.

She started reading what was written on the walls out and immediately after she finished, the writings stopped shining but it was still on the wall.

She wiped her tears at the new message and was glad that the ancestors heard her cry.

She began to prepare herself for the ritual so that she would be able to appear before the witches as the new scroll keeper and give them the news from the ancestors.

*.*

"Come on, I could see the baby's head, it is almost coming out!" Odette, One of the midwives said to the Queen who was sweating profusely and was pushing with all atoms of strength that she had.

"I am tired. Please, let us stop!" She cried out.

"We can not stop now. We have to push else we might lose the baby. Please! Come on, just keep pushing!" Odette urged and Ursula resumed.

"Excuse me!" Odette stood and wiped off the beads of sweat that were forming on her forehead.

"Adella, take over. I would be back soon" she said to one of the midwives who quickly stood and settled in her position while she left.

She was tired because they had been going on for hours and there was something that she had to attend to.

She immediately left the room, when she reached the open passageway, she peered at her left and right before she started moving straight, she did not know when she bumped into Lucas who was worriedly pacing back and forth in the foyer.

"How is she? What is happening? Why are you not there with her?" Lucas quickly grabbed her and bombarded her with questions.

"She is fine and still pushing. With luck, we would have both babies alive because she seemed tired!" The midwife said.

"What? Please, do all you can to save the three of them. Please" Lucas pleaded almost tearing up.

"I will try my best. I have to do something!" The midwife freed herself from his grip and she kept walking.

He watched as she walked down the hallway and sighed. He moved closer to the door and waited while praying silently.

*.*

Odette kept walking and was turning at regular intervals to check if she could still see Lucas in view, when she did not see him, she curved and continued moving until she saw the council chief who was waiting for her.

He immediately saw her, his facial expressions altered as he moved closer to her.

"What is the news? Has she delivered yet? Come on! Spill!" The Council chief urged her as she sighed.

"She has not delivered yet. She might lose her life in the process as..."

"I do not care about how the Queen is. I am concerned about the black stone. If she is born first, make sure you take her life! The ok prophecy must not come to pass!" He said as Odette nodded.

"Yes, Chief" she responded and was about to leave as he held her back.

"Wait," he said looking straight into her eyes.

"Make sure that the white stone stays alive. No matter what, make sure she lives even if it would cause you the last drop of your blood!" He instructed sternly as great fear gripped her. She was beginning to think that the task that was laid in her hand was way too important and much for her.

"The destiny of Stoneville and the witch race, rest on your shoulders right now"

"Now, go and do not come back until she is dead!" He uttered and turned his back at her as she bowed and left.

She came out of the place and first of all checked if anyone was in sight. When she was sure that it was all cleared, she began to walk as her feet could carry her.

She got to the open path and could no longer see Lucas hanging around. She wondered where he must be and moved closer to the chamber that the Queen was delivering her babies.

She froze at the spot when she heard the cries of a baby from where she stood, she quickly rushed and opened the door.

She got in and saw Lucas sitting in a corner while holding a baby that was wrapped. The midwives were still with Ursula who was struggling to deliver the other baby.

"Wow! One of them is out!" She tried to hide her shock as she moved over to Lucas to take a look at the baby. Lucas was visibly happy as he was grinning from ears to ears.

Then she saw the tattoo on her forehead that was slightly covered with her black hair. It was a black half-moon.

Her heart skipped when she saw that it was the black witch that came out first.

"Can I have the baby for a while?" She asked smiling at Lucas.

Chapter 3

*.*

Lucas was still looking at the baby, smiling, and was almost crying as Ursula kept screaming.

"I can not do this anymore. Please," she kept crying as the midwives urged her to push.

Lucas stood up and handed the baby over to Odette who smiled at the baby. She started rocking the baby as Lucas heard Ursula scream again as his attention was averted toward her.

When he was carrying the baby, his attention was totally taken away from his wife, but now that he had given the baby to Odette, he immediately thought honored his wife.

He walked up to her and knelt as he held her hand.

"Ursula, you can do this. I know you are strong. Please. Have you seen the first baby? She is very beautiful. Come on, she can not wait to see her sister" He spoke to her as she kept pushing.

Odette made sure that no one was paying attention to her as she looked at the baby with great intent who was staring back at her.

(I am very sorry, you are so fragile and innocent. But I have to do this for the benefit of the coven. You are not supposed to live. Your birth would only cause destruction and chaos in Stoneville. I am so sorry, little one that I have to do this. You have to go back) she said to the baby through her mind as she moved to a corner and covered the baby's nose with her fingers and the baby started struggling to breathe. She covered the baby's mouth so that she would not be able to cry out as she kept struggling.

"Odette! We have a problem! The baby!" Adelle called out to Odette who got shocked.

"What Is it?" She asked still holding the baby's nose.

She was scared because if she released her grip when the baby was not dead, It would mean more trouble. But if she does not leave the black stone and go and see what was happening to the white one, they might lose the two and the Council Chief asked her to do whatever that is in her power to save the white stone.

She removed her grip from the baby's nose as she burst out crying, Lucas sprung up and ran to take the baby from her as she rushed to check the Queen and the baby.

"What is it?" She asked immediately, the Queen had stopped pushing and was breathing hard.

"The nuchal cord is looped around the baby's neck!" Adele cried out.

"What?" She became stoned as she started trying to do whatever she could to save the white stone.

Meanwhile, Lucas does not understand what was wrong with the baby that he was carrying, he could see dry tears that had rolled down from her eyes and she was breathing heavily and fast.

He was about to panic as he considered that it might not be good for Ursula as he tried to calm his nerves. He glanced over at Odette because she was the only one that held the baby before she became this way.

He started soothing the baby who was still wailing, he could not help calling the attention of one of the midwives.

He began to suspect if Odette did anything to the baby, but the way that she was sweating and doing everything humanly possible to save the other baby that was about to die made him have some doubts.

When the baby finally stopped crying, he took the baby back from the midwife who went to help out with Ursula.

"Do not worry, little one. Father would never leave you again" he said to the baby as he heard another outburst of a crying baby.

He rushed over to Ursula who was smiling and looking at the other baby that Odette was holding. The baby had white long hair with a tattoo of a white half-sun on her forehead.

"I did it!" Odette mumbled looking at the crying baby as she began to cry as she was able to save the baby.

The midwives and the king and queen had no idea why Odette was crying, they just watched as she carried and soothe the baby, and Lucas immediately removed the doubt he was having about her.

Lucas held the other baby and Odette was with the other. They presented the babies to Ursula who began crying and laughing at the same time.

"My babies!" She muttered. By this time, the white stone had stopped crying.

The midwives began to clear up the place as Odette handed the white stone to Adelle who took the baby and started rocking her.

"I need some fresh air" she announced and walked out of the chamber and closed the door after her. She immediately rested her back on the wall and could scarcely breathe. She wiped off the bead of sweat from her forehead and started walking through the passageway again.

She moved stealthily and kept looking back at regular intervals, making sure that no one was trailing behind her back until she got to where the Council Chief was waiting for her.

Immediately he saw her, he grabbed her shirt and pushed her to the wall. She bulged her eyes as her heart skipped.

"Tell me the black stone is dead!" He mumbled as a flicker of tears dropped from her eyes.

"I tried to, but she did not..."

"She did not what?! Tell me if she is alive or dead!" He yelled as she began to cry.

"She is alive! There was no time. The King was there, I could not. But I think he must suspect me for doing something to the baby and..."

"What happened? Why could you not kill her?" He barked at her

"I almost did. I swear! But the white stone was in trouble!" She cried out as he started using his magic on her. He clenched his fist as her throat began to tighten.

"If I had killed... killed...the black stone... the white stone would have died... I had fo sacrifice..."

"What?!" He exclaimed and released his fist as she fell to the ground and began coughing while holding her throat.

"What do you mean by that?" He urged her as she continued coughing, trying to catch her breath.

"The nuchal cord was looped around the neck of the white stone, I had to intervene else we would have lost her" she finally spoke and was touching her throat, she immediately wondered what the black stone felt when she was obstructing her from breathing.

"And you feel that that could not wait? You could have executed the plan first!" He said angrily.

"Adelle called to my attention and if I had not intervened fast. If I had hesitated, we would have lost both of them and the chance of having another Queen!" She explained as his nerves began to calm.

Although he was filled with rage, he back faced her and became deep in thought.

"Leave!" He uttered as she scurried away without thinking twice.

*.*

7 Days Later. (Presentation of the Princesses to the Council)

At the Council Meeting.

The council was gathered as they waited for the scroll keeper, Clara, who rang the bell the day her grandmother died and she saw a new prophecy. But the council did not hold as the Queen who gave birth that same day could not attend.

So, she was to tell the prophecy on the day that the princesses were to appear before the council for the first time.

The princesses were kept in two different cradles, the white stone in a black cradle and the white stone in a white cradle at the middle of the hall where everyone could see.

The Queen sat on her throne while Lucas sat beside her. They knew that it would be very tough at the meeting as everyone was prepared for the worse.

This time, the black and white witches did not sit together as they used to, rather, they segregated themselves with the black witches, staying in a row and the white witches staying at the other.

The council chief was also present as he held a sullen expression.

"Forgive my delay," Clara said immediately she walked in. Although she was just 16 years old, she was given the respect given to Scroll keepers as they do not see her age, but what she is and could do.

The council chief immediately stood up to address them so that they could quickly move on.

"I stand on behalf of the whole council members to give our sincere condolences to Clara for the loss of her grandma, Annabel. It was not just her loss, but the loss of Stoneville at large. We would all stand in silence for a brief period to pay the last respect to our Annabel" He spoke as everyone

suddenly stood up in silence.

They remained that way with their heads bowed for a few minutes as the Council Chief nodded, and they all say down except him.

"We shall start the meeting now" he announced.

"But before we move to the decision to be taken about the babies, we need to hear the new prophecy from the new Scroll Keeper" he ended and sat down as Clara stood.

She did exactly as she saw her grandma did 7 days ago when they arrived to relay the prophecy before she started talking.

"I am honored to be before the presence of the great council of Stoneville as the new Scroll Keeper. I promise to do my best to carry out the duty that has been assigned to me by destiny and bloodline" she spoke and bowed as they waited patiently for her to start spilling the beans.