Once Upon A [Stolen] Time (Stolen Series Book 1)

by Ahsan, Samreen

King Stefan watched my astounded expression.

  “As you can see, this room runs underneath the entire castle, and is the largest room in it.” I looked at him with utter shock. “Yes, Edward, this goes to all the corners of the castle. You’ll find books on every subject here.”

  “Why have we kept it hidden?” I asked him, still trying to absorb this revelation. As far as my eyes could see in the lantern light, there were books. It wasn’t just the library; it was the paradise of knowledge kept purposely hidden from the rest of the world. I had to find out why.

  “Knowledge makes you powerful. It allows you to achieve the unthinkable, and makes your mind wander where no one can reach. Ignorance is bliss for these people. If they acquire too much knowledge, our power will be taken from us. Sometimes it is good to remain ignorant.” His words shook me hard.

  Indeed, it was a blessing that I hadn’t known about this paradise, but now that I knew it was available, I was crazy to know if I could find out how I’d managed to meet Jasmine, and how she’d done everything she did.

  “This was Jasmine’s paradise and her private escape.” The thought of going back to the mirror and asking her about this was pulling me back to her. Her private world was certainly captivating. The entire castle was covered in darkness but this room—despite being windowless—had a certain kind of light that only knowledge could create.

  There was a wooden desk in one corner. King Stefan walked to the desk and grinned devilishly at me.

  “Now I will show you some magic.” He picked up a taper from the desk and lit it from the lantern. Behind the desk, there was a hole in the wall. He watched me watching him—probably enjoying my confusion. He threw the burning taper into the hole. The burning fire that was ignited from the tiny taper travelled rapidly across all the walls and within a minute, the entire room blossomed with light. Even though there was no natural light in this room, the entire area sparkled like a sunroom.

  “Let’s walk?” He stole my thoughts and started walking slowly, patiently allowing me to absorb this enchantment. My gaze wandered everywhere—from the trail of lights to the stream of knowledge and wisdom around me. Although it was underground and had low ceilings, the room was still airy—not claustrophobic, as it was in the staircase leading down here. I kept strolling behind King Stefan, looking everywhere.

  Just like the castle above, it had the same north, south, east, and west passages. We had come down from King Stefan’s room, which was located at the far west side of the castle, but I’d never known exactly what was under his room. Perhaps it was just the passage leading to this library.

  “You’ll need forever to go through everything.” He cut off my wandering thoughts. “For now, I brought you here to show you something important.” He took the turn toward the south. I followed him quietly.

  Suddenly I heard the sound of water flowing. I looked at King Stefan in surprise. He was certainly enjoying my astonishment. We walked further south, and what I saw stole the breath from me.

  It was a natural spring, coming out of the cursed ground.

  “How is this possible?” I asked him in awe.

  “This is the only area which was not affected by Jasmine’s curse, which removed all elements of nature from this castle. Either she left it purposely or forgot to curse it, but the water has been flowing here for centuries. In any weather, the water remains warm. This is the only natural resource we have left.” He was inundating me with information. “This was Jasmine’s private bath, and the mirror that you see in the chapel—it is said that it was initially placed here, across from her bath. She’d bathe herself in this warm water and then enjoy her beauty after coming out of it. Only David had the privilege of taking a bath in these waters.”

  “What do you mean only David?” I furrowed my eyebrows in concern.

  “The water is still cursed to us, Edward.” He spoke without passion. “Remember…if nature is forbidden to us, then why not this?” His tone was laced with sarcasm. “She just left this natural oasis for us to watch.”

  “So we cannot bathe in this water?”

  “No,” he said impassively.

  “What happens if we do?” I asked.

  “You’d develop a thirst that would be impossible for any water to quench.” King Stefan cleared his throat. “King Arthur, the second in the Hue line, tried to use it; he drank water for the rest of his life but his thirst never abated, so he died of it. After that, no one had the courage to touch this water.” He looked at my expression. “Just look at it, Edward. This looks like a paradise, invites you and tempts you, but this water is forbidden like the other elements of nature.” I took a deep breath, listening to the bitter truth. Honestly, I was better off not knowing about it. It was certainly the most inviting spring I had ever seen. “It is said that the water here is healing—I’m not sure how true that is. The last person who took a bath in this water without being harmed by it was Jasmine’s human daughter, who became sick after she was born. Jasmine gave her a bath in this water and the baby healed miraculously.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Legends, my son,” he answered. “The stories passed from father to son. Even the wives were unaware of the spring—or, in fact, the library.” I sucked in a deep breath. How could you hide a beautiful thing like this from your wife? But then, they never loved their wives.

  “How did Andrew learn about the power of this water, and about Jasmine giving a bath to her ill baby?” I inquired.

  “Because he was there. When David died and Andrew came for the funeral, he met the sick baby. He asked Jasmine why was she not worried about the sick child, and she smiled and said she had a remedy for all kinds of sickness.”

  “Is that how she cured King Audrey?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “Yes, that’s what the legends say,” he replied smoothly.

  “But how did Andrew find out that this water was hexed too?” I couldn’t stop questioning him.

  “When Andrew’s wife gave birth to her second child, she fell ill because of the curse. No doctor could heal her, so he took his wife into this water.” He shook his head. “She died not because of the sickness, but because of the thirst.”

  I sighed and watched the water flowing from the ground. Anyone would be tempted to take a bath in it. It was so peaceful here—no one watching you, no one reading you.

  “Where does the water flow from here?”

  “No one knows,” he answered abruptly. “I have tried to locate all the possible outlets for the water outside the castle, but it’s so damn deep that no one was able to find it.” He sighed. “I guess this runs underground all the way to the lake. The water needs a passage to flow through. If these stones are generating this cursed water, then it must be going somewhere.” He chuckled. “But how ridiculous it is—you die of thirst by drinking this goddamned water when it actually healed someone in past.”

  By revealing more hidden secrets of this castle, King Stefan was throwing me into deeper shit. It was the darkest pit—the more I learned about it, the more confused I felt. It was pulling me into murk I never imagined. Learning more knowledge and hidden secrets of this castle was pulling me more into calignosity. It was getting harder for me to step out of it.

  I didn’t blame King Stefan now. This darkness would engulf anyone, and make him brutish and carnal. Only the beast would be able to fathom the truth. I knew Veronica would never be able to take it in. Her soul was not as murky as mine—there was a constant light emanating from her soul that had kept my soul alive. Now that she was gone, only darkness resided in me.

  King Stefan interrupted my thoughts. “If you’re finished watching the spring, let’s go and have our breakfast.”

  After learning all this—I had lost my appetite.

  “We are never so defenseless against

  suffering as when we love.”

  Sigmund Freud

  CHAPTER 13

  MYRA

  JUNE 11th 2015

  Life plays pr
actical jokes sometimes. I didn’t know if I should blame fate, my life, my unknown powers—but something had once again pulled me into Edward’s life. Today was my engagement party, and the official announcement that I would be Steve’s future bride. It was also the same day Edward disappeared forever, and the same day he and I were born.

  Sitting in front of the grand vintage dresser in the Bernards’ manor, I found that nothing thrilled me. The ladies were preparing me for the party: makeup, hair, beautiful jewelry, a designer dress—a complete makeover from an ordinary girl to a princess. Still, my heart was sinking with the thought of Edward’s departure. Every second was a ticking time bomb—it could explode at any moment.

  Exactly six hundred years ago, Edward disappeared into darkness as the sun set behind Hue Castle. Although the sun’s rays never reached the castle and they lived in the darkness, they still observed day and night. I watched the time. It was two in the afternoon. Still six more hours before he disappeared. What was I thinking? Could I stop him from running away? Could I change Edward’s future by chasing him into the past?

  A month ago, we’d started filming in Hue Castle. Steve was a man of his word, and he’d brought me to Hue castle the morning after our dinner with our parents. He’d arranged beautiful medieval-style gowns for me so I could look exactly like I came from the time when the castle was built. Steve and Tyler chased me everywhere I went. There was a camera constantly on me, capturing my every move for the 3D animation.

  I went to the chapel several times, but couldn’t see anything past the mirror except for Edward attending morning mass. According to Edward’s book, there was a secret passage in the king’s chamber, leading down to the library and the spring.

  For a week, we tried every possible way to reach King Stefan’s bedroom. We tried all the doors, hunted through all the passages, but we couldn’t find the chamber. The route was not shown in the book. I just saw Edward knocking at the door and entering the chamber. I didn’t even know which side of the castle it was on. We explored everywhere, but we couldn’t find it.

  Julia was no longer interested in our castle hunt, because she’d never believed my story. She said she had a map of the castle layout, and King Stefan’s room was on it, but there was no special library underneath the castle, running underneath the whole place. But the room she showed us, that was supposed to be the king’s chamber, was not the one I had seen in Edward’s book. It looked like the Hue family had manipulated history.

  At one point, even Steve failed to believe me. He asked me, if there was a library underneath the castle and a healing spring, why was it not on the map given to us by the British government? I didn’t have an answer for them, and I couldn’t make them believe me.

  We also took the risk of removing the black screen from the mirror. Steve and Tyler couldn’t handle the truth. They were truly horrified by looking into the mirror, but surprisingly, the mirror showed my reflection as it really was. It didn’t turn me into a beast.

  Steve took advantage of my powers over the mirror. He took more photos and videos of me with it.

  After the true nature of the spring was revealed to Edward, King Stefan never summoned him to tell him any more secrets. It seemed like he felt he’d shared enough. Edward spent his days and nights walking around the castle, going to the chapel on multiple occasions to talk to Jasmine—if he only knew that it was me he spoke to. There was no presence of Jasmine in this castle. She had been dead over eight centuries now.

  My engagement party was held in the Bernards’ beautiful garden. It was decorated with thousands of lilacs that matched my dress. There were also lilacs in my hair, neatly pinned up on the sides, while the rest of my hair flowed freely over my shoulders in my natural dark brown curls.

  All the party decorations were lilac and ivory, complementing Steve’s and my clothes—beautiful chiffon drapes, table and chair linens, the flowers that adorned the individual tables. Everything was breathtakingly beautiful.

  Still, my heart was battling with storms of emotions. I’d expected to find more of the castle’s secrets after going back, but nothing was revealed. Steve was able to successfully capture the entire castle filled with colors, with me in front of the lens. Room by room, they filmed each and every magical element of the castle.

  I also had a chance to visit the burned tree. I remembered that Veronica was buried under there somewhere. When Edward buried her, there was a small stone placed on the ground to mark her grave, but with time, the stone had vanished. Her stone didn’t even have her name. The rest of the Hue women’s graves were still a mystery for me—I couldn’t find any of them. I wanted to read the books I’d seen in the library when Edward was getting his tour, but since we had all failed to find the entrance to the king’s chamber, I never had a chance. Perhaps my navigational skills didn’t work in the castle.

  Steve’s passion for his game pulled me into his world. I played the role diligently and surprised both the men. Three weeks of hard work had paid off. Yesterday, their gaming company launched their first game trailer on YouTube. It had not even been twenty-four hours and the trailer had gone viral. I was already a star in the gaming world. Steve showed me the ninety-second video last night. I didn’t imagine the 3D version of me would look so good. I looked completely different, yet I knew it was me.

  The concept of the game was fascinating. I was not a gamer, but I would buy a PS4 just to play this game. Steve promised me, when the first level of the game was complete, we would play it together. It was a team effort—the writers who wrote the dialogue, the musicians who created background music, the clues, the hidden secrets—everything was amazing. I also went to a recording studio to record my voice for the different versions of the trailers.

  The scenes from the trailer—switching back and forth from me with colors, and without me without colors—were unbelievable, and very intriguing for any gamer. Steve’s concept was worthy of the accolades it was receiving. The trailer had three million “likes” within a day. I couldn’t believe there were so many gamers in the world. The comments on the video were more like requests, asking Steve to make a movie based on this concept. Steve had not even conceptualized the ideas for the entire game, and he already had received a call from a Hollywood director. His creativity was worthy of all these likes and comments.

  The ladies were still busy making me beautiful. I had never liked the idea of such a grand engagement party. I’d wanted it to be private. I felt the guy should give the ring to the woman when they were alone. In my case, around one thousand guests were invited, including the press. I had no excuse to back out of it. I would spend the rest of my life with Steve, and would wonder forever about Edward’s future. Where did he go? Did he ever see Emma again? I knew he’d loved his sister so much. How could he abandon her only child, Veronica’s only legacy? Although her death made him cold, I was certain that Emma’s return would melt down all the glaciers inside him. The problem was, he never tried to melt those glaciers. He liked staying cold and dark.

  A knock at the door pulled me back into the present. My mother came into the guest room we were using. Mrs. Bernard had insisted on pampering and preparing me in her house. Indeed, I was getting the royal treatment. I should be happy and contented right now, but my heart was sinking with every second that passed by.

  On the surface, I could say that I looked prettier than in any of my previous makeovers, but inside me, I was drowning in the darkness of Edward. I was a fool to fall in love with a cursed man from the past who didn’t even know I’d ever existed for him. It should not have ended this way. There must be a way for me to meet him—to stop him from running away from his life like a coward. He had to stay in order to see what life was offering him. He just couldn’t run away like a coward.

  “Is everything done?” my mother asked the makeup artist.

  “Yes, Mrs. Farrow. Your daughter looks like a princess now.” I did, actually. They’d made me look that way.

  I stood from the dresser seat a
nd turned around so my mother could see me properly. She put her hands to her mouth in awe. I could see in her eyes how pretty l looked. No matter what the world said, they were truly my parents. If I were born all over again, I would still want them as my parents.

  “You look dazzling, my child.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t contain her excitement. “Let’s go; the event is starting.” She grabbed my arm and led me out of the room.

  My heart started beating erratically. I looked at the clock on the wall one more time. I didn’t know why I kept checking the time. It was a lame wish to talk to Edward. My time had already run out. Steve had given me lots of chances to talk to Edward in the past three weeks. We went to the chapel almost daily, but I never saw him alone again. He’d attend mass every morning, but he wouldn’t look at me in the mirror. There was no hope left in him. I wanted to bring back that hope. I wanted to ignite the flame he had for me in his eyes. I wanted to evoke the desire for me in his stone heart.

  We walked to the garden. Steve came toward me, and my mouth twitched automatically into a smile. For the first time in three months, I saw him wearing a suit. He looked so different. My smile became real.

  “Whoa.” He jerked back and halted in his tracks. “Someone is looking mind-blowingly ravishing.” His gaze was locked on me. He came forward and kissed me on the cheek. He didn’t care if my mother or the others were watching.

  I blushed like a little schoolgirl at his compliment. He held my hand tightly. Mrs. Bernard tried her best to keep the reporters at bay. She’d hired the top photographer in London to cover the event. There were reporters there to write about the event, but no one was allowed to take pictures. She announced that she’d publish the photos after she approved them—no one had the right to take pictures and post them on social media. Steve desired privacy, and she did her best to respect her son’s wishes. No one had even taken their phone out to take a picture; Entertainment Weekly would be the first to reveal the pictures.