Once Upon A [Fallen] Time

  [STOLEN] SERIES II

  BY

  AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR

  SAMREEN AHSAN

  This is book 2 of [STOLEN] SERIES.

  Once Upon A [Fallen] Time © 2019 by Samreen Ahsan

  The characters in this book are purely fictional. Hue Castle and its residents are created solely out of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Some relevant facts have been added, which were part of our history.

  This is book two of the series and ends with a cliffhanger. This book is intended for mature audience and not suitable for the readers who do not enjoy suspense endings.

  Disclaimer: Licenced image is purchased from Shutterstock.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this work shall be reproduced or distributed without the author’s consent.

  REVIEWS OF ONCE UPON A [STOLEN] TIME

  "At the outset, I’d like to say I just love the premise of this book and think it would make an awesome movie; producers and filmmakers please check out this interesting novel."

  - Kristin Ravelle (Author of The Everlasting Spell)

  "It’s impossible you will not love Once Upon A [Stolen] Time. 5-stars!"

  - Tine’s Review Book Blog

  "This book was hard to turn away from once you start reading it, it’s that good. It should be made into a movie or tv series 5-Stars!"

  - Country Girl Bookaholic Book Blog

  "Author’s style is magical in itself as she sets the past and present onto a direct collision course. 5-stars!"

  - Tome Tender Book Blog

  "This book is amazing!!! This is the first Fantasy novel I’ve read in a while and I loved it."

  - ‎NerdGirlLola’s Review

  "If you are a fan of fantasy, romance and a hint of classic rewrite, this series should be on your radar."

  - Penny for My Thoughts Blog

  "The story is intense with dramatic moments, and suspense. Overall I felt Once Upon A [Stolen] Time was an enjoyable read and highly recommend to those who love Adult-Romantic-Fantasy. A definite five-star read!"

  - Amazon Reviewer

  "This is a mesmerizing story that keeps you swiping your e-reader to get to the next page. It’s well worth a read."

  - Scott Bury (Author of Army of Worn Soles)

  "The plot is really good. The author thought of every detail and the story has no flaws or holes. 4.5 Stars!"

  - Reading...Dreaming Book Blog

  "Heartwarming read that will make you realize that true love holds no bounds."

  - Ms. Me28 Book Blog

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  EPILOGUE

  Author’s Note:

  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  “What’s meant to be will always find a way.”

  ― Trisha Yearwood

  PROLOGUE

  As a child, I was obsessed with the tale of the Beauty and the Beast. I always wondered if one could fall in love with a monster. Little did I know I’d actually live a fairytale one day. But in my tale, I didn’t trade anything to live with the beast. In my tale, I willingly gave myself to him. I had already loved him with all his flaws and curses. And in our case, he wasn’t incarcerating me to end his curse. He wanted me because I was all he had ever dreamt of in his life. There was nothing else in his dreams besides me. He had no other option than to desire me over any woman.

  “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”

  ― Allen Saunders

  CHAPTER 1

  EDWARD

  JUNE 11th 1415

  Life is a tomb, built on beautiful memories, arduous pasts, and afflicting pains. It’s a sepulchre of emotions, truth, betrayals, lies and secrets—a catacomb of haunted souls.

  On this day last year, my sister was with me. I didn’t know why but today her absence was felt more in this barren castle. She didn’t even see twenty-eight years of her life. She couldn’t fulfil her wish of holding a flower. She couldn’t see any sunshine. She couldn’t dance in the rain. She couldn’t see her daughter grow. Did I deserve more years knowing I had failed to honour my sister’s promise? I took a vow to protect her daughter and I had ruined it completely. I didn’t deserve to live at all.

  Death was giving me very provocative invitations tonight. I was tempted to run away from everything, bury myself under the dark grounds where no one could find my existence. I had no hope to live, nothing to hold on to.

  I sat in the chapel where the priest was offering a prayer for my birthday. It was a preposterous idea to pray for my life and good health when I despised it. I loved only two people in my life and I failed them both. There was nothing left in me.

  After discovering the secrets of this haunted castle, my soul had been shaken. Our family’s existence was based on treachery, lies and betrayal. No matter what King Stefan thought, I didn’t deserve to become a king—one more throne with treason and one more generation of stolen identity. We all didn’t deserve the throne and power.

  Yet, each generation was more brutal than the previous one. If I became the king, would I be worse than King Stefan or would my son bring more damnation in the future?

  Tonight, everyone gathered for a special service in honour of my birthday. King Stefan had invited all the royal dukes, knights and lords, along with their families to attend my special day and the announcement of my future bride. I didn’t know who she was. I was least interested, knowing I didn’t have to fall in love with her. But why should she marry me? She’d give up everything to come into my life and what would she get? A ruthless man with no heart and soul? Did she deserve such fate? What if I asked her to reject me? How would King Stefan take it? I was not mentally prepared to accept any woman in my life.

  Except her!

  I shook my head at the inane thought. No, I don’t want her.

  Every time her face appeared in my mind, my heart started battling with my body to beat harder. She had the power over me as the water has over the fire. Her thoughts strangled me, choked me, but I was still keen to know who she was. Would she ever come back into the mirror?

  But why did I crave her?

  I knew she would look for King David again. They were married and made a family together. Was I falling for a dead woman from the past century or was it her ghost that was inviting me into her world?

  I always wondered what it would be like to live on the other side of the mirror. She was from a different world, from a different time—because she had existed eight generations ago. I didn’t know why and how I was capable of touching her. She had an enormous power to invade my dreams all my life and then, when she appeared in real, in front of me the night V died, she had been trapped inside the mirror. I could touch her but I couldn’t pull her into my world.

  Or is it me who is trapped here?

  I looked around the chapel. It looked different from where she had stood that night. There had been no colours on her side. How strange was it? I had no colours in my life and she had no colours in the same chapel.

  There were still some twisted desires that existed in me—a beast that was hungry for her touch. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deny the fact that I was attracted to her. I had never felt this pull before. I had never known the dark
desires were erupting in me like a volcano. Her touch would indeed explode all the mountains. I wanted to drown in that desire; a propensity to feel her skin was throwing me into an amorous river. I wanted to swim, sink and drench in her presence.

  I took a deep breath and tried to focus on what the priest was commencing.

  “On this solemn and joyful day, we feel a great privilege to be part of this prayer.” The priest looked at me. “Prince Edward Hue is the eighth son in Hue’s reign and we are all gathered here to wish him a prosperous life ahead. May he accomplish all his goals like his father and forefathers have succeeded in past and carry on the legacy of harmonization and solidarity.” I coughed on his words. That was such a lie.

  “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good,” he added to his speech, a verse from the Holy Bible. I knew what he meant. Despite the injustice King Stefan had done in his life, the Lord would still be watching him. He couldn’t run away from His wrath. “With Edward Hue as our future king, we hope to see a brighter tomorrow than before.” He paused and looked at King Stefan. “I shall now call upon King Stefan and his noble son to lead the ceremony.” He looked at the crowd. “In the end, I would like to give you all a string of hope by saying what He says, I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born.”

  On that note, the priest stepped down from the altar. His last verse from Isaiah 66:9 ticked something inside me. Why did God give me endless pain without giving me something new in return? Why did He have to mention it in His words when He couldn’t keep it? He took Veronica from my life, but what did He give me in return?

  He gifted you the woman you craved for so long.

  No, she was just an illusion. She was not meant for me. What kind of gift was it? The woman was still a mystery. I longed to see her, hear her soft voice, touch her again to feel the same thunderbolt but she never returned—neither in my dreams nor in the mirror, as if she held the reins of my dreams.

  I stood up from the pew and followed my father to the altar. I didn’t want to look at the mirror but the more I tried to ignore it, the more it made me feel its presence.

  “Today…as you all know…is the special day for Hue family,” King Stefan started his speech. I didn’t want to look at him. I just wanted to know if she was still there, watching me. Was she trapped in the mirror or was it like a window to her that allowed her to watch me and laugh at my misery? Somehow, deep within my heart, a thought nestled: she is here.

  “My son, Edward Hue, has turned twenty-eight today and soon will be your king,” King Stefan said. I could hear his voice from a distance, but my mind shifted to the night I saw her. She had the most beautiful pair of grey eyes I had ever seen in my life. The warmth radiating from her touch was enough to thaw my frozen heart—I wouldn’t desire to bask in sunlight if she gave me her heat.

  “My time of ruling England is almost over. In a few months, my son, Edward Hue, will be your next king,” King Stefan continued, disturbing my world even further.

  Suddenly, I heard her voice.

  “Stefan is announcing something, but Edward is not listening.” I didn’t look up to the mirror but I knew the sound came from it. I would recognize her voice from anywhere. I didn’t look at the mirror, but I knew the sound came from it. Was she able to see me right now? Was she addressing me or talking to someone else?

  Everyone around me looked calm and focused on the king’s speech while my heart hammered in my chest. But could she hear my heart beating when she knew I wasn’t paying any attention to the speech?

  Wait! Did she just call my name and not David?

  “For the time being, I shall be leaving for Italy and France to meet our allies and pay my farewells while my son,” King Stefan looked at me, “will be taking on my responsibilities. He will be Prince Regent while I’m gone.” He paused. “I’ve led my life as a king for a very long time. Before I die, I’d like to meet people I haven’t met for so long.”

  “You better die right now, you arsehole,” I heard her voice again. I wasn’t dreaming. I actually heard her. Her temper made me smile. Her lack of kinship for King Stefan was well deserved. I looked up at the mirror, desperate to see her, but all I could see in the mirror was the reflection of the altar. Yet her voice stirred my soul.

  She shouldn’t be here now. Oh God! How can I be imagining her voice at this moment?

  I couldn’t afford her in my life now that I had already decided to run away from everything. It was too late. Besides, she would be here for King David.

  No, Edward! She called your name.

  “The people shall gather every week even in my absence for their issues,” King Stefan addressed the crowd, “So the taxes will be paid by people every quarter. Everything will remain the same. No one has to confuse Prince Edward with anyone else. Prince Edward is the proud heir of the Hue dynasty and my mirror.” I hated being compared to King Stefan, but he wasn’t wrong. We both had the same hideous reflection.

  “But he is not as perverted as you, you sick bastard,” she yelled.

  I lowered my head for a moment, and my lips turned up to smile. What was she trying to do?

  Foolish woman!

  Didn’t she know King Stefan could hear her? But he looked so composed.

  I observed the crowd; there was no sign that anyone had heard her except me. I turned around and looked at the mirror once again. Was she still in there? Could I just touch it and find the truth? But there was the crowd observing my every move. No, they should never witness this moment. It should be my very private moment. I would never tell King Stefan again if I met her today. It was a mistake to reveal the secret to him. I knew if she ever came out of the mirror, King Stefan would be the first one to have a bite of his own. His beast was always hungry. Nothing sated him.

  Something shifted inside me. She had come back. My wait was over and this time, she was not addressing David, she was talking to me. She had come for me.

  “Oh my God, Edward, you can smile. You can smile.” I coughed and placed my hand over my mouth. I didn’t want my smile to be so obvious when I knew the entire nobility was watching me. Here I was: dreaming of her in my own world while King Stefan was giving a serious speech. I coughed and placed my hand on my mouth to avoid anyone looking at my changed expression. She certainly despised King Stefan. I liked that. There was something in common between us.

  “I’ll announce Prince Edward’s future bride at tonight’s dinner. She will join us at the dinner table,” I heard King Stefan’s words. “So, let’s all gather at the dinner, welcome the lady, and enjoy the rest of the evening.”

  My future bride? I didn’t realize I would have to confront my future bride tonight. Before I got a chance

  to even look at King Stefan, I heard her voice again.

  “Let him choose his own wife, you moron!”

  King Stefan stepped down from the altar, clueless, but I stood there, frozen. No, I wasn’t dreaming. There she was. She was actually behind the mirror. If that was Satan’s mirror, then she couldn’t be an angel. Stefan told me Jasmine was a witch. Why was I falling for a witch? A bloody, married witch! She would haunt me forever. God knew what she would do to me. Would she take David’s revenge for his betrayal from me? Was that her vendetta before talking to me? Was she trying to seduce me into her world?

  What she didn’t know was that I had already built fortified walls around me, so high no one could reach.

  Not even her. I was content with hiding in my tomb.

  Now that I had decided to run away, she couldn’t trespass in my life uninvited. When I had wanted her desperately, she played with my fantasies by not coming into the mirror ever. And now when I didn’t need her in my life anymore, she called my name.

  “I know you can hear me, Edward. Speak to me, damn it. You can’t marry a stranger. You know I’m right here.” Was she begging? I stared at the mirror, holding my breath.

  “Edward,” King Stefan called my name. I tore my gaze from the
mirror and looked at him blankly while I released my bridled breath.

  Everyone had already stood up and was ready to leave for dinner. I shook my head and took a deep breath. I should better ignore her. It was not the right time for her to come back into my life. It was not up to her to decide as to when she would come into my dreams, and then stop coming later on, and suddenly entering my life through the mirror, and then disappearing, and now coming again uninvited.

  She was a witch from Satan’s mirror and I’d never let her undermine me.

  She couldn’t return just like that and shake my existence once again.

  I decided to carry on with the evening. I stepped down the altar, ignoring her voice.

  “Edward, no…” she pleaded. “You can’t walk out like that.” I looked at the crowd. No one was able to hear her words. No one knew about the war waging in my heart. “Edward… don’t run away from everything. Don’t turn your face from your future.”

  Shit!

  She knew everything about me already. She was truly a witch. Why was my stupid heart beating for a witch widow now? I halted my steps as she continued calling my name.

  “I know you can hear me, Edward. You’ve waited for me for so long. I’m here now. Don’t turn away from me. Please.”

  Turn away? Now she thought I’d welcome her in my life…now? Besides, was she looking for a way to return and rule Hue Castle again? Why did she want me as a bridge? She could come anytime she wanted. I never intended to rule here. It was her throne, her identity. She could come anytime to take it back. Why was she using me in her vendetta?

  I looked at King Stefan and joined him to walk out of here. I shouldn’t listen to her voices anymore. I didn’t want her voice to affect me in any way. It had already trampled everything around me.

  “Edward…stop!”

  Damn it! She just wouldn’t shut up.

  I didn’t bother looking back at the mirror, took a coward’s turn, and exited the chapel with the king.