Enchanted in Time (Enchanted After Thirty #1)

Chapter 8

8

H annah’s heart was pounding as she stepped through the tall castle portal and passed the guards. They were looking straight ahead without moving a single millimeter, their lances positioned in their right hands. She followed the corridor, with its gleaming tiles and broad red carpet that her every step sank into. There was no one else on the carpet. Was it possible that she had come too late?

She could already hear the sound of loud voices. There must have been a lot of guests at this ball. Cheerful violin music drifted above the talking and laughter. Had the dancing already begun? Her palms began to sweat as she entered the high-ceilinged ballroom, which was illuminated by countless candles that bathed the hall in a wonderfully romantic glow. The scent of roses and lavender wafted in her direction. Brightly shimmering couples were already whirling about on the gleaming dance floor to the tune of the violins. A sea of color and rustling skirts was swirling throughout the hall. Overwhelmed, Hannah took a step back.

She could hardly believe her eyes as she watched the couples in their old-fashioned but fabulous ball gowns and uniforms. The ladies’ high, artfully draped hairstyles reminded her of her own. The guests were dancing and twirling around the hall in a formation that was entirely unknown to her. They skipped and changed partners as if they had practiced every step. Had there been rehearsals?

Her gaze wandered upward, and she marveled at the marble coffered ceiling and its frames fashioned in miniature bas relief. She could make out angels, horses, and knights, with ivy and laurel wreaths in between. A huge chandelier with flickering red candles was hanging from the ceiling on a long chain. She continued looking around the ballroom, and what she saw next took her breath away: multiple golden statuettes on half-columns. One was of a slender boy who was pouring something; another was of a dancing girl who was daintily holding her dress with her outstretched arm. Didn’t such things belong in a museum? Other half-columns held precious vases overflowing with lavish bouquets of roses containing a single lavender stalk to add a splash of purple.

Still incredulous, Hannah’s gaze swung back to the mirthful guests, not one of whom seemed familiar. Who had invited her? Surely not a real king! Who had made this event happen? Who had planned all this?

As she watched the couples, who were no longer following some old-time choreography but now dancing a waltz, her questions vanished, and she imagined how she, too, might be asked to dance and glide through the hall in such a magical, romantic way. But the mere fact that she was there all dressed up in this shimmering red gown gave Hannah a feeling of being alive that she hadn’t had in a long time.

She strolled through the rows of women and men who were standing on the side as they watched the dancers, chatted, and sipped their beverages. Then she passed antique upholstered furniture where the first dancers were taking a break, and she bravely helped herself when a server in fancy livery held a tray of hors d’oeuvres to her nose. They smelled delicious. So delicious, in fact, that she brazenly grabbed the largest hors d’oeuvre she could find on the gleaming silver tray. It seemed to be something with tomato and thyme in a puff pastry or something of the sort.

As she popped the morsel into her mouth, her gaze fell on a handsome man in the middle of the dance floor. Forgetting the canapé on her tongue, she looked him over. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with short blond hair and wearing shiny boots and a dress uniform with gold trim on the collar. The lady he was whirling around the dance floor was dressed in a dream gown of lilac silk. Hannah blinked several times, then choked on the morsel in her mouth and suddenly had a coughing fit. That caused the unknown man to shift his gaze, and then he was looking at her with wide eyes. He stopped dancing for a moment.

Oh, no, why did he have to notice her at just that moment?

The server could barely hide his disdain as Hannah reached for a tall crystal glass from his colleague’s tray and downed it in one gulp. But she didn’t care. The urge to cough had passed, and she searched for the stranger, spotted him among the throng of dancers, and followed the pair with her eyes. Unable to tear her eyes away, Hannah could feel how her heart was leaping excitedly in her breast. And whenever the stranger turned toward her as he danced, he would look at her.

Hannah felt her cheeks turn red. Who was he? She had never seen him in town. Was he from somewhere far away? Occasionally, he looked back at his dance partner and smiled, but the smile never reached his eyes. As though he had never done anything else his whole life long, he led her around the room, drawing many admiring looks as he did so. Blind to everything around her, Hannah could also no longer look away.

Why did he look so unhappy yet dance with such passion, as if it were the most beautiful thing in his life? And who was the woman he danced with and kept smiling at half-heartedly?

Again, he raised his head and looked in Hannah’s direction. Their eyes met, and again, for a moment he stopped dancing. This time, he didn’t avert his eyes but held her gaze, and Hannah couldn’t look anywhere else, as if something were drawing her to him. Goosebumps ran down her arms, and she froze as the stranger slowly continued to dance. By now, the dance had changed, and rather than leading his partner in a twirl, he moved calmly in place. As he gazed at Hannah, a look of wonder came over his face, and his eyes took on a liveliness that had not been there before.

When his partner said something to him, he looked at her briefly and answered but then immediately looked back at Hannah. After three more turns, the violin music stopped, and with a few large strides, the stranger came up to Hannah. He bowed gallantly and extended his hand as he looked straight at her. His eyes were shimmering green and blue, like a forest lake. “May I have this dance?” His deep voice had a determined sound, as if his request were not a question.

Hannah cleared her throat. She looked to the left and the right and then back at the stranger. He did indeed mean her. Unable to utter a word, she nodded and curtsied as though she had slipped into some ancient role. He led her onto the dance floor, and immediately the violin orchestra began to play again. He guided her with a firm hand so that she could easily follow his steps. The rest of the couples changed partners, but the stranger would not let go of her and danced with her alone.

“I have been waiting for you.”

“For me?” Hannah’s heart beat faster as the stranger glided through the hall with her, fixing his sea-green eyes on hers. Was he the one who had arranged all this and sent her the invitation? Her heart made a leap. This couldn’t be true!

He led her in a twirl and pulled her close again, as if he feared she might flee like Cinderella. Hannah positively sank into his eyes, and her knees went weak. Since when had she gotten so fragile?

“I absolutely must speak with you! You do know what this is about, of course. You’ve been waiting for me as well, have you not?”

What did he mean? Was he saying that he sent her the invitation? She nodded uncertainly as the violins fell silent and this wonderful dance came to an end. The stranger bowed to her. Immediately another woman stepped in front of Hannah and whispered in his ear. Annoyed, he looked at her, then bowed to Hannah and gave the next dance to the other woman.

Hannah stood in the middle of the dance floor like something that had been ordered and never picked up. It finally dawned on her how idiotic she must have looked just standing there, and she blinked several times. But before she could turn and walk away, the stranger fixed his sea-green eyes upon her yet again. He nodded first to her and then toward a large door as if to direct her there. Hannah followed his gaze. The door led out to a large balcony with a view of a brilliant sunset. She was spellbound by the scene. She turned back to the stranger, who nodded in encouragement. Without giving it any further thought, she left the dance floor, pushing her way past the stout gentlemen and the giggling ladies peeking out from behind their fans. She walked outside and leaned against the balustrade.

The light of the evening sun looked beautiful. It had something otherworldly about it as it cast a pink glow upon the forest that extended on all sides around the castle ruin—though it couldn’t very well be called a ruin anymore. So the glow that extended on all sides around Lichtenberg Castle, then. From the balcony, the forest seemed endlessly wide, unbelievably deep, and unimaginably vast, although Hannah knew it was actually only a small, wooded area that stretched around the former ruin. It must have been the view that made the forest seem so large.

Hannah leaned against the balustrade for a long time, entirely lost in the contemplation of this magical idyll, when a deep voice from behind her pulled her out of her thoughts. “Isn’t it breathtaking?”

“It’s simply magical.” Hannah turned toward the person who had spoken—and saw the stranger standing beside her. He was more than a head taller than she was, and he bowed slightly in her direction.

His hands clasped behind his back, he looked out at the distant horizon. “I stand here every night and watch the sun go down, and I wonder how many times I’ve already seen it.” He turned to her and studied her with his blue-green eyes.

Like a mysterious forest lake. The thought flashed through Hannah’s mind, and she turned as red as a beet.

“And all those evenings, I wondered when you would finally come.”

Hannah’s cheeks were burning. He had been waiting for her? Where did he know her from? “This is my first time here. This is my first ball ever. I’ve never been to an event like this before. Tell me, do you know who arranged all this?”

The stranger furrowed his high forehead as looked at her. “But you must know that already. King Gustav von Lichtenberg, of course!”

Hannah laughed uncertainly. “Of course, but... I mean, the king...” She laughed again. The stranger’s penetrating gaze was making her knees go weak as she searched for the words. “Let’s just say that I’ve never heard of a King Gustav von Lichtenberg before. And I’m afraid I haven’t seen him either. I’d love to see a real king someday—and the prince as well, of course.” She giggled inanely. Since when did she chatter so much? And without even thinking about what she was saying!

“You would love to see the prince someday?” He laughed in disbelief.

Was he making fun of her for wanting to meet a prince? Well, why else would a young woman go to a ball? Or did it have to do with her age? Did he think she was no longer young enough? He also appeared to be in his mid- to late thirties, and he was at the ball.

“Who are you?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“My name is Hannah Meyer. I’m from the city. And I’m totally surprised at how this ruin looks. I mean, the last time I went hiking here with my children was this past fall, and we saw nothing but overgrown walls and fragments. And now? Just look at this magnificent building! I mean, there wasn’t any construction going on in the winter. And now it’s summer. There’s no way all this could have been done in the spring...”

Ignoring her ongoing monologue, he bowed gallantly and took her hand and kissed it. “It is my extraordinary pleasure to meet you, Hannah Meyer. And I’m relieved to finally see you here. There were days when I feared you would never come. Tell me, who brought you here?”

Hannah’s cheeks flushed. “The mailman brought me the invitation, and?—”

“The letter carrier? But that can’t be true. She must have handed you the invitation herself, and...”

The stranger frowned and studied her with his blue-green eyes. Hannah blushed even more and, somewhat embarrassed, looked down at her ball gown, her hands, and her bag until she looked up again and was once more lost in the stranger’s eyes. What was the matter with her?

“How did you come here?”

“A coach came to pick me up. Just like it says on the invitation. Can you believe it? But then, with all the coaches I saw in the castle courtyard, it must not have been as special as I’d thought. For me, though, it was my first coach ride ever—and with six white horses, too. It’s just like a fairy tale. Anyway, I have to find out who plays the king so I can thank him.”

“Who plays the king?” The stranger stroked his clean-shaven chin with his gloved hand. “What sort of absurd questions are these? Does that mean you don’t know...” He shook his head as if he needed to collect his thoughts and then turned and looked once more at the setting sun.

Hannah could clearly see the longing in his eyes. And she saw something more. Grief? Melancholy? His gaze was hard to decipher but was of a depth that revealed that he was plagued by heavy thoughts. “Why are you here when you obviously want to be somewhere else?” she asked.

“As you know, I have no choice.”

“There’s always a choice. Life is short. It’s up to us what we do with it. Sure, sometimes life decides for us and denies us a say, but again and again we find ourselves in a place where we can change something. Nothing is forever—you have to take your chances!”

Who was she to advise a stranger on how to live his life? Her own life was anything but self-determined and perfect. She herself had a hard time keeping up with life, with no time for anything except her children and work. When in the past few years had she even once decided to make a change and actually done it? She couldn’t remember. Since her husband’s death, she had only been going through the motions.

The stranger eyed her as though he sensed that she was touting something that she herself had not mastered, like a charlatan. “You’ve never been here before—I am sure of it. She must have sent you, and yet you ask such strange questions. Do you not know why you’re here?”

Hannah looked at him in astonishment. What sort of question was that? “No. So, as I said, I’ve never been to this castle before. You’re right, I would have remembered it! I’ve never been here before except when I went hiking with my three children. Last fall, the last time?—”

“Three children?” He glanced at her hand, which had no ring on it.

Hannah refused to blush again. She straightened up and made herself as tall as possible. “I’m a single mother.”

He shook his head in confusion and looked once more toward the setting sun. “That makes no sense at all.”

Hannah looked at him, startled. What was going on with this stranger? He was acting as if she were the great mystery, when what was really strange was the castle and this society. But maybe it was all part of this movie they were shooting. Who knew, perhaps there were even cameras all over the grounds and in the ballroom!

All of a sudden, the stranger went down on his knee and grasped her hands fervently. He looked at her with such intensity that she went weak in the knees again. “Please tell me that you know what to do. I’ve waited so long for you. You’re here to save me, are you not?”

“Save you? What do you mean?”

The sound of horrified screams was coming from the ballroom. The music stopped.

“For heaven’s sake, the king!” a shrill female voice cried out. “The king! Help!”

The stranger turned one last time toward the setting sun, and there was a sadness in his gaze that broke Hannah’s heart. “It’s time.”

Had he actually just said that, or had she simply imagined it? But before she could ask him what he meant, he had already run inside. Without a moment’s hesitation, she hurried after him. The crowd immediately made way for the stranger as the two of them pushed their way to the front, where the dancers had formed a large circle.

Hannah arrived at the scene a few seconds after the stranger to find an old man with a white beard sprawled on the floor. His gold-embroidered red mantle was spread out beneath him like a blanket, and his arms and legs extended limply to the side. A magnificent crown was lying carelessly on the floor a good three feet from his head, and the man was gasping for air.

The king?

“Father!” The stranger crouched down beside the man, who was struggling to breathe and whose pale complexion had taken on a bluish tinge. He grasped his hand. “Try to relax and stay calm, Father. Try to stay calm and breathe.”

Father? Was the stranger...

“Fetch the king’s physician!” an elderly gentleman shouted, whereupon two pages broke away from the bystanders and rushed out of the hall. Frozen with fear, the rest of the crowd continued to watch the two men.

Hadn’t anyone thought to call 911?

“Who has a cell phone?” Hannah screamed, forgetting that she had one in her bag. “Someone call 911 right now! They need to pick him up with the air ambulance!”

The guests did not respond to Hannah’s screams. Instead, they stared at the dying man on the floor and looked at each other in shock.

“Where is the doctor?” the elderly gentleman yelled at two other servants, who immediately rushed off.

The prince remained strangely calm, his gaze fixed on his father as he kneeled silently by his side. The king was wheezing and trying to speak, but he couldn’t get enough air. “Now... it is... too... late! I... am... so... so sorry... my son...” he gasped.

“I forgive you, Father. Just breathe and stay calm.”

“Call 911!” Hannah screamed, but the crowd still didn’t respond. The guests and the servants still stood against the wall, frozen in place, the women clinging to the men. Meanwhile, the look in the king’s eyes was already changing, as if he were seeing another world. A moment later, his eyes went blank. His head fell limply to the side. The king was dead.

“The king is dead!” someone cried in horror, and the women screamed and wept. A narrow side door burst open, and a gray-haired man rushed in. Dropping his leather bag on the floor, he crouched down next to the king and felt his pulse. A moment later, he shook his head and barely raised his eyes as he mumbled to the prince, “I’m sorry.”

Hannah watched the scene but could not understand what was going on. Was this part of the movie? Were all these people extras? And the king and the... prince... actors? Where was the camera for the close-ups? Why hadn’t anyone yelled “cut”? Hannah looked around the crowd, but no one was stepping forward to resolve it all and to finally put an end to the horror.

A strange thought made its way into her mind. Was all of this actually happening? Had the host of this event just died? But that would have meant that the man before her, the unknown prince who was crouched on the floor beside the dead man, had just lost his father.

Hannah knelt down beside him. She refrained from uttering hollow phrases and condolences. She brought the dead man’s legs together, and placed the hand that the prince wasn’t holding onto the king’s chest. Then she gently stroked the king’s eyelids to close them and draped the red mantle neatly around him like a blanket. “Rest in peace.”

The prince looked up and stared at her in disbelief. He then turned his gaze once more to his father’s motionless body. His look was profoundly sad, though not at all surprised or shocked. Had he expected his father to die? Was that why, just now on the balcony, he had said “It’s time”? But how could someone foresee a death and not spend every last second by the side of the one they were about to lose?

A strong gust whooshed into the room, extinguishing all the candles at once. All voices fell silent, and an eerie stillness pervaded the large ballroom. The prince stiffened but did not look up. Outside, a storm was raging by, blowing open the windows and doors and sending red rose petals flying through the hall. A whirlwind swept in over the balcony and was barreling toward them. In the reddish light of the setting sun, it resembled a dark tornado. The guests screamed and clung to the walls.

Startled, Hannah leapt up and was about to flee when she noticed the unknown prince still crouching beside his father. She rushed over and grabbed his arm. “Come! Quick!”

But he did not rise. “You know, as I do, what’s coming now, and I surrender to my fate—as always.”

“No! Don’t you see what’s approaching?” Hannah shouted over the roar of the violent wind. The rest of the guests raced to get out of the way, some screaming as they fled for the doors, while Hannah remained and tugged even harder at the prince’s arm.

“It’s too late,” he murmured in resignation, and he freed himself from her grip with a single yank that sent her staggering backwards.

As the storm approached, the curly locks from Hannah’s updo came undone and were whipping around her face. Moments before the whirlwind reached the prince and his dead father, it dissolved and turned into the misty silhouette of a human form. Was it a woman? Or a man? Something was swirling about it like a wide cape or long hair.

The apparition raised its right hand and pointed at the prince. “The time has come. The curse must be fulfilled.”

There was a satisfaction in its voice, as if the being had been waiting for this day alone. A beam of light shot from its fingertips straight toward the prince’s chest.

”No!” Hannah screamed, then tried to throw herself between them. But it was too late. The beam hit the prince directly in the chest. She pulled him over to the wall and shielded him, but the misty apparition was already lowering its hand. Loud, hideous laughter echoed throughout the ballroom as the being turned around, transformed into a whirlwind, and roared off—back out onto the balcony and over the balustrade. Then, as though nothing had happened, all of a sudden the wind died down, and a dreadful silence filled the hall once more.

Hannah was staring in the direction the apparition had gone in, her mouth agape, until she finally pulled herself together and turned back to the prince, who was curled up on the floor and twitching. “What did it just do? Who or what was that thing?” She laughed uneasily. “Is this all part of the movie?”

She turned to look at the remaining guests, who were hugging the walls, petrified. But as she gazed into their terrified faces, one thing was clear to Hannah: this was not a movie!

A red-haired lady loosened herself from the wall and was clinging to an elderly gentleman with a gray mustache, who, pale and horrified, was staring at the dead king and the prince. The rest of the people came closer and stood around Hannah and the prince. With their hands to their mouths, they watched him with a mixture of shock and fascination. Not one of them uttered a word.

Hannah looked down at the prince, who was lying on the floor, his blond hair sticking out wildly as if he had been struck by lightning. He lay curled up on his side, silent and motionless.

She gently shook his shoulder. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

He didn’t move or make a sound, as though he hadn’t heard her. Was he dead? She held his hand. It was warm. She placed her hand on his chest and could feel a strong heartbeat. She saw no entry wound. Maybe she had only imagined the lightning bolt, and the prince wasn’t hurt at all.

“AAAAAAHHH!”

His loud scream pierced the silence. Hannah lurched backwards, startled. From one moment to the next, he had come back to life. He flung himself to the left and the right, flailed about, flipped onto his stomach and then his back, reared up, and screamed once more as the guests recoiled in horror.

“What’s happening?” Hannah had been standing at arm’s length and now approached him warily to support him, only to immediately shrink back from his uncontrolled movements. What was going on here?

The prince was acting wilder and wilder, writhing and screaming in a way that sent chills down her spine. Was he having an epileptic fit? She came closer and tried to grab his hand. But right at that moment, his hand grew bigger and bigger. The bones broke with a loud crack, and the prince screamed. His blond hair turned brown, his legs grew longer and more powerful, his belly thickened, his back broadened, and his whole frame shot up. His uniform tore with a loud rip, and his boots split open and fell off his expanding feet and legs as if they were made of the thinnest thread. The skin that appeared from beneath them was light brown. But it only appeared for a moment, for a layer of dark brown hair immediately began to cover it as it grew into a thick brown coat.

The prince’s scream turned into a bloodcurdling roar as his head swelled to three times its original size. His eyes grew larger and darker. His mouth and his full lips widened into a snout with sharp canine teeth sticking out. Once again, he let out a loud roar—he sounded like an animal—and lashed out with his enormous paws. His bearing and gestures were so animal-like and uncontrolled that Hannah hardly knew what was going on. Finally, his strength appeared to fail him and he suddenly fell to the floor.

As he crashed down onto the tiles with a loud thud, every person in the ballroom could clearly see what had happened: the prince had transformed into a full-grown brown bear.