“And what made you think I’d say yes?”
He stopped again and looked at me for a moment. There was something on the tip of his tongue that he was holding back. “I know you’d never turn down the opportunity.”
I crossed my arms. “Oh! Hello, Mr. Confident.” I wrinkled my nose.
“Ever heard of Hue Castle?” His gaze was filled with amusement.
My heart came into my throat. “Oh my God! What did you just say?”
“Uh huh! You heard me.” He pursed his lips. He was trying to conceal his laughter because he damn well knew I was in utter shock.
“Oh my God, Steve. You’re going to go inside Hue Castle and film it?”
“Yes.” He was completely casual—like it wasn’t a big deal. “I read in your blog how desperate you are to go there.”
“Oh my God.” I started jumping up and down like a kid. “How did you get permission?”
“Our family has strong connections with the British government.” He smiled.
“Yeah but still…that castle has been closed to the public for centuries. No one…like NO ONE goes in there, Steve. Doesn’t that creep you out?”
“Well, that’s one of the things that makes it perfect. I was looking for the creepiest castles, and what is creepier than—”
“But how…how…how in the world did you get to go in there?” I was hyperventilating. “I mean…that place has been abandoned for six hundred years and no one…literally no one gets to go in there and you—”
“Myra….” He grabbed me by the forearms. “Calm down…calm down…”
I was breathing hard.
“So, do you want to do it?” he asked. “Do you want to come with my team and be that game character who digs out the secrets?”
“You just…” I put my hands to my mouth. “Oh my God, Steve…yes…yes…” I screamed like a child and hugged him tightly. “Yes…yes…oh my God…yes…”
And guess what happened next? We looked around and saw our mothers watching us. Mom was staring at me in shock. Oh! What exactly did they hear?
Caroline rushed toward us. “Oh dear…I’m so happy for both of you. I knew you two were perfect for each other. Didn’t I tell you, Steve?” She kissed her son on the forehead.
Oh! She thought he proposed to me? Oh good Lord!
“Mom…we were just talking about—”
“Sweetheart…this calls for a toast.” She pulled away from Steve. “Come, Paula. Let’s celebrate. I have to make an announcement. Our kids just got engaged.” She winked at my mother. “And, Steve…sweetheart…when you’re done talking to your girl…come for lunch.” And they both left.
“Oh, Jesus! This has gotten even more awkward.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“What do we do now?” I asked. “You gotta go tell her right now that she took it wrong.”
“Hell no! I’m not going back there.” He put his hands on my shoulders. “Let’s just ignore it for now.” He took a deep breath. “We will figure it out together. Okay?”
“Okay!”
“Now, as for Hue Castle…”
“Yes?” I was panicking inside.
As much as the idea of going there thrilled me, I was also shit scared too. There had been so many rumors about that haunted castle. If the British government had seized that place centuries ago and had not allowed anyone to even film it…there must be some solid reasons behind it. I had always been curious to learn the castle’s secrets, but there wasn’t much information on Internet about it.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eight in the morning, and we’ll find out what secrets those stone walls are hiding.” He broke into my thoughts and gave me his innocent smile. “I’ve got to work on this prototype and come up with a very creative idea for this game. And I don’t want any problems with it. I’ve got to create the best possible game any gamer has ever played. They make movies based on game themes, just like they make movies based on books. Tomb Raider was a game first, and look how that evolved over time. That’s what I’m going for with this game.” I kept listening to him. His career meant a lot to him—it was more like a passion. I found his job very interesting. He actually had something to look forward to in his life, and now he had given me something to look forward to as well. “I will talk to mom myself later but for now…let’s just leave it for a while so I can focus on work. We are friends now, so please try to understand that this project means a lot to me.”
“Okay…” I nodded in affirmation.
“Great.” He gestured me toward a French white patio set. “Come…sit.”
I followed him quietly.
“So…” He casually rolled up his sleeves. “You like visiting castles?”
“Yes.” I was trying to calm myself down. “I have this crazy love for castles and palaces. I’ve visited almost all the castles around the UK except for Hue, and you know why.”
“Hmm…I read that in your blog.” The way he was watching me, it was obvious he was thinking of me completely as his game character. “And what have you read about Hue Castle?”
I shifted a bit on my patio chair. “There’s not much information about it. They say that it had lower walls around its grounds when it was originally built, but after the British government claimed and seized it, they built up the walls higher so no one could see inside while passing by.”
“What else have you read? Like, people have these weird superstitions about it.” It seemed that his interest was more in me than the castle.
“Yeah…really creepy stuff, I’ve heard. Like…they say that the castle fell under a curse around the twelfth or thirteenth century. It belonged to the Hue family during their reign, and even when they had wars…no one ever tried to claim it because no one wanted to live there. It was like a jinx to the entire Hue family.”
“I read that too, on Wikipedia. It sounds like a fairy tale. Do you honestly believe that?”
“I don’t know. Some people think even dragons are real. So this could be too.” He kept watching me. “I mean, if there’s been so much talk about this curse for so many centuries…maybe it’s true.”
“Maybe we’ll find out something about it.” He gave me a devilish smile. Something was cooking in his mind. “The person who is taking us there has some really in-depth knowledge of the castle. You’ve no idea what kind of personal favors—obviously from my parents—I used to get hold of that historian. She has done a huge amount of research on the castle. And guess what she told me?”
“Yeah?”
“That the inside of the castle is monochrome.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means it’s all colorless.” He bent his head closer to me…like we were sharing a secret. “See…the government hasn’t published pictures of the inside of the castle. They say that once…the castle was filled with colors…the gardens had beautiful cherry blossom trees and lavender, and the solarium was filled with exotic and rare plants. But after it was cursed, the castle lost its color.”
I looked at him with great interest. It sounded like Beauty and the Beast, where the witch hexed the rude prince and turned him into the Beast. But that was a Disney movie. How could that be possible in the real world?
“So what does that mean?”
“It means you can’t grow a plant inside its boundaries. The sun doesn’t shine within the walls—it doesn’t rain; it doesn’t snow.”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out tomorrow.”
“So are you going to mention in the game that it’s been shot in Hue Castle? Will the British government allow that?”
“Hell, no! No one knows about the inside of the castle…in fact, no one has even seen it. People are dead scared of going inside because of all the creepy rumors. Even half of my teammates refused to go, and told me I could bring pictures and videos and they will do something with them. But our company has signed an NDA with the British government, and promised that we’d just say that whateve
r is in the game is purely fictitious and any resemblance to anyone or anything is purely coincidental…and you know…all that shit.”
“But why?”
“Because if the game became a blockbuster, everyone would want to visit Hue Castle and apparently, the government doesn’t like that idea.”
“It seems much more complicated than I imagined.” I just looked at him in amazement. Wow! I kinda like this guy. Not in that way…but wow…he just amazed me with this new information.
“Yes, so you better seal your lips too. Don’t tell anyone that I’m taking you there.” He held my hand tightly. “Promise me, or I will fire you from your new job.”
“Yes, of course I promise. I’ve always wanted to see that castle and know its secrets.”
“I will bring an NDA for you tomorrow, then.” He looked at me closely. “The reason I asked you to come with me is that I saw how desperate you were to see it. So I thought I wouldn’t get a better partner in crime than you.”
I smiled at him.
“So you agree to be my girl in the game?” His question was more intimate than any proposal. He had no idea what he had just offered.
I placed my other hand over his and smiled. “Steve…you just made my dream come true.”
I knew it...agreeing to work with him today would change my life forever.
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.
That myth is more potent than history.
That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience.
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.”
Robert Fulghum
CHAPTER 2
EDWARD
APRIL 1415
She is standing in my courtyard. Everything in nature surrounds her—hugs her and is dazzled by her…including me.
Beautiful flowers of every hue and aroma are grown in this majestic garden. My eyes are burning; I’m simultaneously overwhelmed and awed by the colorful oasis. Never have I been so close to nature, to growing things. Her alchemy drives me mad.
She’s gifted me with all the colors, but I painted her with darkness.
As much as I crave feeling the sunlight and the flowers against my skin, I want her touch too. I am cursed and doomed to never experience the beauty of the natural world, for all eternity.
She watches me with extreme hatred in her eyes—her gaze throwing fireballs at me. She doesn’t know I’m already burning, but since she despises me so much, I can’t even dare to come close to her. I want to end this tortuous distance between us—but I was the one who created this hatred in her.
She was a beautiful tender rose—I stole her fragrance, crushed her petals and burned her in hell. If I knew the fire with which I was conflagrating her would come to engulf me—I swear I wouldn’t have done it. Her spell is too strong for me not to fall; her curse is too mighty for me to run away.
Her deadly yet magical existence haunts me, excites me and has thrown me into a pit of deep lust. She is my prisoner, but she doesn’t realize that I’m the one who’s already submitted to her slavery, when I first touched her.
Despite being her captor, I am still her captive.
She walks toward me, enthralling me with her grace and beauty, altering and accelerating my heartbeat. She has the power to throw me into hell as well as show me heaven. I’ve never been able to understand her witchcraft. I was warned to stay away from her sorcery—she was born and cursed with it—yet my heart kept running after her.
Now…there’s nothing left for me to survive on. She has my heart and my soul. Why is she here? What does she want from me now? Perhaps she wants to cut my heart from my body…just to see if it’s beating for her or not.
The distance between us closes and I lean my back against the giant tree trunk—the same tree where I tried to write her fate. She is holding my sword—my only weapon of protection—but it doesn’t matter now. She wants my life for her eternal peace—I will give it to her.
Her steel-grey eyes are much stronger than any armor or shield I’m wearing. She doesn’t need my sword to kill me…all she needs to do is place her hand on my heart. I will be undone…forever.
“Edward…?” I heard my sister’s voice. “Edward? Wake up!”
I opened my eyes and looked at my sister Veronica as if she were a ghost.
“What’s wrong?” She looked at me with concern. “Nightmare again?”
I nodded.
“Same as usual?”
I sighed. She understood. It had always been the same dream, since I didn’t know when. I’d never had any other dream since my brain started to function, and I believe we all start to remember our dreams by the age of seven.
My twin sister Veronica was my other half. As much as I knew about myself…she was more aware of my emotions and the whirlpool I was drowning in. With her by my side, I felt peace and solace, which was nonexistent in our kingdom.
“Your training is going to start in an hour.” She raked her fingers through my hair, like my mother would have. I’d never known our mother, but Veronica, despite being my twin, treated me like her son—always giving me the motherly warmth I craved. “You know how King Stefan hates it when you’re late.”
Stefan Hue, the seventh monarch of the Hue royal bloodline, was my father and current king of England. I always found it amusing and strange that Hue was our family name, and yet the only thing we lacked in our castle was colors. Our castle was monochrome—everything in black or grey—and sometimes I had a feeling that someone had put a curse on us. The castle grounds encompassed hundreds of acres, but not a single flower or natural form of wildlife dared to exist there. Outside those boundaries, everything was lush green—vast field of daffodils, lavender, and lilies, with natural springs and wild forest. Our castle was the only place painted and doomed in caliginosity.
The only living creatures that existed in Hue castle were my family, our horses, and the servants who served us—coming from the colorful village outside. Birds never chirped on our terraces. Rats never sneaked into our hallways. Spiders never made their homes in the corners.
Our royal sorcerer Haakon tried his very best to create a potent spell that could bring life to our land, making it as green as the world outside…but for more than two hundred years this castle had been darkened. The sun had forgotten to shine on us; it had forgotten to shed its warmth into our lives. The clouds had turned away their faces—they rested upon us but they never poured.
For two hundred years, our family had tried to bring every possible flower seed to grow within our castle boundary, but the land refused to give back. The flowers died as soon as they were buried in our soil. There was something hidden in our land—a demon perhaps—who had a never-ending appetite for everything natural.
I pushed myself off the bed and placed my feet on the ground. My sister kept looking at me—she knew how terrible I felt each morning. Sleep had become my greatest enemy—the woman in my dreams never ceased to haunt me. Same glowing face, eyes as grey and hard as steel, and skin as flawless as porcelain. I had been introduced to many women from other noble families all across England, but none matched her beauty.
There was no one in our entire kingdom who could interpret my dream—even Haakon had no remedy for it. Those intelligent grey eyes, hair as brown as sandalwood with curls that could bind you, and her fragrance…yes, though it was strange to say, I could sense her, feel her, and smell her in my dreams. Since the age of seven, I had not dreamed anything besides her. If she ever came to me outside my dream, I’d recognize her with my eyes closed.
“I was thinking…” Veronica broke into my thoughts, speaking hesitantly. “You should sleep somewhere outside the castle.”
I looked at her blankly—I was still not completely out of my haunted dream.
“You know…everything seems cursed here. King Stefan has some secrets, and it seems like he has no intentio
n of sharing them with his heir.” I saw shadows of the past in her eyes, and she gazed down at her palm. “Forget about me. I was never a part of this family.” She looked up at me. “But you are his son. Soon you’ll be given the crown, and I’m sure you’ll get to know a lot after you become king.”
I kept looking at her, trying to gauge the usefulness of her advice.
“Try sleeping outside the castle, maybe in some villager’s house or under a tree. Perhaps it’s the secret curse that’s causing the nightmares?” A glint of hope shone in her eyes. She always wanted the best for me. Her poor life was overshadowed by our father’s decisions. She was locked up and held captive in her own castle—never to look outside at the beautiful world. I always felt sorry for her but I never had courage to stand up for my beloved sister against King Stefan’s decision. He was the king, and the ruler of our lives too. Tyranny was in his blood. We were never given the opportunity to call him our father.
“I will try that.” I forced a smile just to reassure her. “But you know King Stefan. He makes sure we never mingle with any villagers, except those who are our slaves.” I placed my hands on my knees. “Our freedom is already sold. You know that, V.”
We looked at each other and chuckled sarcastically. We had already given up our dreams and our hope of happiness at the age of twenty-seven. We both knew that we’d never have any freedom while our father, the great King Stefan, was alive. We had finally made peace with our fate. What was the point of fighting when nothing was going to work against him? My innocent sister thought if I became the king, everything would change. She still didn’t know how treacherous our father was.
I went to the lavatory for my morning wakeup needs and came out dressed for breakfast in no time. My sister was folding the blanket from the other bed before anyone could find out that she and Emma sleep in my chamber every night.
Veronica had been ordered to sleep with her poor daughter in her chamber—to remind her of what she’d done in the past, so she could suffer for the rest of her life. I’d never forgive what King Stefan did to her. Perhaps one day, he’d pay for his sins. He thought he’d live forever—funny!
Once Upon A [Stolen] Time (Stolen Series Book 1) Page 3