Bane Of Time (Completed)

What kind of magic is this?

   "I've been here before" I thought to myself as I walk in the darkness of the castle. I recognize the halls I'm walking through, the paintings that grace the walls, the wilted flowers in vases along my way, even the chandeliers with its lack of shine. I pass every corner and every turn as if I've passed them a thousand times before, as if the whole thing is mapped out perfectly in my head. Without long, my legs stop moving. 

   I look to my side and stand face to face before a large set of wooden doors. The rich mahogany color has gone dull and its intricate beauty is largely covered by cobwebs, this corridor is different than the rest of the castle. Standing there, my heart beats faster and my body runs cold I almost shiver. There it is again, the little tug in my chest I've felt in front of the castle, only now it seems to have grown bigger. My hand reaches the door's handle and for a second, I hear faint music and laughter from behind the doors. Curious, I push the door to make my way in, but the large door won't move. I try again for the second time... and the third... and the fourth... again and again until I grow frustrated and bang my hand at the door so hard, the sound echo throughout the castle. 

   Giving my last attempt, I push the door with all my strength and the weight of my body. The door finally moves and a large dark room greets me with deafening silence. The little light from my phone fails to accommodate my eyes to observe the room, yet somehow I know exactly how the room looks like in the back of my mind. The deeper I walk into the room, the faster my heart beats. My chest becomes heavier with my steps, and the little tug that I felt has now turned into painful jabs. Tears spring to my eyes and I stop right in the middle of the room. I start sobbing because the pain in my chest has become unbearable. What memory fails, the heart remembers. Now I know. Now I remember. Not of a name, but of a love so dear, a promise so sweet, and a fate so cruel. In this very place, my heart remembers the day I became his and the day I've lost him all at once. At last I know what I've been longing, what I've been searching. Finally I've found it, finally, I am here. 

   "I am here" I whisper out with tears running down my face, wistfully hoping he could hear. The rain has finally stopped, and the moon has risen once more. Its light shine through the large glass window as if it's trying to soothe my pain. 

   "I've been waiting for you" a deep voice pierce through the silent room. A shadow moves in the dark. Its step haste, coming faster and closer to me until finally it steps into the moonlight and look at me. A smile grace his face and within seconds, his arms brace me tight, his head dips low, and his mouth next to my ear whispers out, "You owe us our first dance, love."

   ...We were standing in front of the same mahogany door, when I saw that memory from one of my  female ancestors. I'm waiting to here the story from his point of view since I'm tired of seeing these weird memories of women I've never met before in my life.

   We sat in the study room and I signaled him to start talking since I don't have eternity, unlike him. He sat back into his enormous chair, throne-like, let out a deep breath and shared his story with me, "my name is William, a prince from another ancient kingdom, my father wanted me to marry Elizabeth, your ancestor centuries ago," is he really that old? I felt sorry for him, living in this big castle waiting for our line of woman just to see his lover again. 

   "We hated each other at first as you might have saw in those visions but once we got to know each other more and spent hours talking and having fun, we finally realized that we grew feelings toward each other and accepted our arranged marriage." Now that is an epic love story, enemies to lovers I want to hear about in details; especially since I'm part of it in the future. 

   "On the night before our big day, we decided to host a reception and invite all our closed one and family but unfortunately the father of another jealous princess killed my fiancée just so I could marry his daughter. I ran to be by her side and maybe rescue her but Elizabeth was already death, I don't know what exactly happened, days after I tried killing myself just to be with her, except it didn't work and I found myself stuck in this castle with no way out of these doors nor this eternal young body." he looked sad when he continued his story.

   "I always had hope afterwards that Elizabeth lived just like me and was just looking for a way back to me. Only one royal maid remained alive and young, she was able to clean the castle and leave it to get me some food and other needs but other than that I've never seen another human being except that day, seventeen years later." 

   He told me every story he could think of. What happened with him during all these years and how he used to spend his days trapped inside this castle, watching the tourists try opening the massive mahogany doors. 

   I watched him telling the stories, with tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks and dripped from his chin. He was too sad to cry out or wail, he just stood there as still as a statue while the magnitude of his losses swept over him. When asked years later to describe his sadness in the moment he saw and heard of the tragic news of his lover's death, his eyes would brim again with tears once more, as if all those years had passed in a matter of seconds and he would say nothing. For once again he was lost in the torrid vortex of the moment. It was a moment that carried him forwards until only death could release him from its clutches. But now he was forever tormented by a past that could never be undone, and a lover that could never be brought back.