The River's Reversal

For centuries, the waters of Galdwin River flowed serenely through the heart of Eldoria, winding through lush valleys and shadowed forests-a symbol of life and prosperity. But on that fateful morning, its waters rebelled against nature itself, retreating toward the mountains from whence they came. The sight sent ripples of fear through the land as villagers gathered on the banks, whispering prayers to long-forgotten gods.

By noon, the news spread all over the kingdom. However, this was not the only threat in town. Upon reaching the capital, word came that Queen Elowen had disappeared from her chambers without leaving one sign of passing. Her throne sat empty, and her crown was abandoned. Panic gripped the heart of the kingdom and chilled its bones as it took in the unnatural flow of the river.

A cacophonous mayhem reigns in the castle. Servants scamper through dim corridors, whispering behind them, drawing mutters from the courtiers standing within darkened alcoves. Sir Aldric, captain of the Queen's Guard, stands brooding before the palace gates, his jaw clenched and his eyes scanning the horizon. He failed. For his duty was to guard the Queen, and she had vanished beneath his very watchful nose.

Just one clue remained: the crown, put upon her bed, gleaming as if untouched by human toil. It was said the crown of Eldoria held power beyond just magic; it was said to hold within it ancient, primordial energies coursing through the land. The elders of old whispered a bond between monarch and kingdom: that should the Queen fall, so too would the land.

But Aldric was a man who did not believe in myths and prophecies. All he knew was that Queen Elowen had to be located.

"Gather the council," Aldric shouted to a squire passing by, his voice tight with urgency. "We have to move fast. If the Queen isn't returned before sundown, the people will ask for explanations and if we have none, we'll have all reasons to fear rebellion.".

Young Maeve sat silently in one of the castle's darkest corners. It was a place devoid of the noise-filled courtyards and hushed whispers, quite a way from the bustling lives to be heard outside. She was a handmaiden to the Queen, but it was hardly an important position. As she sat, day and night, in such solitude, she gained no say in matters of the court, no noble blood to proclaim, and yet alone knew something no one else did.

The Queen hadn't disappeared at least, not in the way the others thought.

Maeve had spent the night in the Queen's chambers. She was just tending the evening fire, poking at the coals with her fire poker, when she saw it take place. One moment Queen Elowen stood at the window gazing out into the moonlit courtyard. Then a shift of light seemed to envelop her, and then she was gone. No sound, no struggle—just swallowed up by the air itself.

And then, a voice: not the Queen's, but an old thing, some mighty thing.

"The river will run backwards when the Queen is no more."

She had told him nothing, and yet she was telling the Captain of the Guard the same thing she would tell no one else. Who would believe her? She was only a handmaiden, after all, a provincial girl from the low districts. But as the day dragged on and the reversal in the river continued, she felt the weight of truth resting on her chest.

There was something at work here - ancient magic. A stirring of the sort that had not taken place in Eldoria for centuries. And if the Queen was, indeed gone, then it also meant the kingdom was more vulnerable than they could ever imagine.

As the council had begun in the great hall, Aldric stood up before them, determination etched on his countenance. With a shake in his voice and a tremble in his step, the kingdom's eldest counsellor, Lord Beric, spoke first.

"The disappearance of the Queen is not by accident," Beric said, his eyes scanning the room at the gathering of nobles. "This is the work of dark forces. We must prepare for war."

"War?" Aldric sneered. "Against whom? Our borders don't boast of enemies. The Queen disappears into the blizzard, and the river runs back to its source. It is a lot worse than war."

"Prophecies," Lord Marlowe murmured from the far end of the table. "The ancient scrolls spoke of this, didn't they? A Queen who would disappear, a river defying its course and a kingdom cast into the dark."

Aldric shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the term prophecy. He had little use for such things. "The prophecies will not bring the Queen back. We require action, not riddles from old."

But Beric was not impressed. "Captain," he said, "if you forget the old ways, you forget the very magic that holds this kingdom together. The Queen's bond with the land is real. If she is truly dead, the kingdom will crumble."

The hall had become very quiet. Aldric knew Beric wasn't exactly lying. The Queen's connection to the land was legendary lore, and Aldric rarely gave much stock to such things but there was no denying that the river's reversal was unnatural.

"Then we find her," Aldric said sternly. "Whatever magic has taken her, we will undo it."

"But how to start?" asked Lord Marlowe. "If there is magic at play, that is beyond the reach of swords and soldiers."

Aldric turned to Beric. "The old magic-how do we follow it? How do we find the Queen?"

Beric paused, then whispered in a low voice. "There's but one place. An old temple, deep in the heart of the Elden Forest. Rumour has it that it contains remnants of ancient magic. If it's true that such powers have taken the Queen, that's where you might find answers."

The Forest of Elden. Even Aldric, the seasoned warrior that he was, quaked at the name. The forest was a place of myths and nightmares, they said, a place of ancient legends, where creatures unimaginable for a thousand years may yet be found. None who entered the forest had ever returned.

"That is where we'll go," Aldric said. "I will take a small group. We leave at first light."

It was at dusk that Maeve slipped through the twisting corridors of the castle, her heart pounding. She had made her decision. She could no longer stay silent. If the Queen was to be found, she had to tell someone what she had seen—what she had heard.

But the voice whispered to her that night still echoed in her mind.

"The river will run backwards when the Queen is no more."

And far down, Maeve felt this was but the start of things.

What do you guys think of the beginning chapter? There's much mystery about the disappearance of the Queen and the ancient magic coming alive. We could introduce the next steps: Aldric journeying into the Forest of Elden, Maeve's part in discovering the truth.