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

CHAPTER 15

MYRA
MAY 2015

Time had split me into two.

I didn't know which world I belonged to.

It had been a month since I returned from Morocco, but I had left my heart there. I didn't know what was waiting for me in that book until I discovered that I was the only one in this entire world who had the power to decode it. My touch had worked like a password on those blank papyrus pages. My world had been turned upside down after sneaking into someone else's life. I learned things about my existence that were previously unknown to me and everyone around me.

Although I was Myra Farrow, my origins had been shaken since I opened the book. I was told that the one who could see the book would also belong to the cult of magicians who were capable of capturing time. Was I one of them? Could I capture time, or did I only have the power to see into other times?

Thousands of questions had been storming through my brain.

Who am I?

What is my connection to Hue Castle?

Am I part of the Hue dynasty?

Who is Edward to me?

Why do I feel so much passion for Edward?

How was I able to touch him through the magical mirror?

What else is the mirror capable of?

Who is Jasmine to me?

Why did she kill David if she loved him?

Where did Edward go?

Why didn't he become king?

A million questions sprouted in my head every day, and I had no clue where to dig for their answers.

I saw things beyond the abilities of the human brain. How do you feel when you see every emotion of another person without any barrier? You feel their every touch, their every tear moves your heart, every pain is sensed by your body as if I were some writer, who had created a character in her mind and could read whatever the character felt.

The book gave me a new reason to breathe. I read everything about Edward—from his birth to his disappearance. He was gone long ago, but he had changed my life forever. I would never be able to fall in love with any other man because the only man I craved existed six hundred years ago. His every expression, every emotion, every breath had settled in my soul. I had no escape from it. No matter how hard I tried to forget him—I could not get him out of my mind.

Whenever I opened the book and touched it, the words glowed and started whirling around me. The whirlwind then morphed into a window frame—the same as the chapel's mirror—and page after page, I read about Edward's life. Nowhere in the histories or legends was it mentioned that he had a twin sister named Veronica. Ed and V grew up together and were closely bonded—they played and fought together, staying together through thick and thin. They were united in any battle they waged. I never had a sibling, but I could still feel what it would be like to have such a close bond with your sister. Veronica was Edward's other half—one soul split into two bodies.

The book captured every emotion Edward and Veronica felt as if a hidden camera was focused on them, secretly making a video. Edward was twelve when his training to become a king started. Archery, swordsmanship, horse-riding—he was trained to compete in all of them. There was no room for tears or pain. All he could do was sit with his twin sister and endure his anger. His teacher had molested him for five years—resulting in Edward despising his own body. He had tempted and seduced Edward into revealing his family's secrets and promised he would be able to see himself in the mirror if he pleased his teacher.