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

CHAPTER 47

EDWARD
29 JUNE 1415

"Do you not wish to sleep?" I asked Myra after dinner.

She looked exhausted after almost half a day spent teaching the children, an hour of the Council meeting where Lord Norfolk was brazenly wooing her, and an evening full of all her admirers and courtiers pulling her in their direction.

We had now been retired under the stars for quite some time, enjoying each other's company.

"We will go to the library."

"As you bid, my lady," I said, smiling at her.

Chuckling softly, she stood from the stairs and held onto my arm.

When we reached the library, Myra sat down on the floor and continued from the same page where we had left off—when Jasmine was attending her patients.

She flipped the page, and we witnessed the announcement that Jasmine had decided to marry David Hue. She hardly knew the man. I wondered if there was any book on David that could tell us his true motive.

As if Myra could read my mind, she said, "I wonder if he is honest with her!"

"I have heard stories of their love."

"Then where did they go wrong?"

"Let us turn over the page and find out," I suggested. She did.

The wedding festivities started on a whim as the whole palace lit up with lights and colours. Never had I seen Hue Castle adorned in such grandiose and opulence the way Hue Palace was. The Queen had spent so much wealth in glorifying the palace with all the flowers they could bring to England—flowers that I had never seen before.

"The garden reminds me of Alhambra," Myra said quietly.

"The Moorish palace?"

She nodded. "The gardens were created two centuries ago, in Nasrid Period. Their aim was to create a paradise on earth." She looked closely. "But Edward, I see some flowers that cannot be grown in England. It's geographically impossible."

"It is no surprise," I snorted. "We are looking at a witch's story."

Myra chuckled too.

It amazed me just how many flowers we used to have in our garden. This was just like my dream which meant the dream was indeed true. It meant that I was not dreaming of Myra when she was surrounded by nature. It was Jasmine that my forefathers and I had dreamt of, with nature all around her.

Was I being betrayed in my dreams?

I glanced at Myra, who was lost in the story. No, I should not even think for a moment that it was not her. It could not be Jasmine!

The splinter of Jasmine being a doctor was still stinging my mind. According to Steve, she was working in a hospital across from the castle, and owned an apothecary from where she was bringing medicine into the twelfth century. This was utter witchcraft. Myra was not capable of doing such a thing. How could I believe that Jasmine had invaded my dreams?

In the book, Queen Jasmine wore a white gown, and was getting ready for the wedding. Her dress had a lace bodice, and the skirt had diamonds and pearls stitched to it. She stared at her reflection in the mirror—the same mirror that was now carved in the chapel. I stole a glance at Myra, whose face had turned white as snow.

In the book, David stepped into her chamber, wearing a black doublet adorned with jewels befitting for a Prince, black breeches, and a black velvet cape clasped around his neck. Jasmine stared at him for a few heartbeats through the mirror. I had never noticed a woman's dress other than Myra when she stepped into my world, but Jasmine's wedding gown was exquisite. With the lace bodice and the jewelled skirt flowing down to her feet...now I wished to see Myra in this, too.

"This dress..." Myra's voice trailed off.

"It is beautiful," I said.

"Yes, but I have seen this dress, Edward."

"Where?"

She stared at me for a moment, her eyes stone cold. "This is pure witchcraft."

I chuckled. "You only realised it now?"

"No...I mean...when I first visited the chapel in my time, I saw them both clad in the same clothes." She was having trouble catching her breath. "This is...it's the same scene I saw in the mirror, except there was a chapel behind them. I thought it was me and you, like a vision of my future, but..."

I knew not what to say. Her words had stolen my wits.

"I saw Jasmine in the mirror, and you..." She looked away. "You had been dreaming about her."

Her words hit me like a dagger through my heart—hot and sharp.

"It had never been me, Edward," she said, hurt evident on her face. "It was never Myra and Edward—it was always Jasmine and David."

I sucked in a breath. "But we met through the mirror."

"What if..." She looked at me, pain glittering in her eyes. "What if we were deceived through the mirror—just like you had been deceived in your dreams?" I held my breath. "It was never me in your dreams, Edward. You had always dreamed of Jasmine." My heart racketed away in my chest as I felt a sudden stab of betrayal.

My father was right, then; we had been dreaming of Jasmine all these years. Myra did not even exist in my dreams before I met her. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that she resembled her so much.

But what about her powers of bringing rain and sunshine? I shook my head to unravel the knots in my mind. No matter how much I reasoned with it, one thing I was certain of was that there was some connection between Myra and Hue Castle. She had some ties with these books. Why in the world was she the only one who could uncork the mystery behind these books? I could only watch them, but I could not make the window appear with my touch. It was only her touch that was creating magic around her—and indeed in me.

"You know." We both heard Jasmine's voice in the window, snapping us out of our painful reverie. "It is a bad omen to see your bride in her wedding gown before the vows."

They both looked at each other in a way that nothing else mattered to them. There was no one else in their world—and perhaps if this was all being stored in a book, they were clueless about it.

David stepped closer to her, behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. They both stared at their reflections.

"I do not believe in these superstitions." He kissed her neck. "Neither should you."

She smiled at him in a way that Myra smiles at me—with utter love and affection.

"We should not let the guests wait," she said.

"I cannot wait to make you mine." David kissed under Jasmine's ear. How did he have the same voice as mine? How did he resemble me so much? How did Myra look so much like Jasmine?

"You already own me," the Queen smirked at David.

The following page showed their wedding, the exchanging of vows, the priest wrapping their hands together in a red ribbon, and the announcement that they belonged to each other till death do them part.

"Congratulations, my brother," entered a man with a loud, dominating voice, who strode towards the altar.