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

EPILOGUE

KING STEFAN

A FEW HOURS EARLIER...

"We have arrived, Your Majesty," I heard the Duke's voice.

Snapping my head up from my short slumber, I looked outside.

Donning my hooded cape, I stepped down from the carriage.

"Return to the castle and send the carriage back here," I ordered the Duke and rapped at the door. It was past midnight—a starlit sky with wisps of clouds spread in every direction.

She opened the door and offered me her usual, unctuous smile.

"You have come after a long time," she said with her shrilling voice, regarding me from head to toe. The wind chimes over my head jingled with the wind whispering around us.

Without exchanging further pleasantries, I barged into her cove.

Surrounded by hundreds of animal and human bones, unborn human fetuses, dead animals trapped inside glass jars, and stinking of blood and death—this place was nothing but a witch's den. The only reason I had allowed this nonsense to linger on was because her goddamn premonitions were accurate. She told me once that I'd have a daughter, and that Mary-Ann would die. She told me that my daughter would die, too, and I would be the reason behind it.

I had yet to accept this crime to which I had not confided in with anyone. She predicted I would one day meet the woman of my dreams and would fall in love all over again, like a young man beset by a woman's charm.

The witch wasn't wrong. I was in love.

And the woman of my dreams was the reason why I was here.

Her presence had made me a better man than I was—she had given me a new meaning to my soulless life, and had caused my heart to smile in a way I never had.

A fortnight away from her had given me time to reflect, time to sneak into my own soul, and made me realise how dark it was inside there. With her light, I was able to see colours that my eyes were unable to see in the past. With her wit, I was able to bridle the beast inside of me that had caused so much carnage that it would take me a lifetime to repent. But she was my salvation.

"And what brings you here in the late hours of the night, my lord?" the witch asked, pulling me from my reverie.

Without her invitation, I pulled out the chair and sat down. "I will be quick."

"You don't say!" she exclaimed, and took the seat opposite me.

I wondered in all these years if she had known that I was the King of England. She knew I was a noble, but would she take me as a King? Why would the King visit an old, haggard woman, and not summon her at his court?

"I met the woman of my dreams." My words floated like thin mist and disappeared like a wisp of smoke. As if she knew, she remained quiet and observed me keenly. "But I believe her heart lies somewhere else." I hated to admit that she had given precedence to my son over the King of England. "I want to win her heart, but every time I try to come close to her, she flinches, as if I'm some leper she abhors." I gulped, glancing at the dead souls. "I want to win her."

She let my words sink in.

A deathly silence caressed my face, and bluish darkness stretched before me.

"One shilling for the truth," she said.

Leashing my savage temper, I ignored her greed and placed a few gold coins on the table.

After many heartbeats, she offered a toothless smile. "You want me to teach you how to win a woman's heart?"

"Not any woman!" I slammed my hands on the table, rattling all the trinkets and charms she used for her witchcraft, along with the gold coins. "Just her."