Just like Edward, I was also curious to find out what actually happened to Jasmine.
Where did she go with her baby?
Was she truly a healer?
Who were the people who stored these moments?
Was Jasmine capable of storing time too?
Was she involved in creating this book?
Were there other books like this, for all the other kings in the family?
Was there a book for David that showed how he died?
Why was Edward’s book incomplete?
Who actually stored his time?
How could I meet that person?
But then, the more I read about Edward, the more secrets were revealed.
I tried to ask Bakr how he found the book, but he never answered me. I was curious about his relationship to Edward. When I first came to the store, why did he tell me that Edward waited for me for years? How did he know Edward? Was he able to read the book? I wanted to know everything so badly, but the old man never uttered a single word in answer to my questions.
The night Edward was summoned to King Stefan’s room, where he found out the family secrets, he questioned himself. He thought Jasmine was the one inside the mirror, that she was the woman he’d met and longed for. I wanted to tell him desperately that it was I he coveted. It was I he touched and felt in the mirror, and not a witch who was obsessed with David. I wished I could turn back the wheels of time and call him by his name and not David’s. Things would have been different then. He wouldn’t have stopped dreaming. He wouldn’t have stopped finding solace in talking to me.
The next day, Edward was called once again to Stefan’s room, where his father showed him a secret passage. I shared this secret with my friends. I told them about the secret library underneath the castle, which was only accessible to the kings. I noticed that there were books kept in that library that were similar to the one from the bookstore in Morocco. I wondered if they were life stories of the deceased kings before Edward. I wanted to find out the truth about Jasmine and David.
I asked Steve if we could go back to the castle, but for the time being, he had changed his plans. I believed he had started to embrace the truth that I truly had some connection either with the magicians, or the Hue family. How? None of us knew.
A month passed in Edward’s life and his birthday came on June 11th. It was a grand ball, but the main ceremony took place in the chapel. I was able to read his expression—the way he looked at the mirror and avoided facing it. I knew it reminded him of me, of the passion we felt in that one stolen moment. Hundreds of maidens attended the party from all across England, France and Italy, but never once did Edward look at them. He was lost in his own thoughts.
Before King Stefan could announce his future bride, Edward sneaked out of the chapel secretly and rode off on Ulysses. Where he went was not told either in the book, or in recorded history.
After I finished reading his book, my friends wanted to know what I saw. I couldn’t gather my thoughts at all. Edward had stolen my heart and I had to find him. I would never be able to spend the rest of my life without knowing where he’d gone. I wanted to know what happened to him. I wanted to go back to him. I said, “He can’t go like that. Where did he go?”
“What did you see, Myra?” Julia asked.
“Edward…he just disappeared.” I stuttered and looked at Steve with hope. “Please take me back, Steve. I know he is waiting for me. He wants me in his life. He just can’t vanish like that.”
“Please try to understand, he had chosen darkness for himself. He chose the path of his forefathers.”
“No,” I screamed. “Edward is different. He is not like the other Hue men in the past.” I shook my head. “Maybe he wanted to run away from the dictatorship his forefathers imposed. Maybe he wanted to bring change, but—”
“Myra!” Steve interrupted. “Edward was…” he emphasized the past tense and pulled me back to reality. “He was different. He was not like other Hue men. He was not part of that system.” Steve sighed. “He was, Myra…he was…don’t forget that.”
“I have to go back to him.” My voice trembled. “I must stop him before he disappears into darkness.”
But then Steve reminded me I was running after a shadow. It was a bitter truth that stung me hard…Edward was history.
I’d fallen for a man from the past.
For a month Julia kept asking me what I’d read in the book. She thought I’d simply read some words; she didn’t know that I actually saw Edward’s untold story. I heard his voice. It was the voice of the man I met in the mirror, so it was definitely Edward. I asked Steve so many times to take me back to Hue castle, but he had postponed the plans for his game. Somehow he realized my mind was not stable. After watching someone’s horrible life, endless tortures and excruciating pains—who would stay in her right mind?
And since Steve was unable to capture the castle in his camera, it was useless for him to try to film it for the game.
The only information I shared with my friends was that Edward had a sister named Veronica and her daughter was named Emma. Also that King David and Andrew were not originally kings and they never belonged to King Audrey’s family. They stole the throne from Jasmine—despite the fact that she was a witch. She was still a queen. She trusted those men.
Julia told us that if we publicly contradicted the documented history, then there would be more questions regarding Hue Castle. Experts would want to know where I obtained the information, and they would likely not believe it was authentic. She thought it might jeopardize my privacy if the world learned about Hue Castle and what had happened there. We all sealed our lips, and I locked Edward’s untold story in my heart.
I knew Edward had banished me from his dreams, but now he had started coming into my dreams. Every night after watching his life story, I met him in my dreams. I saw myself living in his castle, sharing laughter with him. I knew it was a silly desire, because we were cruelly separated by time. I came to the conclusion that time was my biggest enemy. I didn’t know how he died.
Did he think about me before leaving?
Did he take his own life?
Did I ever come back into his dreams?
Did he ever cry for Veronica? Because from what I saw in his life—he never did. He didn’t shed a single tear on his sister’s grave. He never went to visit her grave at all. He turned into stone and built a tomb around his existence. No one could touch him—no one could ever affect him.
Today I was invited to dinner at the Bernards’ manor. Steve had visited me many times after we returned from Morocco. My parents asked me about my experience, but I was so lost, I couldn’t find a way to come out of Edward’s world. My life was stuck in the fifteenth century. Mom advised me that if I could start a job or spend more time with Steve, things might change.
But nothing changed.
At work, I was always lost in my thoughts. Not a moment was spent thinking about anything other than Edward. He was with me without being with me. I wished I could share my feelings with someone, but who would believe me? If I told anyone that a man living six hundred years ago desired me and I met him through a magical mirror and exchanged touches, they would think I was crazy. I knew Julia, Steve and Tyler believed me, but they thought it was too risky to go back to Hue castle. They were afraid of what else I’d find out there. They thought I might have seen Edward’s ghost. How could I make them believe he was real?
Steve had set his dream of making a game about Hue castle aside because he believed others’ lives to be more important than his game. He was right, obviously, but I wasn’t scared of taking the risk. I would trample any barrier if it meant I could meet Edward once before I died—to tell him that I actually existed.
We were at the Bernards’ manor, waiting for dinner to be served. I had come with my parents and gone out to the manor’s huge terrace without talking to anyone. I didn’t even bother looking for Steve. My parents were extremely worried about my behavior. I knew I wasn
’t acting normal, but there was nothing I could do except to just touch that mirror one more time and try to see Edward.
It was twilight, and the warm May breeze was playing with my hair. It was a beautiful view from the terrace out into their garden. I watched the sky as it filled with darkness. I hadn’t wanted to come here. Steve and I now had a very stilted relationship. I’d thought he was my honest friend, but he changed the day I finished the book.
The night we came back from the bookstore, I stood outside on the hotel balcony watching the majestic city of Casablanca. Our room was on the twenty-sixth floor. We stayed there for five nights. Steve had considered me as his friend, and we bonded in a sacred relationship. But Tyler had left the day before due to a family emergency, and that night Steve and I were alone in the suite.
I was engrossed in watching the city life below me when I felt Steve’s hand on my shoulder.
“Still thinking about him?” he asked me.
I turned around and noticed he was shirtless. He was wearing only his beige pajama bottoms—his walnut hair was wet from his shower. He smelled of musk and mint. His body was beautifully tanned, courtesy of the California sun.
I nodded and looked down at my feet. He held my chin up and made me look at him. Touching my cheek with his warm fingers, he moved closer to me. “Do you know you’re very beautiful?”
I smiled at his comment. “You said that before.”
“If I say that whatever I said in the past was all a lie to see how honest you were…would you believe me?”
That caught my attention. “What do you mean?”
He took a deep breath and came an inch closer to my mouth. I didn’t expect he would kiss me. I never thought a person who told me on our first meeting that he had a boyfriend and was apparently homosexual would kiss me. He’d asked me to reject him for marriage the first time we met.
I closed my eyes and shut down everything. I was not prepared for his kiss when his warm lips touched mine.
I didn’t feel anything.
Nothing sparked in me.
When he felt that I wasn’t reciprocating, he pulled back. His voice was dazed and I realized he was drunk.
“I liked you the moment my mom asked me to meet you. Your blogs, your pictures, your interests, your stupid castle adventures—everything bewitched me, Myra.” I just stared at him agape. What was he talking about?
“All my life…girls had run after me crazily. Not because of me, but for my parents’ money. I was looking for someone who would see beyond my family’s wealth.” He looked up and shook his head. “And then I saw you.” He paused. “I didn’t want to lie. I wanted to be honest with you, but I was too afraid to try my luck. I didn’t want you to choose me because of the money, but to accept me for who I am. I wanted a friend who could see me without my wealth.” He grazed his fingers over my arm. “And then you still wanted to stay friends with me. You still didn’t reject the idea of marriage even when I told you I was gay.” He was playing with my skin. I stood there motionless, trying to absorb his words—truth or lie, I didn’t know. “You accepted my companionship because you were crazy to visit Hue Castle. I liked that. I really liked your honesty.” He entwined his fingers with mine. “I was mesmerized by everything you did. What happened in Hue castle—your power to discover its secrets. The way you talked to Edward—I know you were not lying. You talked to him. I totally believe you. You sensed his touch, because the way your body responded—I got jealous. I got jealous of a man who had died six hundred years ago.”
“Steve…I don’t know—”
“Just don’t say anything, Myra. I know you saw something in that book which is not documented in the history books, and you don’t want to tell anyone what it is. In fact, I felt there was something in there that was exclusively for you. Am I right?”
I nodded silently.
“And it’s okay…that’s yours and Edward’s secret to keep. I know you lived with him throughout his life, because the moment you begged me to go back to the mirror, I realized you saw something you weren’t prepared for.”
I sighed.
“Edward has become a part of your dreams and fantasies now. No one can take his place. I understand.” He paused and looked deeply into my eyes. His gaze was confusing me. “But I want to be your reality, Myra.” He was reading my face closely. “Marry me!”
“I…” I was at a loss for words.
“I know our meeting was fixed up by our parents, but like, I’m in love with you—I want you to love me in the same way and then say you’ll marry me. I don’t want an arranged marriage. ”
He was trying to ignite something inside me with his passionate words but nothing sparked. I cleared my throat and asked, “So you’re not gay?”
“Did you not hear what I just said? I’m in love with you.” His eyes were silently screaming his desire. I wanted to run away from this suite, but where would I go? He firmly kissed my lips again, hoping I’d let him in but I couldn’t. I felt like I was betraying Edward. I still had a hope of seeing him again. How? I didn’t know.
I pulled. “Steve, I—”
“I know you’re confused.” He would just not let me talk. I had to tell him the truth. I was already in love with Edward, and he deserved to know that. I knew it was a totally imbecilic idea to run after a man who was now history, but what could I do with this stupid heart that was beating for him? His voice echoed in my ears, the way he looked up at me by the lake and asked if I could hear him—how could I ever forget it?
“I’ll give you time.” He caressed my face ever so softly. I could see sincerity in his voice, but my heart was not moving. “Let’s just stay friends till all this fades away.” He released me and walked back into the hotel room.
Fades away? Did he think this would fade away for me?
After his confession, things were not the same between us. I’d avoided Steve at any cost, because every time I’d meet him at any family dinner, his eyes were holding the same question—had I given any thought to his proposal? According to our families, our engagement party was fixed for next month, and I didn’t have the courage to walk away from it. What would I tell my mom? I had foolishly fallen in love with a dead man? They had chosen a perfect guy for me, who had confessed his love, and I had no strength to reject him.
Today I had to face Steve again. I didn’t know if he was home or not. My parents had dragged me to this dinner. Our parents were discussing the plans for our engagement party downstairs, and I was thinking only of Edward.
I kept staring at the lush green lawn in front of me…wondering what it would be like if Hue castle had a lawn like that. How would Edward have felt, walking on the grass barefoot? How would he feel, watching the morning sun or the clouds raining on him? How would he feel, looking at himself in the mirror?
I wished I could make everything possible for him.
I wished I could bring colors to his monochrome life.
I wished I could make him happy and make him cry, so he could kiss me with joy.
I wished I could create sparks in his heart so he’d hold me tightly in his arms and hug me.
I wished I could twist his soul so he could tear down all his defenses and cry on my shoulder for his sister’s death.
He needed closure. I wanted him to grieve over Veronica’s death. It was his caged tears that turned him into stone.
All my wishes were far from normal. I had to live in this world.
If I had just seen the book and had not talked to Edward through the mirror—I would have settled my mind, assuming he desired some other woman, but since I knew how his touch felt and the similar jolts we felt when we touched, it was impossible for me to ever forget him.
I was lost in my own world on the Bernards’ terrace when I heard footsteps. I turned around and saw Steve walking toward me.
“Hi.” He came closer to me and kissed me on the temple. He still acted normal, as if nothing had happened between us. “Always good to see you.”
“Hi.” I looked away. I still felt awkward around him. Didn’t he remember the night he made his confession of love? How did he manage to sound so normal?
“You look beautiful.” He tugged my curl behind my ear. “That dress suits you.” I was wearing a lime-green chiffon dress, which my mom picked out for me to wear today. She knew better than me what he’d like. I smiled back, acknowledging his compliment.
“Your parents are looking for you.” He took my hand without any hesitation. “Dinner is ready.”
I followed him without saying anything. Although I had already seen his parents’ manor, the interior of this beautiful place never ceased to amaze me. It was like a mini-castle enriched with Renaissance artifacts. The entire manor was the epitome of wealth and affluence, and I was being pushed to become a part of it. I should jump for joy—any girl would be thrilled to be Steve’s wife, but I was still a hopeless case, mooning over Edward.
Steve held my hand firmly while we entered the lavish dining room. It was a large dining table that could seat sixteen guests, made of sandalwood and embossed with gold. The table was covered with a rich red velvet tablecloth, adorned with a large, beautiful centerpiece of crystal. Mrs. Bernard was a crystal lover. Her house was loaded with crystal decorations.
“Here comes the beautiful couple,” Mrs. Bernard exclaimed. We exchanged “hi’s” and “hello’s” and Steve pulled out a chair for me next to him. He never let go of my hand. The table was exquisitely set. I was afraid to even touch the fine china. The dinnerware radiated affluence.
“Paula.” Mrs. Bernard put a hand on my mom’s hand to get her attention. She was sitting next to my mother, opposite us. “I’ve never seen my son this way—the way he treats Myra. I’m so happy our kids liked each other.” I could see my mother’s heart leaping in a happy dance. It was visible in her eyes. She’d always wished to find the perfect guy for me. Steve was the embodiment of perfection—looks, wealth, family status—and above all his interest in me. I looked at Steve, who was blushing like a girl. He still held my hand firmly and kept it in his lap.
Once Upon A [Stolen] Time (Stolen Series Book 1) Page 17