Once Upon A [Hidden] Time - [Stolen] Series IV

CHAPTER 38

EDWARD
27 JUNE 1415

She will take refuge in your enemy. The witch's words rang like a church bell tolling during a funeral. Would I truly hurt Myra in a way that she would never look back? Which enemy was she talking about? The person I loathed most was my father.

An intense cold invaded me, knowing that anyone I love could die. My sister was an example. I knew not whom that witch was referring to, but deep in my heart, I could sense it was Emma. The pain of losing her would immediately plunge me into despair—but would I truly hurt Myra in return, when I had drawn a line between us so she would not have to suffer death due to my curse?

Again I struggled against the admission seething inside me, and I had to clamp down on the urge to let it erupt. I did not want to lose what I had at this very moment.

After Myra made sure that Emma was napping, she slipped out of bed and headed to the dressing chamber. I followed her. There was not much to say, but the urgency to touch her and feel her was driving me mad. I wanted to live in this moment—this moment of obsession and madness and love between us.

The room sparked with our fierce passion as I closed the distance between us. I could tell that she was exhausted. Everyone around her was sucking her mind like a leech—children demanding lessons, Emma demanding undivided attention, James demanding friendship, and I—demanding her love. And this was all while the King was not present to demand her wits. She was giving more than she had. It was time for her to take a pause.

I loosened the strings of her dress, pushing it down from her shoulders. She smelled of apple and primrose—a sweet fragrance to take me to the doorsteps of Heaven. I did not desire to hold a flower anymore. She was my flower.

Inhaling her divine fragrance, I said,

"Ch'ella mi fa tremar le vene e i polsi."

For she doth make my veins and pulses tremble.

She gave a soft chuckle at Dante's words.

Kissing the nape of her neck, I pushed her dress down, and it fell with a soft ruffling sound. We were the only two people left as my world spun into a timeless abyss. I discarded my tunic to join her gown. Clad in my breeches, I took her hand and walked her to the bath.

Her face lit up with surprise as she followed behind me, her eyes darting everywhere, noticing the bath chamber full of candles around us. When she was tending to Emma, I had ordered a bath for her. Every morning, I had noticed that she would prepare herself in haste, since she had to dress Emma up, and then be ready for the children. She was hardly getting any time for herself.

With just a mere sheer shift on her body, I invited her into the warm bath. At first, we both hissed at the warmth of the water, but our bodies soon adjusted to it as we settled into the tub. She rested her back against my chest, and as I began massaging her shoulders, her body melted into me like butter on a hot pan. The room was infused with lilacs and jasmines, creating a haven of our own. Her shoulders were tight; they desperately needed some kneading. When I pressed hard into her neck, she moaned in pleasure. How could I continue to comfort her if she started to melt in this way?

The rippling cries I drew from her made my whole body tighten with a violent hunger. I picked up the bottle of lavender oil and rubbed it between my hands. I started massaging her scalp, and her head fell on my chest, her eyes closed in sweet blissful temptation. I massaged her shoulders again, following her arms all the way to her fingertips. Her body wedged between my legs was wreaking havoc on me, but I curbed my desire to safeguard her.

When I finished massaging, I entwined my fingers with hers, giving a soft kiss on her hand.

"Like these oils and scents in the water, I desire to diffuse into you," I said, kissing the nape of her neck again. "I want us to be inseparable. I want us to be these scents and the water." I expected a response from her, but she remained quiet.

"Friend or no friend, I want to have your whole heart—and not just a piece of it. I cannot share even a tiny grainy piece of your heart with anyone." Kissing her hand again, I continued, "Not even with Emma." She still remained quiet. Was she too exhausted to argue? "You have given me my life back today, Bellissima." I still could not believe that Emma had returned to me. "You have given me the most beautiful gift of all time—you have returned my child to me." I inhaled her fragrant hair. "I'm indebted to you forever, and there is nothing I can give you in return except my whole heart, body, and soul that was already yours."

I gave her a kiss on her hair, but she remained silent as a Greek goddess statue.

"In the future...if we are blessed with a life together...I know not if I could share you with our children." Was this my insecurity? Was this the reason she told me I could not be her friend? "I want to be your everything...your friend, your lover, your admirer, your worshipper, your protector." Placing my hand on her heart, I continued, "What we have, I will not let it slip from me," I vowed. "I know not how to tell you how I feel about you without risking your life, but you should know that nothing is more precious to me than you."

She still remained quiet, and all we could hear was the bath fizzing—like an aphrodisiac. I recited Dante's Paradiso for her liking.

"A l'alta fantasia qui mancò possa, 

ma già volgeva il mio disio e 'l velle,"

Here force failed my high fantasy,

But my desire and will were moved already,

I whispered in her ear, moving her hair on to one side.

"Sì come rota ch'igualmente è mossa, 

l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stele."

Like a wheel revolving uniformly, by

The Love that moves the sun and the other stars.

There was no other way to confess how much I loved her. Perhaps Dante knew better how to voice my heart. It was her love that truly moved the entire universe for me—the clouds raining on her whim, the sun shining in her presence, the stars glinting upon her desire. What more was to come?

I waited for her response for many endless beats, but the only sound I heard was the slow rhythm of her heartbeat.

After a moment, I realised she had fallen asleep. I knew not at what point she fell into her sweet slumber. Did she not hear anything I had confessed?

Sighing, I enfolded her in my arms, closed my eyes, and let the world slip around me.