Enchanted in Time (Enchanted After Thirty #1)

Chapter 20

20

A long, long time ago

M iserable and desperate, Mirabelle had fled from the prince and his guests and run through the castle garden until she’d reached a small gate. She’d hurried through it and rushed into the forest. The birds were twittering and the deer and rabbits were scurrying about, but Mirabelle hadn’t seen them. She hadn’t noticed the peace or the pastoral scene but only the anguish and pain in her own heart.

The tears had been streaming down her cheeks, and she’d been sobbing loudly as she ran deeper and deeper into the peaceful woods. She was running barefoot, and yet her feet felt nothing—no stones, twigs, pinecones, or thorny vines. The anguish over what had befallen her had completely taken over. First, the terrible illness, and then the evening that had exposed her for all to see. Never again did she wish to see a human being. Never again did she wish to leave the forest, never again to consort with another person.

Oh, if only the illness had killed her! What was left of her life since the fever had robbed her of her beauty? Nothing at all! Nothing was left of the glorious and magical future of Mirabelle Madeleine Alice von Taustein.

She cursed this life she despised, cursed the insidious disease, cursed the arrogant prince. He had made it all even worse. He was to blame for her being here now. He had besmirched her own and her family’s name forevermore!

How ashamed her parents must have been of her! And how her beloved sister Annabelle would surely have to suffer—now that the reputation of the von Taustein family had been ruined for all time and Annabelle had no chance of marrying well.

Mirabelle’s steps grew slower, but she did not stop, and so too did the flood of tears keep streaming insistently down her cheeks. She wanted nothing more than to jump to her death down the nearest ravine! He was to blame. The prince was the evil one!

Amid her loud sobbing, Mirabelle had failed to perceive how her anger and hatred had awoken something that had been lying dormant deep inside the forest. It rose from the ground like a dark mist and drifted through the woods. Wherever it flowed, the forest was robbed of its light; wherever it passed, the animals fled, and the leaves of the trees turned darker. The mist became denser and darker and gradually took form. It drifted along, following after Mirabelle, who sensed nothing of what was lurking behind her back.

“Oh, how I curse the prince! He took everything from me! He took everything from my family! He shall suffer!” she exclaimed, her ranting growing louder and more enraged. “He shall pay! I shall curse him!”

The dark being wound itself about Mirabelle from behind, coiling around her, enveloping her. It encircled her, slithered inside her, and clung to her heart. But the hate-filled young woman noticed none of this.

“Cursed shall he be! The evil prince shall pay!” she swore. Her bright voice had turned deeper, had grown raspy and rough, but she did not perceive the difference.

“I would like to help you,” a dark voice whispered in her ear. “You are not alone. I shall curse the prince for you.”

Mirabelle sat up and took notice. “Who’s there?”

“I am here to help you, to stand by you at a time when no one else remains by your side,” the unknown, cajoling voice continued. “You need not be alone. Stay with me, and I shall help you. I shall avenge you. I shall punish the prince—as long as you stay with me. Will you do that? Never alone again? With me for all time?”

“Who are you?”

“I am the strength of those who despair, the cry of the lonesome soul, the power of those who have lost all hope. I am here beside you. You are not alone. I shall help you. I shall exact your revenge. The prince and his family shall suffer for what they have done to you. Accept my gift, and you shall no longer be alone.”

Mirabelle began to sob. “You want to avenge me? To stand by me? To remain by my side?”

“Yes, I shall help you. We belong together. You are a part of me, and I am a part of you. Say it. Say: I accept your offer. Say it! Now! And your cares shall be over for all time!”

“I accept your offer!” whispered Mirabelle.

Everything around her went black. She no longer saw or felt a thing. Absolute darkness took hold of her.

The weeks went by, and Mirabelle was neither alive nor dead. She was slowly wasting away in a darkness without form. She heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing. The Evil she had entrusted herself to was holding her heart in its grasp. She felt no yearning or pain but also no happiness or hope. She was little more than a shadow, a lost soul, trapped for all time somewhere deep within the darkness.

She remembered nothing at all. Everything that had ever been was gone—the pain and the thoughts, the anguish and all the memories. She did not know how many weeks had passed and scarcely knew why she found herself in this darkness. Her mind was blank, and she never gave it a second thought.

Until one day, when she heard a voice—a voice that was calling her. For the first time in a long while, she heard someone speak her name. And with that sound, a wisp of memory returned. She was Mirabelle. And this voice was familiar. She had known it since the start of her days. Since she had first come into this world.

“Mirabelle, where are you? Mirabelle?”

It was her mother’s voice. What was she doing here? In this darkness? And why was she herself there? Why couldn’t she see anything? Where was she imprisoned?

Slowly, slowly, the memories returned, one by one. Her illness. The night of the ball. The flight to the forest. The ingratiating voice.

How much time had passed since then? How many hours had she spent in this gloom?

“With me for all time!” she heard the dark voice say as it echoed from somewhere within the darkness.

“No, I shall not allow it!” Her mother’s voice rang out again. “Release her!”

“We made an agreement. That is binding for all time! She stays here!”

“I beg of you—she did not realize what she was doing. She’s still so young. Please, let her go—I beg of you.”

“No! She is mine for all time!”

“There must be a way! I have found my way to you, and I shall not leave until my child is free! Release her from the curse!”

“She agreed. She obtained her revenge, and in return she remains here! With me!”

“I beg of you, have mercy. Take me instead of her!”

“You?”

“I beg of you. Let her go. She’s still young and did not know what she was doing. Release her soul!”

“Only a blood relative can take on the curse!”

“We are blood relatives. I am her mother!”

There was a heavy sigh. “If you can find her, you may assume the curse in her stead.”

The sound of footsteps—rapid footsteps—echoed through the eternal darkness. A delicate scent that seemed familiar to Mirabelle wafted toward her. And the next moment, her mother’s warm arms had wrapped themselves around her. Warmth. How good it felt.

“I’ve found you, my darling. I’m here. I shall not leave you alone in this darkness.”

“Mother? How were you able to find me?”

“My dear child, I heard your cry for help.”

“What cry for help?” Mirabelle could not remember a thing.

“I heard your soul calling, my dear child.”

“Mama, where am I? What happened?” She was overcome by fear and sorrow. But her mother held her close. Very close. She cradled her in her arms and kissed her on her cheeks, her brow, and her weeping eyes.

“I shall never leave you alone. I shall stay with you forever, my dear child. In your heart, I shall always be by your side. But now you must go.”

“No, Mama—why? Come with me. I shall not leave without you!”

“Yes, you must leave this place! You cannot stay here. It’s dark and evil. You do not deserve this.”

“Mama!” Mirabelle burst into tears “Please, let’s go together.”

“It cannot be, my darling. An evil curse hangs over you. I cannot break it, but I can take it on for you and in that way release you. Please, go and live your life. You’re still so young. Use the time you have—and forgive me. Forgive your mother! Forgive me for not being there for you much sooner!”

“No, Mama, no!”

But a powerful current pulled Mirabelle out of the darkness. A black storm swirled around her, and she heard nothing more and no longer perceived the sweet, familiar scent. And a moment later, she lost all consciousness.

When Mirabelle awoke, she found herself lying in the middle of the forest, utterly alone. No one was beside her. Nobody was there. Her mother’s voice and scent were gone, as was the total darkness that had surrounded her.

“Mama? Where are you?”

Desperate, Mirabelle ran about, searching behind every tree trunk and shrub for a sign, but she found not a single trace.

“Release her! I shall not allow her to take my place! I was the one who demanded revenge—I must pay for it, not her! It is not her fault! I took the curse upon myself—not my mama! Let her go!”

No one answered. Mirabelle ran off. She raced through the woods in search of the Evil, in search of her mother, but she could not find them anywhere. Eventually, she abandoned her search and cursed the prince even more for what he had done not only to her but now to her mother as well.

And so the Evil returned to her heart, even though, through her sacrifice, her mother had given her the chance for a life that was free.