Magic mirror

A Thursday teaser excerpted from Once Upon a [Stolen] Time, book 1 in the Stolen series

By Samreen Ahsan

“It’s really giving me some bright ideas for the game, though,” Steve commented amusingly. Indeed, we were all fascinated by the dark fairy tale. “A magical mirror where no one can see his face, but only one belonging to the cult—or maybe a magical book which can only be read by one of those magicians. What do you say, Myra?”

I was too busy looking at the carved, golden text. I moved closer to the screen, which was like a sticker on the mirror. I wanted to see what kind of beast it would show.

…Thou shalt see thy face…shalt see everything…

I placed my forehead on the screen and lost the voices behind me. The last thing I heard was Julia explaining something to Steve and Tyler. I covered my temples with my hands on both sides to avoid extra light coming from different directions and looked deeply past the mirror.

My face looked back at me. Shit! I wasn’t prepared for it, and it wasn’t my mirrored reflection—I saw myself wearing different clothes—from the fifteenth century—a long dress fitted to my waistline, its skirt going down to the floor. It looked like a wedding gown. I was holding white flowers, smiling at me.

“Oh shit!” I jerked back, stumbling on the stone floor. My breath was shallow—I could hardly feel my heart because it skipped somewhere, looking into the mirror.

Steve rushed towards me. “What happened, Myra? Are you okay?”

“I saw my face. I was wearing a wedding gown…and…and smiling.” I was trying to catch my breath. I had never been so scared in my life. Although I saw nothing other than my own reflection, the norm is: you see you in the mirror—the way you are and not in some wedding gown smiling strangely at you when you’re not even smiling.

“see anything. It’s just a black screen. You can’t see anything past it.”

“You gotta be kidding me,” Tyler snorted. He walked towards the mirror, placing his forehead closer to it. “I don’t see anything. It’s just a black screen. You can’t see anything past it.”

“I swear, I saw it.” My voice was barely audible.

“Why don’t you try again, Miss Farrow? It could be your imagination,” Julia said.

Steve held me by the arm and helped me up. “Don’t be scared. We’re all with you,” he assured me.

I looked around the chapel. Besides the small openings close to the ceiling, the chapel had large windows with green, red and blue mosaic glass. It was very unusual for a church or chapel.“The window designs are unconventional for a typical church,” I commented, observing one of the windows.

“Yes, you’re right,” Julia answered. “It is not like a typical English church. Since Jasmine was a Moroccan and David was Roman Catholic, you will see the blend of both cultures.”

Gathering my courage, I walked slowly towards the mirror—the fear of watching my own reflection again was making my heart race. I did the same thing—closing my hands around my eyes and looking past the black screen. I saw myself again in the same gown, holding flowers, but there was a man behind me, watching me in my gown “He wore a loose white shirt and breeches, and a full-length black velvet cape clasped at his neck. His hair was dark blond, down to his shoulders, and he had a short beard, not even an inch long. I couldn’t see his face clearly because he was standing at a distance behind me, but I would still recognize him if I happened to see him somewhere. It was the love in his eyes that caught my attention. I had never seen a man carrying so much passion in his eyes.

Once Upon a [Stolen] Time

2015… All her life, Myra Farrow has been obsessed with medieval castles—and the kings and princes who once inhabited them. Now, wealthy videogame designer Steve Bernard wants her to model for a princess character in his new game. Myra can’t resist his offer, especially when she learns that Steve plans to film inside the mysterious Hue Castle—a cursed, barren, colorless place forbidden to visitors for centuries. But unknown to Myra, her soul is bound to Hue Castle by blood and sorcery. When she enters its doors, she awakens dark powers that will reach through time—stealing her past, torturing her present, and rewriting her future.

1415… Edward Hue, the last of the Hue royal bloodline, has never stood in the sunshine or held a living flower. Cursed from birth to live in darkness and bring death to all he touches, he is at the mercy of his cruel, tyrannical father, who will not rest until he shatters Edward’s soul and makes his son into a diabolical copy of himself. Edward’s one hope is the mysterious woman who haunts his dreams—who will either break his curse and bring him out of the darkness, or destroy him utterly.

For Myra and Edward, past and future collide in a tale of love, obsession, betrayal, and the hope for redemption.

Buy your copy from your preferred bookstore.

Samreen Ahsan

3/4 portrait of author Samreen Ahsan

is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning author. She is a traveller and a history buff by heart. However, art and literature are her passions. She loves digging out information about prophecies, divine miracles and paranormal events that are mentioned in history and holy books, that don’t sound possible in today’s modern world.

She is an official Wattpad Creator!

“My favourite genres for reading are literary fiction and historical fiction, especially WWII stories.”

Since childhood, she has been interested in reading and writing—and yes, it can’t happen without imagination, which luckily has no boundaries.

She loves visiting historic cities and their architecture. Her obsession with castles and palaces is quite evident from her travelogue. She has an impossible dream of time travel to the sixteenth century, and meet Leonardo da Vinci.

“I love visiting art galleries and admire Medieval and Renaissance art.”

Learn more about Samreen on her BestSelling Reads author page, and then please visit samreenahsan.com.

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