Once Upon A [Stolen] Time - [Stolen] Series I

CHAPTER 5

EDWARD

APRIL 1415

After breakfast, I returned to my chamber to prepare for my lesson.

Today was a swordfight with our sword master, Sir Phillip Concord. He was the most brutal man in our kingdom, and I was supposed to fight him man-to-man. I still wondered how I could compete against my tutor. It's common knowledge that a master always keeps one last lesson to himself, so he will never let his pupil win. The purpose of this fight was to make me stronger in King Stefan's world and a meek animal in my view.

On my way, I met our royal advisor, Haakon. After V, he was the only one I could talk freely to in this castle. The rest of the men at court suffocated me.

"Good morning, Edward," he said in a friendly manner. His long white beard looked like snow against his olive skin. "How are you feeling this morning?"

I had told him about my dreams. Even his arcane knowledge had not helped with interpreting them. I stayed quiet so he understood.

"You had the same dream?" He knew it already. Things would not merely change one fine morning, would they? I nodded. "Perhaps she's the woman you fancy in your fantasies?"

"Nah!" I snickered. "I do not fancy anyone, Haakon. There's no one in my fantasies." He knew I was lying. She was the only woman I had ever longed to touch and love, but the dilemma was: Who was she?

"What would you do if you met her?" His question surprised me.

I shook my head. "First, I'd ask her what she's been doing in my dreams for so long—haunting me since childhood." He was listening intently. "I would ask her what she has to offer me. Why is she here?"

"What if she came here to bring colour into your life?" His question robbed me of speech. I thought for a moment. Can someone do that? "What if she breaks the curse, and you live like you deserve to live?"

"Someone powerful enough to break a century-old curse would be a witch, in my opinion."

He gave me a soft smile. "A witch's job is to do witchcraft or hex you—not to give you hope."

I sighed.

"You told me you saw our tree and the courtyard filled with beautiful flowers?" he confirmed.

I nodded.

"It used to be like that before..." his thoughts wandered.

"Before what?" My curiosity was piqued.

"Nothing." He shook his head, avoiding my gaze. He knew something profound and secretive, but his lips were sealed. "If the dream is a glimpse of your future, then maybe she will come to end the curse and bring colours to your life." His words suddenly struck me hard.

"How were we hexed?" I asked.

His face turned white. Every time I would ask him about this—how the curse had come about—he would not answer. I knew he was hiding something from me. I just needed to figure out what it was. V and I had been kept in darkness about our family and this barren castle's history. King Stefan knew how desperate I was to learn its secrets, but he would never spill the beans, and he had ordered everyone in the kingdom who knew the truth to seal their lips. They would have to face the consequences if they dared speak the truth.

I did not want to force Haakon and put his life at risk. Once, my teacher and tormentor, Sir Phillip Concord, had seduced me with the promise of the truth, but that arsehole only used my body for his pleasure. He had taken me to the extreme of self-loathing. I'd never allowed anyone to touch and entice me, even if it were a woman.