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

CHAPTER 52

EDWARD
30 JUNE 1415

As I started to head back to my chamber a little after Myra left, a footman approached. "Lady Farrow is in the chapel, Your Highness."

God's teeth! This woman's curiosity never ends.

When I entered the chapel, the world around me started to spin. She was standing by the mirror, about to touch it. Was she planning to sneak out of my life?

With shock freezing my body, I stood there. She touched the mirror, but nothing happened. She placed both hands on it, but nothing changed. She kept pressing with her hands, moving them in every direction, but the mirror had no effect on her touch.

"Open up, dammit!" she muttered, banging at the glass.

Was she desperate to leave?

I recalled what Steve last wrote to me:

SHE CAN ONLY LEAVE IF THERE IS AN EQUAL STRONGER FORCE ON THE OTHER SIDE.

I was here on this side, desiring her, wanting her—perhaps that was the reason I was able to pull her into my world. Was Steve not present for her? Was the timing wrong? That day, when she stood on the other side, she knew I would be there from my book—but how would she know if anyone was waiting for her right now? Was Steve's love not strong enough to call her back?

Feeling exhilarated knowing that there was no one who loved her more than I did, I gathered my strength to speak.

"There is no one to receive you," I announced. She paused her banging, but she did not turn back to look at me. "You may not know this, but in order to go back to the other side, you need to have a stronger force to pull you over."

She stood there like a statue—her back to me. I wondered if she was even breathing.

"As strong as my desire is for you," I almost whispered, but I knew my voice reached her when her back stiffened at my words. "As intense as my love is for you..."

"Leave me alone, Edward," she mumbled. Turning around, she sat on the front pew, staring at the mirror.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

She did not bother to answer. She was still angry at me from my confession. She expected us to be friends, and now when I had shared my fears with her as a friend, she was furious. Did friendship not mean we should share our secrets?

"Come to bed now," I said, offering my hand. "Emma is also waiting for us."

She stayed there, not even glancing in my direction.

"Get up, Myra," I ordered.

"When you said," she began, still facing the altar, "that I could only leave if there was a stronger force, what did you mean by that?"

"I do not wish to answer," I groaned, "just like you do not wish to give me the reason why you are here."

"I was not leaving, though you surely wish to send me back," she complained, glaring at me.

"You don't say!"

"Don't mock me, Edward," she snapped, narrowing her gaze. "You asked me to leave."

"I am trying to keep you safe."

"By throwing me out of your life?"

I looked up and sighed. We were always arguing like an old married couple. The thought of our married life made me laugh.

"You think this is funny?" she asked.

I chuckled again and took the seat beside her. "No, I was thinking about how we always argue like an old married couple."

Upon my remark, her lips moved slightly into a smile.

"Myself like an old man, complaining about his gout, and you," I laughed lightly, "perhaps you are frustrated to lose your youth, and I am not good enough to satisfy your bodily needs."

She giggled at my words. "Or perhaps I'm complaining about how you aren't bedding me anymore, and since I'm an old woman now, you're hunting down young maidens in your court to entertain you."

"Ha!" I snorted. "That shall never happen, my lady." Raising her chin, I gave her a soft kiss on her lips. "You will remain my amusement for life."

"Even when I'm old?"

"It is not your beauty, but your wit that I am addicted to," I confessed. "Before meeting you, I depended on my dream, and was enthralled by your physical beauty..."

"But it wasn't me in your dream."

"No matter who she was...it is you here now, and it is your curious mind that attracts me more, and it shall never age. So, my lady, you shall always be my amusement."

"You don't say!" she exclaimed, placing her hand on her heart. "Do tell more, my lord. I'd love to hear it."

"You should know there is no one like you," I said, smiling at her.

"Ha!" she clapped. "Tell me something new. I have heard that compliment from James several times."

God's teeth! "That dog must find a new master to lick," I mumbled.

"Jealous!"

"Am I?" I retorted. "You brazenly let him woo you."

"If my lover is in love with the woman of his dreams, then I shall have the right to allow other men to woo me."

I took a deep breath to control the anger surging through me. That man would die at my hands someday if he didn't stop pouring out his heart.

"I am going to bed," I announced. I knew she would not try to pass through the mirror, because she could not.